Upcoming miniature boardgame on KS by the guys behind Galaxy Defenders, which looks like it was very well received. It looks pretty interesting indeed and apparently the rules are an evolution of those in Galaxy Defenders.
Got Dungeon Saga and Conan coming, Shadows of Brimstone, Warhammer Quest and Super Dungeon Explore are here. Zombicide too, if that counts. Don't really need another dungeon crawler!
Especially one with cards that are SO BUSY...
Check out the pics of the game in action too, the board clutter is Shadows of Brimstone level "cover the table with gak"
Is $100 the magic number for board games on KS? I can buy Descent all day long for $60 ($55.17 on miniature market) but KS board games are always about $100.
agnosto wrote: Is $100 the magic number for board games on KS? I can buy Descent all day long for $60 ($55.17 on miniature market) but KS board games are always about $100.
The D&D Board games are priced similarly as well (to Descent). For some of the CMoN boardgames, I don't mind a $100 price tag.. but for a game like this that I'm not 100% sold on to begin with, plus a low model count (I know it might grow) I don't get why they would throw the price out that high, unless it's just because that's what others are doing.
I like some of the sculpts we're seeing but 2 things I don't really need more of is generic fantasy adventurers and skeletons. I might even venture so far as to say the demons are passe at this point. That's not to say any of the sculpts aren't well done, because, artistically they're not bad sculpts. They're also not breaking any molds though. When we see the flourish of sculpts from Rum N Bones or Bloodrage or we see the Hyborian stylings of the Monolith Conan figures, there is a sense (for me anyway) that adding them to my hoard of minis and boardgame pieces is justifiable.
agnosto wrote: Is $100 the magic number for board games on KS? I can buy Descent all day long for $60 ($55.17 on miniature market) but KS board games are always about $100.
The D&D Board games are priced similarly as well (to Descent). For some of the CMoN boardgames, I don't mind a $100 price tag.. but for a game like this that I'm not 100% sold on to begin with, plus a low model count (I know it might grow) I don't get why they would throw the price out that high, unless it's just because that's what others are doing.
I like some of the sculpts we're seeing but 2 things I don't really need more of is generic fantasy adventurers and skeletons. I might even venture so far as to say the demons are passe at this point. That's not to say any of the sculpts aren't well done, because, artistically they're not bad sculpts. They're also not breaking any molds though. When we see the flourish of sculpts from Rum N Bones or Bloodrage or we see the Hyborian stylings of the Monolith Conan figures, there is a sense (for me anyway) that adding them to my hoard of minis and boardgame pieces is justifiable.
I agree. It looks exactly like yet another dungeon crawl board game but with a lower model count and higher price tag to existing competitors. It'd be different if there were some really ground breaking mechanics or concept but after reading the description , it's nothing new. For $100 I can get giant games with established cred and not wait months and months or have to worry if it'll ever be delivered or all the other issues with KSs.
MLaw wrote: I like some of the sculpts we're seeing but 2 things I don't really need more of is generic fantasy adventurers and skeletons. I might even venture so far as to say the demons are passe at this point. That's not to say any of the sculpts aren't well done, because, artistically they're not bad sculpts. They're also not breaking any molds though.
Agreed, although... just the stuff shown on this dakka topic involves male characters defined by the size of their pauldrons, and female characters defined by how much skin they show, and it's that wot strikes you as most passé, first?
Having all the Galaxy Defenders stuff and really enjoying it, I must say I'm quite excited for this one. It does take up a lot of table space- that is true. This game even more so than Galaxy Defenders it seems..
GD is a great tactical board game though. Teamwork and positioning really matters, as those aliens are NASTY, and heaven forbid you start tossing the red ones in the mix (as each color really does have its own style of play). The game is all kinds of nasty brutalness if you aren't careful or luck isn't on your side when you roll. What's cool is S&S seems to really be rectifying a lot of my major gripes with the game (other than taking up even more table space). Real fun when bosses get your agent locked on and decide to hunt you down from across the board. If they can bring that same level of gameplay to this new game, I'll be quite satisfied.
I'll say this- I hope they take what they learn from streamlining the game in this campaign, take these new sculptors, and come out with a new core Galaxy Defenders game, because if they did that they would have a serious hit on their hands.
So yeah, I'm rambling on about Galaxy Defenders instead of the new game, but I'll buy it just because the AI was so fun to fight in Galaxy Defenders, I'm really curious how it will play out in this. The AI is one thing I really wish Brimstone could compete with, because all the baddies in GD really acted differently- some were really aggressive, some were ranged focus, some would rush in and drag your agents off to devour you in a corner away from any support...
