A brand new self contained skirmish game by Andy Chambers set in the Mutant Year Zero universe? The premise was interesting, as Free League claimed that this was a complete game experience in a box rather than something that needed additional miniatures and books to play. Excited to dive into Zone Wars, we delve into both the core box and the Robots & Psionics supplement in our full unboxing and review

Massive thanks to Free League for sending us review copies of the game! If you would like to support the site then why not use our affiliate Element Games and save yourself 20% too?

You can watch our full unboxing below or over on YouTube

So what is Zone Wars?

Mutant Year Zero: Zone Wars is a skirmish game set in the Mutant Year Zero universe that pits gangs of mutants and robots with enhanced powers against each other in fast paced and exciting combat.

The real pull of the game is that everything you need is in the core box. This includes a full playmat (3′ x 3′), enough card terrain to fill that playing surface, and all the dice, tokens, cards, models and player aids in order to play 2 of the factions – the Ark Mutants, who are gangers with enhanced mutant powers, and the Genlab Tribes, a motley crew of genetically enhanced animals (Because who doesn’t want miniatures of a Moose and a crossbow wielding Duck?)

Gameplay is nice and simple with player activation being drawn from a cup – so for example you might find that your opponent gets to activate a couple of times before you if luck is not with you, which leads to some exciting back and forth as you try and decide the order that you need to activate your models.

Mixed into the pot are also tokens that can trigger events such as acid rain or traps (Or even a vicious Land Shark!) that throw a spanner in the works and interact with your characters in fun ways.

Combat is nice and easy to resolve with each character having a base value of dice that you roll, which is then added to by some bonus dice that increase the chances of getting additional hits or fueling your special mutant abilities.

One of my favourite things about this system is that you are able to push your luck and reroll dice in order to try and gain additional hits, but each time you do you increase the chances of a misfire happening, damaging your weapon and potentially leading to the situation where you might be in the middle of a firefight with no working weapon on hand.

Each character also has a selection of mutant abilities that can be triggered by spending tokens that you collect during dice rolls – these are all varied across your gang and give your models certain roles such as being able to heal up, help out your other fighters, or even being able to dig a hole and run away under ground like an angry laser pistol toting Bugs Bunny!

The game is really easy to pick up, and turns were punchy and fun without a lot of the downtime seen in other systems. Our first game took us around 40 minutes to play, which is very fast compared to some other systems – and the fact that it could all be broken down and stored in the box was a great touch too.

The terrain is made of cardboard, but it was sturdy and durable and will stand up to being assembled and taken apart between sessions. My only real disappointment was the game mat – I think a card surface like those seen in Warcry would have been a little sturdier, especially as the playing surface extends a little wider than a dining room table, and being able to set up on a table like that is one of the big advantages that skirmish games have over full sized wargames on a 6 foot by 4 foot gaming board. I’d probably look to upgrade this to a decent neoprene gaming mat that can be placed over a board, and feel something card would have been a nice midground here (Though would have increased the cost of the game too!)

The models are all really characterful too, with some great sculpts and no need to build them as they are molded in a single piece. All of the factions are coloured in a different colour plastic, and the way they have been coloured shows a lot of contrast to allow for the details to stand out, even if you never paint them.

Alongside the core box, there is also the Robots & Psionics set – this retails at around the same price as the core box (around £50 if you shop around) and contains a new set of terrain to add to the pieces included in the core box, and also all the miniatures, cards and tokens needed for 2 additional factions the Mechatron Hive and the Nova Cult.

This set not only gives you more options for the gangs you are able to play as, but also allows you to play 3 and 4 player games. Again, due to the way the activation mechanics work in the game, I can see multiplayer games being brilliant and bloody fun with there always being the potential for you to draw multiple activations before your opponents.

Also included in the box are some additional scenarios that expand upon those in the core box and give you some more variety with 5 more missions, giving you a choice of 10 different scenarios for you to use for your games.

While the models in the expansion are great, I do think it’s odd that this set is the same cost as the core game, as you do not get the core rules, and you do not get a battle mat either – This is a shame as if both of those were included players would be able to pick up whichever box has models that appeal to them the most and still have a full experience.

That said, considering this is a self contained experience and there will not be any future expansions or miniatures, picking up the set is still a great option as it gives you loads of variety in gangs and cards and will fuel some suitably fun multi player madness!

In summary, Zone Wars is a breath of fresh air in a time when games are getting more and more complex – this is very much a gateway game that can help introduce people to miniature gaming without the cost and time requirements that are normally needed. Even people who have only played boardgames will be able to get on board here with the stat cards and dice containing everything that you need in order to resolve combats and encounters.

If you are looking for something you can get out and have a fun battle in less than an hour, then Zone Wars is well worth checking out and adding to your collection!

Mutant Year Zero: Zone Wars Core Set and the Robots and Psionics expansion are released Friday 7th June

Free League Publishing provided Sprues & Brews with free copies for review purposes.