Modiphius is releasing their new XCOM miniatures game for GenCon this year. An XCOM minis game is one of those ideas so obvious, I’m shocked we got a Halo game first. Traditional XCOM, with its turn-based tactics where cover and maneuver are everything, is an obvious match for the analog play on a kitchen table with cool minis and terrain.
Modiphius has decided to employ Ivan Sorensen and his Five Parsecs From Home rules to create the backbone for XCOM. This is perfect, as players have already been homebrewing their own XCOM adventures with the Five Parsecs From Home rules.
Five Parsecs From Home is a simple d6 system that’s built around solo campaign play, where every individual character in your team can level up or die horribly in combat. Battles are brutal and fast, and a character, whether player-controlled or a non-player character (NPC) is likely to die if they are caught out of cover.
Not only will the XCOM game use the aliens, gear, and scenarios fans of the computer game are used to, where scrappy human elite operatives take on alien invaders with more advanced tech, attempting to sabotage the aliens’ plans and steal their tech for reverse-engineering, but we’ll also get multiple modes of play. You’ll get the classic solo campaign experience of Five Parsecs From Home, but also cooperative mode, where players will have their own teams of XCOM operatives working together to take down the aliens, various PvP where XCOM teams compete against one another, and the option of having the aliens run by a human opponent.
In addition, in campaign mode you’ll build out your XCOM base with resources that will allow you to take on more challenging missions, research new tech based on the alien gear your capture, and build a unique XCOM squad whose abilities grow and change as (and if) they survive missions.
Due to popular demand, Modiphius will be offering both their in-house resin multi-part miniatures (for additional customization at the table) as well as High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) figures from Archon, the folks behind the minis for StarCraft and Dungeons and Lasers. XCOM fans have been waiting years for this game. Five Parsecs From Home fans will love the new missions, opponents, gear, and base-building options. Stay frosty and get your team to your local Dragon’s Lair Comics & Fantasy® today to secure your copy of the 280 page, full-color XCOM rulebook and miniatures. Good luck, Commander.
