Last update 27th April 2013
This page deals with all the rules questions that you might have about the Deadzone Kickstarter rules. When the full rules have been published and the game released in its final form I will replace this with a living FAQ for that.
Please read the questions and answers below to see if your query has already been answered. If not, feel free to ask in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
If you have any questions on the game rules, or if you see a post on a forum somewhere that does, then please direct them here so that I can deal with them all in a single document. That way questions get answered consistently and everyone gets the benefit 🙂
FAQ
The following are dealt with in 3 steps rather than the more common 2. As well as a Question (Q) and an Answer (A) I’ve included a Discussion (D) section  so that I can talk around the topic as needed. This might explain why a rule is as it is, the history of its development or the tactical implications among other things. The intention is to give you a better insight and understanding into the decisions behind the rules as well as the rules themselves.
Q: When will the rules be made public?
A: We’re aiming to put an Alpha version of the rules onto the Kickstarter by the end of next week (5th May).
D: I’m playtesting all weekend in-between writing up corrections, then it needs a day or two in layout to make it pretty and get the sample cards organised. The aim is to get a condensed version that will allow you to see the core rules and let us know what you think. It will contain examples of the different elements, but not all instances.
Q: What’s an Alpha?
A: An early version of the rules.
D: Rules normally progress through 4 main stages with smaller increments within them. The first is Proposal/Concept, then Alpha, then Beta and finally Release versions. I could call this a Beta (that’s what people normally call things that get released to the public regardless of their state), but realistically there are a number of things which still need to be addressed before we get there in my eyes.
Firstly, what is done? Well the core concepts and processes have been developed and the game works as something you can play – it’s just not been refined enough yet for me to be entirely happy. What has yet to be finished is the details and balancing of the many weapons, troop types, faction specific cards and so on. I’ve got roughs for most of these, they just aren’t all balanced yet. You can help with that.
Then there’s the Kickstarter. To a large extent you guys have the control of how much goes in the final Deadzone rulebook. I’ve proposed a raft of stuff to Ronnie, and he’s tipped a stack more ideas into the mix, but whether we can get them all done or not depends on how well the KS does. It all takes time and time is money. If we get the funding then well be adding more factions, “locals”, extended campaign rules and loads more as well as all the extra models, terrain sprues and suchlike you’d expect from a successful Kickstarter campaign. This means that I can’t really call the rules a proper Beat because I don’t even know what’s going to be in the final version yet!Â
So the Alpha will show you the kind of game Deadzone is and you can easily see where it’s going. If you’re interested you can even chip in and offer suggestions. Always happy to listen to good ideas 🙂
 Q: Will the rules include… ?
A: Maybe.
D:Â The final contents of the rules (and the game in general) depends on the success of the Kickstarter. See my discussion above.
Q: Can I play without the board?
A:Â yes, with a few house rules.
D:Â If you really don’t like the idea of a board you could easily adapt the rules to a plain table. You need rules for movement, ranges and scatter and all can be derived from the grid measurements (movement and ranges) or borrowed from other games (scatter).Â
However, I personally see no real benefits and two distinct problems with doing this. Using a tape measure instead of the gridded board guarantees a slower game and also offers more opportunities for disagreements. I chose to use the board to make a slicker, faster and less fractious game as I like all those features.Â
To keep things tidy, comments and questions will be deleted from this page once they have been addressed in the FAQ.
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