Vampire: The Eternal Struggle (published as Jyhad in the first or "Limited" edition and often abbreviated as V:TES) is a multiplayer collectible card game published by Wizards of the Coast (1994-1996), then White Wolf Publishing (1996-2010) and after several years of hiatus, by Black Chantry Productions (2018-present). It is set in the World of Darkness and is based on the Vampire: The Masquerade roleplaying game.<!-- this was a pilot magazine now considered 'issue 0'; it did not have a date, volume, or issue number; the front cover is marked 'display until April 1995' -->
Publication history
The game was designed in 1994 by Richard Garfield and initially published by Wizards of the Coast and was the third CCG ever created, after Magic: The Gathering and Spellfire. As Garfield's first follow-up to his popular Magic: The Gathering collectible card game, he was eager to prove that the genre was "a form of game as potentially diverse as board games". Richard Garfield noted that the experiences he had while making Magic: The Gathering had helped him to improve his design of the game. In an interview with Robert Goudie, Garfield particularly notes that dedicated multi-player (3+) rules, a lack of resource (or "land") cards, and a more rapid card drawing mechanism (cards normally being replaced instantly after being played) were all features chosen to differentiate this new title.
White Wolf published The Eternal Struggle: A Strategy Guide to the Jyhad in 1995, After the 1996 Sabbat expansion, Wizards of the Coast abandoned the game, and in 2000 White Wolf took over development.
White Wolf announced that Vampire: The Eternal Struggle would cease production on September 10, 2010.
Several fan-designed sets have appeared over the years, under the player community organization brand of Elder Kindred Network .
On April 24, 2018, Black Chantry Productions, a fan-run organization, announced the company had obtained the license to produce Vampire: The Eternal Struggle and return the game to print.
Setting
The game is set in the World of Darkness, drawing mainly from the Vampire: The Masquerade role-playing game. After the events of Gehenna ended the official World of Darkness storyline, V:TES is considered a sort of alternative reality of the setting, as it continues though White Wolf publishes no further official products for the roleplaying game.
In V:TES, each player takes on the role of a Methuselah, an ancient and manipulative vampire, who is not itself present in the struggle, but acts from afar. Each Methuselah will try to eliminate all others by nullifying their influence and power. To that end, the Methuselahs will control and manipulate a number of minions (mostly younger vampires) to attack and destroy the other Methuselahs' resources.
Gameplay
Overview
The game can be played by any number of two or more players but is ideally played by a group of four or five players. Group play with more than six players is rare, as an individual's turn can easily take two to three minutes, causing a slow game. Two-player games (and to some extent three-player games) also suffer from lack of opportunity for the kind of inter-player alliances and treachery that are a large part of the game.
As in most other collectible card games, each player designs his or her own deck before play begins. Each deck is built with two components:
- "Crypt" - amber-backed cards representing vampires (and in some cases mortal allies) that the player may control during the game. are:
- Bleed / Stealth Bleed - this deck concentrates on causing as much pool loss as possible, either over the course of multiple turns, or suddenly during a moment of weakness. It usually has some way of ensuring that bleeds are more likely to slip past the defenses, the classical way of which would be playing "stealth" cards.
- Combat / Rush - this type of deck is based on attacking opponents' vampires, rendering them incapable of acting or destroying them outright. After the defense has been whittled away, it then starts bleeding normally. It also defends itself by attacking individual vampires (mainly of its own predator) that pose a threat.
- Political - this deck is geared to take advantage of the political system built into the game. It concentrates on having as many votes (usually via powerful vampires) on the table as possible. It is then able to call and pass its own political actions, which typically include those directly damaging its own prey.
- Build - this deck attempts to survive during the early game while it builds up to later control the table via these accumulated assets, be they vampires, large amounts of reserve pool, votes, or other cards. It is usually combined with another style.
