Yes, I know it's almost the end of February, but I stand by this title.
I recently acquired a Dark Legion army for the game Warzone at a discount from a distributor we order from, and thought I'd give it a shot.
The whole shebang.
Now, I haven't been the most pleased with Prodos' sculpts. I Kickstarted Warzone years ago and got some Brotherhood figures that I built, painted, and played with. I found the material tough to work with, the casting sub-par, and the detail too much and too small, making painting a chore. I wrote this off as working through some kinks in the Kickstarter process, and happily bought a Capitol starter set, which remains unpainted to this day.
I noticed one thing as soon as these Dark Legion boxes arrived at the shop, and that was new box design. In fact, a lot of them had the Warzone Resurrection 2nd edition logo on them. When I opened the boxes I noticed that the material is markedly different than anything I've seen Prodos offer in the past. Instead of clipping the pieces off of these huge trapezoidal pieces of resin, they were separated and in baggies. The material was tougher, more defined, and grey as opposed to this powder blue.
Necromutant Squad
Overall I'm much more impressed with these figures even though there are some odd casting mistakes such as this:
look at that flash under the arm. That's the opposite half of the arm showing through.
I want to raise another point as well. That of bases. Warzone Resurrection uses round-lipped bases, the same ones Warmachine/Hordes, Dark Age, and many other miniatures games made after 2003 use. I'm not a huge fan of these. My issue with them is one of aesthetics: a base is a way to present a model. It is often done up to bring cohesion to an army, and it's a platform that keeps the model from falling over. A lipped base encroaches on that space. What do I do with the lip, paint it the same color as the material and thus have this strange-looking blobby hill that the model is surrounded by? Do I paint it black like many studio painters do and have this donut-shaped edge encroach on the model? It's constricting, and I've actually gotten tired looking at these bases.
My solution was to go with beveled bases. You'll recognize these as the ones used by Games Workshop, Corvus Belli, and Target Games back in Warzone's 1st and 2nd editions. GW actually has a huge assortment of round and oval bases in their web store, so replacing 40mm, 50mm, and even 80mm bases is a breeze. The one sticking point is 30mm bases. The round-lipped bases are a unique size. Most model manufacturers make a 25mm base 'cause it's an inch. Boom! Easy. Most models' footprints take up an inch of space. Lately GW has even been producing 32mm bases, but there's the problem: it's too big.
If I ever wanted to play in tournaments or against people outside of my Warzone gaming circle (currently there's three of us) it may cock some eyebrows that I'm putting some models on bigger bases. Some might think I'm trying to gain an advantage by doing so. While I don't see myself doing either of these things anytime soon, it'd be nice to give my army some flexibility. The worst that could happen is that my search yields nothing, I go for 32mm bases and the world doesn't end.
Then I stumbled upon Armskeeper. No link is provided because their website is non-existant. A Google search revealed that they make 30mm beveled bases, and that while they're not available through our distributor (they may not even make them anymore), they're readily available through Game Kastle in California. I try and avoid online shopping, but when I do I try and order from brick-and-mortar stores. They sent them to me lickity-split, and for cheap considering I'd be paying for shipping from the US into Canada. I got them in under a week, and they're perfect.
So here's my first squad all assembled. I'm not going to work on too much more right now. I just moved into a new place, and I'm actually waiting to see if I get accepted into an even newer place, so I may be moving again in a month. I'd hate to have any models of my great new army damaged or lost in the move.
I got into a paint challenge with a bunch of randoms on the Mutant Chronicles Subreddit (Reddit? Who am I?), and I pledged to paint the Capitol starter set by the end of May. I'll keep y'all appraised.
Hell I can do it! If I never paint another goddamn thing this whole damn month, that is!
Why do I do these things? At least it'll contribute to the 1000pt Warzone army I pledged to do in 2016.
I had my first game of Warzone a couple weeks ago and it was tons of fun!
For those of you who can move your eyes slightly to the right of this text you'll see that Warzone is in my top 3 miniatures games and has been in this position since I started playing it. It's not about to stop just 'cause another version has come out.
