Yeah. A new shiny has caught my eye.
Back in 2018 (can't believe it's been so long!!!), I bought into Mar Attacks by Mantic Games. Beyond the base game I also grabbed more Martians to give me a solid force to pull from since it's easier to get ahold of modern day soldiers. I have only pushed the minis around a couple of times but it was a fun little system. Since then I've hit the road for my job which has put a bit of a dent in my hobby time. Well, a dent in my gaming time because my painting time has definitely increased.
I've been able to play some solo games of Antares and Wrath of Kings in my hotel room which I've enjoyed. I suspect that both would be more fun against an actual opponent but something is better than nothing, especially when you are sitting in a hotel room four nights out of the week.
A couple of weeks ago, I noticed an email from Mantic Games saying that most (maybe all?) of their core rulebooks were available for free in digital format. The larger Warpath system doesn't really appeal to me but I was aware of Deadzone so I decided to take a closer look.
The system seems very similar to Mars Attacks which makes me wonder if the system of Mars acted as a test bed for the mechanics (I looked this up later and apparently Deadzone 1st edition was first). This and the limited table space needed (the typical table is only 2' x 2') really intrigued me so I started looking closer at the models.
The style of some of them appeal to me more than others but the thing that really surprised me was the value of the starter and booster sets. The rulebook defines a basic strike team as being worth 100 points total which even just the starters that I looked at blew that limit out of the water. For example, the Rebel starter weighs in at 192 points without any special equipment at this was one of the lowest point totals that I figured out. On the other end of the spectrum is the Enforcers which total 393 points without options. To give some perspective, while the smallest game is 100 points you build a 500 point pool of to draw from for the basic campaign. Even then, you aren't typically going to be fielding the entire army in one go so just a starter gives you access to a good number of options to play around with as you learn the system. On top of that, the starter and booster are both only $40 which works out to a couple of dollars a mini or less in some cases.
One of my concerns is that Mantic use to cast their figures in a material called restic. I've never worked with it but I've not heard good things so I decided that I'm going to start small. Currently I've got a box of Plague Zombies on the way so I can check them out. Worst case scenario, I will have some modern/sci-fi zombies that I can use for other games. Best case, I might have a new game that I should be able to push around for some solo play or maybe even pick up a game here or there. Fingers crossed. Until next time...
The style of some of them appeal to me more than others but the thing that really surprised me was the value of the starter and booster sets. The rulebook defines a basic strike team as being worth 100 points total which even just the starters that I looked at blew that limit out of the water. For example, the Rebel starter weighs in at 192 points without any special equipment at this was one of the lowest point totals that I figured out. On the other end of the spectrum is the Enforcers which total 393 points without options. To give some perspective, while the smallest game is 100 points you build a 500 point pool of to draw from for the basic campaign. Even then, you aren't typically going to be fielding the entire army in one go so just a starter gives you access to a good number of options to play around with as you learn the system. On top of that, the starter and booster are both only $40 which works out to a couple of dollars a mini or less in some cases.
One of my concerns is that Mantic use to cast their figures in a material called restic. I've never worked with it but I've not heard good things so I decided that I'm going to start small. Currently I've got a box of Plague Zombies on the way so I can check them out. Worst case scenario, I will have some modern/sci-fi zombies that I can use for other games. Best case, I might have a new game that I should be able to push around for some solo play or maybe even pick up a game here or there. Fingers crossed. Until next time...
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