Apparently my review and writeup for these guys never uploaded 😭. I don't have a copy of the writeup either, but this faction is MORE than worth doing another one for. Because from the gameplay mechanics, the lore, the ARTWORK. I love these lil Wolfie warriors so much!

To start off with, I am MEGA biased towards awesome artwork, and this faction has it in spades. Not only do you have full on character designs for the front and back, you have a LINEUP of fantastic characters on the header image for the faction, with a fantastic background of scenery following the root style. You yourself should also really be commended for the background pattern, meeple design, and token designs. All absolutely top notch and all there to really immerse you in the...

LORE! What a cool story to tie in the theme of sacrifice, and honestly it just really paints how much appreciation there is both for ROOT and for chess in here! I mean who even comes up with the idea of playing chess within root and then making that idea seem like a real part of the conflict? And that story is supported so well by the...

Mechanics! The insanely unique concepts (like straight up adapting some ideas from chess to root, let alone you basically play against yourself) are translated so well. You've used consice language that has been allocated very clearly to the faction board, using the specific language official factions use. (See the second faction ability). The gameplay also flows really well, and sections that are needed "in the moment" like pawn promotion and captured pieces are given a more prominent place on the board, to make them easy to find at a glance. 

The one thing that concerns me is their interactions with some other factions on the board. I believe you're able to capture another factions pieces just by moving into the clearing with them? Imagine the WA gets their warrior held hostage without even the need to battle. All of a sudden they've been SEVERELY nerfed until you decide to give em that warrior back for a card. (If it were me, this would be never). 

All in all an absolutely fantastic submission. Can't wait to see your continued support for them, whatever faction you cook up next, and whatever artwork youd friend decides to share with us. Thanks so much!

Big fan of the theme from a gameplay and aesthetic angle! Very fun faction that you've incorporated super well!

Reading it, I only really have one question for clarification, and that's regarding the "Bitter Feud" Passive ability at the top. "You take all actions as either the Light or Dark Wolf Pack..." - I can interpret this two ways and I'm not sure which one is right. Either:

1. It's saying that every action requires you to declare which of the two Packs you are taking it for, but you can still switch between the Pack during the turn, and so could do some Light moves and some Dark moves in a turn, or...
2. It's saying that you take all actions, (assumedly in each turn), as one of the two factions that you presumably would declare at the start of the turn. So then that turn is locked as either the Light or Dark faction, and you would not be controlling the opposing side that turn (aside from Evening #2, which clearly states "Each Pack").

Also, perhaps some way of tracking Vehemance on the board might be nice, just so you don't have to keep re-working out how much you have ready (and so it's clear that you start with 2!).

Again, fantastic faction, and none of the above is criticism, just my general confusion haha ♥

I really like the idea of a faction warring against itself! I also think you've done a great job translating individual chess pieces into corresponding root warriors. I do have a couple concerns with the scoring pace, as depending on circumstances I could see it being softlocked (locked into your homeland with a cat/bird/lizard/etc recruiting warriors in all adjacent clearings such that you're forever stuck at 0 vehemence) and I could also see it make massive jumps (via having no other enemy captures and looping white side and dark side captures).

EDIT: I missed a clarification by the author in the project notes, which has addressed my concern about getting homeland-locked above. Again, wanted to say great work, and good luck!!

Such a cool theme, its like 4D root! You implemented the chess features really well, and the idea of factions within a faction is crazy, but I think it works for root. Definitely needs some smoothing out in terms of bloat and faction pieces- having essentially 10 different warrior pieces with over 30 in total sounds like it would be a nightmare to learn/play with. The skill ceiling is high to say the least. I love the idea of the faction though, and I think it could definitely work, just needs a bit of refinement! P.s. the art is incredible and the wolf packs really suit the theme. My favourite submission so far!

Very unique faction. Love the theme you have going here. It's clear you want to emulate all of chess into this faction, but I wonder if for the complexity budget's sake, it may be better if you trimmed down the number of special pieces? Then it might not feel so much like learning a "game within a game within a game". Combining Queen with King and removing Bishop might be enough-then you only have 3 pieces and a building to differentiate from. just an idea

looks like this would create some very interesting dynamics. really cool faction!