12 Days of Christmas: The Walking Dead

When it all comes crashing down, will you be a survivor?

While there are lots of cool IPs out there, very few offer the range and depth for both board games AND wargaming… and almost none in a Wargaming genre that isn’t already dominated by a big player. Yeah, sure Star Wars is huge – but there is a certain OTHER Sci-fi Wargaming out there covering the Wargaming space. And forget about skirmish sci-fi – that belongs to DEADZONE ;)

Fantasy Wargaming, you say? Nope, we are declaring that for Kings of War and Vanguard!

So while there are lots of IPs that make great board games, and a few more that make good dungeon crawlers, there are very that can scale up to multi faction wargames.

If that game also occupies the contemporary, post-apocalyptic space – with a huge cast of competing factions, compelling narrative – and a 3rd force on the battlefield that’s trying to bite your face off, then I think you have the recipe for one of the most awesome wargames imaginable. Well, we might just have a game that fits the bill!

We have now got a really great range of plastic minis out for the Walking Dead. Wave 5 hit in September with the Hunters – and Negan’s faction got released via the most awesome Here’s Negan game

The initial waves both built the cast of characters, and also allowed gamers and fans to play through the narrative straight form the books, basically offering you a chance to do it better than Rick.

However, there were limited options for really solid PvP play – both because there weren’t enough models to choose from – and also the narrative was mostly about staying alive, finding resources and out of reach of the Walkers!

Now we are through 6 waves (including Here’s Negan and a few specials) there is a superb selection of both goodies, baddies and neutrals to choose from. This gives a real choice when it comes to selecting a force.
We have also started to see some fantastic organised (PvP) play for TWD starting to break out, using the 2 player scenarios scattered throughout the first expansions, such as Woodbury and Fear the Hunters. And these events have been fantastic – both gaming and visually.

That time is now…

Once Rick and the gang hit Alexandria the whole narrative shifts from survival, to war between the competing ideologies.
We feel it’s time to reflect those development in our releases!
I’ve mentioned it briefly before but work is already well underway on a fully blown PvP skirmish game set in the world of the Walking Dead 

It’s gang warfare out there…

You’ll be able to pick your gang, based around your leader (whose outlook and skills will be reflected in their leadership abilities on the table) and then team up lethal combos of characters – to make your gang a killing force to be reckoned with. This means you can pick Rick, or Negan, or Ezekiel, or the Governor, or several others… then add their key lieutenants. You then bulk out their force with some grunts. And off you go.

Each leader will have unique abilities, and each sub group has special abilities, so you can work your models in pairs or threes to take down enemies or create space for clear shots.

You’ll be able to add appropriate allies (so good with good and neutral, and the same for evil) and these will come with their own combos – so the Hunters, or the Prisoners, will each have their own unique combo moves – and you can add those to any faction with evil or neutral alignment – but never to Rick’s crusading crew.

And then you can layer it up with equipment too. But we have been watching – and while I’m sure you’ll all find some hard core choices to add to your list, we have been balancing out the most obvious excesses – both gaming spam and being more specific about what equipment can be added to which weapons.

Game changers…

We will be kicking off with 6 scenarios to fight over, so every game will be a different objective, but also different scoring possibilities to keep every game dynamic – and no force type (elite, horde etc.) will be able to dominate every mission.

And of course there will be those damn Walkers – just getting in the way! We are streamlining some of the mechanics from the narrative style play to allow more actions from each player, but the Walkers will still be there to stop your match-winning attack, or biting your sniper, just when they are about to take out your enemy’s leader.

I need this in my life, tell me more…

We have already got the alpha rules together and we have been playing them internally and with the RC. We are planning an alpha play day in January (so if you can travel to HQ and can play TWD to a good level, feel free to message us via [email protected]). We will have something to share in the next few weeks after that, so if you fancy getting involved then make sure you are signed up for the newsletter.

We will be launching the wargaming book (any ideas for a name welcome in the comments below, and a credit in the book for a winner) in the middle of the year, so everyone can get their models painted and ready - then see how they will cope once the zombie apocalypse hits!

Have a great year of gaming, best wishes,

Ronnie