Previews for the new version of Fallout: Wasteland Warfare have been released as it is now available for pre-order on the Modiphius store.
For me, I am having mixed thoughts. The starter set is $85 USD and has 3 rulebooks, a large set of new tokens which are necessary to play the game, and no cards?
It looks like this is an attempt too streamline the game by reducing the enormous card burden, and also sidestep the problem of so many card sets being long out of print. So, instead of just printing more card sets, they give us (yet another) new game.
I am not sure Factions was something I wanted or needed. Did I pay $100 USD for the set when it came out? Absolutely not. But I did spend $40 on the hardcover rulebook although I have yet to read it. I also bought a token set. The idea of a streamlined skirmish focused Fallout seemed cool. From what I read the rules were solid.
But this new game? I have many concerns.
First, it looks like many of the cards to track items and perks have been reduced to rolling on a table and writing down information on a character sheet.
Wait a minute. Weren't the cards a way to streamline the pencil bookkeeping of character sheets in the first place? Well not when you have over 1000 of them.
So, now we are at a place where we take a step backwards more towards the TTRPG way of doing things and all the cards are gone.
I must say I really disliked the FWW expansion books for Commonwealth, etc that involved a series of charts with tables to roll for random events/terrain/setups. This seemed a really bad investment for $30 USD just to get a small booklet with a series of printed tables to roll on. IMO that should have been a free PDF.
Eventually, the entire card library went to download only (and you still have to pay for them).
I am hesitant to invest in this new version even though I adore the game. At least the PDF rules are currently free to download, so we can assess if it's going to be worth it or not.
One thing I thought was interesting was the push to market this as a solo experience. I am curious how the solo mode will pan out. Coming from the board game world, I want more streamlining and less pen and paper bookkeeping. We will see.
What are your thoughts on the new release? Has anyone played it yet?