Polyversal is a sci-fi mass combat game in the 6mm-15mm scale designed by Ken Whitehurst and published by Collins Epic Wargames . I’ve been playing 28mm wargames since I first picked up a box of Lord of the Rings miniatures by Games Workshop in the early 2000s. I’ve never given serious thought to getting into other scales until I saw the Polyversal table at Adepticon. Laid out as two forces colliding over a futuristic city; mechs, airships, tanks, and infantry battle it out through the rubble.
I was drawn to the display and the idea of sci-fi mass combat using multiple types of forces. What stood out to me during a quick round of demo play was the variability of miniatures that could be brought to the table. To use an analogy, Kings of War by Mantic Games allows miniatures from other lines in their armies even though Mantic makes its own line of models. Polyversal has partnered with multiple miniature manufacturers to have several starting forces made up of models from these different companies.
On top of that, there is an existing Design Tool and an upcoming app to stat out units that you may want to bring to the table, but there are not existing rules for. The game is designed with maximum customizability in mind. I got to see a version of the app to kit out a model that isn’t included in the starter sets. A player can decide what weapons a model is likely to have, armor rating, and even take a picture of it to create a tile for the model. The app also spits out a point value. The app has an anticipated launch of later this month (April as of the writing of this article).
Units in Polyversal are grouped into battle groups around a commander. Each unit is represented by a hex shaped tile that houses the units’ stats. In this way, battle groups can be as small as one hex or as large as seven. Units can also move between battle groups in combat, making for a more dynamic experience.
The turn sequence is an I-Go-You-Go with the twist of using polyhedral dice to represent greater chances of completing actions in combat. The dice are color coded and correspond to abilities on the tile for easy reference.
If you’re interested in getting into Polyversal, it looks like most of the products on the website are still on preorder. In looking at the Kickstarter, there appears to be a phased approach to deliver the backers items: miniatures in phase one, then the rules as they are still being finalized. There is a Facebook group dedicated to all things Polyversal, which would be a good place to find out more.
This game is definitely worth keeping an eye on. I see this game a being interesting for a gaming group that may already have some sci-fi models in the 6mm-15mm range, or even any BattleTech minis they can repurpose. The universality of the game promises to lower the monetary barrier to entry mass battle games can have, and the scale means minis can be easily stored.
Ross Blythe is a Chicago based gamer interested in all things tabletop. He enjoys reading history as well as fiction, and so has a soft spot for historical wargames like Pike & Shotte. For the campaigns he runs as a DM he often looks to history for inspiration, for the lessons of the past to challenge the players at his table.
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