Mantic Games has just launched the website for its upcoming tabletop wargame Halo: Flashpoint, and revealed the contents of two Halo: Flashpoint starter sets. More exciting for Halo fans is the stunning new Master Chief miniature, and new models for Banished Elites, proving that the game will feature more than just Spartan on Spartan violence.
The Chief and the new Elite models look just as tasty as the Spartan miniatures Mantic revealed at the start of the month. Wargamer got to see the figures during a behind the scenes tour at Mantic, and can confirm that they’re absolutely gorgeous – they look even better in person than in the photographs.
The models will come fully assembled, but unpainted. Master Chief will be available as a pre-order bonus or bundled in with a paint set, while the Elites are part of the Halo: Flashpoint Spartan Edition starter set.
Both starter sets, and the standalone Master Chief miniature, are due to release in fall 2024. You can check out and pre-order the game from the Halo: Flashpoint website
Recon Edition
Recon Edition looks like the budget starter set, though it promises a full game right out of the box. It contains two fireteams of Spartans – red vs blue, naturally – a rulebook, pre-colored cardboard terrain, a paper playmat, tokens, dice, and cards with rules for the models.
Spartan Edition
Spartan Edition is the deluxe starter set. It contains everything from Recon Edition, plus eight more Spartans “with a wider range of weapons and armour to create varied fireteams”, plus a fireteam of Banished Elites. There’s extra terrain, some “component upgrades”, and the playmat has been upgraded to a cardboard board.
The terrain and board in this set are also reversible: there’s an outdoor scene similar to the Live Fire multiplayer map, and an interior that looks like a UNSC carrier hanger.
Master Chief miniature
The new Master Chief miniature will be available as a pre-order bonus, or bundled in with a set of and a set of paints for miniatures made in collaboration with The Army Painter – he’ll be available later as a standalone kit. He’s fully playable in game, and however you pick him up, he’ll come with the necessary rules cards.
A few extra products will be available at launch: a deluxe modular 3D terrain set which adds new Halo-themed pieces to Mantic’s existing Deadzone terrain line, and extra dice.
Halo: Flashpoint gameplay
We also have some basic information about Halo: Flashpoint gameplay. The game will include classic Halo multiplayer modes including Slayer, Oddball, Capture the Flag, and it will feature some really core parts of the videogame experience, like recharging Energy Shields and respawn points.
The game rules are “refined and customised” from Mantic’s own original miniature wargame, Deadzone, though Mantic states that they’re an evolution, not a retread. But some core systems remain the same.
The game is played over a 24” x 24” board, divided into a grid, which extends into three dimensions with the terrain included in the box. That 3D grid is used for moving and shooting, so unlike a lot of wargames it doesn’t use tape measures.
We’ve written a separate article explaining what Deadzone means for the Halo Flashpoint rules.
To take actions, players roll a pool of eight-sided dice and compare the results with the stats for the model. If you find yourself in a positive situation, like shooting at an enemy from a higher vantage point, you’ll add an extra dice to the roll. Moving your fireteam into good positions to get maximum advantage on a roll is key to success.
As any FPS fan will tell you, sometimes it all comes down to a clutch headshot, and there’s a mechanic for that in the new Flashpoint rules. Whenever you roll a lucky eight on a die, not only does it succeed, but you get to roll an extra die. That chain can keep going as long as you keep rolling eights.
Mantic promises that Halo: Flashpoint will get ongoing support, “with releases planned through 2025 and beyond, as well as organised play support”.
To learn more about Mantic Games and how they’ve been pushing up the quality of their products since they were founded 15 years ago, check out Wargamer’s deep dive behind the scenes tour of the Mantic studio.
If you’re excited by this game but have never been into the mini wargaming hobby before, we have a helpful guide on how to paint miniatures.