Welcome to Operation Husky in KARDS!

On July 10, 1943, the Allies launched Operation Husky, a massive amphibious assault on the southern shores of Sicily to open the door to mainland Europe from the Mediterranean. For the next three days, more than 3,000 ships landed over 150,000 ground troops. More than 4,000 aircraft covered the landings and provided vital air support.

In memory of Operation Husky, we have a special event for you in KARDS from 16th to 19th of July.

Following our previous historical events, we now have for you new mini-tournaments and special operations. This time, participation in the tournament is entirely free. These tournaments are for new players and veterans alike as only cards of standard and limited cards are allowed.

Additionally, we introduce the US Field Flask as a new board decoration and also offer you good savings on some of the most popular KARDS bundles.

Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, was a major step towards the invasion of mainland Europe as it secured the shipping lanes in the Mediterranean and provided a secure base for further operations.

The planning of Operation Husky is worth its own article, especially considering the amount of deception involved to mislead the Axis (most famously Operation Mincemeat [Wikipedia article] [book excerpt]) and to conceal the actual invasion.

Husky was a joint operation between the USA, Great Britain, including the Commonwealth, and Free France against the axis powers of Italy and Germany.

The second-largest amphibious assault, only surpassed by D-Day, Operation Husky involved at its peak almost 800.000 fighting troops, the majority allied forces. The initial assault, complicated by harsh weather conditions, landed over 150.000 troops and 600 tanks.

The German commander-in-chief Albert Kesselring soon realized that the Italian forces couldn't contribute enough to defend Sicily and consequently worked towards a German retreat which was very successfully conducted between August 11 - 17, 1943.

Even though the Allied successfully conquered Sicily, they couldn't prevent the successful retreat of Axis forces, including heavy equipment, and thus failed their second main objective with this invasion.

In the end, however, the successful completion of Operation Husky led to the collapse of the fascist Mussolini regime in Italy and the declaration of war between Italy and Germany.

The KARDS "Operation Husky" tournaments are 4-player single-elimination tournaments for new players and veterans alike: Allowed are only standard and limited cards, no specials or elite cards!

In contrast to previous mini-tournaments, the Operation Husky tournaments are completely free. No entry fee is required at all.

Even though the tournament is free, there are rewards to earn! Complete the special operations assigned to you during this tournament and reap the rewards.

Deck Construction Rules:

• Only Standard or Limited cards

Special Operations win conditions (can be combined):

• Win 5 tournament matches as Britain, Germany, or US
  
• Win 5 tournament matches with Italy or France as allies

(Edit: To clarify, the above mentioned matches are single matches. You do not need to win 5 times the tournament itself, just 5 individual matches).

We hope you like this format and would love to hear your thoughts on this. As you can see from the previous mini-tournaments and the current iteration, your feedback matters and is much appreciated!

Please let us know and use the comments below or chat with us on KARDS Discord.

Have fun and enjoy. See you on the battlefields of KARDS!

Hello KARDS Community!

The Weekday Skirmish happens twice each month and is a one day Swiss format tournament. Each tournament will have a unique set of rules, challenging not only your play ability but deckbuilding as well!

We are extremely excited to announce the next weekday skirmish on July 14th! This time it’s Odds vs Evens!

Signups are live NOW: https://smash.gg/tournament/kards-weekday-skirmish-july/details


In this deck format, you will only be allowed to bring a deck that includes all even and a deck that includes all odd cost cards. This means in your deck, your cards' base play cost must all be an even number while your other deck must contain all base play odd cost cards.

Who will reign supreme as the ultimate limited format tactician? Start building your decks now as the action commences on July 14th!

Join the 983 Discord: https://discord.gg/dAbfkYF

• Bring two decks from two different main nations
  
• One deck can only contain all odd cost cards while your second deck can only contain all even cost cards.
  
• Win with both of your decks to win the round. NO BANS.
  
• Best of Three Conquest
  
• Swiss Format
  
• First round starts at 17:00 GMT
  
• Top 8 get 100 Gold each

Sign up to play right now, right here:
https://smash.gg/tournament/kards-weekday-skirmish-july/details

Following the fantastic release of the Legions summer expansion, we have another goodie for you now: Card balance updates, bug fixes, and the event Operation Barbarossa!

