Haywire: Modern describes itself as a “fast-paced, class-based, tactical skirmish scale miniatures game”, but I think there’s a much quicker way to summarise it – this is an indie miniature wargame inspired by the Call of Duty: Black Ops franchise. On Wednesday, UK-based game design firm Modiphius Entertainment announced it was going to release a “brand new edition, completely revised and updated”, with “campaign generation, base building, and a detailed three-part narrative campaign”.
The revised rulebook will be full color and US letter sized, with pre-orders opening “later this month” and shipping expected in Summer this year. The book also comes with a free “PDF of more than 230 optional poker-size cards that enhance gameplay” and can be printed at home, or ordered on a POD basis from DriveThruCards.com. Pre-ordering also gets you a print-at-home PDF Terrain Tile set, with enough buildings, walls, and vehicles to fill a three foot square board.
I haven’t tested Haywire: Modern, but looking at the photographs I’m keen to. The Wargamer guide to the best miniature wargames is long due an overhaul, and we don’t have a ‘modern warfare’ entry yet.
Haywire: Modern is miniature agnostic, so you can use whatever miniatures you have available, and you can customize the “Tier” of game you’re playing, from Tier 1 elite special forces to Tier 3 militia or rebels. As well as 24 default units you can build your own from 36 classes, “from a breacher, to an undercover operator, or a dog handler”.
Scenarios and campaigns are critical for any wargame intended for solo or co-op play; the revised edition of Haywire: Modern comes with two. ‘Tour of Duty’ is the more procedural campaign: you’re the commander of a “covert special operations task force base in a hostile environment”, with resources and a growing force to manage. Missions are randomised, but there are “campaign events that can be triggered based on player actions” – hopefully giving you a sense of narrative and tactical escalation.
The second campaign mode, ‘Haywire Protocol’, is “a three-chapter narrative experience following the operations of the newly formed multinational Task Force 21 as they uncover a global conspiracy”. This is so Call of Duty coded: the story will involve everything “from covert raids in the Middle East to high-stakes battles in South America and an all-out war in the Caucasus” as Task Force 21 grapples with “a conflict that threatens to ignite a global crisis”.
I haven’t seen the rulebook yet, but I’m really intrigued. 36 classes is a lot of classes, so how are they differentiated? While CoDBlOps is the most obvious visual reference, gameplay wise I wonder if there’s more in common with the operators in Rainbow Six: Siege, and their extremely specialised kit. If you’ve played the original downloadable edition of Haywire: Modern, hop into the friendly Wargamer Discord community and tell us all about it. For a roundup of the best stories on the site each week, sign up to the Wargamer newsletter.
Source: Wargamer
