Wild West Exodus (First Look)

So we’re back today with the first look at one of the games we’re going to be taking a closer look at for our trip to Gencon and probably the winter months into 2019. We’re going to take a dive into the Dystopian Age and an up close look at Wild West Exodus from Warcradle Studios. Let’s take a first look at the Game, and what attracted us to it. Buckle in, we’re going for a ramble.

Wild West Exodus (2nd Edition)

WIld West Exodus is a miniature war game set in an alternate history. The original edition was focused exclusively on alternate American West set after the civil war. The 2nd edition has been rolled into the Dystopian Age, alongside Dystopian Wars and Armoured Clash. The Dystopian Age represents an alternate look at world history. Technological innovation has pushed the world further and faster than the real world, and that same innovation is driving the world towards conflict.




Wild West Exodus is the smallest scale with the largest miniatures in the line. This is best described as a skirmish game, with players being able to run either lone characters or small groups of units as a part of a Posse. The Posse is the basic building block of force organization, and is a different way of organizing units visually, (we’ll put together an article on what one looks like as we get closer to Gencon).




It uses alternating activations, random initiatives, and a dynamic scoring system to make sure that the each game is different while keeping the core aesthetics. It’s a game where anything can happen and the improbability of events is no barrier to fun.

What drew our attention:

First and foremost, the visual aesthetic of science fictioned up cowboys is hard to argue with. It’s an alternate history that mixes up some science fiction with the American West in a way i can’t remember seeing before. It doesn’t lean hard into the Weird West of Deadlands, and it doesn’t push the horror aspects like Dracula’s America. What we have is an interesting take on the setting with a variety of visually distinct factions that offer a variety of play styles and visuals.

Why we stayed:

This one i’m going to pass the blame on to some friends of ours. Teri Litorco did an unboxing video of the reimagined Wayward Eight Posse, and the visuals were strong. Then our friends over at Miniwargaming started playing the game and those games were an absolute blast to watch. This led us on a merry chase across youtube and to the folks over at Beast of War. They devoted an entire week of coverage to the game, and two things stuck out in my mind.




First, the game is a constant back and forth, where both players are actively engaged in what’s going on in the turn. With alternating activations and a multitude of interactions between you and your opponent, the game is fast and frantic.




Second, the game is astonishingly lethal. No model in the game that i am aware of has more than 1 wound, and that means that every time a model is hit by an attack, there’s a chance that are straight up out of the game. There are ways to mitigate the potential risks, but ultimately getting shot can give you a serious case of the deads.

Why we’re digging in:

One of the most interesting aspects of WWX (Wild West Exodus) is that they have put all the rules, cards, and things you need to play the game (except the terrain and the miniatures). The Factions don’t have army books or anything of the sort, and you can build a Posse off of the cards off of their website. This gives you a lot of chances to explore the various Bosses and their play styles before you invest in models.




Gunfight at Red Oak, the 2nd edition starter is a lot of fun that brings the Iconic Earps directly into conflict with the James gang. It’s an impressive starter set (and just as soon as we have one, you can see our article on it, or you can check out the videos on the unboxing below). We’ll have more updates and ideas in the next few weeks as we get our hands on the game and can show you what’s coming up.


Check out Wild West Exodus at www.wildwestexodus.com

Here’s our Getting started Playlist Playlist It features videos from Miniwargaming, The Battlehammer, Warcradle Studios, and Box to Board. Huge shoutout to them for putting the videos together in the first place, and you can follow them back to their home channels from each video.




Also, huge thanks to Teri Litorco for sparking my interest in this game. You can find her Youtube here




Game On, Game Fans, we’ll be digging deep into this one.