 image © Anvil Industry |
Wargame Book: Afterlife Ed1 v1.3 Mini Rulebook, Product Code: AN1001, Series: Afterlife, Setting: Afterlife, Rules: Afterlife, Company: Anvil Industry company, Production: 2015-2016- Base price(Afterlife Ed1 v1.3 Mini Rulebook)(2016): 6 GBP / ? EUR/ ? USD |
Read our full review of the Afterlife Ed1 v1.3 Rulebook from Anvil Industry
| image © Anvil Industry |
| Afterlife Ed1 v1.3 Mini Rulebook from Anvil Industry company |
Details
Wargame Book: Afterlife Ed1 v1.3 Mini Rulebook, Product Code: AN1001, Series: Afterlife, Setting: Afterlife, Rules: Afterlife, Company: Anvil Industry company, Production: 2015-2016-
Designer: Joel Pitt
Features: softcover
The contents are exactly the same as the rulebook on the Afterlife website you can download for free.
I do not own the rulebook, just browsed through it when I played a demo. My review is based on the online copy of the rules.
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Review
Opening the book
The size of the book is A5, that's just perfect for a wargame rulebook that needs to be used during games.
The paper is good quality. The binding looks okay. The illustrations and the photos are nice.
Contents (42 pages)
- Rules (p1-p18, 18 pages, 43%)
- Force lists (p19-p40, 22 pages, 52%): There are 2 lists, the Unity Council and the Pan-Continental Republic. There's also a 3rd force, the Renegades, who can pick units from both force lists.
Reading the book
The layout is good, the text is easy to read. The illustrations are nice and fitting.
The text: The text is easy to read, easy to comprehend. I think the language is easy to understand even for those who've learnt English as a second language. The text is very dry though.
Setting: The setting is a generic, bleak sci-fi world. There's practically no setting info in the book - there's some background in the beginning, and that's it.
Rules: The rules look easy to follow and I've felt I understand most of them for the first read-through, or at least I'll know where to look them up.
- Scenarios: The rulebook says you need to come up with your own scenarios. I think it's a lazy approach, there should be at least 3-4 examples to make the game complete.
Information: While I can't be sure but I suppose the rules give you everything you need to know about playing Deadzone Ed2, without the need to know further wargames (or the first edition of this game).
Differences between prints
Who will need this?
I think it's a good reference book for the current rules. If you'd like to play Afterlife, and want to have a hardcopy of the rules, I don't think it would be much cheaper to print the online rulebook.
On the other hand I feel it's a system still in development - so you could wait a little and get a more final ruleset in the next printing.
If you'd like to get a generic ruleset to tailor it to your setting, Afterlife is a good start.
If you'd like to buy to book to get info on the Afterlife setting, there's only one page of information in it, so you'd better print the setting info from the Afterlife website.
Recommendation
Possible uses
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Resources
Anvil Industry: Afterlife Ed1 v1.3 Mini Rulebook: Official webpage.
Anvil Industry: Afterlife Ed1 v1.3 Rulebook (PDF)
Reviews
Narric: Afterlife - Sci-Fi Tabletop Wargame: Review article.
Mark (atbzimark) (for Tabletop Gamers UK): Learning Curve Chapter 14: Review article about Afterlife, with a sample force list, and an optional rule.
Mark (atbzimark) (for Tabletop Gamers UK): Learning Curve: Bit Six: Review article about Afterlife.
Mark (atbzimark) (for Tabletop Gamers UK): Learning Curve: Afterlife Volumes Review: Review article about Afterlife.
Russell Goodwin (Fifty)(on DakkaDakka) [AFTERLIFE] Discussion Thread - Rulebook review, FAQs and very brief battle report: Review article.
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Buying the product
Price
Base price(Afterlife Ed1 v1.3 Mini Rulebook)(2016): 6 GBP / ? EUR/ ? USD
Base set price(Unity Council Faction Starter Set with Rulebook)(2016): 43 GBP / ? EUR/ ? USD
Base set price(Republic Faction Starter Set with Rulebook)(2016): 43 GBP / ? EUR/ ? USD
- Includes a 39 GBP starter set, plus the Mini Rulebook
Anvil Industry: Afterlife Mini rulebook: Official webpage.
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Do you have the Afterlife Ed1 v1.3 Mini Rulebook from Anvil Industry? How do you like it? Would you recommend them to others? Tell your opinion in the comments!
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