Deadzone : Review

So recently I've been playing Deadzone from Mantic Games. Though I picked up my copy of the special edition way back in...ohh...march I think, Ive only actually started playing it in the last two weeks, and overall Im slightly annoyed that I didn't give it a go earlier as its quite a lot of fun.

Overview :

Deadzone is a miniature skirmish game originally funded through Kickstarter and published by Mantic Games, known for their lines of affordable fantasy and science fiction models as well as the science fiction sports game Dreadball and board games such as Dwarf Kings Hold and Project Pandora. The game is notable for its use of a small (2ft by 2ft) half rubberised gaming mat alongside customisable clip together plastic buildings meant to represent prefabricated colony structures and the like. There's still a LOT to be released for this game, looking at the Kickstarter unlocks, but I've only had experience of the “Wave 1” releases so far. Lets crack on shall we?

The Fluff :

Deadzone shares the same science fiction setting as Mantics games Warpath, Dreadball and Project Pandora. This being a dystopian future where humanity is united under the rule of the monolithic Corporation and its overseeing Council of Seven, with alien races and colony worlds subjugated for their resources and technology by the Corporations overwhelming millitary and technological advantages. Alongside humanity a number of alien races are present, some of whom owe a fair chunk of their inspiration to existing franchises (namely the Forgefathers and Orx to Warhammer 40k's Squats and Orks, and The Plague to Halo's Flood and Dead Space's Necromorphs), though admittedly with their own interesting twists, whilst others are pretty darn original (such as the newly released Asterians and the various races allied with the Rebs).

More specifically the game is set in one of the eponymous “Deadzones”, planets or solar systems that the Corporation has temporarily (or permanently) taken off the grid and blockaded for whatever reason, be it an uprising, viral outbreak, alien incursion, whatever. Such Deadzones are enforced by the Enforcers, fanatically loyal elite infantry equipped with the best weapons and armour available to the Corporation's armed forces as well as their own starships, supply chains and so on and so forth. Other factions commonly found in the Deadzones are...

• The Orx Marauders, a race of Space Orcs who in contrast to their usual depictions in fiction are highly disciplined and well equipped mercenaries and opportunists, with more in common with Spelljammers Scro than Warhamer 40k's Orks. They're commonly employed to fight for the Corporation but also operate in independent forces when it suits them to do so.
• The Rebs, a ragtag alliance of human and alien rebels (in case the name didn't tip you off) against the rule of the Corporation and the Council of Seven.
• The Plague, a common cause for the creation of Deadzones. These dangerous and violent lifeforms are created by a multi stage infection caused by mysterious alien artifacts. Think Necromorphs, save that the weakest variants are still capable of using technology, like guns.... and spaceships... yeah...
• The Forgefathers, the Space Dwarf counterpart to the Marauders Space Orcs. A highly technologically advanced race who are one of the few nonhuman species not under the thumb of the Corporation, due both to their technology and their strong millitary forces.
• The Asterians, a mysterious race who's Deadzone forces are composed of cyborgs and remotely controlled robots. They are the glass cannon to the Forgefathers mighty glacier and according to the Kickstarter posts they are the only existing race who understand the origins of the Plague.

Whilst the setting has some interesting ideas and factions it's not especially detailed as of yet, something that Im very much hoping that Mantic rectify as the years go by. I for one think that theres a lot of room for them to expand and elaborate on what they've started, as well as there being the potential for numerous additional games set in the same universe. A ship combat game featuring Enforcer and Corporation warships enforcing Deadzone Blockades in the face of infected and ramshackle Plague vessels for example?

The Crunch :

The Deadzone boxed set comes with models for two of the above factions, the Enforcers and the Plague, both of whom I have now played. I'm planning to pick up some of the other factions in the future and will possibly do a faction by faction overview at some point, time permitting. Now, I'm not going to go into a detailed rundown of how the game works, if you're that interested then check out the Mantic website or see if any game shops nearby are running demo's. Instead I'll run through the mechanics that distinguish the game from its competitors and my thoughts thereupon.

The Deadzone battlefield is split into an eight by eight grid of cubes (the rulebook is careful to note that these are CUBES, not squares). These are used for determining the limits and effects of terrain as well as for all in game measurement, movement, shooting, area of effect weapons, etc. Each cube can contain a set number of models, with larger models taking up a greater number of model "slots" in each cube. This is an interesting mechanic, as well as making measurement much simpler (and eliminating pedantry over whether that model is within the requisite quarter of an inch or not) it also speeds gameplay considerably and ensures that the extent of all buildings, effects and so on are very clearly defined.