- Intercept / Wall - This deck, often combined with the "Combat" or the "Build" style, tries to intercept the vampires of the prey when they act (and then likely attempts destroying them). Alternatively, it may be a defensive deck slowly building its strength for the late game, using its intercepting abilities to stop itself from being ousted in the meantime.
- Toolbox - this style attempts to be able to do as much as possible of all the styles. It is often a "Build"-style deck at the same time.
All the above deck types have various weaknesses, the most glaring being that a deck should theoretically be able to do everything well enough to take advantage of evolving game situations, and to counter other styles it may come up against. However, if it uses this "Toolbox" approach too strongly, it may spread itself too thin and end up being incapable of following through.
! New cards
! Booster distribution
|-
| Jyhad
| Base
| (none)
| Jyhad
| August 16, 1994
| 437
| 437
| 11C, 4V, 3U, 1R
|-
| Vampire: The Eternal Struggle
| Base
| (none)
| V:TES
| September 15, 1995
| 436
| 6
| 11C, 4V, 3U, 1R
|-
| Dark Sovereigns
| Expansion
| Gothic window
| DS
| December 15, 1995
| (173)
| 173
| 8C, 4V, 3U
|-
| Ancient Hearts
| Expansion
| Eye of Horus
| AH
| May 29, 1996
| (179)
| 179
| 6C, 4V, 2U/R
|-
| Sabbat
| Expansion
| Calligraphy S
| Sabbat
| October 28, 1996
| (410)
| 340
| 16C, 5V, 5U, 2R
|-
| Sabbat War
| Base
| Inverted spiked ankh
| SW
| October 31, 2000
| 437 (300)
| 77
| 5C, 3V, 2U, 1R or<br />4C, 3V, 3U, 1R
|-
| Final Nights
| Expansion
| Broken ankh
| FN
| June 11, 2001
| 386 (162)
| 170
| 7C, 3V, 1R
|-
| Bloodlines
| Expansion
| Ankh on red blood spatter
| BL
| December 3, 2001
| (196)
| 196
| 7C, 3V, 1R
|-
| Camarilla Edition
| Base
| Ankh
| CE
| August 19, 2002
| 547 (385)
| 115
| 5C, 3V, 2U, 1R
|-
| Anarchs
| Expansion
| Combined CE/SW Ankhs
| Anarchs
| May 19, 2003
| 260 (132)
| 128
| 7C, 3V, 1R
|-
| Black Hand
| Expansion
| Handprint
| BH
| November 17, 2003
| 286 (136)
| 145
| 7C, 3V, 1R
|-
| Gehenna
| Expansion
| Stylised Clock
| Gehenna
| May 17, 2004
| (150)
| 150
| 7C, 3V, 1R
|-
| Tenth Anniversary
| Special
| Foil "10"
| Tenth
| December 13, 2004
| 190
| 10
| --
|-
| Kindred Most Wanted
| Expansion
| Gun
| KMW
| February 21, 2005
| 314 (150)
| 162
| 7C, 3V, 1R
|-
| Legacies of Blood
| Expansion
| Split ankh (black)
| LoB
| November 14, 2005
| 461 (300)
| 236
| 7C, 3V, 1R
|-
| Nights of Reckoning
| Mini expansion
| Plus with circle
| NoR
| April 10, 2006
| (60+17)
| 60
| 6C, 3V, 1R, 1X
| Base
| Tri-snake biohazard
| Third
| September 4, 2006
| 537 (390)
| 160
| 5C, 3V, 2U, 1R
|-
| Sword of Caine
| Mini expansion
| Bundle of swords
| SoC
| March 19, 2007
| (60)
| 60
| 7C, 3V, 1R
|-
| Lords of the Night
| Expansion
| Crown
| LotN
| September 26, 2007
| 295 (150)
| 175
| 7C, 3V, 1R
|-
| Blood Shadowed Court
| Special
| Silver Ankh
| BSC
| April 16, 2008
| 100
| 0
| --
|-
| Twilight Rebellion
| Mini expansion
| Tri-snake on Red Star
| TR
| May 28, 2008
| (60)
| 60
| 7C, 3V, 1R
|-
| Keepers of Tradition
| Base
| Castle tower
| KoT
| November 19, 2008
| 457 (398)
| 176
| 5C, 3V, 2U, 1R
