Word Forge Games has been busy preparing their Absolute Decimation Miniatures Wargame Kickstarter in which you gather and manage resources, control and build miniature battle units and take overall control of the battlefield!
Setting
Absolute Decimation is set in a high-tech post-apocalyptic future, where the AI that we relied upon to perform all our labour became our deadly enemies. This happened through a sabotage that removed the safety limits from AI overseers, who then went on with their core programming without regard for humans. An agricultural AI would flatten a village to put in more fruit trees, a mining AI would dig through cities for valuable mineral deposits, and construction AI keep building apartment buildings despite there not being enough people to fill them. When we tried to forcefully shut them down, the AI resisted and turned our weapons against us.
The elite human soldiers of this conflict, known as Digipaths, are a people with the ability to instinctively reprogram computers using their unique brain structures. The war ground down to a stalemate, and with the remnants of both humanity and the AI shattered and scattered across the globe, the Digipaths are now making their own decisions.
The Digipaths are divided into six factions and various independents, with each faction based around a particular ideology. Many of them borrow some of their ethos from warrior societies of the past, using recovered fragments of data to make an incomplete picture of what came before. They all differ on whether to take an active or passive role towards the remnants of humanity and whether to protect or enslave it.
How it Plays
Players in Absolute Decimation build a force of one or more Digipaths and the combat machines that they control. From their command vehicle, the Digipaths construct orders programs (represented by cards) that they send to the drones. Unlike other games where every unit moves, shoots and assaults, in Absolute Decimation units perform whatever the action is that is written on the card. These cards make it very easy to get started. Players only need to learn the turn structure and the basics of how to move and how to shoot, and after that players just refer to the orders and stat cards. There is no lengthy consultation of rulebooks mid-game. While it is easy to pick up, the art of selecting the right mix of orders, when to play them and which drones to play them on gives the game plenty of depth.
Unique to Absolute Decimation is the ability to build new units during a game. Players will be able to replace their losses, alter the makeup of their force or change strategy mid-game by selecting the best units to roll out of the mobile production facilities. Absolute Decimation also uses a ‘drag and drop’ force selection system. All factions have access to the same units, and all units are on a similar power level but with a different role. One unit can be quickly substituted for another, allowing players to get on with the business of playing rather than tedious list building.
Miniatures and Contents
The game will be produced by Word Forge Games, the company behind the successful Devil’s Run miniature board game. The miniatures will be cast in resin and to the same high level of quality seen in all their miniatures. The tanks in Absolute Decimation were designed with a dose of reality, combining anticipated real-world technological advances of the near future with the game designer’s significant experience working on armoured vehicles. They feature lasers, rocket launchers, gauss cannons, missiles, plasma weapons and cannons along with equipment like sensor systems, communications and shields.
Absolute Decimation will offer a 2-player starter set during the Kickstarter, providing two complete forces to battle it out. This includes 13 miniatures along with all the cards, tokens and dice necessary for play. There will also be plenty of options for players to expand their forces by purchasing extra miniatures and other game elements. Every unit purchased will come with the miniature itself, all necessary stat card and production spec cards, and two new orders cards to expand a player’s tactical options.
Future Development
Absolute Decimation has a lot of future expansion planned. At release the game will consist of drone tanks alone, but future releases will include hovercraft, insect-like walkers, aircraft, massive heavy vehicles, fortified buildings and more. Along with new models, there will be releases that offer new game modes, new commanders and new orders. Future development of the game will include lots of community involvement, with players able to influence the designs and rules of upcoming units to ensure that the game remains fun and balanced over time. The game has been delayed and is now planned for release in Q4 2017.
No comments:
Post a Comment