Doug Meldrum
Canada
Toronto
Ontario
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I played Zero today at TABSCon in Toronto. I was wandering around trying to find a Eurogame to play and then met a guy who was just sitting there doing nothing so I suggested that we start a game up. I asked if he had any Eurogames to play to which he replied something along the lines of "I like WARGAMES...rarrrr!". To which I thought OK, I chose the wrong table because I don't want to get tangled up in some 6 hour long game filled with pages and pages of minutiae and then be forced to end the game before a winner had been declared.
I mentioned my hesitancy to play a long wargame and then my future opponent suggested that we play a short wargame called Zero (he said it would only take 20 minutes). We found 2 other players and then began the quick version of Zero (no campaigns). Me and my partner played the Japanese and the other 2 players played the allies (US and UK). Each of us was given a fighter and a wingman and play began.
During the game you try to maneuver into more strategic positions so that you can attack your enemies planes and shoot them out of the sky. Whenever you place a card to initiate a maneuver or attack, your opponent can respond by placing a card from their hand that counters your card. Then you have the opportunity to counter their counter and so on until either your move proceeds or fails.
The best mechanic in the game, I thought, was that there are five altitudes in the game and you can only attack planes that are at the same altitude as you. The altitudes are very low, low, medium, high, very high. There are various penalties or advantages to changing altitudes revolving around card payment/drawing.
The game does involve a certain amount of luck as you cannot control the cards you draw during your turn. However, there is a lot of strategy in knowing when an attack is likely to be successful and you should hit the enemy with all that you have, or when it is a good time to run away with your tail between your legs to save yourself.
I enjoyed Zero more than I was expecting (coming from a predominately Eurogame background). I would recommend this game to anyone who finds the idea of 6-10 hour Wargames daunting. It was a quick play (more like an hour and not 20 minutes) and fast paced (you didn't have to wait 30 minutes for a player to move their 23 tanks and 18 infantry to 10 different locations).
I give Zero a 7 out of 10!
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Martin Gallo
United States
O'Fallon
Missouri
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Nice review. Thanks for your candor and for being willing to try something new.
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