Before we start, click here and have your speakers on.
Done it? If not 'Do it, do it now! (Yes different franchise, but still).
First off a disclaimer, I've been a fan of the Terminator series for as long as I can remember, longer, probably given how bad my memory is. I'm also a fan of Alessio Cavatore's work, so when I first discovered that he was writing a rule set for a game based up the upcoming movie I was extremely excited, then I discovered that the figures were being sculpted by the Perry's and I spent the next 3 days squealing like a 12 year old girl at a Justin Beiber concert. As such writing an objective review will be difficult, but I'll give it a go.
What do you get for your 70 quid?
Lots. For the purposes of clarity I shall elaborate. a set of card range rulers, All the card counters you could need for the game, and a set of card barricades and terrain markers. There is also a quick play rule book, a reference sheet, a selection of fancy dice, a double sided printed heavy paper play mat, 10 Terminator Endoskeletons, 5 Terminator Crawlers, 16 Resistance fighters, and a Kyle Reese miniature. All the figures are hard plastic, apart from Kyle Reese, and are scaled to 28mm scale. Oh yes, and a very nice rule book too.More on that next...
The Rules
I love simple rules, especially ones that add a sense of the dramatic without being complicated. The rules for Terminator are very simple, I was able to pick them up and have a solo test game whilst eating my breakfast yesterday. Initiative is decided at the beginning of each turn with a dice roll off, then the highest scoring player rolls a special fate dice to see how many models they can activate, 1-2 or none, then once they have done something the 'Impulse' as it's called ends and the opponent gets to roll the fate die. This is repeated until all models have activated, the turn is then over, and the cycle begins anew.
Moving and fighting is very simple, based on skill based dice rolls, the better someone is at a task the bigger the dice they can use for the test, the largest dice being the D20. This is nicely colour coded in the rules and reference sheet too, meaning you can play without having to worry about keeping track of modifiers to dice scores.
Some mechanics particularly shined to me, I loved the wat commanders can allow you to reroll a fate die in certain conditions, and inspire other models to act with them. By far the coolest though is the system for allowing you to put down a stunned enemy with an action called (What else) 'Hasta La vista'.
Playing through the quick start rules, I think it took me about 45 minutes to play through 2 scenarios and get my head into how it works. I've since been working my way through the main rule book and can't wait to play some bigger games.
The rule book does contain pointed army lists, as well as rules for vehicles and AIRCRAFT!!!!
I can see myself using these for other games as well. I'm already considering a 40k conversion, and using them for modern and near future games as well.
The Models
Machines
You get 10 Endoskeletons in 2 poses. These are simple quick to assemble plastic models, although the poses are quite static, that's the nature of the beast. Watch any of the movies and the Endoskeletons aren't that nimble. Saying that they are also very easy to repose and convert. You can see some I made earlier Here who have been converted somewhat. Also my paint recipe is there too if you want to know how I did the chrome.
You also get 5 crawlers too. Whats a crawler you may ask! When a Terminator is killed, there's a chance it may come back as a crawler. No guns, but it can give your resistance fighters ankles a nasty chewing as I discovered during one of my test games...
Resistance
You get 4 sprues of 4 plastic fighters sculpted by the Perry's. The torsos's are one piece, with arms fitted that hold their weapons added to this.
The models themselves are nicely detailed, and all share at least a passing resemblance to 80's action heroes. In terms of weapons, there is a missile launcher, grenade launcher, and several plasma and assault rifles on each sprue, as well as a set of arms wielding a shot gun. Again the figures are cleanly molded and very characterful, matching up well to the pictures of the resistance from the upcoming film.
I' ve attached a pic of an Endo and a resitance fighter next to a Warlord plastic German, as you can see, they are a little taller, but still good. These figures could also make good alternatives for those 40k players on a budget looking to flesh out their Guard and Necron forces.
Kyle Reese is metal, and slightly taller than the plastic figures in the set. I believe this is an effort to make the hero figures stand out from the rank and file, and whilst it's not particularly noticeable, there's enough difference for it to work.
Conclusion
In all, I think this is a superb package, containing everything you need to get playing the game quickly, and have enough options so that no 2 games will be the same. I'm excited to see what the future holds for the game especially in relation to the film franchise
If I were to try and pic some critiques some more film specific scenarios would have been good, however I understand that the licensing is a huge constraint here, and I suspect more will be available through the River horse website and Facebook group for the game. I'd also like to see more of a tie in with the earlier films, however again this comes into conflicts of licenses, and is somewhat nit picking as the rules even have pointed lists for 1984 Police units...
As ever you can find more of my work at Volley Fire Painting Service, all figures in this review were painted by myself.You can order the game itself from Warlord Games
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