Stats:
No. of players: 2
Amount of time to play: 60-90 min
Age requirements: 12+
Set-up time: 10-15 min

Deadzone is a miniatures skirmish game set in an urban environment. It comes with all the terrain you need to create your own concrete jungle and the miniatures to fight in it.

Deadzone Rules Description:

Deadzone is set in the same sci-fi universe as Dreadball and Warpath. This boxed set comes with the Enforcer and Plague factions. You must complete objectives on your Mission Card to gain 10 VPs and win.

The game is a played on an 8×8 grid. You add terrain and determine which squares give cover. Movement and range are determined by the squares on the grid. But each square can only hold a certain number of miniatures based on the miniature’s size.

You play with 70 point teams and 20 Battle Cards. Battle Cards can be used to help your actions or oppose your opponent’s actions and act as a timer for the game. If you ever run out of Battle Cards in your draw pile and hand the game is over. You also draw one Mission Card. Mission Cards are unique to a faction and include just killing off your opponent, getting units off your opponent’s side of the board or controlling objectives.

Before you start the game you add items to the board. These are random, face-down and include medi-packs, grenades, armor piercing ammo and more. This is also when you add objectives (from Mission Cards) to the board.

Each round the player with initiative starts. They activate a number of miniatures equal to or less than their leader’s command rating (with a minimum of one). Then their opponent does the same. Once all miniatures have acted the round is over. Each player may draw Battle Cards equal to the leadership. And the player that finished activating their miniatures first has initiative for the next round.

Many actions are resolved by getting three 8-sided dice, adding additional dice for bonuses or removing them for penalties then rolling them. You need to roll your unit’s stat value or higher to get a success. The stat will depend on the action you take. Any 8s you roll let you roll another die. If it is an opposed check your opponent will also make a check and each of their successes nullifies one of yours. If you double or triple your opponent’s successes you may do more damage, gain a free action or some other bonus.

Each activated miniature can take two short actions or one long action. Short actions include aim, shoot, blaze away, move, throw and get mean. Aim adds a die to a shoot action if your second short action is to shoot. Shoot is pretty self-explanatory it just requires line of sight (LOS). Blaze Away pretty much just means to unload a clip of ammo on a target grid. It just requires LOS to the grid and tries to suppress the opponent. Move lets you move one square. Throw is for using hand grenades. Get mean steps up a unit’s aggression level. One unit cannot take the same short action twice on a turn.

Long actions include command, fight, break off, sprint, climb and overwatch. Command is the only action in the game that can only be used a certain number of times. It depends on your leader and their stats. If they succeed on a 6+ test they can give friendly units a free action, mark an enemy unit activated, or get another Battle Card. As usual more successes gives you better results. If you start your turn in a square with an enemy you must either Fight or Break Away. Fight is used for melee attacks and Break Away gets you out of a square occupied by an enemy figure. Sprint lets you move two squares, and Climb lets you move vertically two squares. Overwatch gives your unit an opportunity to respond to your opponents’ actions. Different units can react with different actions but whether they can act before or after that unit depends on a three die 6+ test.

There are four levels of aggression in Deadzone. Suppressed, Pinned, Alert and Enraged. Most units start being Alert. But Blaze Away and other actions can drop their aggression. If Suppressed a unit can take damage if their aggression drops more. Being enraged helps you in melee combat but is a penalty when shooting.

Damage is resolved by subtracting your armor stat from the damage. The remainder hits the target. One hit injures them and the second kills them. An injured unit has penalties on many of their actions.

If you finish a round with 10 VPs you win. If either player has no Battle Cards in their hand or draw pile the game is over. Total your VPs and the player with the most VPs wins.

Quick Review of Deadzone:

Deadzone blends some typical war game mechanics with some from board games to create an action-packed urban skirmish game. It may take some time to put together and a few plays to get down, but the result is a tense, fun game.

The components are really nice. The cards, art and chits all look nice and are well made. The miniatures and terrain look really cool. They are unpainted and need to be assembled. This can take some time but is not too monumental a task. The terrain is modular and can be configured to your liking. I read that it was hard to put together but I did not think it was overly difficult. Just for reference I have some miniature building experience but not a ton. The rulebook looks great and is easy to read and follow. But I really wish there was an index and player aids.

I like the combat system. It is similar to Dreadball’s so it was easy for me to pick up on. But even if you are not familiar with this system it is fairly intuitive. The abstraction of the movement to squares on a grid helps streamline movement. And one you’ve played a few times the common tests and modifiers are pretty easy to remember.

Some of the intuitive mechanics are nice, thematic and just make sense. This system assumes you cannot easily see your target. If you can see an entire model you get a bonus to shoot. When you shoot at a target cover gives them a bonus to their check, but if you Blaze Away at a target cover is a penalty. It makes sense that if someone is littering the area you are in with bullets that you hide behind any cover you have.

The missions and variety of objectives add variety to the game. You might not always just be gunning to kill off your opponent. You might just have to survive or bring items off your side of the board. But your Mission Card is secret. This creates interesting decisions and you can even try to bluff about your actual objectives.

Another aspect of Deadzone is the campaign mode. It adds a system for leveling units and tells a story. Instead of playing a random guy like in a one-off mission, units in a campaign have names and progress with the story. I did not get to play this yet but I really want to.

This system and game is not prefect though. I already mentioned wishing there was a player aid. And there is some work to be done building the miniatures and terrain. Let alone painting it. Also be aware you have to buy additional factions if you want them. And you might have to make some houserules (though I suggest you check out the FAQ).

If you enjoy miniature games or have thought of getting into one Deadzone has a nice point of entry. Everything you need to play is in the box. And though it will take some time to put everything together, it is worth the wait. Having a group that wants to run through a campaign should make this even better.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 6 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6