{"id":9849,"date":"2025-02-01T10:00:57","date_gmt":"2025-02-01T10:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/?p=9849"},"modified":"2025-02-17T23:03:17","modified_gmt":"2025-02-17T23:03:17","slug":"battlezone-mws-2025-show-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/2025\/02\/01\/battlezone-mws-2025-show-game\/","title":{"rendered":"BATTLEZONE: MWS 2025 Show Game"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/fb:like><\/div><\/div>

Stephen takes us through the creation of this year’s retro-futuristic show game.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For 2025 the MWS Show Game is a table-top version of the arcade classic from the early 80s, BATTLEZONE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This used to be a favourite of mine and I would get through pocketfuls of 10p coins playing this. It featured a stark black landscape with wire-frame graphics. You took control of a tank and manoeuvred around geometric obstacles trying to shoot enemy tanks.<\/p>\n

So when we started to think what our show game for 2025 should be I suggested we create a table-top version of Battlezone.<\/p>\n

There are a few things to keep in mind for a show game. Yes, it should be playable and quick and easy to pick up. We aim for a game to last about 45 minutes – that gives players a good taster and also means they don\u2019t have to commit too much time and can get back to enjoying the show. We also need to think about transport – getting the game in and out. Ideally it should disassemble so those attending can carry it in and out rather than get stuck in a queue to unload and load. And there\u2019s also cost, especially for games like this which will have components with little use outside of the game.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The good thing about our Battlezone game is that it would tick all these boxes – there\u2019s no intricate scenery or terrain (but what there is, is bespoke for this particular game), as such it all breaks down so it is easy to transport. And with Too Fat Lardies’ \u2018What A Tanker\u2019 rules (which we decided we would adapt) many gamers will already be familiar with the concepts behind the rules.<\/p>\n

It was obvious that we would not be able to buy the tank models. Back in the day, that would have meant scratch building with plasticard. But in these days of 3D printing it was obvious what was needed. Fortunately, Phil and Tony of Brigade Models are both club members and both are very IT literate with a 3D printer. I’ll leave Tony to explain how they went about this:<\/p>\n

\"\"
Tank 4 (the ‘Brigade’) at design time in Wings3D. As you can see, the basic designs are suitably minimal.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We started by searching the internet for images of the original tanks in the game. Finding images was easy enough, although a bit more work went into finding ones that were directly head on or side on so that the dimensions weren’t too distorted. Eventually I found enough information to draw up the basic outlines of the two tanks that looked about right using a 3D modelling package called Wings3D. I also designed the UFO (which didn’t make it into the final version of our game) and missiles, although we drastically scaled these down from the tank-sized killers that they appear to be in the original. We went through several iterations of the designs with slightly different details until we were all finally happy. We toyed with the idea of making them wireframe models but in the end the consensus decision was that they’d be too fragile on the tabletop. So we went with slab-sided models with the wireframe outline etched into each side to help Stephen with the painting process. The tank hulls were one piece, with the guns printed separately (it made the print process easier). Phil then printed them on our Phrozen 8K resin printer in grey resin and handed them over to Stephen for painting.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"
Three tanks plus a bunch of missiles arranged in our printer software ready for printing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The same collection of models coming out of the printer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
And finally, those three tanks after cleaning in isopropyl alcohol.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The basic tank – ‘Atari 1’ – printed, cleaned and ready for painting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We wanted a four-player game. There were already two tank designs that featured in the original arcade (we designated them Atari 1<\/em> and Atari 2<\/em>). Tony also uncovered an interesting bit of trivia – that the US army used the Battlezone game engine to train drivers for the (then) new Bradley IFV, so that was another natural choice (and we designated that one Bradley<\/em>). The fourth tank was an original design by Tony, keeping to the Battlezone aesthetic – and this final one we called the Brigade<\/em> (note from Tony – the basis for the fourth design came from a suitably old 1980 sci-fi book called “Tour of the Universe<\/a>“<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Memory messed with me a little when it came to the missiles. I wasn\u2019t sure the original Battlezone had missiles in it yet at the same time I do remember a tank game that had missiles, just unsure whether it was Battlezone or not.<\/p>\n

