XDZ Recap

playthrough
xdz

#1

My son and I played a rainy afternoon game of Xeno Dead Zone. Operation Rainy Day involved hitting three waypoints, killing the Breeder, and aligning the uplink dish. Twelve commandos went in but were quickly decimated after some surprise Xeno ambushes. One commando made a final stand against seven xenos in the potato farm, somehow killed them all, and hopped an APC to the uplink dish. He aligned the dish and survived the final spawns and escalations in time to make it to the landing pad and evac!!!


#2

Sounds great!

I have a couple of questions. Were there only the two of you? Are there multiple adventures in the book? Why do you have millions of d6s on the table? :smile:


#3

This looks so cool! I canā€™t wait to roll this out.

I hope there is a future Role for Effort one shot of XDZ. Hint hint.


#4

The D6s pictured above are all Xenos (except the red ones which I used for location areas). I used the remaining D6s as Xenos instead of printing out 80 or so of them from the kit because I got lazy and we wanted to play quickly. I placed them on sides 5 or 6 to show Xenos that were seeking and on 1s to show that they were hiding.

The book has a table of 20 objectives. Three objectives plus evac constitute a mission. We rolled the three objectives above and played them in an order that made sense for the mission, though one could easily play them in the order they were rolled. The game also has a table of escalations that can potentially modify the objectives or mission. Consequently, instead of premade ā€œadventures,ā€ XDZ literally has hundreds of combinations of possible scenarios to play.

Iā€™m not just saying this because I helped make it. XDZ is a really awesome game, game supplement, and token set. Itā€™s super unique and could be adopted to any sci-fi setting. Want to play Space Hulk instead? You could do that. Want to play Starship Troopers or XCOM? You could do that.

I could go on and on, but you really need to grab this one. I know itā€™s more expensive for you in another country, but at $4.50 American, itā€™s crazy how much you get for so little. The DIY curve is a little steep at first (lots of printing and cutting), but the investment is worth it, and now that I have done that part, I donā€™t have to do it again ā€” except for those darn Xenos. Lol.


#5

This is awesome! Looks like an epic game.


#6

Oh yeah, I also meant to say, my son and I took in a group of 12 unique marines ā€” 6 each to a squad. We rolled a random starting location in the complex and proceeded to work our way through it, just like in the movie. Each marine had unique stats, gear, and personality.

ā€œIt didnā€™t make any difference.ā€ :smirk:


#7

What was the name of the last commando? We need to know as he will be in the sequel


#8

Thanks for the explanation Alex, much appreciated!

Canā€™t argue with the value. Iā€™m gonna buy it.


#9

My sonā€™s character, Sgt. Sparks. A veteran. It was a great ending. My son says he will be appearing in the sequel. Maybe weā€™ll find a way to level him up. Lol.


#10

It sounds like extra dice are a useful thing to have handy when playing XDZ ( I use dice to track hp anyway). I love using the dice to indicate hiding or attacking. I havenā€™t had time to print and craft mine yet but this is helpful to me. Iā€™m also going to use the XDZ system with Zombies!!! board game. Hell yeah! :sunglasses:


#11

great write up, be awesome to see a RFE video on this.

Curious on weapons. there seem to be 3 weapons on the character sheet. Pulse, Flame, Heavy. If you donā€™t choose Heavy do you have both flame and pulse? and not sure about fuel and ammo mechanics. I get expending them to get a bonus but when not using the bonus is it like infinite ammo and you only lose the bonus when you used up your ammo?


#12

Starting weapons are up to you. My son and I played with two flame units per squad of 6, with those marines just having both weapons. That made the most sense to us (and really hampered us when we got the flame units only escalation). But however you want to play it is up to you.

Yes, you only burn fuel or ammo to get the next highest die class. When that fuel or ammo is gone, you can only do the standard damage.


#13

Thanks for the info @Alex

You guys do a run using the Bakerā€™s Dozen rules?


#14

Well, yes and no. There is no recent Roll For Effort video which showcases the Bakerā€™s Dozen classes as they exist in an Aliens setting.

However, they are largely based on the original classes I wrote for this game:

Had those guys leveled up, they would have had access to similar milestones. We also recorded a video not too long ago where I used the classes in a Starship Troopers game, but I am not sure the audio worked out. The classes have been playtested, and I think the feedback from all the groups who used them in Starship Troopers was positive in terms of each class feeling different and having different abilities. We are undecided about releasing the Starship Troopers video because of the sound in the first 20 minutes. There is an echo, and itā€™s just not quality.

Finally, I do have some plans to run a sequel to the Aliens campaign at some point with Hank and the gang, but it may be a little bit of time down the road. We all have a lot going on.


#15

Right on, Iā€™ll have to watch that video again (canā€™t believe its been over a year already) Because I must be fuzzy on the mechanics being similar to XDZ.

A sequel sounds awesome! Iā€™m sure the community would be stoked to see it.


#16

Well, bear in mind that XDZ can play like a board game, but it can also be used as an ICRPG expansion. Thatā€™s how the classes were used originally. But they could also be used in a hybrid game too!


#17

Just a question of curiosity: About how many Xenos would you recommend having to hand for an ā€˜Averageā€™ Game of this as a Stand Alone?


#18

The highest number I have heard of is 80. You could conceivably need as many as 100.


#19

My son and I planned out first game last weekend. Loved it! Esp with how ā€œhomebrewyā€ it feels from the start. Instead of printing out a load of minis we marked them with the number of Xeons in a given quadrant. Didnā€™t look as impressive as Alexā€™s setup, but was a bit easier to manage. With this setup youā€™d need a max of 64 Xeno minis, 1 for each quadrant for the recommended board setup.

Weā€™re already planning our next gameā€¦Iā€™m rolling around the idea of a prison scenario, something like the commandos land at some secluded prison, maybe theyā€™re delivering a prisoner, while they are there Xenos attack, maybe they were hiding on the drop ship or something and all hell breaks loose.