Warzone: Resurrection is the fourth miniatures game to bear the name, and it lives up to its legacy. It's the same as it's always been: d20-based, action points (though with only 2 as standard instead of 3), squad-based, and powered by an alternate-activation system. The major differences to this version are the addition of a customized deck of cards and of save modifiers based on strength and type of weapon/attack. Some armors are more or less susceptible to certain types of weapons, and any strength higher than 10 gives a –1 to a model's save based on how high above 10 it is (i.e. a strength 11 attack gives the target a –1 save, a strength 15 a –5 save, etc in addition to any susceptibilities the armor may have to any weapon fired at it.).
Now the customized deck of cards I have yet to try (my opponent accidentally threw out his cards, so he couldn't build a deck), but I can't say I'm chomping at the bit to do so. The idea with Warzone: Resurrection is that if you want—and I suspect "official" tournaments will make this aspect mandatory—you can build a deck of various cards that will augment your army and/or hinder your opponent's à la Magic: the Gathering (however these cards are not collectible or randomly packaged in case that bugs you—I don't mind either way—and/or was an impediment to your decision to start this fantastic game).
Here's what I'm talking about: You'll build your own deck of cards before the game. During the game you'll have a hand of cards that you'll be able to play them against your opponent. Even in the "Basic Game" (as the version, sans cards, is known) there are "resource cards" which, when tapped, allow your models to perform more actions (thus giving your models the "missing" 3rd action that 99% of units had in past editions), heal, or add a +1 bonus to hit. In the "advanced game" (as the version with the deck of cards is known) you can tap these resource cards to activate the cards you play from your hand.
I'm super-skeptical about cards in miniatures game beyond simply reference, of course (see Warmachine/Hordes). I think it adds an unneeded complexity to an already complex and customizable game. Not to mention that miniatures games are constantly being revised and errata'd and having to update an extra accessory can become confusing. This has already happened with Warzone, as Prodos (the company producing the game) has announced a set of replacement cards that will, at the time of this article, soon be available.
My opinion is to leave the card game mechanics to card games. You don't always need to put peanut butter in your chocolate. I know this sounds close-minded, or even grognard-ish (really, I'm not!), but I do need convincing whenever I see these two genres mix—and this is from the mouth of a proud Magic player. Look, I promise that I'll give the "advanced version" a shot with an open mind, but I'm more than happy to stick with the "basic game" indefinitely as it really is the Warzone that I've always loved.
Anyway, if you like 28mm sci-fi games, there's no reason you shouldn't look into this game, after all, it's in my top 3. Here are some pictures of the game I played (and lost...):
My Brotherhood troopers advance on Dr. Diana's clone.
My poor Judicator died because we played the armor piercing rules wrong. You only subtract the "AVV" value of the weapon from the armor save of the vehicle, you don't also subtract the strength modifier.
I painted up an old Inquisitor model from 1st edition Warzone to use as my warlord. In Warzone: Resurrection you can create your own heroes using a set of character creation rules. I haven't named him yet. Those two glass beads are wounds...
My opponent's Cybertronic troopers. Out of all the factions of the game Cybertronic got the biggest makeover in terms of models, and I couldn't be more pleased with them.
Just a singe figure for my never-ending Warzone fixation. Note the Dark Age base on it. That's because of the basing for the new miniatures game coming out soon.
I know, I know, I promised that my next post would be a write-up about my game of Warhammer against my friend's Ogre Kingdoms army, but this is more important.
Now I don't care how anyone here feels about Kickstarter; this isn't about that. This is about Warzone... And you can say whatever the hell you want about me, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna sit here and let you bad-mouth Warzone. What's that? Still not convinced? Just do it... C'mon... You can afford it. What else were you gonna do with that money? Thought so. You sicken me.