But what the hell! It\u2019d give an extra dimension to the game so missiles were in! As it turned out there were missiles in the game.<\/p>\n

\"\"
‘Atari 1’ with a coat of satin black and the painstakingly (not to say painfully) applied neon green outline.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now on to terrain.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s not much of it, just pyramids and blocks. We did discuss 3D printing these as well. However, Brigade\u2019s 3D printer was naturally busy with printing items needed for the business. So I decided that I\u2019d purchase some 1.0mm thick plasticard and make them – not the world\u2019s most complicated modelling job! I made squares, pyramids, and rectangles in various sizes to give some variety.<\/p>\n

The whole thing about Battlezone is that stark, neon, vector graphic look. This was going to be the main appeal of the game and central to getting it right. Now, on the surface of it this looks like it couldn\u2019t be simpler – spray black and then paint the lines.<\/p>\n

And, yes, that is exactly what I did. All the tanks and terrain got a spray of satin black. Nice and easy. And then on to the lining. This was a real ball-buster. What didn\u2019t help is that the lines had to be done twice. I first had to do them in white as an undercoat (the neon wouldn\u2019t take being painted straight on to the black) and then go over that with the neon paint. This got very tiresome. Very, very, VERY tiresome. I don\u2019t want to see neon paint again for a long time.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The simple geometric terrain blocks, true to the original game.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another important part of the game is the background. The horizon in the game is an endless border of mountains. So it wouldn\u2019t be enough to just plonk the models on a piece of black felt, I also wanted to create that field of distance. There\u2019s also a practical element to it as well, since it defines the gaming area. These borders were made from some decking bought from Wickes with a simple slot to link them together and then painted. I thought about the height – it had to be tall enough so that it looked like a barrier but not so tall that it became a faff to lean over.<\/p>\n

\"\"
A side-on of Atari-1 in the battlezone.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All the game components were complete, all that was left were the rules.<\/p>\n

There was obviously only one contender – TFL\u2019s \u2018What A Tanker\u2019<\/a>. Now, this has been used in show games many times already so that was nothing new. One of our club members, Marcus, had created his own sci fi version which he called \u2018What a Grav Tanker\u2019. Since this had received some play testing I decided I\u2019d adapt that. Truth be told, the rules we are using are not fully \u2018What A Tanker\u2019 but anyone familiar with that will see clearly where the inspiration came from and will immediately click with the logic behind the rules. This is our rough-housed version that is designed for show games that need to last a fixed amount of time.<\/p>\n

With the kind permission of TFL, you can download the rules, battleboards and turn cards from the links below:<\/p>\n

\"\" Rules<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\" Battleboards<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\" Turn Cards<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"
Bradley (l) faces off against Atari-1.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Like all projects, there’s no way this could have been completed on my own. That’s the advantage of being in a club – you have the skills and abilities of gifted club members to help realise your original plan. For that reason I must express my thanks to club members Tony, Phil and Jeremey who all chipped in to help and without whose invaluable talent and knowledge the game could not have made it to the table. Thanks also go to Pete, Andy, and Eric who helped with the playtesting.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Atari-1 has Brigade in its sights.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So this is our club game that we will be bringing to shows in the south east during 2025. Currently we are planning on being at Cavalier (Feb 23rd), Salute (Apr 12th), Broadside (Jun 14th) and RE-Play (Oct 25th) but we could also find ourselves attending other shows in the year. You\u2019d be more than welcome to join us for a game.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephen takes us through the creation of this year’s retro-futuristic show game. For 2025 the MWS Show Game is a table-top version of the arcade classic from the early 80s, BATTLEZONE. This used to be a favourite of mine and I would get through pocketfuls of 10p coins playing this. It featured a stark black … Continue reading “BATTLEZONE: MWS 2025 Show Game”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9938,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Today we take a look at our 2025 show game, which will probably induce a nostaligia fit in gamers of a certain age...","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-fiction","category-what-a-tanker"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/20250111_135116.jpg?fit=816%2C338&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9A5LG-2yR","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9849"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10099,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9849\/revisions\/10099"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brigademodels.co.uk\/mws\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}