Now onto the details!

• Operation Barbarossa, the latest event in KARDS, is active between 24th and 27th. Read more about it in the 📜 Barbarossa event blog!
  
  
• A new pop-up window with explanations about the seasonal ladder has been added.
  
  
• The seasonal ladder rewards have been improved.

Read the dev blog Research & Destroy for details and background info on the following 15 card changes. Listed below are the changes on these 15 cards.

• Bletchley Park
  Was: All enemy cards in hand and on the battlefield are put on top of enemy's deck.
  Now: All enemy cards with cost 5 or less in hand and on the battlefield are put on top of enemy's deck.
  
  
• Manhattan Project
  Was: Deal 10 damage to all enemies. Cost 12 Kredits.
  Now: Deal 6 damage to all enemies. Cost 6 Kredits.
  
  
• Uranprojekt
  Was: Pin all enemy units. Enemy cannot deploy units or give orders for 2 turns.
  Now: Destroy all enemy units.
  
  
• Type XXI U-Boat
  Was: Destroy target unit with cost 8 or less. Enemy discards 3 cards.
  Now: Destroy target unit. Enemy discards 2 cards.
  
  
• Night Witches
  Was: Add a POLIKARPOV PO-2 OR FROM THE PEOPLE to your hand. Shuffle NIGHT WITCHES into your deck. Cost 1 Kredit.
  Now: Add three POLIKARPOV PO-2-II to your hand. Cost 3 Kredits.
  
  
• Seaborne Invasion
  Was: All enemy units in frontline retreat. Add two random 3 cost US infantry units there.
  Now: All enemy units in frontline retreat. Add two US infantry units there with total attack of 6.
  
  
• Dowding System
  Was: Counter an enemy order with cost 3 or more. Cost 2 Kredits.
  Now: Counter an enemy order with cost 4 or more. Cost 3 Kredits.
  
  
• Patriotic Firestorm
  Was: Cost 1 Kredit.
  Now: Cost 2 Kredits.
  
  
• 10th Engineers Battalion
  Was: Defense 2.
  Now: Defense 1.
  
  
• 34th Infantry Regiment
  Was: At the end of your turn, remove the top card of your deck from the game.
  Now: At the end of your turn, draw and discard the top card of your deck.
  
  
• Phoney War
  Was: Both players draw until they have a full hand.
  Now: Both players draw until they have 8 cards in hand.
  
  
• Type 1 37mm
  Was: Deployment cost 3 Kredits.
  Now: Deployment cost 2 Kredits.
  
  
• Torpedo Attack
  Was: Cost 4 Kredits.
  Now: Cost 3 Kredits.
  
  
• 106th Quartermasters
  Was: Defense 3.
  Now: Defense 5.
  
  
• Western Allies
  Was: Draw a French unit from your deck for each non-French unit in your support line.
  Now: Add the top non-French unit from your deck to your support line.

➡️ Read the dev blog Research & Destroy for details and background info on the above 15 card changes.

• Card copied from DOUBLE STRENGTH is no longer shown to enemy.
  
• Yamagata wasn't getting its buff in some cases when spawning on the board with an empty hand. Fixed.
  
• AI was playing 2 extra kredits when its DEATH FROM ABOVE hit a PB4Y-2 PRIVATEER. Fixed.

Hello friends!

The summer solstice is behind us, the year has started its inevitable slide towards winter and a new balance patch arrives to send a shiver down the collective spine of the Kards community. What a time to be alive!

We are making several important changes this month.

The Legions set brought many interesting new twists and takes and, on the whole, has had a positive impact on the game. But old foes like Soviet Arty and Research still hold a strong grasp on the meta, stifling innovation more than we’d like. Time to shake things up!

Let's start with changes to several of the research cards. Research was one of the main features of the Breakthrough set and has for the most part been a fun and interesting addition to the game. But they have not been without problems or controversy. Some of the research paths have turned out to be a bit underwhelming, while others are a tad on the stronger side.

