Mage Knight - Expansions

Expansions

The expansions are (in order of release):

Rebellion - The original Mage Knight release from November, 2000.
Lancers - Released in May 2001, this first expansion introduced cavalry figures, with double the base size of regular figures and unique rules regarding their use. The expansion also introduced the first figures using the 'charge' and 'bound' special abilities which allowed figures to move and attack in the same action.
Whirlwind - Released in October 2001, the 2nd Mage Knight expansion introduced the Shyft, a faction that allows the Mage Spawn (monster) faction to use formations and new figures with special abilities such as 'venom' and 'ram', which allows the infliction of automatic damage if one moved into contact with an opposing figure.
Dungeons - Released in 2002, Mage Knight Dungeons is a complete, stand alone game as opposed to being a mere expansion to the Mage Knight system. Players take on the role of heroes fighting monsters in a dungeon and collecting treasure. Dungeons starter sets included a map, as well as two heroes, six mage spawn (monsters), and two chests, while boosters contained half as many of each. Dungeon kits with new maps and terrain were also available as part of the release. Though many of the Dungeons rules differ from Mage Knight rules, all Mage Knight Dungeons figures are fully compatible with regular Mage Knight.
Unlimited - This 2002 expansion was actually the re-release of a base (introductory) set. Unlimited took 160 figures from Rebellion and Lancers, some of which featured new sculpts.
Conquest - Released in June 2002, Mage Knight Conquest was not a true expansion but a rules set for large scale, high point-total Mage Knight battles to be played in a reasonable period of time. Conquest came with a 96-page rulebook, 3 unique figures, and several pieces of new siege equipment. Also, several connectable castle fortifications were released, including a castle keep and gatehouse which each came with a unique figure, a round tower, and 2 sets of walls.
Sinister - This expansion, released in 2002, featured a new faction, the Solonavi, that featured powerful, high point cost figures with unique clear plastic sculpts. The expansion also featured 'dual faction' figures, figures that count as being members of two different factions. This set also featured the four ultra-rare Riders of the Apocalypse as chase figures, randomly inserted in boosters.
Minions - Released in September 2002, Minions featured more Solonavi and Draconum figures, including the first non-unique Solonavi figures and the first dual faction Draconum unique figures. In addition, the Tough versions of the first 10 figures in the set were made in limited edition glow-in-the-dark plastic variants, randomly inserted in boosters.
Heroic Quests - Also released in September 2002. Another supplement for Dungeons, Heroic Quests consisted of 2 fixed 5-figure scenario-based boxed sets, Magestone Mines and The Citadel, each of which included 4 unique Heroes, a powerful Master Adversary figure, a unique double-sided map, and special scenario rules and monster tokens.
Pyramid - Released in January 2003, Pyramid was not a true expansion but a new starter set for the Mage Knight Dungeons game. Like Dungeons, all figures are compatible with regular Mage Knight play.
Uprising - Released in April 2003, Uprising was a relatively small expansion, with 96 figures released.
Dragon's Gate - This expansion was another addition to the Mage Knight Dungeons game, with all figures again being compatible with standard Mage Knight rules.
Mage Knight - Commonly known as "Mage Knight 2.0", this Base Set was released in November 2003 and represented a major revision to the Mage Knight ruleset. Figures from prior sets remained compatible with this ruleset. Figures from the prior sets were phased out from tournament play. Figures released with Mage Knight 2.0 and later also included more features that enabled them to be more versatile and customizable on the battlefield, such as a wider variety of special abilities, subfactions giving units a more "permanent" ability, and proficiencies which gave warriors abilities based on their combat value types. One of the major enhancements with Mage Knight 2.0 was the introduction of styrene cards which influenced gameplay in various ways.
Dark Riders - Released in April 2004, Dark Riders introduces the "mount" and "rider" units. Certain warriors are removable from their bases, and can be placed in slots on the front of larger "mount" units to create a "cavalry" unit, and gain significant benefits from doing so. Certain relics are only equipable by riders. Dark Riders also introduces Faith and Catastrophe Domain cards, new Item cards, the Dark Riders and Wylden Host subfactions, and four ultra-rare "chase" figures: the Avatars of Apocalypse (whose subfaction the set is named after).
Sorcery - Released in September 2004, Sorcery introduced a new rules mechanic for spellcasting and a new proficiency for blocking spells cast by opposing players. Associated with this new ruleset were two new types of styrene cards - Spellbooks and Spells. Sorcery also was the first 2.0 expansion to have non-unique warriors with Item slots, allowing for even greater versatility in army building. Although no new factions were introduced with Sorcery, 10 new subfactions were introduced to give even more variety to the types of armies players could build.
Omens - Released in April 2005, Omens introduced two new rules mechanics: Adventuring Companies, which allowed an army to have a universal ability, and could be made cheaper by choosing specific characters; and Champions, figures with a removable base that allowed the player to choose from a set of 5 increasingly powerful combat dials, depending on the number of points the player wished to spend on it. Also reintroduced with the Omens expansion was the Shyft faction, as well as the first 2.0 non-unique Mage Spawn figures. Associated with the release, though not part of the release itself, was the introduction of a convention-exclusive figure known as the Apocalypse Dragon.
Nexus - Released on August 24, 2005, and featured previously released figures from the Unlimited, Sinister, Minions, Uprising, Pyramid, and Dragon's Gate sets. These figures use the same sculpts as the original figures, but are painted to 2.0 standards, and have combat dials and stats updated to reflect gameplay in the Mage Knight 2.0 ruleset. The set is unique in that unlike other sets, where "common" units had three levels of relative power (Weak, Standard, and Tough), Nexus had only Unique and Standard figures; no Weak or Tough versions were included in the set. Presumably this was to give a greater variety of figure sculpts, while keeping the amount of distinct figures on par with other Mage Knight expansion sets.

The Dungeons and Sinister expansions were both nominated for Origins Awards. Mage Knight Dungeons won Best Graphic Presentation of a Board Game Product 2002 and Mage Knight Dungeons: 3D Dungeon Tiles won Best Game Aid or Accessory 2003. Individual miniatures have also won awards, as in 2002.