The loquacious Phat J here to talk about a game that doesn’t get the the attention it deserves.
The Mutant Chronicles. Ever hear of that, punk? Well take that finger out of your nose, and take a seat. I’m about to take you back to the early 90’s and teach you a thing or two about one of the GREATEST cyberpunk game settings to ever be created.
The tabletop miniatures game, Warzone, was created by Swedish company Target Games back in 1994. The game was a minaturized version of their RPG, Mutant Chronicles, which itself was a version of their original RPG called Mutant. Target games saw what a young Games Workshop was doing in England and said ‘hold my pickled herring’, believing they could do the same thing. The kicker? THEY ALMOST DID.
During the mid-90’s Wazone miniatures sales kept pace with and in some locations (Europe) was more popular than Warhammer 40,000. To this day Warzone has a loyal, herring breathed, fanatic fan base in Sweden and the surrounding European countries. And why not? The setting is unique and due to the game being based on an existing RPG the lore is detailed and extensive. There are tons of books detailing the universe and the individuals that exist within the setting.
What’s the Story?
In the considerably less distant than their 40,000 year old counterpart’s future, mankind has left a resource depleted Earth. Humanity used advanced AI technology to terraform and then colonize the solar system. No longer made up of nation states, mankind has grouped together into five megacorporations. Capitol (American), Imperial (UK), Mishima (Japan), Bauhaus (Germany) and Cybertronic (AI/Robot). There is constant strife and warfare between the corporations as they each try to increase their profitability and holdings. Trying to keep humanity from tearing itself to pieces is The Brotherhood (Catholic Church). Trying to tear humanity to pieces is The Dark Legion, a daemonic race from another dimension that uses mutants, aliens, and undead creatures to plague civilization.
The game was designed to be played at the squad level, with larger games consisting of multiple squads. Unlike Warhammer 40,000, Warzone used the ‘I go, You go’ mechanic, alternating unit activation between players and including reactive actions. This kept players involved throughout the game, unlike turn based mechanics which would see players out of the action for long periods of time. The game also utilized a ‘D20’ die system which used modifiers to increase or decrease likelihood of an action succeeding. Overall the game was easy to pick up and did not require large purchases of models to enjoy.
The models themselves were unique and full of character. Most were squat, chunky, and had exaggerated proportions. The models matched the artwork of Paul Bonner, the iconic artist who filled the rulebooks with masterpiece after masterpiece. To this day fans fondly remember both the iconic artwork in the books and the models in all of their mid-90s glory.
What happened to the game?
Warzone has gone through several different iterations throughout the years. The original miniatures game from Target Games was discontinued in the late 90s. The rights were sold to Paradox Entertainment, which then gave the rights to the miniature wargaming side of Mutant Chronicles to Excelsior Entertainment who then shut down operations of both Warzone and their fantasy equivalent Chronopia. In 2008 Fantasy Flight Games attempted to create a 54mm collectible miniatures games based on the Mutant Chronicles universe. It lasted a year before being discontinued. In 2013, Paradox Entertainment licensed the rights to Prodos Games, which then created Warzone Resurrection, a new version of Warzone with a whole new resin miniatures line that featured extensive re-sculpts and updates to the classic Warzone miniatures. The game found some success and had retail packaging options, however, Prodos Games was not able to come to an agreement to the new Mutant Chronicles license holder Cabinet Entertainment. In 2018 the game was discontinued.
So where are we now? Is the game back?
In 2023 Res Nova Games, publisher of 2018’s hit Dungeon Slayer, obtained the rights to produce a new tabletop miniatures game using the Mutant Chronicles IP. Res Nova hired former Cool Mini or Not writer and creator Bryan CP Steele, known for his work on the miniatures games Warmachine: Prime and Dark Age. Steele stated that from the very beginning his idea had been to bring the game back to it’s roots, both mechanically and visually. This is evident in his creation Warzone Eternal, which was officially released in 2024 after a successful Kickstarter campaign.