The main issue has been the end paths for Britain and USA - Bletchley Park and Manhattan Project respectively. Both are really strong at closing out games, making it difficult for decks not aiming to win as fast as possible to compete without some active way of dealing with these cards, like a counter, discard or cost increase. We want to keep these cards strong, as it is not trivial to get to them, but give players other options to build against them than racing or negating them. Let’s take a look.



This change to Bletchley Park means that higher cost cards are retained, which makes Bletchley weaker against other high cost decks. This allows players to build and play more directly to counter the effectiveness of the card. Furthermore, it makes the option below Bletchley Park, Active Sonar, more strategically interesting, as against certain decks it can be more effective than going for Bletchley Park. On the whole, we feel this change will create a more interesting nuisance either when playing with or against British research.



The old Manhattan Project often led to immediate game over against many decks and was especially brutal in draft. The new version retains similar thematic touch (you still get two “bombs”), but the total cost is now 12 (same as for the other high end research paths in Germany and Britain). The important part of course is that dropping both the bombs does not automatically lead to game over against decks without means to to raise their HQ defense, and there is a chance that some board presence can be retained. On the other hand, having to only spend 6 kredits to drop one bomb also makes it easier to make other important plays alongside it. Taken together, the card is still a powerful tool, but requires greater skill to wield effectively.



Unlike its US and British counterparts, the end path for the German research has been a bit disappointing, both in terms of performance and fun factor. We are adjusting it to something that is simpler, more straightforward and packing a bigger punch, putting the pro in Uranprojekt.



On the flip side, Type XXI U-Boat was almost always just straight up better than the next research up. So to create a smoother research path for Germany, we are also taking a little bit of a sting out of the submarine.

On the whole, while research cards are less effective at ending games outright, they still offer plenty of power and are worth using. Being less effective at ending games on their own is in our opinion a good thing that will lead to more healthy and skill-based gameplay between control decks.

Next up, we have a couple of cards that we are neither nerfing or buffing, but changing for a different reason.





Same as with the change to 1st Rifles recently, we are changing Night Witches to remove it from allowing for an infinite deck, i.e. never dying to fatigue damage. We still want to keep it as a strong card, and after having tried various things out decided on this one. You are getting a lot of bang for the buck here, but be mindful of your hand size when you play this, as adding three bombers to hand can put a severe restraint on it if you are not planning to play them out soon.



Seaborne Invasion has been a problem card for awhile because its effectiveness can swing so wildly every time a new 3 cost US infantry is created. So we decided to reduce the random factor a little bit so players have a better idea of what to expect, but we don’t want to remove the random factor completely, as it is an interesting spin for many players. This new version should on the whole be on a similar power level as before, the crazy good or crazy bad rolls have just been removed.

Next up, we have a few nerfs, because what would a balance patch be without some nerfs thrown in?



Dowding System is an integral part of the Kards ecosystem to keep order heavy decks in check. Still, its effectiveness can be a bit too stifling for many decks, so we are adjusting it a bit. It is still very effective, but keeping up 3 kredits versus 2 is a real downside. It now also misses out on countering many important 3 kredit orders like Convoy Hx 175, Amphibious Assault and the first level of the research cards, though that is not always a good thing if you are trying to bait it out.



Despite the changes to Supply Chain last time around, Soviet Arty is still the King of the Hill. To diversify the meta a bit better, we are making a couple of changes to it. The first of those is Patriotic Firestorm. For decks full of cheap artillery, a single Firestorm could lead to massive blowouts. While still strong at 2 kredits, it is now slightly trickier to light the fire.



The second change is to reduce the staying power of the 10th Engineers Battalion. It can still provide plenty of firepower on the fly, but is much more vulnerable. Making it 1/1 actually brings it in line with other similar booster units, like Sd KFz 222 and Type 93.



We are adjusting slightly the ability on the 34th Infantry Regiment. This actually does not weaken this particular unit at all, but it does break its synergy with the 35th Mountain Rifles. Getting 5/5 unit on turn one was a bit too much high-roll and something that created more frustration than fun. This changed version can actually open up different synergies with cards like Betty and Supply Chain, so it will be interesting to see what develops on that front.



The main reason for nerfing Phoney War is due to our ongoing effort to reduce draw denial effects in the game. While Phoney War does not explicitly deny a draw, it does lead to a missed draw, which creates frustration. It is still a powerful effect that continues to fulfil the same role in the decks it is used in, just slightly less efficiently.