Praise the Cardinal (or Dark Soul—whatever your alignment might be)! Warzone is coming back! Now there hasn't been much word on their website, but if you troll a coupleforums, you'll find all sorts of info being leaked. Here's what I've gathered so far:
+ All new models (no Heartbreaker/Target model will get re-used for better or for worse)
+ You can still use your old models
+ A lot of the art is staying
+ Novel(s)
+ The d20 is staying
+ The scale (both miniatures-wise (28mm), and army-wise (platoon-level)) are staying
+ The standard base-size for man-sized models is the 30mm Dark Age bases, not the 25mm Slottabases (apparently the rules will be balanced for 25mm bases, though)
+ Models will be plastic
+ Paradox (which still contains the originators of the Mutant Chronicles universe) have to approve everything before it flies
+ All the factions will be in there (Cybertronic and the Dark Legion have been the subjects of the teaser pictures)
+ New rules that capture the feel of the older games
All good news, methinks.
I should point out that this was brought to my attention by one of my competitors in the current painting challenge I'm engaged in, in a blatant attempt to throw me off my game. Well you know what? It sorta worked! Last night I was up 'till 2:00am re-basing my Capitol heavy infantry to use the new 30mm bases. Today I did the second coat (I also worked on my Chaos Warhounds, okay?!).
+++ASIDE+++ This brings me to a little mini-review right in the middle of all this Warzone glory: The Texture paints from Citadel Miniatures. At first I liked these things. I used them to base my Hobbit: Escape from Goblin Town set, and I thought they were actually pretty nice once they received a drybrush or two (the Dry paints from Citadel I have no complaints with). When I woke up this morning (who am I kidding? Afternoon) to look at the bases I so excitingly painted Armageddon Dust I noticed all the bald spots where the grit of the texture didn't hit. I wondered why this wasn't apparent on the Hobbit miniatures until I realized that the 30mm bases I used were the generic kind with smooth tops. If you look at the new Privateer Press-branded 30mm bases they have a texture sculpted on to the top much like the Citadel Slottabases. This works well with the texture paints, especially once you stick some static grass on it. Go ahead, grab a generic 25mm round base (if you have any), and see how the tops don't have any (or as much) texture sculpted onto them in comparison to a 25mm round that has the "Games Workshop" logo on the bottom. Anyway, I was less than impressed. I did a second coat this afternoon and once it's dry I'll see how I feel, but regardless I'm almost out of Armageddon Dust and I only painted nine bases! Now I'm actually a Games Workshop fan, and someone more cynical than I might say that this was their plan all along, to have me get hooked on the stuff then charge me $4.45cdn a squad to do bases. I actually chalk this up to GW wanting to do something neat like textured paint, and also wanting it to integrate aesthetically and retail-wise into their existing paint aesthetic. In any event, I'll stick with it for this squad, and then go back to my traditional sand method afterwards. I'll just use a finer sand. +++END ASIDE+++
Back to Warzone. I love this game. It was the first game I got into that broke the Games Workshop paradigm (one I like very much, but by no means is the end-all for miniatures gaming). As such, it sticks out in my mind. I have a very large collection of Warzone figures (thanks in no small part for people just giving them to me, 'cause they're so damned old and iffy), and can boast an impressive force for any of the corporations except for Mishima. Let's just say that if I were to die or go missing, whoever has the grim task of going through my possessions will know how much I love the Mutant Chronicles universe.
The game and the universe has always appealed to me, even if 50% of the miniatures did not. I always looked past the rushed, and amateurish, look of the early figures (the Brotherhood especially) to see the care and creativity of the studio behind them. In fact, one of my favorite things about Mutant Chronicles were the old Chronicles magazine. An organ like anyother, it nonetheless had a fun attitude (a whimsy, if you will) about it that was infectious. Especially when the UK team took over in the late 90s, it mirrored the White Dwarf attitude when the staff were allowed to inject more of their personalities into it. Despite how people may feel about the 2nd edtition of the game, John Robertson, and John Grant, and the rest of the studio were talented and charismatic people who began to churn out great figures.
