Blood Wars TCG History[]
BLOOD WARS HISTORY Blood Wars is a collectible card game produced by TSR, Inc. (Tactical Studies Rules) and the game is based on the Planescape campaign setting from DUNGEONS § DRAGONS. The game was released in March of 1995 as part of TSR's 20th anniversary. Blood Wars release followed on the heels of TSR's SPELLFIE©.
The game is an expandable card game of Intrigue and Combat. Each deck has cards representing Battlefields, Warlords, Legions and elements of Fate. Players use their Warlords, Legions and Fate cards to seize Battle fields. The winner is the first player to capture enough Battlefields to reach a preset number of victory points.1
The Blood Wars Collectible Card Game has been out of print for more than 20 years.
RELEASE HISTORY
The Blood Wars collection of cards begin with a Duel-Deck pack, three Escalation Packs and one GEN Con® Game Fair promotional card given out only during the 1995 convention.
Each Escalation Pack was theme based on a different aspect of the PLANESCAPE setting of the ADVANCED DUNGEONS § DRAGONS fantasy role-playing game's Outer Planes.1
Each release of cards contained Common, Uncommon, Rare and Chase cards, plus the occasional Ultra-Rare card. Each mix of cards were printed on what is called a "print sheet" which is broken down by rarity.1
DUEL-DECK PACKS
The Duel-Deck release was one of two products that introduced the Blood Wars game to the collectible card game community. Each Duel-Deck pack consisted of a rule book and two 50-card decks.1
The total cards released for the Duel-Decks numbered 300. The only card unique to this release (not found in any other Escalation Pack) is the Warlord: The Bladeling Hero. The 300 cards associated with this release consisted of five print sheets: a Common, an Uncommon, a Rare, a Battlefield and a Warlord sheet. The last two sheets only consisted of Battlefield and Warlords, however, Battlefields and Warlords could also be found on the other three sheets 1
The starter Duel-Deck packs contained a mix of 150 Commons, 100 Uncommons, and 50 Rares. PLANESCAPE released 1st, 2nd and 3rd edition Duel-Decks. 2nd and 3rd edition starter cards are extremely hard to find.
ESCALATION PACK #1: Rebels § Reinforcements
This was the first of the 15-card booster pack releases. The Rebels § Reinforcements consisted of 299 cards from the Duel-Deck packs and 34 Chase cards that could be found only in this release. Like the Duel-Deck release, Rebels § Reinforcements was available in March, 1995.1
The 333 cards from this set consisted of five print sheets: two Common, an Uncommon, a Rare and a Chase sheet. Each Chase sheet was "three up" of 33 of all cards except for the Ultra-Rare card, The Lady of Pain, which was "one up" on the sheet.1 The mix of cards from each sheet that make up the booster packs are: 8 common (two from each sheet), 4 uncommon, 2 rare cards and 1 Chase card.
E1 (Rebels & Reinforcements ) contained cards from the starter series and added 33 Chase cards and 1 ultra-rare Chase card (The Lady of Pain).
ESCALATION PACK #2: Factols § Factions
The second 15-card booster pack release which spilled the Blood Wars saga over into the city of Sigil, became available in June of 1995. The 134 cards found only in this release deal with the City of Doors' leaders, legions, and the luck of its secret (and not-so-secret) societies known as Factions.1 The 134 cards from this expansion contained a mix of 100 Common, Uncommon, and Rare cards, plus 34 Chase cards. The print sheets for this set consisted of a Common, an Uncommon, a Rare and a Chase sheet. The Ultra-Rare card for this pack, The Key of Pain, had the same frequency on the print sheet as The Lady of Pain in Escalation #1.1
There were two different mixes for this release, giving more rarity to the Chase cards. Two out of three booster packs had a mix of: 10 Common, 4 Uncommon, and one Rare card; while one in three boosters had a mix of 10 Common, 4 Uncommon, and one Chase card.
ESCALATION PACK #3: Powers § Proxies
The last and third Blood Wars 15-card booster pack release which deals with the powerful avatars of the Outer Planes. This release became available in August of 1995. The first place a Blood Wars player could have obtained this release was at the Gen Con Game Fair in Milwaukee, Wis. Like the Escalation Pack #2, this release consisted of 134 cards.1
The 134 cards from this expansion contained a mix of 100 Common, Uncommon, and Rare cards, with an additional 34 Chase cards. The print sheets for this set consisted of a Common, an Uncommon, a Rare and a Chase sheet. The Ultra-Rare card for this pack, The Floating Gods, had the same frequency on the print sheet as the Ultra-Rare cards from previous Escalation Packs.1
There were two different mixes for this expansion, and it did differ from Escalation Pack #2. Two out of three booster packs had a mix of: 9 Common, 4 Uncommon, and 2 Rare cards; and one in three boosters had a mix of 8 Common, 4 Uncommon, 2 Rare cards and one Chase card.
To recap, the Blood Wars Collectible Card Game was made up of four releases: The first release, Duel-Deck Packs, consisted of 300 cards (D) with one unique card, The Bladeling Hero. The first booster series, Rebels § Reinforcements (E1) added an additional 34 cards to the game as chase cards and one ultra-rare The Lady of Pain chase card. These were added to the base set of released cards. The second booster series, Factols § Factions (E2) added 134 cards and the last booster series, Powers § Proxies (E3) another 134 cards. With the one Ultra-Rare Chase promotion card, only available and distributed at the Gen Con Game Fair in 1995, GUARDIAN MOLYDEUS, the complete collection consisted of 603 cards.
The E2 Booster series (Factols § Factions) added 33 common, 34 uncommon, 33 rare, 33 Chase cards and 1 ultra-rare Chase card (The Key of Pain).
The E3 Booster series (Powers § Proxies) added 34 common, 33 uncommon, 33 rare, 33 Chase cards and 1 ultra-rare Chase card (The Floating Gods).
Chase cards could only be found in one of three booster packs. One card of each series (E1 - E3) is considered Ultra-Rare.
1 TSR, Inc. (1996). Blood Wars: Warlord's Tactical Manual Reference Guide. Random House.