And as usual, we are also giving a few little used cards a bit of a facelift.



Buffing artillery is always slightly risky, but it is unlikely this change will have a big impact on the constructed scene. This change is mostly thought with draft in mind, where Japan needs a bit of love.



US based control decks are an endangered species, they are more common as allies in control decks, otherwise going for ramp themselves. A buffed Torpedo Attack may not create a lot of waves, but at least it offers a much better removal option for wannabe US control decks.



Speaking of ramp, it seems the quartermaster has been dipping into his own stores and gotten fatter. For 4 kredits, a 2/3 body was a bit on the weak side, let’s see what a beefier backside does for its survival rate.



Last but not least we have Western Allies, a true bro-mance that never was. Let’s see if this altered version, aimed at all combo meisters out there, can rekindle this budding romance that was meant to be.

That’s it for now. We decided not to make any changes to cards from the new set (Legions), as none of them are causing any big alarms at the moment. A few of the new cards are being heavily monitored, so we will see what happens next time around.

The balance patch will go live on Thursday June 24th, stay tuned for further details in the patch notes. See you on the battlefield, commander!

Welcome to Operation Barbarossa in KARDS!

On June 22nd, 1941, Nazi Germany started the largest military operation in the history of mankind and attacked the Soviet Union. This attack is known as Operation Barbarossa and is the theme of our latest KARDS event - ready for you to join!

We have for you unlimited mini-tournaments and special operations with prizes such as national and officer card packs! These tournaments are for new players and veterans alike as only cards of standard and limited rarity are allowed. No special or elite cards!

Additionally, we introduce the famous Soviet "Pilotka" cap as a new board decoration and also offer you fantastic savings on some of the most popular KARDS bundles.

Read on for more details!


At the start of the Second World War, the Soviet Union was relatively ready for offensive action and conquest of Eastern Europe. However, despite warnings and clear signs, the attack by Nazi Germany to conquer the western part of the Soviet Union came as a shock to the Soviet Union and revealed severe shortcomings. Inexperienced leadership, caused by the Great Purge before and during the war, lack of logistics, and lack of battle-ready equipment contributed to early massive losses by the Soviet Union.

Even though Operation Barbarossa brought some spectacular early results for the Germans, the Soviet leadership, and especially Stalin himself, was confident that the allied war machine would repel this attack and turn the tide in the long run. The plan was to slow down the advancing invasion, mobilize the vast reserves, ready existing hardware, develop and improve strategies, and establish a more experienced leadership.

With massive sacrifices of human lives, a ramp-up of industrial war production, and significant support from the USA (Lend-Lease program), the Soviet Union was able to turn the tide of the war. Pouring increasingly more hardware and whole armies into the frontlines, opened in the end the road to Berlin and the defeat of Hitler's troops.


The KARDS "Operation Barbarossa" tournaments are 4-player single-elimination tournaments for new players and veterans alike between June 24th and 27th: Allowed are only standard and limited cards, no specials or elite cards!

There are rewards to earn! You can get national card packs and even an officer pack: Complete the special operations assigned to you during this tournament and reap the rewards.

Select a deck with either Germany or Soviet as the main nation, only containing standard or limited cards, and fight for the top spot in these Operation Barbarossa-themed tournaments. You can select any ally nation.

Deck Construction Rules:

• Germany or Soviet as main nation
  
• Any ally nation
  
• Only Standard or Limited cards

We hope you like this format and would love to hear your thoughts on this. Please let us know and use the comments below or chat with us on KARDS Discord.

Join Operation Barbarossa, and see you on the battlefield!

Hello KARDS Community!

The Weekday Skirmish happens twice each month and is a one day Swiss format tournament. Each tournament will have a unique set of rules, challenging not only your play ability but deckbuilding as well!

We are extremely excited to announce the next weekday skirmish on June 23rd! This time it’s Singleton!

Signup NOW


In this deck format, you will only be allowed to field decks that bring NO MORE THAN ONE copy of each card in the deck, making it a deck of 39 unique cards + the HQ.

Who will reign supreme as the ultimate limited format tactician? Start building your decks now as the action commences on June 23rd!

