White Dog Games has revealed their latest game, “Volters Lead the Way.” In “Volters Lead the Way!,” players are in control of the 324th Volter Regiment – an elite fighting formation for alien invasions. With the help and assistance of the “Skybreach” starcruiser, players will get to defend Earth’s territories from the Fermitians – an evil alien raced hellbent on obliterating all sentient life. The game is designed by Hermann Luttmann, known for the “Dawn of the Zeds” and “Crowbar” series. The artwork is done by Tim Allen, whose work can also be seen on the “Dawn of the Zeds” series.
“Volters Lead the Way!” is being published by the White Dog Games, a studio that is known for developing a lot of war-inspired board games, such as “Caribbean Storm: Honduras 2009”, “Bonaparte in Italy: The Castiglione Campaign, 1796”, “Claws of the Tiger: The Japanese Invasion of Malaya 1941-1942” among many others.
Story and Gameplay Mechanics
War is the main theme of the game – as previously mentioned, we are fighting off an alien invasion of the Fermitians. The name of the aliens should sound familiar – they are named after the famed astronomer Enrico Fermi – author of the Fermi Paradox. To those readers unfamiliar with the terminology, the Fermi paradox is the conflict between the lack of clear evidence for extraterrestrial life and the various high estimates for their existence. The Fermitians are the answer to this paradox – they have annihilated all intelligent life in the universe, and now – the human race is next!
In the world of “Volters Lead the Way!”, humanity has recently colonized Mars. The alien invaders will look to attack it first, as it appears to be their designated target. But, there are also rumors that a secondary invasion fleet has been deployed to seize our very Moon. Which battlefield will you choose?
The game has two playable maps – Mars and the Moon, each with their own unique terrain. The game also includes variable alien setups, nine types of alien units, four types of Volter units, customizable Volter Companies and a few random events.
Volter commanders must carefully deploy the forces of the 324th Volter Regiment, lead their troops across the maps, defeat the alien forces and stop the Doomsday Device, because if it goes off – Mars, the Moon, and all research stations will be destroyed.
While “Volters Lead the Way!” is meant to be played as a mainly solitaire game, it is highly replayable due to the many different terrains, unit setups and Difficulty Level options. Currently, there are three such options – easy, standard and brutal.
More Modes and Ways to Experience the Game
There are also 2-player and 3-player cooperative mods, so players can enjoy a co-op experience with friends and family!
“Volters Lead the Way!” utilizes a unique “push your luck” mechanic, which will challenge any Volter Commander’s risk-reward balance!
The game has a price range between the 30 USD Print-and-Play version and the 82 USD international boxed version (note the developers do not ship to the EU and UK due to import duties), which may seem a little pricy, but given the replayability and the average play time of 60-90 minutes, the price seems to be well worthwhile. Overall, “Volters Lead the Way!” appears to be a solid solo or co-op experience.