"Warlands & Overdrive Arena -- anybody played?" Topic

Hey…

I was wondering if anybody has had the chance to play the Abberent Games' Warlands. How are they?

also has anybody ever played the old Testors' Overdrive Arena?

I an thinking of getting these two games…

Thanks!

I've played both.

I've played Overdrive Arena years ago as a demo at Gen Con. Liked it enough to pick it up. However I found it to be the worst written rulebook next to Ultimate Warzone. Not very well supported either.

I've played Warlands and really like it. Rules are laid out much better.

From what I recall of OA and comparing it to Warlands is.

- OA is 28mm and uses 1/43rd scale cars while Warlands is 20mm and uses Matchbox / Hotwheels sized cars. Movement seemed shorter in OA to accomodate the space available for 1/43rd scale cars. Warlands uses a lot of space, but seems more realistic for it's scale.

- OA seemed more Assaulty than Shooty, at least that's what I recall from the demo. You seemed to be able to cause more damage by ramming than shooting. Warlands seems to have a pretty well rounded selection of means to demolish your opponent, each with trade offs. Ramming in Warlands can be risky to the rammer as well.

- OA used d6s and a unique d6 for random movement. Warlands uses d6s and d10s and a template for random movement.

- Warlands expands into arial units, bikes, pedestrians/infantry, cavalry units, armored military units, and even walker units. These will be covered in the full rulebook.

- Warlands captures a multitude of post-apocalyptic settings ranging from Road Warrior to Doomsday. Overdrive Arena seemed more focused to a demo derby with guns.

- Both games offer customization rules. Warlands rules will be available with the release of the full rulebook.

Overall, my vote is for Warlands.

When is the Warlands book coming out then?

still up in the air, word from Aberrant is they plan on having it by Gen Con.

The rules in the Battle Box are pretty complete for car vs. car action (pretty much what Overdrive Arena covers). However the rulebook included only has stats for a dune buggy and a utility truck. Weapons are simply, the Spug Gun (a crude machinegun), a rocket launcher, and a handgun (for quick close range snapshots through the window). You also get a few special maneuvers, which allow you to push the performance of your car based on the driver's skill.

The complete rules will contain stats for all cars and weapons. More special maneuvers, and scenarios. Rules for customizing cars and special gear (like nitro boosters already available from the Aberrant forums). Rules for cars, bikes, walkers, flyers, infantry and mounted units. Special rules for the various factions as well.

Hopefully sometime after Charlie and Bang Bang's Crew come out. Since the greens were supposedly done two years ago . . .

Well I heard that they're giving away masters of Charlie and Charlie Transformed as prized for the Rez tournament at Gen Con this year. So I hope the Bang Bang's Gang boxed set should be done soon.

I got the Warlands box on order.

They had me, then lost me, I think.

Thing is, I was one of the first to buy the black box. Loved it. Then, over time, things bogged down. I know there were set backs, and even a tragedy involved.

With the down time, a friend of mine started doing research on matchbox cars and Jada cars. With Jada's new road warrior type of vehicles, I'm not sure why I'd ever buy another resin car that costs more, doesn;t look as good, and needs to be painted.

The rules I've seen so far are great. I'm in for the rulebook for sure.

I just don't see them selling many CARS. Now, bikes, infantry, flying machines, that would be what I would buy.

I guess I'm going to give it some time and see where it goes. This way, I can see if Jada will release more road warrior cars and tucks, AND also see what A does actually release.

I agree with you Vogless. I posted that months ago on their forums. Their answer is that they're aware of the issue with competing with toy cars already on the market. They do plan on getting bikes and other units not normally found in your local toy store in that scale. They're supposed to have upgrade kits available to customize toy cars to make them road warrior-worthy. I've done a few of mine.

link

Based on their production schedule, bikes, an ultra light and foot soldiers are some of the first to be released.

Well, I am planning on scaling it up to 28mm anyway…