First announced in January, Mantic Games’ Halo: Flash point hits the world in November, when the first wave of pre-orders ships to eager fans. Polygon got a quick, early look at the miniature skirmish game this week. While the launch product is light on substance, the building blocks are clearly in place for a vibrant and competitive tabletop franchise. Here’s what to expect as the British publisher gears up for its second wave of shipments.
Miniature skirmish games have exploded in popularity over the past five years, with popular titles such as Warhammer 40,000: Team Killing, Infinity, Cyberpunk Red: Combat Zone, Star Wars: ShatterpointAnd Mutant Year Zero: Zone Warsjust to name a few. The appeal for fans is that you only need a few miniatures to play, meaning it can be quick and cheap to assemble and paint a viable fighting force. For publishers, it’s the low initial investment that makes these starter sets so attractive at retail. Add to that a globally recognized first-person shooter franchise with a heavily invested, multi-generational fandom, and you really have something.
The good news is that the guts of Halo: Flash point are inspired by the rules of Mantic’s existing tabletop skirmish games – titles like Gunfight And Dead zone. That means it is fairly mature and unlikely to require major changes in the short term. It’s also quite easy to learn, as long as you have a seasoned player to show you the ropes. That’s because the massive 47-page rulebook is unfortunately a bit boring, with heavy language and a few nagging typos.
Once you manage to plow through the copy, Halo: Flash point offers a very deadly and fast playing style. The d8-based combat mechanics include a ‘headshot’ feature: when you roll an eight, you add another die to the pool you’re rolling for. It is not a modifier Unpleasant the role; it is a whole extra die that could effectively double the damage of your attack – or triple it, or quadruple it, or more, since every eight rolled thereafter adds another die to the total pool. The special rules of individual units are also easy to understand and dutifully referenced in the manual’s handy glossary.
But what really makes me buzz is the movement system. It’s not grid-based, like a traditional board game or a game of Dungeons & Dragons might be. Instead, it is cube-based, with multiple cubes stacked on top of each other in three-dimensional space. Flash point‘s lengthy rules go into detail about how exactly miniatures move through the playing field both horizontally and vertically. That could lead to some very interesting tabletop layouts.
Most miniature skirmish games are played with terrain, but the rules for moving up and down that terrain to second or third floor views vary greatly from system to system. Halo: Flash pointThe game’s rules are virtually terrain independent, meaning the type of terrain on the table is largely irrelevant. As long as there is a place for the miniature to sit on its base, it is a valid place to place it on the table. The only thing players need to worry about is whether there’s a way for a particular miniature to scramble there. That means the ground you’re fighting for doesn’t have to be flat in any way – or even table-shaped.
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Want to create a unique, narrow tower for your miniatures to fight over? How about two towers facing each other, with a deep and deadly valley in between? How about a complex set of interlocking walkways around an industrial space? Or a wall-mounted board for your minis to climb or jump from platform to platform? How about a house rule where your minis float in zero gravity, held up by plastic risers or fishing lines hanging from the ceiling? You could do the same for an underwater fight.
Photo: Mantic Games
For the hobbyist in me, the possibilities are endless. And with the Halo franchise’s rich history in its video games, including its own in-canon take on historical miniatures and dioramas, I see tons of opportunity for the community to go a little wild with this.
Halo: Flash point is currently available in two different starter sets. The cheaper option at £60 (about $78) is Halo: Flashpoint – Recon Edition. It comes with eight Spartan models with four different loadouts, plus all the dice, markers and terrain you need to get started. The more expensive option, which costs £100 (about $130), is mentioned Halo: Flashpoint – Spartan Edition. It comes with twice as many Spartans, including those with additional weapons not included in the Recon Edition. The larger set also includes four Elites, serving as a teaser for the new faction coming to the game in 2025. The set also includes a handful of plastic parts to represent things like hatches, captureable flags and more. There are also a host of accessories available to pre-order on the Mantic website, including an expanded plastic terrain, additional miniatures and files for 3D printing.
Pre-orders for wave two, expected in 2025, are available now.