For questions and more information please join the 983 Discord: https://discord.gg/dAbfkYF

• Bring two decks from two different main nations
  
• Decks can only contain ONE COPY of each card, so a total of 39 UNIQUE CARDS + HQ
  
• Win with both of your decks to win the round. NO BANS.
  
• Best of Three Conquest
  
• Swiss Format
  
• First round starts at 17:00 GMT
  
• Top 8 get 100 Gold each

Sign up right now to play:
https://battlefy.com/983-media/kards-weekday-skirmish-singleton/60c7703969dfb8761cf5dff9/info

Hello Kards community!

Lace up your boots and put those helmets on, because it’s time for another KARDS Open!

SIGN UP NOW

1939 Games presents the KARDS Open VII, powered by 983 Media. In this open, you will compete in three levels of increased challenge - now presented all-in-one weekend!

STAGE ONE - Starting Saturday, June 26th with the swiss qualifiers, you will compete in a best of 3 free-for-all deck format. This means you can bring any deck you want and play it as many times as you'd like. No deck submissions and no deck restrictions!

STAGE TWO - Then, if you finish in the Top 16 from the swiss day, you will be qualified for the next stage - Sunday, June 27th to compete in the single elimination best of 3 conquest. In this stage, you will submit four of your best decks from four different main nations. (you will only use three of these decks for the first half of this bracket) You will ban one deck from your opponent and play a best of 3.

STAGE THREE - If you've made it to the Top 4 on Sunday, June 27th, you've made it to stage 3. In this stage you will break out your 4th submitted deck and play in a best of 5 single elimination with one ban. These games will be recorded for the main event stream taking place on Monday, June 28th.

Join the 983 Discord: https://discord.gg/dAbfkYF

• Free-for-all decks for Saturday swiss day (stage one). No restrictions or submissions!
  
• Play a best of three each swiss round
  
• Day I: first rounds of Swiss play (7 rounds max, final number of rounds pending checked-in players)
  
• Day II: Top 16 Single elimination bracket
  
• Top 4 cuts will break out their 4th submitted deck for a best of 5 ban one.

Sign ups are open now! - https://battlefy.com/983-media/kards-open-vii/60c4d54a0332eb573b6eefee/info

Hello soldiers!

It’s time for a special edition of the Bunker Chat where we talk about the recently released KARDS: Legions expansion and of course answer the burning questions you all have.

👉Join us this Friday, the 4th of June, at 16:00 UTC on www.twitch.tv/kardsccg

In this bunker chat we will start by quickly discussing the Legions expansion and the impact it has already had on the game before we move on and take a look at two new decks that utilize the new cards built by members of our dev team.

After we have learned about the decks it’s time to see them in action for a quick showmatch!

Once that is over with we will discuss the upcoming D-Day event and what players can expect there, before wrapping it up by taking your questions live in chat.

We look forward to chatting with you as always!

Hello KARDS Players,

Fresh off launching the KARDS: Legions summer expansion on May 31st, we are rapidly approaching the anniversary of one of the most significant events of the second world war, D-Day.

D-Day was the largest seaborne invasion in history and started with the Normandy landings on June 6th, 1944. D-Day began the liberation of France (and later western Europe) and laid the foundation for the Allied victory on the Western Front.

To commemorate this historic date, we have prepared a special game event in KARDS this weekend. Join the KARDS D-Day event from 4th to June 6th!

👉 The event itself in-game will start in the evening on the 4th (UTC time). Use the time and get your decks ready!


We invite you to join the heat of the battle and engage your opponents in special D-Day-inspired mini-tournaments in the KARDS client itself.

These mini-tournaments are single-elimination tournaments for four players. Select a deck that contains only cards from Britain, the USA, or Germany. Fight for the top spot - show your opponents that you have the upper hand!

To increase the stakes a bit, joining the tournaments requires a buy-in of 4 Gold. The winner takes 10 Gold, the second place gets 6 Gold. You can play as many tournaments throughout the event as you like.

But wait, there is more: Special Operations with special rewards!


We introduce a new type of time-limited mission with additional rewards for the D-Day event: Special Operations!

During the D-Day event, you can complete several Special Operations and earn some pretty neat additional rewards for your battlefield achievements.

