Free League Announces A Post-Apocalyptic Skirmish Game – Mutant Year Zero: Zone Wars –
Apparently, 2024 is the year of the post-apocalyptic skirmish game, as Free League announces Mutant Year Zero: Zone Wars, coming June 4th.
Free League announced a new tabletop miniatures game of skirmish combat today. Titled Mutant Year Zero: Zone Wars, and set in the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Mutant Year Zero, the game joins its lofty brethren Fallout: Wasteland Warfare and Fallout Factions in giving everyone, everywhere some kind of post-apocalyptic skirmish game to play.
It’s not hard to see why this is taking off as a genre. The idea of a post-apocalyptic wasteland inhabited by mutants and other life-threatening hazards is extremely appealing because at last, property might be affordable. Obtainable, even, if you have the right gear!
What makes Mutant Year Zero: Zone Wars stand out, though? Well, it’s hard to say since the game isn’t out yet. But, with Mutant Year Zero’s unique setting at the heart of it, here’s what we know so far.
Mutant Year Zero: Zone Wars
Per Free League’s Announcement:
Lead a band of mutant Stalkers into the Zone and fight others to scavenge artifacts from the Ancients. Stake out your claim in the postapocalyptic wasteland – or die trying. Free League Publishing today revealed that Mutant Year Zero: Zone Wars – a fast and furious game of tabletop miniature skirmishes set in the acclaimed Mutant: Year Zero universe will be released on June 4.
The initial release will consist of a big boxed set which is aimed at two players. In it you’ll find ten 32mm miniatures representing two different factions. There’s the Ark Mutants, who are forever seeking their mythical origins, and the Genlab Tribe, who are animal mutants who escaped from a genetic laboratory.
The game’s first expansion will be released alongside it, and given that it’s titled Robots & Psionics, if you guessed that the two other factions introduced in that set will be robots and psionics, you’d be right. And with it, you’ll be able to have four-player games.
But how does it play? Well per the press release, it’s based on a d6 dice pool system:
The game rules are easy to grasp and makes for a fast-playing experience. Just like in the Mutant: Year Zero RPG, the core mechanic is based on pools of six-sided dice, and you need at least a six to hit your target. You can push yourself for a re-roll, increasing your chances but risking damage to your weapon in the process.
The initiative systems keep all players constantly on their toes, and powerful mutations and robot modules can turn the balance quickly even for a losing faction. Zone cards are drawn to represent the many dangers of the Zone, which can mean the ruin of even the most hardened Stalker!
Mutant Year Zero releases June 4th!
