Zona Alfa: Salvage and Survival in the Exclusion Zone: 25 (Osprey Wargames)

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A 2 v 2 game, Other Pat and I faced off against Matt and John. Each player was allowed 12K to form their crews. In typical authoritarian fashion, Matt’s Evil Landlord and a Property Manager Henchman rousted the Serfs, kitted them with AKs and E-Juice (Amphetamines and Vodka) gave them a rousing speech and sent them into battle. The rest of us opted for more balanced forces with a mix of Veterans and Hardened Zone dogs.

There were some casualties, two Serfs who got caught in the open by my sniper. Evil Landlord Matt was unfazed. “Plenty more where they came from.” Elsewhere on the battlefield, savvy players were using the distraction provided by the Zone hostiles to move forward and secure other objectives. When a figure searches a hot spot, the player rolls randomly to see what has been uncovered. Often it’s salvage worth cold, hard cash outside the Zone, but occasionally you’ll run across equipment or other gear.Kontraband only adds to the fun, and while it’s not the most polished book in the looks department the content is great and adds more stuff, skills, artifacts and scenarios to uncover in the zone. It also lets you play without interacting with other people if that’s your bag or some sort of worldwide event has you sequestered at home. It’s also one of the only solo games I genuinely enjoy. I created some basic starting crews for the players, and then we got started. We set up a 4×4 foot table, slightly larger than the 3×3 size recommended in the rulebook, due to our surplus of players. Each side alternated by activating one figure, performing actions, and then passing play to the opposing team. The first couple of turns were focused on learning the basic game system and moving out of our deployment areas. But before too long, the players got close enough to begin exchanging some ranging volleys of automatic rifle fire as they slipped through the ruins. Setting. All Kontraband missions take place in the dangerous and unstable Deep Zone, an area filled with mystery, monsters, anomalies, and artifacts. As such, players will control only Veteran level characters, each with three Actions, two Skills, and three Equipment Slots. Also, a player can field a maximum of four characters per mission, not including any NPCs added for narrative purposes. As the players began to strategize a way to neutralize the scavengers, Dan took it upon himself to deliver the coup de grace. His leader climbed onto the catwalk of the nearby electrochemical factory and tossed a grenade right into the midst of the bandits. Problem solved, comrade.

Zona Alfa is usually played between two players on a 3’ x 3’ game area with each player controlling between 4–12 miniatures. Boards sized at 4’ x 4’ or 3’ x 4’ are fine too and will give each crew more room to maneuver. Our local gaming group has also run games with as many as six players on a 4’ x 6’ area with no appreciable down time. While designed with 28mm miniatures in mind, Zona Alfa also works in 15mm as well. Simply substitute measurements in inches for centimeters. Like any specialty area of interest, wargames have their own jargon. Here are some terms and concepts you’ll need to know for Zona Alfa. The game is played on a 3×3 or 4×4 space depending on scenario, and lots of scenery is necessary as it is unforgiving for idiots who stand out in the open. So the more scenery, the better. You’ll need some models of course, and about ten per side should cover that if you want to run a gang of fresh-faced noobs. The Mission Objective was a cache of supplies in the old factory. There was a Six Turn Limit and no Visible Hostiles in sight. Crew members can either be Stalkers – good at combat or Scientists – good at technical tasks, a further option is to include a dog companion for which there are detailed rules and additional rules for Hazmat suits. Each crew member can have different equipment or skills so it’s worth spending the time to make them complementary.Because Zona Alfa is miniatures-agnostic, t hese are intentionally broad and abstracted so players can generate values for the wide range of models in their collection, then select categories of body armor and personal weapons.