|-
| Ebony Kingdom
| Mini expansion
| Split ankh (white)
| EK
| May 27, 2009
| (62)
| 60
| 4C, 3V, 1R, 3C
|-
| Heirs to the Blood
| Expansion
| Three blood drops
| HttB
| February 3, 2010
| TBA (168)
| 168
| 7C, 3V, 1R
|-
| Danse Macabre
| Mini expansion (PDF)
| Fanged Skull
| DM
| October 5, 2013
| 34
| 34
| --
|-
| The Unaligned
| Mini expansion (PDF)
| Broken Column
| TA
| October 4, 2014
| 72
| 72
| --
|-
| Storyline Rewards
| Mini expansion (PDF)
| (none)
| SR
| February 21, 2015
| 13
| 13
| --
|-
| Anarchs Unbound
| Mini expansion (PDF)
| Burning ankh
| AU
| January 17, 2016
| 42
| 42
| --
|-
| Lost Kindred
| Mini expansion
| Bleeding eye
| LK
| June 10, 2018
| 41
| 41
| --
|-
|Sabbath Preconstructed
|Expansion
|Small Ankh
|SP
|February 16, 2019
|125
|8
|Set of four decks.
|-
| Fifth Edition
| Base set
| Small Ankh
| V5
| November 30, 2020
| 495
| 49
| Box set of five decks, with rulebook, pool counters, and Edge token.
|-
|Kickstarter
|Mini expansion
| --
|KSU
|Sep 2021
| --
| --
|Four card bundles: Anarchs Unbound, Danse Macabre, The Unaligned 1 and The Unaligned 2.
|}
Reception
In a review in issue #10 of Pyramid magazine, Scott Haring stated that while Magic: The Gathering created the collectible card game market, Vampire: The Eternal Struggle established it as a "legitimate game category".
Vampire: The Eternal Struggle was a very popular card game in the 1990s, outselling most other collectible card games on the market at the time, although behind Magic: The Gathering in sales.
Martin Klimes reviewed the Ancient Hearts expansion for Arcane magazine, rating it an 8 out of 10 overall. Klimes comments that "There is now pretty much always a good attack you can choose, and almost always a choice of defenses against it. Ancient Hearts will add significant interest to your games, which is all you can ask of any expansion."
Awards
In 2004, Inquest Gamer Magazine picked Vampire: The Eternal Struggle as the all-time best multiplayer collectible card games.
In 2006, Inquest Gamer Fan Awards called the Third Edition expansion the "Best CCG Expansion".
Reviews
- Rollespilsmagasinet Fønix (Danish) (Issue 5 - November/December 1994)
- Review in Shadis
V:TES Online
From December 2005 to the end of 2007 an online implementation of Vampire: The Eternal Struggle named "Vampire: The Eternal Struggle Online" was available. It was developed and maintained by CCG Workshop. Players could create decks and compete online for a monthly fee. White Wolf Publishing had allowed CCG Workshop to release the Camarilla, Anarchs, Final Nights, Legacies of Blood, Black Hand and Kindred Most Wanted sets for online play.
References
- Andrew Greenberg, Richard Garfield & Daniel Greenberg, Eternal Struggle: A Player's Guide to Jyhad (White Wolf Game Studio, 1994, )
Further reading
- [https://archive.org/details/DuelistMagazine2-Summer1994/page/n51/mode/2up]
- Strategy in Scrye #68
External links
- Black Chantry Productions (BCP) (Current Publisher of V:TES)
- Vampire: Elder Kindred Network (VEKN) (official V:TES players' organization)
- Carnet d'un Diableriste Fourtou de réflexions sur Vampire : The Eternal Struggle