The Halo universe continues to expand onto the tabletop with the just-announced over the weekend Halo: Ground Command.
Like Spartan Games' previous release, Halo: Fleet Battles, the game comes complete in one box with everything you need to get started - that's rules, custom dice, references sheets, game tokens, and a mess of miniatures. In fact, there are two full armies inside:
UNSC 1000 Point Battle Force
Including 1 x Officer, 1 x Medic, 1 x Radio Operator, 2 x Snipers, 2 x Spotters, 2 x 2-man HMG Teams, 2 x 2-man Missile Teams, 27 x Troopers, 2 x Warthogs (Gatling, Gauss and Rocket Weapons for each) and 1 x Spartan
Covenant 1000 Point Battle Force
Including 1 x Elite Ultra, 2 x Elite Minor, 3 x Elite Majors, 6 x Grunts with Fuel Rods, 24 x Grunt Minors, 3 x Ghosts with Grunt Operator and 2 x Hunters
Spartan (and they were called that long before they got the Halo license), hasn't shown off any actual minis yet, but we do know they've eschewed the usual 28mm, and have gone with 1/100 scale infantry and vehicles instead. It's a kind of clever move, as that's HO model rail scale, so there's a tonne of modern-ish terrain you could buy to go with the game.
And, it also means that you can't easily swap in your Mjolnir-armoured Spartans with, say, some other popular SF wargame...
There's no release date yet apart from later in the northern summer, but the plans are for every unit in the video-game to get a model release, so that Scorpion tanks ahoy. The game's rules will use similar mechanics as Ground Command's fleet-based cousin, so if you're familiar with that you'll be right at home. The game will retail for about $US90, and can be pre-ordered now.
As a pretty dedicated tabletop gamer, this is definitely something to keep an eye on, and if the figures are as good as the ships in Fleet Battles, this is will look pretty amazing in action.
