The Walking Dead All out War Prelude to Woodbury solo expansion starter unboxing and reveiw from Mantic Games

When Mantic Games Released the starter set for The Walking Dead All Out War I was suitably impressed.  Its an excellent game system, and you do not need to be a fan of the comics to follow

 along and enjoy it either as it provides a suitable multiplayer skirmish experience with some real interesting elements, and the ability to adapt it to solo play in a way.  Solo play has now been perfected for this expansion.  So head back to that article to learn how to play.


The prelude to Woodbury is a narrative single player adventure featuring Brian 'The Governor' Blake and his exploits from before he rose to power in Woodbury and encountered Rick. The quick-start tutorial will take you through the rules as you play out the Governor's story, and the box contains everything you need to get right into the action. You do not need the all out war core set to play, but all of the prelude to Woodbury components are all fully compatible with the Core Set.

So really, this is fully stand alone, you can start your adventure here with the walking dead, it has less bits then the main Starter Set, but it does have a full story to follow, and then when you try it, and decide you like it, you can combine it with the core, as the core adds a lot to this, but this ALSO adds to the core too.

So lets pop it open, take a look at what we get, and see what its like.........




This set contains 6 unique, collectible miniatures allowing you to add Brian 'The Governor' Blake to your games, along with 5 Walkers to battle your way through. It also contains an exclusive 'solo' version of the game's event deck.
Contents:
  • 1 Brian 'The Governor' Blake Miniature
  • 5 Walker Miniatures
  • 1 Quick-Start Rulebook
  • 2 Cars
  • 3 Barricades
  • 5 Supply Counters
  • 1 Threat Tracker
  • 1 Kill Zone/Blast Template
  • 1 Range Ruler
  • 1 Health Counter
  • 1 Survivor Card 
  • 1 Walker Reference Card
  • 15 Exclusive Solo Play Event Cards
  • 8 Supply Cards
  • 4 Equipment Cards
  • 6 Red Dice
  • 2 White Dice
  • 1 Blue Die
  • 1 Black Action Die
  • 1 Yellow Panic Die

 You can see you certainly get a lot for the money! all in its own storage solution too with slots for the cards ready cut into the plastic tray.  You don't get a play mat, like the starter, so must measure out your own playing area, but its no big deal, as you will more than likely end up getting the starter as well, but you DO get everything else you need to play straight from the box, including the card terrain and all tokens, measuring devices needed.
So lets have a look at the young Governer, Brian.......

solid stats in dice, rather a good defense, and 5 health are going to make him hard to take down, 3 pack slots as well meaning he can horde some goodies.  His special rule Tenacious will help keep you in the fight longer too, as when he loses his last point of health, you roll a black die, and on a sheriff badge remain in play.  At 35 points he is a real solid option for building into survivor groups (you can learn more about that in the starter set)

You also get a nice selection of equipment that you can use, these are added on in scenarios as you progress, but in a "Regular" game you can purchase these in list building, and combine them with the starter set.

Bandages are always useful, as discarding them regains a wound!  The leather jacket has a smiliar roll letting you discard it to cancel all damage from a melee attack, really good if you got bitten by a zombie, or took a beating, get rid of this and sneak off sharpish!

To provide some more punch the Beretta 92 adds a white dice to the shoot roll, and 10 inches of range as well as being reliable (means you can reroll out of ammo rolls) Though of course like most guns, it causes mayhem, so will draw things towards to you and increase the threat level.  Perhaps the silent kitchen knife is more to your taste, it lets you re roll a dice in melee and can be dual wielded with something else too.
You get a deck of supply cards.  Like the main starter these are found when you search for suppliers, and could be good, or you may have uncovered a lurker, which is a walker trapped in a car, or perhaps just hidden under some rags. You can easily mix these these in with the starter deck.
The "solo" event deck can replace the one in the core to provide an even more focused solo experience, and you can switch in or out the decks as you want, as you play  solo or multiplayer.
Our main character model Brian is well detailed,and a quality model again comes as one piece, and you can paint him or not as you choose, but if you do, there is plenty of detail on it and it will certainly come out very well.
You get a set of 6 walkers, all full of theme, and character, and again different sculpts from the core set, and boosters for a fully individual horde.
The Quickstart rulebook contains pretty much everything you need to know to get playing, there are more things covered in the main starter rule set, but this will give you the core ideas of the game easily, its fast to learn, and the scenarios introduce the rules you nice and gently so you don't get overwhelmed.
There are even some rather nifty special scenario rules, such as capturing walkers!

So... is this set worth getting as a starting point to get into The Walking Dead All out War? yes... very much so, its everything the main game is, but designed for solo play, and with a story line and scenarios to follow.  Is it worth getting this if i already have the Starter set?  of course!, its well worth it, more walkers, survivors, equipment, events, scenery and another set of dice and rulers too, not to mention the solo specific event deck for more options for you, and scenarios too.  A great set worthy of your attention.


with an RRP of £24.99 for this its great value for new gear models, solo cards and a campaign too that can all be included in to the starter set or expanded with boosters,  so head on over to your local game store and grab one.
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