Z War One - Exodus is a standalone game for 1-5 players that combines intense tactical combat, resource management and an engaging comic book narrative.
The Kickstarter edition of the game comes jam packed with four different game modes, including 2 separate comic book campaigns & two difficulty settings. Ultra high quality components, plastic coated cards & finely detailed miniatures make this the ultimate survival horror experience!
Z War One Exodus Launches today @13:45 BST on Kickstarter!
Here we go again... We're back on Kickstarter September 12th with Z War One - Exodus!
This is it pilots! The air raid sirens are wailing & the scramble bell is ringing like hell. Air Flix - The Strategic Dexterity Dogfighting Game launches on Kickstarter June 5th at 7pm BST!
The latest product to join the Dice Sports line up, Air Flix is a fast paced, Second World War, dexterity based dogfighting game for 2 or more players.
Slick, intuitive game play, multiple game modes & variants combined with components of the highest possible standard, make this the perfect action dogfighting game for both hardened wargamers & casual players alike.
An all action combination of strategy & skill, you will need to out-think and out-flick your opponents to achieve total aerial dominance!
In this update we are talking about the main differences between Exodus & our previous entry into the series: Z War One Damnation. While both games share a lot mechanically there are some subtle and some not-so-subtle differences:
1. Equipment & Crafting. Gone are the days of a magical ammunition re-stock between chapters, Exodus places much more focus on resource gathering, not only are you working to complete your mission objectives, but you are always aiming to finish a chapter with a healthier looking inventory than the one you started with. Searching will be rewarded with much needed ammunition, medical supplies or, much more excitingly, common household objects which can be crafted into brutal instruments of destruction.
Tape, weld & glue your way to victory like a post apocalyptic MacGyver.
2. Upgraded (and generally cooler looking) cards. Sometimes when playing Damnation I use quick fire purely because I can't be bothered to add 2 to my dice rolls. If, like me, you want to spend your table time having fun, not bogged down advanced mathematics, the new Exodus ballistic weapon cards now display BOTH quick & aimed fire tables! There are some other cool additions too, like crafting recipes for home brew equipment, and area effect diagrams for explosives.
No more painstaking adding 2, plus some other cool stuff.
3. Less writing stuff down! It's 2017 and we are changing with the times. Replacing the ZWOD tracker pad we have the tracker board. Ammunition, power perks & infection are now tracked using dials. This was mainly due to the addition of ammunition & the "reload" action although you may also note the lack of infection test, this is because infection now automatically ticks down every turn, take just one bite & without the appropriate medical care you will bleed out in 15 turns.
4. Save Tickets. For those that still yearn for the good old days of writing stuff down, the Exodus campaign uses a "save ticket" system. This means that, rather than restarting a mission in the event of a heroes death, you will instead return to a previous save point. You have 3 save tickets for the 7 chapter campaign, upon successful completion of a mission you have the option to use an available ticket. Your save ticket details all the information about your game at the point of the save: ammunition, infection status, perks, equipment etc. in the event of a heroes death, or the player/players choosing to retire from a mission they can restart the campaign from any of their previous save points.
These are just a few of the changes & additions, you will be able to check out them all when we publish the full Exodus rule book really soon!
Check out the teaser for the upcoming Exodus Kickstsarter!
Our goal with everything Z War related has always been for the comic book & the tabletop action to merge into one cohesive experience & in this regard, Exodus has really taken things to the next level, this has been helped in no small part by the talents of our artist Ben who has been busy hammering out some of his finest colour work to date.
The Exodus Comic WIP - The transition from comic to tabletop is now smoother than ever.
So, after nearly 4 weeks on texture work not only do i have blurred vision & a cricked neck, but also a close to final set of Exodus tiles! There will be more detailing and a few tweaks made here and there before the final production run but these are now pretty close to what will be in the box.
The cargo ship - Three levels of confined corridor combat!
The Harbour - A few turns on dry land quickly remind you why you got on the boat in the first place!