Here's a comparison:
Original Brotherhood Heavy Troopers from Heartbreaker Hobbies
Re-dos from Target Games UK studio (ca. 1999)
Target Games UK studio Captiol heavy Infantry
Heartbreaker Hobbies' Capitol heavy Infantry
So what happened? Rumors and speculation abound, but from what I figure it went like this:
Target Games (Swedish-based gaming company) bought Heartbreaker Hobbies (US-based miniatures company) à la a reverse Citadel Miniatures/Games Workshop situation. They expand by opening a UK design studio, to better create games for the titanic English-speaking gaming market, and a US branch (from what I understand this was just the old Heartbreaker Hobbies office). The UK studio is the creative branch and is in charge of all the games design and manufacturing. The US studio helps out, but is mainly there for distribution and promotion for that hemisphere. This frees up Target Games AB (Swedish original company) to do other things like launch a video game branch and—rumor has it—a candy company.
It's at this point that you'll hear from a lot of people that Warzone and Chronopia rivaled 40k and Warhammer. As much as I love the Warzone and Chronopia games, I highly doubt this was true. I imagine this is just the rose-colored vision of people who loved a game that was very successful in its own right. I have no doubt that Warzone and Chronopia were big, and I could even see that in many areas of the globe they were played more often than Warhammer and 40k, but based upon my knowledge of games companies and how they work, I doubt this. But you know what? It could be true. I'm sure only Games Workshop and Paradox Entertainment (the successor to Target Games) know for sure, as they don't release that kind of specific information. After all, the mighty TSR was brought low by a poor deal regarding their novels, and as we'll see later on, a similar fate happened to Target. Perhaps Games Workshop just had better management and better luck. Before we move on; my favorite story regarding the tensions between GW and Target has to be that when Target announced bankruptcy, GW celebrated with champagne the same way one might after getting a phone call from the governor. I don't believe this for a second, but I think the idea of the GW board of directors wiping sweat from their brows in a zero-hour situation—akin to the White House during the Cuban Missile Crisis—is cute.
So, I ask again, what happened? This is mostly rumor territory, but from what I understand the branch of Target Games that was aimed at a child market (either the candy branch, or the toy branch. I hear different things from different people) failed, and because Target management invested so heavily into it, they had to do some cutbacks. This came from the miniatures branches, and just ended up cascading through the company until they failed. I believe the Swedish company went first, then the UK studio, then finally (and surreally) the US branch. Rumor has it that the US team was left to their own devices for a couple months after the rest of Target went blank.
Imagine that. You're a colonist on another world. You receive regular communication from the home planet. You take it for granted that this is how it is. Every day you can check the news and find out what's going on back on Earth. You receive orders, you execute those orders, and you report back. Everything's normal. Then one day the communication stops. Sure there were people who could read the writing on the wall, but the idea was so strange that it seemed unlikely. At the very least, you'd be told the truth and informed as to what's going on. Hell, you might've even thought you'd be the first to go if there was anything wrong, but you weren't. One day the communication stops, and you're left out in the void. Months drag on, and you wonder if it's even worth continuing on as if things will be the same or if you should just go your own way, and break off.
Obviously, I'm attracted to the whole drama of this situation, but in reality the US team supposedly went without pay for a month or so, until the office was just shut down. Paradox Entertainment (the video game branch of Target Games) was the life raft that the owners jumped to when the ship went down. They bought up (or transferred) the licenses from Target to them, and then pushed away. TargetGames is now kaputt, and Paradox Entertainment are now, for all intents and purposes, is the current Target Games. Now they exist primarily as a licence-holder, making their money off Robert E. Howard stuff (which they strangely have the licences to), and whatever they thought they could make off the disappointing Mutant Chronicles movie.
I want to re-iterate that this is all rumor I've gathered from various sources. I did my best to cut the wheat from the chaff, and do some investigation of my own, but I am by no means saying that this is the definitive narrative. I also don't mean to slander, or place blame on any one, or part, of this history. I'm sure the decisions that were made were tough ones and were given much thought, and that no one wanted to see Target collapse, or these games go away.
This post is long, huh?
I'm excited by the news that one of my favorite games is coming back. I've been wanting this for a long time, and a part of me always hoped this would happen. I hope everything goes great and that this new Warzone will be around for as long as I'm able to build, paint, and play in it. I don't care if it can rival Games Workshop or not, I just want to feel like I can take part in the drama that is playing out amongst the corporations and the Dark Legion again.
