Time to raise this thread from the vat for a bit.
May as well update as the final public beta rules went up (looks like a public post, so even those who didn't back should be able to see this).
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/resnova/warzone-eternal-0/posts/4036509
I got a chance to actually play it last night and the experience was actually pretty positive. I had some misgivings about Warzone Resurrection and Ultimate Warzone but I actually quite liked this iteration.
If I had to sum it up in one sentence, it felt like streamlined 1st Edition re-focused as a squad-based skirmish game instead of the platoon-level game it used to be. The army lists are pretty barebones right now of course, but you do get a good feel for the flow of play and how things will expand out when more troops and options are added. Between all the lists, there is a good cross-section of things to play around with.
A few things I was a bit iffy on like the new wounding system actually ended up being pretty good in play. Given that you have less minis on the board, damage is still as deadly as it was before, but it also doesn't feel like a hit on your troopers means automatic death (especially if you can stack cover bonuses and a few other things). The multiple wounds and presence of Pinning was quite impactful turn to turn and provided a lot of room for tension and tough decisions.
Likewise, I wasn't sure if I liked the active/reactive system, but in play it made for a lot of tense decision-making. Going down to two actions and a 'free' reaction every turn (so long as you aren't pinned) is a nice nod to the old wait/overwatch mechanics, but pared down a bit (i.e. you can only return fire if fired upon, which makes 'stealthing' around the battlefield more possible so long as you can make it to cover each turn). Neither of us were playing
CC troops, but I can see these mechanics encouraging it more than, say, Infinity (where moving through the open is a complete death sentence).
Either way, if nothing else, the rules felt solid and I kind of want to give it another go. It felt like 1st Edition Warzone and seemed to nail the feel of things. Here's hoping this survives long enough to expand things out a bit as this is the first time in a while I'm not just feeling like grabbing the minis so that I can just play 'em in 1st.
Edit to add - Apparently misread the rules (naturally) and there
is a reaction allowing you to target units on the move instead of just returning fire when fired upon. For some reason I though Ambush was melee-only, but it allows you to shoot at a unit on the move in reaction. However, it is quite expensive as you are effectively giving up your whole activation (and so cannot have already activated) and using your reaction to do it. So a neat trade-off that is handy for prepping for a charge or winging something evasive when no other options are present, but not something you want to rely on if you can help it (though Free Marines have a 25% chance of not using their activation up when doing it, so possibly useful for them in some situations with a bit of luck).