Factions

**Kards decks** are broken down into one of five primary factions - Japan, United States, Britain, Soviet Union, and Germany. Selecting one of these factions with which to build a deck then allows an ally to be selected. An ally can be any other major power or one of the minor nations. Currently there are three minor nations available - France, Italy, and Poland. These three factions are supportive in nature and cannot be played as your primary deck. In deckbuilding, real-life historical alliances do not matter - you can make a German deck with U.S. ally or a Soviet deck with an Italian ally.

## **Major factions**

#### **Soviet Union**

* Soviet decks are a mixture of tenacity and offensive power. They tend to grow stronger as the game progresses into its later stages. The Soviets are capable of harming their own HQ in order to gain field advantage.

#### **Germany**

* German decks focus around maintaining presence in the front line and rapidly recapturing the front line if that presence is lost. To do this, many German units possess the Blitz ability to allow rapid advance to the front, as well as Smokescreen to protect units that are waiting in the rear.

#### **Britain**

* The most defensive deck in the game. The British boast many units with the Guard ability and are highly capable of raising the defense of their home base. British orders often enhance the defensive capability of British units, allowing the British player to grind down their opponent if they are incapable of penetrating the British line.

#### **United States**

* The U.S. is focused on mobility and economic power. This is represented by support abilities that allow rapid deployment to the front line and rewarding the U.S. Many of the U.S.'s order cards enable unit destruction or resource enhancement.

#### **Japan**

* The Japanese Empire is a very aggressive faction, often rewarding the Japanese player for losing units with the Destruction ability. Japanese orders favor dealing direct damage to the enemy and enhancing the attack stat of Japanese units.

## **Minor Factions**

#### **Italy**

* Italy makes heavy use of the Alpine ability, making your units enter the battlefield bigger for every other friendly Alpine unit. Alpine units can also currently be found in Germany, Japan, and in the Soviet Union, giving these nations some synergy with Italy. Another theme of Italian cards are units and orders that are powerful when you have the lead, but weaken or even become outright unplayable as you takes losses.

#### **France**

* After their defeat in 1940, part of the French army formed the Free French Forces, while civilians organized the Résistance against the collaborationist government. This is represented both by the Mobilize ability that makes units grow stronger each turn as long as they do not take any damage; and by the Resistance mechanic, which disrupts the enemy's supply lines by filling their hand and costing them kredits.

#### **Poland**

* This nation mainly revolves around the contributions of the Polish Underground State both within Poland and from outside the country. Their intelligence services, represented by Intel cards, allow you to see cards in your opponent's hand. This ability couples with their Legion cards that grow in strength as you learn more about your opponent's strategy. Additionally, the new Exile mechanic lets you add Polish cards to decks from outside its nation, symbolizing their soldiers and government-in-exile that joined up with the Allied Powers during the war.