Yes! We finally got word that Rivet Wars Reloaded is coming to Retail! Why is this a big deal? Because in our eyes, it’s one of the few crossovers that does the crossover really well between Wargames and Board games! See what the fuss is all about below!
Back in 2012, a small company called CMON made a game called Rivet Wars. The game went to KS and reached 2329% funding. That has to say something and as one would expect, you would build upon that world. Well… after a couple of years we found out that the only thing that CMON kept supporting was Zombicide, and for good reason.
Rivet Wars went into the pit of forgotten games, until Steamforged Games bought the IP and “reloaded” it with new and more modern rules, better models, more models and overall better gameplay. Gameplay for both casual and competitive play. Now, finally, after 3 years, 2025 will be the year it releases into retail and gives the players a glance at how awesome this game will be.
There will be an in depth gameplay review and unboxing (I guess) compacted into one review. This blog here is purely about what is being released for pre-order and the awesomeness it has shown the public. Rivet Wars consists of a core set to start off with, and 4 expansions. Hefty expansions to be fair, but are they worth your time?
What’s Rivet Wars Reloaded About?
In short, the game takes place in an alternative 1st world war, where you see the Allied and the Blight fighting for dominance on battlefields full of trenches. The whole deal about this game, is that you have 2 different types of models besides the different models in game. You have plug models and regular ones. The plug models are to buff the tanks and such, as there is a slot to plug the models in. it’s not only a card, but you equip the vehicles with the correct model to represent the chaos on the battlefield.
It plays on a board, making it a board game. It also plays as a wargame because of the different tactics you can employ to take the win. No single board game has come this close to being a wargame than this. This is perfect for wargamers who fancy a board game occasionally, but also board gamers who like to dip toes into wargaming.
The new Rivet Wars core set is called Rivet Wars Reloaded, because, well, it has been revamped into a new iteration. The rules have changed to adapt to a more modern ruleset. It will be more interesting for a more diverse group of players. Since Steamforged have the experience now in both wargames, role playing and board gaming, you can rest assured it’s in good hands.
The Core Set
This is the big box, the box where it’s all about. This is your start to Rivet Wars and it’s full of goodness. It has a whopping 44 miniatures, 22 on each side. These models are either plugs or full models. This means you have less “full” models, but not being true scale or 28mm scale, makes this amount impressive.
Next to that, you have a board, tokens, the rules, cards and everything you need to play the game. Of course the rules are full color and clear like one would expect from Steamforged. Do also note, that the models are bigger than average game models, so the board is bigger too. This is a true battlefield. You not only get 10 big double-sided battlefield tiles. You also get 18 battlefield options and 18 smaller battlefield tiles. Both the 18 tiles are double-sided as well. This makes the battle map almost endless in playability.
Rivet Wars Reloaded Expansions
You get 4 expansions equally huge releasing next to the core set. These ones are the vanguard box, the reinforcements boxes and the Aerial Aces box.
The Rivet Wars Vanguard Expansion
First off, there is the Vanguard Box. This box expands on the core set and should be your next step when buying into Rivet Wars. It gives you more of what is needed to expand the scenarios in the rules book. It also gives extra models to make the game even more exciting.
The box gives you 20 models, 10 for the Allied and 10 for the Blight. There’s also 9 unit cards included to actually use the models. This box is more focussed on bigger models, so expect to find motorized vehicles like tanks, motors and mechs, with some small models to fill the box.
The Allied and Blight Reinforcements boxes
With 31 models each in the boxes, and 18 cards you can guarantee that the battle is bigger than ever! You get 5 plugs and 26 tank, infantry, heroes, upgraded commanders and more.
You don’t only get fighting forces here. There are also turret placements to plug your turret plugs in. Did we mention 3 bulldogs? Yes, even our furry canine friends join the fight.
Rivet Wars Reloaded Aerial Aces Expansion
What would a war be without the flying machines. Literally, since there are pluggable bombers, blimps, hunters and more included in these sets. This, like the Vanguard box is perfect to expand your core set forces with air and anti-air support.
If you can’t find a way to defeat the opponent in single encounters or a deep long-standing war campaign with everything coming out, nothing will anymore.
Interested in Rivet Wars Reloaded?
You can buy (pre-order as of writing) the game, together with some SFG direct products at Steamforged games. Of course, when a product goes to retail, you can buy it at your friendly local store or online shops like ours for a good price. Where one offers the most complete lineup because they own the game, stores like ours can offer the range at a slightly lower price than Steamforged does. Whichever your choice is, it’s important to own this game for a lot of reasons. One of them being to harass your friends with chibii warfare chaos.
It releases on 26-09-2025 and well in time to even put it on your Christmas lists this year.
Until the next blog, my fellow Riverteers! Stay tuned for the full review once we get our hands on Rivet Wars Reloaded.