Regular readers of the site probably know that I’m a bit of a cyberpunk addict. You throw this theme on a game and I’m happy to try it out. After spending over 100+ hours on the Cyberpunk 2077 video game, I still can’t get enough time in Night City. That’s probably why the Cyberpunk Red: Combat Zone was one of my favorite board games from 2023. It’s great production values and its silky smooth gameplay has caused me to dive all in on this skirmish game.
But what’s that you say? There is a brand new box set for it? And it’s based on the Netflix Edgerunners TV show? Oh yeah, sign me up.
Gameplay Overview:
The nice thing about the new Edgerunners game is that the gameplay is identical and fully compatible with the previously released Cyberpunk Red: Combat Zone. So I’m going to skip the detailed gameplay overview here, if you want the full ins and outs, take a look at my review of the original game here.
But the quick of it is that you assemble a team of two factions from Night City. In this version, it’s the Edgerunner crew from the cartoon vs the Arasaka corporation. You pick your units, equip them with weapons, gear, and cyberware programs and then head out to the streets of Night City to battle.
When you activate a unit, you roll dice based on their action token (green, yellow, or red), with most all checks being opposed rolls. When a unit takes damage, they swap out their green or yellow action token for a red one. If you ever have to swap out a red token, your unit flatlines…sorry choom.
The other unique thing about this system is that after your unit takes damage, you can react with the damaged unit (provided it still has action tokens left). You can use that reaction to shoot or move out of danger behind cover.
You can play the game as either a series of one-off missions or a campaign where your chooms get higher street credit which grants them more powerful equipment and abilities.
Game Experience:
As the gameplay in Edgerunners is identical to the original Cyberpunk Red: Combat Zone, I’m not going to spend too much time talking about the perks of the system. In short, it’s still a fantastic skirmish game that’s flexible, smooth, and keeps you glued to the table even when it’s not your turn. Monster Fight Club has a gem on their hands here and it continues with Edgerunners.
So, if you are new to the system, you might be on the fence about which set to get. For a new player, I’d definitely recommend the Edgerunners set for a couple of reasons. First, is that the rulebook is much improved. I feel like Monster Fight Club listened to feedback from their original rulebook and gave this one a bit more TLC. I’ve read through the whole rulebook (even though I already knew how to play) and this one teaches the game much better. So kudos to them for improving that.
My only complaint with the rulebook is that there is still not a suggested lineup for your first game or so. For players that just want to jump in on the action and aren’t sure the best squad to make (or don’t want to take time picking them), it’d be great for the rulebook to say: start with this team vs. this team. That would allow new players to jump in on the action and not worry about picking the wrong characters or weapons when they don’t really know what they are doing.
Another great thing that Monster Fight Club did was create two versions of the game. The base set uses standees in place of plastic miniatures. While I’m definitely a minis guy, these standees are great. Clear acrylic with printing on the front and back. If you are not a painter, or even just want to save a few bucks, this is a great option. We played a game with them and found it to be enjoyable. Mind you, painted minis are the way to go, but if you don’t care about that, it’s nice to have a cheaper option.
Yet for the minis addict, there is a collectors edition that does have minis. While they do require a bit of assembly, 90% of them are basically just glue the unit to the plastic base. So I was able to quickly assemble the minis and put them in the queue for painting (the never-ending queue that I will never be caught up on, but a queue nonetheless).
For those of you who already have the original game, you might be wondering if you need to pick this one up. I’d say it depends on if you want access to the Edgerunners crew. They do have some cool abilities. The Arasaka crew is basically the same as the ones you can get from the original expansion (except the Adam Smasher figure), so I was a little bummed to not have a unique team to face off against the Edgerunners. Granted if you never bought the Arasaka expansion set this will be new to you. I also believe Monster Fight Club will be releasing the Edgeunners as a stand-alone faction, so I don’t think you have to buy this set if you are already knee deep in Combat Zone.
As a small aside, I noticed on the Monster Fight Club website that you can download a solo/cooperative scenario. Since I’ve longed for solo/coop play for this game, I gave it a quick spin. In short, it’s OK and has potential, but definitely needs a bit more time in development. I’d love to see a fully fleshed-out expansion for solo/coop play so hopefully they continue working on this.
Final Thoughts:
Monster Fight Club took an already fantastic game and made it even better. The rulebook in Cyberpunk Red: Combat Zone Edgerunners is a step up in quality and having the option to get standees or miniatures is a win for any gamer out there. The system itself is still fantastic and It’s great that this edition is fully compatible with everything released so far.
4.5 Stars – An already-great game gets the best version released yet.
His:
• Improved rulebook
• Choice of minis or standees (or both)
• Edgerunner team is on theme to the cartoon
Misses:
• No suggested lineup for first games
• Arasaka faction is a rerelease.