IMPORTANT! These Operations expire at the end of the event, and no awards are given for half-finished missions. So, lace up your combat boots and get ready to finish them all before they disappear!

Additional to all these exciting events, we also have some brand-new, never-seen-before board items ready for you in the store.


Expand your German or British collection and level up your battlefield appearance with brand new table props for Britain and Germany with our German and British D-Day bundles!

During this weekend, you can acquire the iconic gas mask canister that German soldiers used to store their necessities in or the paratrooper goggles used by the British airborne infantry along with German or British Officer packs. Head to the in-game store and use the opportunity to expand on your collection before storming the beaches, completing your mission, and reaping the rewards.

Join the D-Day commemorations and see you on the battlefield!

KARDS Legions, the fourth major expansion for KARDS, is live now! Legions introduces the Polish fighting forces as a new ally along with 84 unique playable cards and advanced new gameplay mechanics in a massive summer offensive.

These are the highlights of Legions:

• Poland as a new ally nation
  
• 84 new unique cards in total
  
• Exile keyword to use Polish cards with an Exile nation
  
• Intel as a new keyword to spy on your opponent
  
• New abilities to expand your tactical options
  
• New cards for existing nations to explore new deck options
  
• Numerous bug fixes and improvements

https://store.steampowered.com/app/544810/KARDS__The_WWII_Card_Game/

New features, like the Exile and Intel abilities, significantly expand the array of tactical options available and signal a new era for KARDS.

Legions delivers a total of 84 new cards, many of them with new effects seen for the first time. Clever new tools allow you to challenge your opponents and dominate the battlefield with tactical skills and strategic thinking.

Legions was published on May 31st and is an automatic update for all KARDS players.


Inspired by real-world WW2 history, Poland joins the front from exile along with its intelligence forces.



Poland's unique style is inspired by Polish forces' significant role in WW2 when Polish troops fought both inside and outside Poland, serving across multiple campaigns with great distinction.

Intel - Uncover your opponent's cards

Intel is the new keyword in KARDS that allows you to get a peek into your opponent's hand and see which card(s) exactly your opponent has ready in hand.

Intel as a new keyword is inspired by the history of WW2. Before and during WW2, Polish intel gathering and crypto-analysis experts of the Polish Cipher Bureau significantly contributed to cracking the famous Enigma code. Cracking the Enigma code provided the Allies with a significant advantage in WW2; some even go so far and call it the deciding factor. We pay tribute to that important aspect with the introduction of Intel.


Exile cards can fight for two nations, their home nation Poland and their exile nation.

Exile allows you to add the card to a specific other nation when constructing a deck. This Exile nation is pre-determined for each Exile card. Exile considerably increases the card's flexibility; it dramatically expands its potential use without the need to lock down your deck to Poland as an ally nation.

This use of Exile has, of course, deep roots in Poland's WW2 history. When first overrun by Nazi Germany, Poland and their forces didn't stop the fight - quite the contrary. Many soldiers and intellectual capabilities went into exile, where they fought with a passionate vigor, providing awe-inspiring support to the ally nations in many areas.


Legions continues to deliver fresh frontline reinforcements for you to devise new strategies continually.

All of the existing nations receive exciting new cards. Whether it is further commando-support for Britain, smokescreen-themed cards for Japan, T-34 archetype decks for the Soviets, tools against early aggro for Germany, or new infantry for the US.

The new Legions cards also deliver for the existing nations a vast range of new opportunities. Now, you can develop brand-new deck strategies for months to come.

Be faster and be more innovative than your opponent. Now is the time to shine as a great mastermind and strategist - or simply enjoy all the new cards at your own speed. With Legions, the choice is yours!


Legions also with an array of bug fixes and a small number of balance changes to the existing card set. For details, please have a look at the patch notes!


KARDS is entirely free to play and stays like this. You can obtain the new Legions cards in multiple ways:

1. Open Legions packs. This is the fastest and easiest way to build up your set of Legions cards.
   
   
   • You can purchase Legions card packs with in-game currency (gold).
     
   • You can purchase Legions card packs and bundles for real money.
2. Use your wildcards to create the Legions card(s) you want.

You decide what best fits your style!