The rules themself are faithful to the original version of the game. The ‘I go, You go’ mechanic still exists as does the individual model activations. The game is now even smaller in scale, typically only consisting of a single squad of models than can be made up of any variation of available models in a faction. The model release roll-out has been controlled, with each faction getting a base set of three unit types, each consisting of 3 or 4 different sculpts. Since the initial roll-out there have been two new releases (Dr. Diana and the Algeroth Immaculate Fury). I personally love the slow grow approach, as it shows thoughtful inclusion of new units to the game and also gauges interest before stretching resources.
The models are by and large faithful recreations of the originals, which is something I am very happy about. After the Kickstarter campaign, which manufactured the minis using SioCast, a thermoplastic material, Res Nova switched over to Trenchworx for miniature production. Trenchworx now manufactures the miniatures using 3D printing that come in their patented SnapTray technology which provides a better quality production. The full range is for sale through Trenchworx directly.
Challenges to the Game?
As with any small scale miniatures game in an already flooded market, finding opponents will be challenging. As of writing this article the team at Res Nova is actively looking to create events at some of the more large scale miniature gaming conventions such as Adepticon and Gen Con. Games like Infinity, Saga, and Warmachine, do exist and have existed for a long time due to a fanatical fan base that continue to support the game and the creators. Res Nova and Warzone Eternal’s big challenge will be what it always has been, keeping the rights to the game secure while keeping the interest of the fan base. Trust me, as a fan of the game and the IP for the past 30 years, I assure you that there IS an interest in the game continuing. What is needed is more visibility of the game, retailer support for in store sales, and the grit to hold on while the game is in the infancy and not get discouraged by low event attendance and slow sales. Those will all increase as time goes on as long as the support is consistent and content like new miniatures and rules supplements are released periodically. A great example of this is Conquest by Para Bellum Games. It continues to grow and find a player base due to have an AMAZINGLY fleshed out and ongoing world building story to accompany the game itself. Despite Games Workshop releasing The Old World and once again supporting a rank and flank fantasy game, Conquest can compete for players because the creators of the game understand the importance of a unique and interesting IP and steady support for not only the game but also events.
How can we Support Warzone?
On our end, as fans for the game, we must resist the urge to criticize and dismiss Res Nova’s attempt to bring back our beloved game. As with all things nostalgic, it is easy to make comparisons to the game of our youth and find faults and criticisms with where Steele and the team are heading in regards to the game mechanics and setting. Some of the complaints I have seen online have been regarding the slow release of new models. To that I say just look back at when Prodos released Warzone Resurrection. They produced nearly every single model for all factions of the game within a year of release. What they didn’t do was take the time to make sure the actual game mechanics were solid and supported. They got so wrapped up in the retail sales aspect that they forgot that what makes customers continue to buy the product is a game with solid rules and replay ability. Steele himself said that the game itself is the focus and that each model release is thought out and tactical for how it will balance the factions in-game.
The other criticism is from European players who are eager to get the miniatures and don’t want to pay the import fees by ordering from Trenchworx, which is a United States based company. Many players are demanding that Trenchworx and Res Nova (through their distributer 2 Thin Coats) sell the STL files so that they can print themselves. To that I say there is no quicker way to ensure that Warzone Eternal fails and the game once again becomes discontinued. There has to be financial incentive for anyone to want to continue to pay someone to produce content for the game. Look at the upcoming Trench Crusade miniatures game. Initially billed as a ‘use any model you want and the rules are all free game’, it quickly became apparent that they needed to sell models to make the game viable and profitable. This caused a lot of anger from the ‘printer go brrr’ commentators on Facebook who refuse to purchase anything but then get upset when the game goes away.
Obviously, the fact that a game based on an RPG from the early 90’s continues to re-emerge time and again shows that there is an interested market for the product. I salute Bryan C.P. Steele and the Res Nova team, along with Thin 2 Coats, and Trenchworx, for believing in the universe brought alive by Target Games and Paul Bonner all of those years ago, and I wish them well.
Now. Who wants to play WARZONE?
Bringing me back! I absolutely loved this game in the 90’s, it was so much fun and the setting was fantastic.