One Page Rules has been the standard-bearer for quick-and-easy, but not simplistic, wargaming. Now they’re pressing their advantage with new two-player starter box sets.
The big deal with One Page Rules is in the name; the basic rules for their games fit on one 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, front-and-back. They do have more options you can add on for more crunch, including a 15-page expansion of rules for their sci-fi game, Grimdark Future. Even at 15 pages, One Page Rules are a lot more approachable than the monster tomes you’ll face with Warhammer 40,000. This makes One Page Rules the perfect way to stick your toe into the mini wargaming pool; you can learn the basics of movement, shooting, and tabletop tactics easily. And since Grimdark Future is minis-agnostic, you can paint up your 40k minis to use with Grimdark Future, insuring they’re ready to hit the table if you do graduate on to playing 40k.
Unit statistics is one area where Grimdark Future keeps things simple. Where most wargames give each unit a half-dozen or more stats to keep track of (Speed, Toughness, Strength, Leadership, Objective Control, etc.), a Grimdark Future unit has only two stats: Quality and Defense. When you roll with either stat, your Quality and Defense scores tell you the lowest number you need to roll on a six-sided die (aka d6) to succeed. Every unit has the same base movement as well: 6 inches for a normal move and 12 inches for a rush or a charge. Different armies and units might have individual special rules that might change things (many High Elf units, for instance, enjoy an additional 2 inches of movement), but since each army has very few of these special rules (usually only one), it keeps things easy, even when your friends bring an army you’ve never seen before.
The new Broken Truth: Master Starter Box includes 77 models, unpainted but already put together (a few need to be glued to their bases, but other than that, there is no assembly required). The box allows you to play a battle between the Saurian Starhost and the Robot Legions. The Saurian Starhost includes reptilian warriors with a Mesoamerican aesthetic, giant alligators with missile-launchers on their shoulders, and even a lizard hero riding a cyber-tyrannosaurus! On the Robot Legions side, we have swarms of tiny bots ready to overwhelm and drag down their larger foes, a big arachnid-robot, and even a looming tripod-bot. The box includes not just the miniatures, but a play mat, thick card-stock scenery, and, of course, the one-page of rules you’ll need to get playing. You can literally open the box, put the scenery on the play mat, and start playing almost immediately. The hardest part will be deciding who gets to play the ‘bots and who gets to play the space-lizards.
(There’s also a smaller version of the starter box that doesn’t include some of the larger models but is also noticeably cheaper than the Master Box).
The Broken Truth Two-player Master Starter Box is perfect for people who have been curious about minis wargaming but have been hesitant to get started or are intimidated by the mass of rules and lore games like Warhammer 40,000 have accrued after over nearly four decades. It’s also a great opportunity for seasoned wargamers who want a game that’s quicker and easier to play, since you can usually get in over two games of Grimdark Future in the time it takes to play a single game of 40k. Talk to the expert quartermasters at your local Dragon’s Lair Comics & Fantasy® today about getting your hands on the Broken Futures Master Box.
