Introduction To Bot War
By NDNG Ben
Bot War is an 8mm scale game created by Anthony Mallet, owner of Traders Galaxy, and is heavily influenced by Transformers, G.I. Joe, and other 80’s franchises. The game is set in an alternate 1980’s Earth, where the kingdom of Atlantica rises up to conquer the surface world.
The Democracy, which is the world’s leading superpower, suffers continuing losses against the superior Atlanticans.
Then one day, a spaceship crash lands on Earth. This ship was crewed by the Valiants, a race of noble Bots led by Ducal, later nicknamed General Duke. The Valiants team up with the Democracy and successfully defeat the Atlanticans. A time of peace and recovery followed, however Bot tech had been secretly acquired by the Atlanticans, as well as other nefarious organizations. Furthermore, various other Bot factions have begun arriving on Earth, causing the Bot War to begin in earnest.
I found out about Bot War through Facebook, and my younger self could not resist jumping in. I ordered the starter box and terrain set to get started. The Bot models (five Valiants and six Atlanticans) are resin and were absolutely beautiful, requiring no clean up. The terrain box features card buildings and offers a great set up for the game, with options for a city and an airport (3’x3’ play area). The rest of the model range offered by Traders Galaxy offers a great mix of Bots, infantry, tanks aircraft, and other alien life (resin and metal minis). Certain Bots can even combine into a single large Bot to tower over the battlefield.
There are currently ten playable factions in Bot War. In addition to the aforementioned Valiants, Atlanticans, and Democracy, we have the Deceivers, former Valiants who had turned evil and became further corrupted while imprisoned for their treachery. The Infesters are Deceivers whose corruption has completely changed their physical bodies. The Beastlords arrived on Earth in ancient times and saved humanity from the wrath of the old gods. C.O.I.L.S. (formerly Snake Corp.) is an extremely powerful wordwide organization that has significant influence in the world’s major businesses and governments.
The Overlords are an alien race who delight in mutating other species for gladiatorial combat. The Red Star Nations, initially finding themselves victims of the Overlord onslaught, have turned the alien tech to their advantage and now command legions of genetically mutated dinosaurs. Finally, the Trashers are Bots who have committed some grave injustice and now seek redemption through the Trasher code, which erases their former self, though what is considered a “redeemable” act seems up for debate. There is even an allies matrix for which factions can team up in battle. Each faction has its own distinct look and backstory, adding a great amount of variety to the game.
The rules for play were quick and easy to pick up. A standard game is around 80 points, but can go to whatever all players agree to. Each model has a stat card showing its point cost, strategy rating (for initiative order), movement speed in inches, number of ranged/close attack dice per attack, number of defensive dice, damage limit, special rules, and how many energy cubes it generates per turn. There are three parts to each turn. First is the “Start of Turn” phase, where victory points are tallied. Next is the “Power Up” phase, where each model’s energy cubes are placed into the overall pool. Finally, we have the “Activation” phase, which is when we get to punch and pew pew.
Activation order between all players is determined by each model’s Strategy Rating, with lower ratings going before higher. This means that it is possible for one player to activate their first model, while their opponent may then activate multiple in succession. Each model is allowed two activations, which can be done in any order and may be the same action twice. Activations require energy cubes, which can be distributed amongst your models however you’d like. The actions available are moving, ranged attack and close attack, each of which cost 1 energy to do.
Attacking and defending each have their own specific dice, with players comparing number of hits against the number of blocks. Any hits that are not blocked are marked as damage. Once a model has hit its damage limit it is knocked out. Players also have the ability to “Power Boost” an attack or defense roll by spending an additional energy cube, which allows them to roll and additional die (once per model, per turn). There are bonuses for being in cover and for having multiple models in base contact with the enemy as well. Models in the game also have special abilities and rules. For example: the “Blast” special rule causes an additional 1 damage to models within 2” of the target model, friend or foe.
Having played other games with lots of charts and stat memorization, I really enjoyed Bot War’s simplicity. I played my first game against a friend of mine after reading the rule book for about 15 minutes and we had a blast. The 2nd edition rulebook features ten scenarios, of which we chose “Control the City,” in which we gained victory points for controlling one of the four board sectors, and for every enemy Bot that we defeated along the way. The Valiants started off strong, but were eventually overwhelmed by Atlantican numbers. It was made all the better by streaming the Transformers 1986 movie soundtrack and some retrowave albums (shout out to Night Runner) for extra 80’s ambiance.
I already have more packs of additional Bots on the table to be built, optimus primed and painted. Now is a great time to jump into the game, with a new starter set and “Turbo Edition” rule set coming out very soon. If you were looking for a game to bring Saturday morning cartoons to the tabletop, then Bot War is definitely for you.
For more info on Bot War, please check out and .