At black sites up and down the country Exodus test kits are now in the hands of our crack team of tabletop scientists, each of them trying their damnedest to break my game. Feedback has been great so far, with everyone of the opinion that the changes made since our last outing have made for a much slicker & engaging experience.
Play testing here in the studio (note that we are using Damnation minis & doors at the moment)
Tester Kits!
In our next update we should have some of the new mini renders to show off and hopefully a launch date for the Kickstarter.
Rob
So, as you have probably gathered, much of our upcoming "Exodus - a Z War One Story" takes place in & around the ocean. This has given us the opportunity to do some really exciting stuff with the environments. Here are a few WIP pictures of the tiles we've been working on over the last few weeks.
WIP shot of some fishing boats & two of the cargo ship's three decks
The Exodus campaign could probably be described as a "road trip" of sorts. One chapter will see the heroes running through the open streets around the harbor, the next one features close quarters battle in the cramped confines of the cargo ship. We even stop off to take a trip out onto the open sea for a dinghy rescue mission! (As for what's in the sea with you... that will have to wait until our next update).
Fishing boats are a great scavenging opportunity but they are only accessible using the dinghy.
The crew deck of the cargo ship is the setting for claustrophobic corridor action.
I'll post more stuff as it's completed over the next few weeks, the rule book should be finished really soon & I will make it available for download as soon as it is.
That's all for now.
Rob
Hey guys, just got back from an insanely busy weekend at UK Games Expo where we were demoing the upcoming "Exodus - A Z War One Story". Quite a few of you made it down for a demo & feedback was super positive, so roll on August!
In addition to all things Expo/Exodus we finally got around to posting the FAQ and Clarifications .pdf for Damnation and it can be viewed / downloaded right here.
So, after much deliberation behind the scenes the decision has been taken to cancel the Issue 3/4 Kickstarter which was planned for this year. We looked at what we had already done for issues 3/4 and the stuff we were working on for 5/6 to complete the ark and came to the realisation that story works far better condensed into 5 issues. This means that the Damnation ark will conclude with an "all killer, no filler" parts 3-5 Kickstarter early in 2018.
Over the last few months whilst Ben has been busy beavering away on parts 3 & 4 of the ZWOD comic, I have been spending most of my time working on another Z War title. Exodus - A Z War One Story is a solo or 2 player co-operative story/game set in the Z War universe (immediately after the Delta 6 Mission "breakwater" to be precise).
The story centres around Captain Kira Chase and Warrant Officer Mike West and their desperate attempt to flee the United Kingdom in the aftermath of the Battle of Glasgow.
Exodus retains many of Damnation's tried and tested mechanics, but also packs a tonne of new & exciting features:
Exodus will be heading to Kickstarter this summer so expect lots of previews and information over the next couple of months. If you can't wait that long to check it out, we will be running Exodus demos on Friday & Sunday at UK Games Expo (stand B23).
Last night's play testing of Chapter 13 "Cold War" had me the most tactically perplexed I have been playing Z War in a long time. Mission starts out with a running battle down the streets, then into a barricaded and defensible facility, then a "skin of the teeth" escape.
Getting into the building was challenge enough, with spawning newborns charging down the street and on you in 1-2 turns. Once inside you have a weird "eye of the storm" moment where all the bad guys are outside clawing at the barricades while your team are doing the mission & hunting for weaponry in the building, all the time dealing with heavy room spawns, it's almost like playing a separate mini game, with the time limit being the barricades..
The calm before the storm...
Then the time comes to make an escape, the barricades (which we wired with C4) collapse, massive explosions take out pretty much everything on the board, but the BFZ is still standing! He's finally cut down as we charge out of the building and off down the ally, stuff's flying in from every angle, the ammo we gathered is just about spent but it looks like we are going to make it...
Run for your lives!
Then the BFZ gets up, a second BFZ roll has him charging, Sam and goose cant quite make the exit. On the last turn before exit the BFZ reaches Sam and grabs... The grab is fails but Sam is still knocked prone inches from the exit. Next turn he has just the right amount of AP to get up and sprint off the board.
An incredibly close call.
An epic finish to one of my new favorite missions :)
