|
Post by Jack Shrapnel on Oct 11, 2013 8:09:05 GMT -5
I'm really liking the mantic sculpts... they've really come a long way from their initial kings of war offerings...
|
|
|
Post by donimator on Nov 8, 2013 12:51:44 GMT -5
The electronic rulebook for Deadzone recently shipped to backers and makes for an interesting read. The basic game of Deadzone takes place on a 2'x2' board marked in 3" squares. Well, cubes actually as Deadzone is played on a board with 3D terrain so there is a vertical element to it also. True LOS for shooting, 'Area LOS' (can you see any part of the 3" cube?) for actions like suppressive fire or throwing a grenade.
The game is played with 8-sided dice and the basic mechanic is rolling a pool of dice versus a stat and counting successes. Stats are shoot, fight, survive, armour and command and are give as an X+ value, with X= the number you need to equal or beat to count a success. For example a Shoot action is a 3 dice Shoot test. The shooter can add or subtract dice from their pool based on conditions or actions and/or cards, then rolls and counts successes versus their stat number. The target rolls a survive test with bonus dice for cover, being pinned, etc and counts successes. The difference between Shoot successes and Survive successes is Potential Damage. This gets reduced by the target's armour rating. Any remaining damage is applied as injured (1 point) or killed (2+ points)
Models are given a size rating from 1-4. 1 for man-sized troops up to 4 for vehicles, giant models, etc. Each cube can contain a number of friendly models up to a total of 4 in size plus up to an equal number of enemy models.
Each faction comes with models of various types (Leader, specialist, trooper, rare or unique) and of varying point values. A strike team in the basic game is a 70 point force. An elite Enforcer army may be only 6 or 7 models. A troop-heavy Plague or Marauder force may be 13 or 14. Each faction also comes with a specific deck of cards. Each deck has stat cards for each unit type in that faction, battle cards and mission cards.
Battle cards are formed into a random deck of 20 at the start of each game. 4 are drawn into a starting hand and may be played during turns to improve abilities or give special effects. You must play or discard one battle card each round. At the end of a round you draw and keep a number of cards based on your Leader's Command stat (or model with highest remaining command stat). When either player's 20 card battle deck runs out, the game has timed out and victory conditions are tallied. This is one way to win.
Misison cards are the main may to win. Each deck has 8 (I believe?) mission cards. You randomly draw 1 for your team's mission for that game. Your opponent has a separate mission. Each card lists some tasks and the associated VP's for completing those tasks. At the end of any turn you have amassed 10 or more VPs you can declare a victory. Your mission objectives are kept secret from your opponent so it may be unknown for a few turns what they are trying to accomplish. Examples may be: - Kill - either models of specific point value (1-6, 7-10, 11+) with varying VPs awarded OR - Kill models of specific type - Commander, Trooper, etc. with varying VPs (or no points for some) - Capture or control X, Y, Z. 3 hidden objectives are randomly placed before start of game - Infiltrate (leave board through opponent's deployment zone) varying VPs per type of model that succeeds - Scour - random items are placed at mission start - retirieve items and leave from your deployment zone - Survive - VPs for every round at least half your Strike team remains on board
After missions are set and the board set up, one player flips one of their remaining mission cards which shows four types of deployment. The other player flips an unused mission card which has a section with either 'Friend' or 'Foe' determining who sets up and has the first turn (has initiative).
A round is a series of turns where every model gets to act. The player with initiative can activate a number of models equal to their Leader's commander rating. Their opponent then gets a turn until all models have acted or passed. A model can take two short actions (move 1 square, shoot) or one long action (fight, move two squares, overwatch, etc.). There are also a host of special abilities that affect each model or their equipment.
The basic game also comes with a campaign system for maintain your Strike Froce between battles and improving survivors. Future expansions funded through the Kickstarter will bring in larger battles and bigger boards, new factions - Forge Fathers and Asterians, multiplayer, solo and co-op play, and random marauding zombie hordes(!).
The rules are interesting and the game looks fun. It releases to retail in January, I believe. Mantic has posted some images of the models and they are getting better all the time as they develop their various ranges. Core troops for this will be in hard plastic.
Jake Thornton wrote the rules and he has done a good job with Dreadball and the currently funding Mars Attacks. Rumblings are that Mantic will do a Warpath Kickstarter next year and the model range for Deadzone will be a good jumping off point. Deadzone looks like it will be a pretty good game.
|
|
|
Post by donimator on Nov 20, 2013 11:48:31 GMT -5
Deadzone starts shipping in December and here are the studio shots of some of their release models. Enforcers Marauders Plague Rebs
|
|
|
Post by Admiral Agrippa on Nov 20, 2013 15:22:00 GMT -5
Yeah, Rebs are still my favourite faction.
I can't wait till my package arrives!
|
|
|
Post by Admiral Agrippa on Dec 1, 2013 8:34:15 GMT -5
Yeah, Rebs are still my favourite faction. I can't wait till my package arrives! And I just got an email from FedEx. Estimated delivery is Tuesday December 3, 2013. Which I think is incredibly fast considering I didn't opt for any priority shipping and they've just sent the package today. Hopefully customs won't hold things up.
|
|
|
Post by Jack Shrapnel on Dec 1, 2013 8:48:49 GMT -5
very cool!
be interesting to see some size comparison shots with deadzone models and 40k
|
|
|
Post by Admiral Agrippa on Dec 9, 2013 15:55:20 GMT -5
very cool! be interesting to see some size comparison shots with deadzone models and 40k Sorry to be truant on this. I do have the package and have been sorting through it but with nothing built just yet due to a slightly busy schedule. However, I do realize now that I actually don't think I have any 40k minis readily available to use for comparison pics. I sold all my 40k stuff years ago other than my Inquisition army which has been in storage at my parents' place for nearly as long and I am not entirely too sure how buried they may be. I'll try and take a look and dig through some stuff over the holidays and see what I can dig up. Hopefully I'll have some stuff built by then too. Addendum: It just occurred to me that if all else fails, my friend in Cobourg still has his Dark Eldar and some Chaos Marines I may procure in order for some comparison. So all should work out.
|
|
|
Post by donimator on Dec 25, 2013 10:50:10 GMT -5
Now that the Christmas present has been given, here's a few quick shots of the Enforcer models assembled beside some GW Space Marines. Deadzone models are (L to R) -Assault Trooper (pistol, wrist blade) -Missile Trooper -Sniper -Captain in Peacekeeper armour Attachment Deleted Attachment Deleted Attachment Deleted
|
|
|
Post by donimator on Jan 31, 2014 10:16:28 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by Admiral Agrippa on Jan 31, 2014 11:43:03 GMT -5
With some of those poses, I'm starting to think I will be painting mine red and gold. "I AM IRON CYPHER!"
|
|