Zona Alfa - Frostgrave with guns and Vodka?

I've just received my copy of the new Osprey rules Zona Alfa. Still to play but here are my first thoughts.

I pre-ordered these on a bit of a whim. Regular readers may have noticed I have a fairly cynical view of the gaming world, particularly the constant spawning of "Boutique" games. You know small tables, small forces, eye-watering price tags on the figures that you buy then by the time you paint them the new flavour of the month is here. I also don't particularly "rate" many Osprey rules - they do seem to throw them out there on the assumption that if you throw enough some will stick. And if I see another bloody re-skin of Lion Rampant I may scream. My glass is pretty much always half empty. Then again there have been some stand out successes - Gaslands and Frostgrave have been excellent, as is Black Ops, and for a fun multi player Colonial game The Men Who Would Be Kings ticks a lot of boxes, so maybe it is just me.

Zona Alfa is the latest in the series. It is the usual Osprey format - soft cover, 64 pages, lots of nice pics and illustrations. The setting is interesting - an exclusion zone somewhere in Eastern Europe, straight out of computer games like STALKER and Metro. Actually as far as I can see on first reading this is a bit too vague and not really well explained as to exactly what it is or what caused it - I suspect the author assumes we are already clued up on the games that inspired the setting and I am not sure that is really the case. The premise is simple - small groups scavenging this zone fighting each other and the dangerous denizens for loot and wealth which you can then use to improve your team and rinse and repeat - not new really. Where the author does go out of his way is to really fix the game in that pseudo Soviet setting, with some really nice touches and sections that are very good - possibly a bit too Hollywood, but really helps set the atmosphere. The game mechanics seem solid enough on first glance with nothing out too unusual. Forces consist of a leader and his crew -  usually between 3 and 9 others depending on quality. You also choose one of several factions to represent - Military, Scientists, Bandits etc etc.   There are a couple of nice touches - these rules are the first I have seen to give a bonus to troops in camouflage clothing for example. The setting is fleshed out well too. The campaign rules and progression also seem to be simple but viable - nothing that new but still perfectly playable - loot to gain cash and experience that you can use to upgrade your crew and skills. One thing that is new to this sort of game is a built in allies \ enemies system where groups from different factions can cooperate or not based on their faction allegiances, which is a nice touch.

Another big bonus is the total absence of associated figures - you can use whatever you have - in the same way as Frostgrave, although there are mentions of the excellent Copplestone and Lead Adventure miniatures that are pretty much spot on. I will be using my reasonably "modern" Russian and Chechen figures but anything really would work. 

One miss is a playsheet. This is something Osprey have "form" on. They really need to add a playsheet , either in the rules or as a pdf download - the logical place, the inside back cover, is taken up with adverts for more Osprey rules.

I would not go so far as recommending these rules yet until I have played them, but all the signs are these could be a good solid game. How many players will pick them up I cant say, but as they don't require much in the way of expenditure this could be a winner as a fun back up game.

So Frostgrave with guns and Vodka - Da! What is not to like?