Warzone Reflections

For those of you who don't know, Warzone Resurrection is a 28mm futuristic, skirmish game.  It is set in the universe of Mutant Chronicles, and is produced by Prodos Games.  Aproximately 4 weeks ago, those of us who backed the Kickstarter to fund this project got an advance PDF of the rules, and I'm here to give my impressions and thought on some of the more unique parts.

The most unique part of Warzone is an aspect of the "advanced game".  In an advanced game each player has a deck of cards and a set of resource cards.  Using the resource cards a player can influence the game environment.  The number of resource cards are determined by the type of Warlord (general) you are fielding from 4 types; Close Combat, Ranged, Tech, and Psychic. As well as the number of squad comanders in your force. Unfortunately the actual cards won't be available until the models are released, but extrapolating from the play test cards, these will be able to do things like change the type of armor a unit was, or what type of ammunition is being used, or even effect the entire game with penalties and bonuses.

These type of changes are important in WZR, as there is a "rock, paper, scissors" effect done

between armor types and ammunition types.

For Example: Chasseurs are stated as wearing ‘Titanium plates (Blast-3)’,meaning if they are targeted by a ‘Blast’ weapon they receive an additional -3 Modifier. Occasionally an armour type may receive a positive Modifier against a particular weapon type (e.g. Piercing +2), in this case the squad would receive a +2 Armour Modifier if targeted by a Piercing weapon.

The ability to change these types on the fly is an awesome and unique aspect of the game I can't wait to try out.  In conjuction with the deck of cards, units in the game might have abilities that use resources to increase their effectiveness.  With all this added usefulness, the tactics of this game will be new and fresh.

While is may not be unique, WZR uses facings for each model, divided into front and back.  Not groundbreaking I know, but certainly another added layer of tactical thinking when compared to other gaming systems.

In the end I think that is the most telling thing about Warzone.  This game is going to change the way you think about strategy and tactics.  With the added complexity of the card system, theroy gaming becomes a new exercise.  Now the effectiveness of a unit isn't just measured by it's own stats, but also by the deck building strategies that go along with it.  I for one am looking forward longingly to the day my models arrive, and 2CE and I can get to beating each other in the face.  Going Forward I hope to do a thematic overview of all the factions: Dark Legion, Bauhuas, Cybertronic, Brotherhood, Capitol, and Mishima.  So look for those in the coming weeks.  Until next time...

Belgarath97