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Updated 24 August 2021: The Stormbird Expansion is now available to pre-order! Swoop in on it here.
Containing the biggest aerial threat in the Horizon Zero Dawn universe, the Stormbird Expansion for the board game is about to hit pre-order.
But what will this flying machine add to your campaigns? Let’s find out!
Stormbird Stances and Behaviours
A flying machine it may be, but this enemy is far from one-dimensional.
The Stormbird may spend most of its time soaring through the skies, but it isn’t airborne all the time. Sometimes, it lands.
And when it does, you’d better be prepared, because it will absolutely chase you down on foot.
Like the Fireclaw, the Stormbird has two behaviour decks (one for each attack stance) that it switches between to keep you on your toes.
And that’s not all. Each stance also comes with its own conditional rules. Check out the reference card for airborne Stormbird below:
And if you flip that card over — which some behaviour cards will instruct you to do — you’ll see the conditional rules for the grounded Stormbird, too.
As you can see above, conditional rules change what you can and can’t do. If the Stormbird is flying high, you probably won’t get far with a spear or hammer, but maybe your long-range party members can bring it down? Bet those slings and warbows are looking pretty good right now!
Landed Behaviours
To get a feel for how the Stormbird works on foot, let’s take a look at a landed behaviour:
On the one hand, these attack patterns are pretty standard — but, this time, the trigger is conditional, depending on whether the Stormbird was airborne last time it activated.
And there, on the right-hand tree, you’ll notice the new symbol we referenced earlier: the card flip symbol, which flips the reference card from landed to airborne and vice versa.
If the Stormbird has landed, and you’re standing too close, it’ll stalk forward, unleashing a punishing Thunder Rush which hits every hunter in range.
Or, if you’re all lucky enough to be at a distance, it’ll use Screech Blast to fire a sonic projectile at whoever’s closest instead.
But if the Stormbird already spent a turn on the ground, it takes off, blasting wind in every direction and banking around for a bombing run next turn!
Pre-order the Stormbird Expansion
If you’re feeling ready to hunt down this aerial combat class machine, you’re in luck. The Stormbird Expansion pre-order is about to open!
About Horizon Zero Dawn
Released on the PS4 in 2017, Horizon Zero Dawn sees you play as Aloy, a hunter who sets out to discover the meaning of her past in a world overrun by machines. The game was created by Guerilla Games, who followed the main game's release with the Frozen Wilds expansion in late 2017, and a full sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, in 2022. Horizon Zero Dawn, often shortened to HZD, has sold over 20 million copies since 2017, and its popularity led to a comic book series, and a TV series currently under development with Netflix. We released Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game in 2020 accompanied by expansions based on iconic machines from the video game such as Thunderjaw, Fireclaw, Rockbreaker, Thunderjaw, and Stormbird. Shop the Horizon Zero Dawn: The Board Game range HERE.
