12 Days of Christmas: Deadzone

Looking back at 2018 it was a fantastic year for Deadzone. Let’s just cast our collectives minds back to the wonderful events that took place *screen goes all wobbly, sound of a clock ticking*

• The main event was the Outbreak supplement. This wonderful piece of work updated all the existing faction lists and added two brand new factions: Mazon Labs and Nameless
• Talking of Nameless, we released an awesome new faction starter, alongside some big models like the resin Bathomite and mighty Goliath
• All this culminated in the summer campaign. Across the course of six weeks, players around the world battled for the fate of Starfall and the future of the Nameless. Although the Nameless didn’t win, their expansionist tendencies have increased and it’s likely they’ll be seen a lot more in GCPS space. In fact, yesterday we released an alpha list to use the Nameless in Firefight

The reaction from the Deadzone community to all of the above was fantastic. In fact, the summer campaign was the biggest we’ve ever run, and we had more than 1,500 games reported over the course of the event, which is great.

What’s more, Outbreak was so popular that it’s now sold out! We won’t be doing a second print run (and you’ll see why in a moment) but if you still want to get hold of one, they’re available in some game stores and the digital edition is now on Mantic Digital. The fact it’s sold out is a great sign of how active the Deadzone community is, and that’s given us the confidence to have more Deadzone-specific releases in 2019. So, let’s take a sneak peek at a few upcoming releases in 2019…

COMMAND PROTOCOLS: ESCALATION

Thanks to the roaring success of Command Protocols:Outbreak, the supplement will now become an annual release. A little like Clash of Kings, Command Protocols will include any errata/new units for the existing factions, along with new ways to play, Elite lists and potentially new factions.

In Escalation the main focus will be on getting all those mercenaries combat ready! The RC and playtesters are currently busy pushing the mercs to their limit and ensuring they’re more balanced, so hopefully we’ll see them popping up in more games. What’s more, a whole new selection of mercs from Star Saga will be added to the roster. Now you’ll be able to add Erika Dulinsky, Curby and more to your Deadzone factions. Exciting stuff!

However, that’s only the tip of the iceberg because Escalation will include multimat scenarios, new units, rules for using interactive scenery and more! Just like Outbreak, it’ll be due out in the summer so stay tuned for more details. It will also include all the faction lists again, so if you’ve missed out on Outbreak, don’t worry! Escalation will have all the stats and any errata required.

INCOMING INTEL DECK

Along with Escalation, another exciting addition to the Deadzone range is the Incoming Intel Deck. Imagine for a moment that your elite strike team of soldiers is out in the field trying to secure various objectives. However, out in the chaos of the battlefield, plans can often change on the fly. One minute you’re trying to take out the enemy leader, the next you need to capture a particular point on the battlefield.

Well, imagine no more Deadzone fans, because the Incoming Intel Deck will recreate those exciting scenarios. This entirely optional deck of cards generates new objectives throughout the mission and you’ll score extra VPs if you manage to complete them. And as you complete more objectives, you’ll be able to draw new cards from the deck to earn extra VPs. Don’t worry if you can complete a mission either because there’s the opportunity to trade in cards for an all-important re-roll. What's more, some cards will trigger special events - these could be a race to reach a certain location, or a bonus for particular units.

The Incoming Intel Deck will be available alongside Escalation in the summer. More details to follow soon! 

NEW MINIS

Of course, it wouldn’t be right if we didn’t have some sweet new miniatures to accompany the supplement and card deck. This means in July we’ll have a few brand-new miniatures, alongside a re-release of a couple of old classics.

Leading the charge for the re-releases is the infamous Stuntbot. Out of print for years, the Stuntbot will be making a glorious return in resin for 2019. Even better it’s going to have alternate arms, so you can build a melee-heavy or ranged-heavy version. And don’t worry all you Stuntbot owners out there because you’ll be able to buy the arms separately from the website.

To celebrate the re-release of the Stuntbot, we’ll be releasing an awesome new mini Stuntbot, in the form of ‘Bolts’ – a new Leader for the Marauder faction. You can see an early render below.

Bolts isn’t the only new release because the Nameless will be getting access to an extra couple of units, including the Feromite. Think of it like a mini Ogre.

There will be some other surprises in Containment Protocols: Escalation too, which we’ll be revealing closer to release. However, all this should give you a taste of what’s coming up in 2019. Deadzone is going from strength to strength and the future looks extremely bright.