I just got my paws on one of these and thought I’d drop some first impressions here.
For £60 RRP you get a heavy box with quite a bit in. It looks like a well thought out entry point for the game which should bring in new blood to their player base. I know a couple of people who’re dipping their toes into this game now that the entry cost has been lowered. That’s all good.
In the box you get all the models, rules, scenery, counters, dice and even a tape that you’d need to play. It’s fairly comprehensive.
The models in the box are equivalent to a Scourge and UCM starter, but in plastic instead of resin. How much difference does that make? Well, to start with each of those resin starters has an RRP of more than the whole box. That’s a very big difference. But do you sacrifice quality for that reduction? Well, I’ve got a starter set for each of them so I can do a comparison review later. For the moment, let me just say that they look fine on the sprues.
The rulebook is the 1.1 version, so no major changes there. It’s 4 pages longer than the v1.0, but is an instance of incorporating errata from the first edition rather than a wholesale reworking. Tweaks and clarifications are the order of the day here.
I’ll come back to look at this in more detail in a proper review later. For now, let me just say that anyone who thought DZC was too expensive to get into can’t use that argument any longer.
Quirkworthy 
I am interested in getting this down the road, but now it was up against Dreadball Season 3, Bones 2 Kickstarter, and Mantic’s Mars Attack Kickstarter for money. It lost.
It seems to be increasingly difficult to know where to spend your limited gaming budget. There are so many nice looking games out there.
Still, there are worse problems to have 😉
So Jake when we getting Mars Attacks! rules?
That aside, I’d love to pickup DZC but it always feels like outside Warhams, and Warmahordes there’s no room or interest in anything else. How do you combat this problem? Aside from your silver devil charm.
I’ve been considering DZC as my first foray into the world of 10mm/6mm combined arms and the new starter looks fantastic if the sculpt quality is comparable to the resin kits. Two faction starters plus a decent amount of fold-up card scenery for less than the cost of one of the resin starters is certainly enticing.
Does the two-player starter include the command decks for the two included factions, though? I didn’t see the decks mentioned in the contents list. If not, does the game system suffer much without the decks? If I do pick this up I’ll have to mail order, so I’d like to get all the relevant bits in one go.
No decks. But as I understand it, you don’t actually use them with the forces included, so it should have no effect on the game.
This starter set does look amazing. I think I might have to treat myself after Christmas maybe?
This starter was such incredible value that I couldn’t resist getting it. For value and completeness, it seems to be the best starting set on the market. It is winging it’s way to me and hopefully I will have it soon!
I’d have gone for this in a flash if it was UCM vs. one of the other two factions… don’t like the Scourge minis, but the rest of the range is lovely. If they come out with individual plastic starters I’ll definitely grab a UCM set.
Worth noting that hard plastic minis have more value than resin ones (remember it’s a double-whammy – not only does it make for better minis, the material itself is the #1 preference of the wargames market right now, which adds even more value), especially with tiny minis with lots of thin easily breakable parts like these. That was the main thing that put me off initially, moreso than price.. lots of spindly breakable things on spindly breakable flying stands which you’re supposed to slot other minis into in-game = no thanks.
The resin Hawk uses is incredibly resilient – I’d honestly argue even moreso than plastic. Despite all those spindly barrels, I’ve never had a single thing broken. Dave has demonstrated flinging a Shaltari gate against a wall without a single crack.
The widgets Hawk created for the flying stands are spectacular, too. Not only are they convenient for storage, but they provide a separation point that will come undone long before the actual stand (which is also acrylic, not plastic) breaks.
In short, there’s nothing easily breakable about ANYTHING Hawk has put together.
Got my starter a few weeks ago and it really is a steal!
The vehicle minis have some details changed, but only so much that you can say that they just rolled from a different assambly line on another planet. The engines need some drilling since natuarally that´s something that is hard to do with plastics, but that´s done in a few seconds, also the eyes of the Scourge APC need to be filed out, but this also is an easy job. The clear plastic is of the heavy sort and has approx. the same weight as the stuff that goes with the regular resin minis. The only let-down are the infantry, they are not as good as the regular metal ones and I will replace them, but for a starter they are a nice bonus for an set that already is a steal. The mini-meter is nice and bendy enough to not cause problems when measuring in tight confines. The book is of great production value and finally includes an index. The scenery is great and I love it.
All in all I am a big fan of this starter kit. Hawk Wargames plans to release a Shaltari/PHR-Starter as soon as possible but due to the high investment a release near the end of 2014 is most probable. Getting my starter and swapping the UCM out to a friend who gave me his Scourge was quite a good idea and gave me quite an army.
Regarding the quality of the resin. It is great and after they fixed the problems of the first run they are quite nice and not much of a problem. I have to ask for more replacements from Battlefront and Spartan Games than from Hawk Wargames. There are some bubbles and miscasts now and then, but most of it is fixable with a drop of glue and the few that are beyond repair get easily replaced within a week or two if you provide a picture of the damage. Breaking DZC-minis is the least of my concerns, they stand quite some abuse.
The widgets are great and one should get an extra-bag of them to mout widgets on both sides of the peg. Storing the stands now is a breeze.
Decks you need only for the battles above 500AP, but they are always a nice thing to get. Don´t forget that some of the army deals from Hawk already include decks as a bonus.
Don’t delay buy it today. Just got my copy a few days ago and the phr starter plus a hades class walker. Fantastic minis and great rules. Good demo game by beasts of war that is worth a wath on YouTube. Wasn’t sure on the scourge minis until I saw them up close. They will be my second faction now.
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