Dice rolls are resolved using a pool of three dice rolled against a target number, with each die that rolls that number or higher producing a success in a similar fashion to OWoD. Each models Shoot, Fight and Survive statistics determine the required target number, with lower being better, with special equipment, cover, injuries and the like adding additional dice to or removing dice from the pool. This is the first time I've seen this system used in a wargame and it works well, especially considering that the rulebook sections for each Action that requires dice to be rolled includes all the appropriate modifiers for that test in a single location. I cannot overstate how useful that is.

Now this is an interesting mechanic. Models have an "Aggression" state, ranging from Enraged to Suppressed, with them taking bonuses and penalties depending on which state they're in. Enraged models have their shooting penalised but their melee attacks augmented, Suppressed models benefit more from cover but suffer badly in melee, that kind of thing. Models Aggression states most commonly change due to being hit by a Blaze Away action (suppressive fire) which if successful causes them to drop towards Suppressed, or due to taking the Get Mean action which raises their aggression towards Enraged.

Deadzone uses an incredibly simple damage system. Models are unharmed, injured, or dead, thats all. There's no tracking of Wounds / Hit Points / Hull Points, no locational damage, nothing. Actually inflicting damage on a model can be surprisingly difficult at times, most models in the game seem pretty durable with concentrated fire being needed to ensure the target drops.

The game uses a slightly modified "Alternate Activation" system for turn progression, similar to Malifaux. However instead of players alternating models they may instead activate a set number of models at a time. The number of models activated being determined by their force leaders Command statistic, making these models especially important as if they are eliminated then the model with the next highest Command statistic takes over, to the almost certain detriment of your strike force.

Finally the game comes with a deck of Battle Cards, serving two purposes in game. Firstly each of the cards in the deck has two possible effects printed on it, such as granting additional movement actions, giving bonuses to dice rolls, or preventing an opponents model from activating for a round. Secondly the deck serves as a turn counter of sorts, with the game ending once one of the players battle decks has been exhausted. Importantly the number of cards each player draws per turn is determined by the Command statistic of their strike force leader, once again these models are particularly important... and equally valuable targets.

All of the above mechanics seem designed to ensure that the game moves quickly, that the rules and boundaries are clearly defined, and that the mechanics are easy to understand but retain sufficient complexity to keep the game sufficiently interesting to more experienced gamers. All very laudable in a skirmish game. Interesting mechanics aside however I've a few minor issues with the games manual and model stat cards. Namely that certain cards have rules on them that are not in the rulebook, notably the Enforcer Defender's Defender Shield. I understand that what's available so far is only the first wave, but still it wouldn't have taken any appreciable effort to make sure that all the rules for what's in your starter box are actually in the rulebook. Likewise some of the models who's stat cards are in the box aren't even available to purchase, such as the aforementioned Enforcer Defender as well as the Enforcer Medic. This is just... strange.

The Miniatures :

As already mentioned the Deadzone box comes with a pile of models for both the Enforcers and the Plague. As is the standard for Mantic these models, whilst not the highest quality available, are perfectly serviceable and with a bit of care look pretty darn good. The Enforcers have some excellent, dynamic poses as opposed to the standard “holding rifle across chest” stance far too common to firearm equipped models, whilst the Plage 1A and 2A models look suitably monstrous and dangerous, though the 3A's are rather...oddly proportioned with enormous chests and shoulders. The only real issues I have with the models are that they're not especially easy to assemble, requiring some filing to make sure the parts fit properly. Likewise they're made of plastic resin that doesnt take superglue as well as either normal model plastic or resin for some strange reason.

The clip together terrain is crisp, durable, looks good when properly assembled.... and is anything but clip together. Despite being touted as a modular terrain system that you can take apart and rebuild whenever you want the lack of sufficient connector parts as well as the slight inconsistencies in slot size make this impractical. I will instead be deciding on a specific set of terrain builds and gluing them together. That way I can paint them properly without worrying about inconstistencies when reassembled, as well as not having to concern myself with my buildings falling apart during a battle, as happened during my second game. I laud the idea, the execution however is sadly somewhat lacking.

Conclusion :

Overall Deadzone is a fun little skirmish game that you can play in an hour or less, the small mat and the clip together terrain make both game setup and packing away quick and easy, and its not so complicated as to be overwelming whilst simultaneously having enough depth to be interesting. If you've some cash spare and fancy trying out a new skirmish wargame then I heartily recommend it despite the handful of quality issues that I've mentioned over the course of this review. Issues that I hope Mantic will deal with in the future. Theres some good ideas here, fluffwise, crunchwise and modelwise.

Now, what colour scheme should I use for Enforcer Strike Force Thanatos 72/14/Omega, aka The Deadboys...

Until Next Time
Happy Gaming
Michael