It's interesting, because this follows exactly the same model as Zombicide Black Plague:
- original is in popular but less saturated setting (at least at the time)
- success of the original leads to Kickstarting multiple large expansions that combine to form a huge amount of content that is very difficult to exhaust
- not long after delivery of the last of these expansions, Kickstart a more polished version of the original game in a more popular but rather uninspiring fantasy setting (although S&S has much less individuality here) using the same basic mechanics
- ...enjoy massive financial success as a result?
I feel no need to own this game, not just because I own/am expecting a huge number of dungeon crawlers, but because I already own 4 giant boxes of Galaxy Defenders stuff. And I'm nowhere near playing through that stuff.
I agree on owning WAY too much Galaxy Defenders stuff now. The amount of content put out from their last campaign is just staggering, to the point that I don't want to play it even! It's overwhelming!
I will say that the sculpt quality has really been stepped up this time around. While the GD figures are adequate, and have a certain old school charm to them, the Sword & Sorcery stuff is miles better.
Curious if Ares will do what CMON should have done and include some sort of dragon boss.
Of course the ultimate satisfaction for me is whether we get a reptile hero or not.
The figures this time around look way nicer than the ones from Galaxy Defenders. Some beastman heroes could be cool. Shame the wolf is just a companion. I won't be able to go full-on Okami with it.
With the way they made all the allies into agents and such with Galaxy Defenders, it wouldn't surprise me in the least to see the wolf end up with a hero card as a backer goal or something.
Happened with the Xeno Hunter in GD's base game, and with the Wally looking robots in the GD expansions. I'm sure there's more I can't think of too.
The 2 next stretchgoals were hit, adding the werewolves enemies and an "extra quests" booklets.
Next up is a different werewolf (characters seem to suffer from Lycanthropy every once in a while),
Some new enemies ; Efreets
I'm sure the increased level of polish (and now being an established developer) have helped the popularity of this project, but I really am surprised how much more popular the Fantasy theme is proving relative to the pulp Sci-Fi of Galaxy Defenders! It's already going to eclipse the total for season 2, and may well blow past the total of both Kickstarters combined!
I suspect that the single pledge level & early bird really helped. Still not feeling very engaged by the theme though, and I suspect there's not much they can do to change that.
MLaw wrote: Ha! I won a copy of the game from the Facebook challenge.
The stupid FB bug I have won't even let me post a reply saying yay or anything though :/
The fact that the hero add-on already starts off with 9 figures (I think) and grows with the SGs, that's not a bad deal for anyone looking for RP minis that doesn't have scads of Bones models.
I think some of those might make good replacements for Dungeon Saga or Heroquest too.
Coming up very soon there will be a dragon type miniature (believed to be a hydra) and some sort of reptilian folk are planned. We all threw out kobolds, troglodytes, and lizardmen and were vaguely told that at least one of those was on the list.
Looks like this one has fallen off the radar for a few.
They're crawling along at the moment. One of my main concerns was, same-ness on the sculpts. Another.. is having more tiles. Why? Because MOAR GUD!!!!!
Anyway, here's the next two goals and we're close to breaking on through. They are kinda awesome goals if you're of the same mind as me.
I especially like that the one guy is in a tri-corner hat.
EDIT: Oh yeah.. something big coming tomorrow.. almost forgot
Massive updates today.. I don't have time to post pictures as I have to take my wife to the airport but there's a LOT going on now including a hydra, draconians/dragonmen, and a new undead unit that's a little less conventional.. and.. the Efreet are unlocked. YAY.
Oh com'on I had almost convinced myself to pledge for SDE instead... God dammit
Automatically Appended Next Post: 290K hit, the alternate poses are in!
Next up, the "shade" enemies (demons? Enigma from DotA? Whatever rots your goat)
So, it looks like they're going with a much more structured approach this time. The Galaxy Defenders Kickstarters were sort of the "Kitchen Sink" approach - you had fully-formed base products that were being upgraded a bit by the Kickstarter, and then as much extra stuff added in as possible outside that structure:
- loads of extra player characters in a game that is structured around a distinct core group of 5 that advances over the missions and various expansions.
- several new enemy types in a game where the enemies are prescribed by the fixed missions (you can "swap them in" if you want).
- lots of new items and powers, in a game where you choose from all those available and the amount of choice rapidly becomes overpowering.
It was a glorious toybox, and a real boon for people creating custom missions, but I actually felt that the core, non-KS versions gave a tighter experience if you were trying to play just the basic game.
I very much prefer the approach here - you are playing through a fixed story containing fixed scenarios, and all the (non-exclusive) stretch goals are doing are adding future expansions, content that you will be able to use 100% on your first run-through of the game.
As far as I can make out, expansion 2 will be the Undead (Undead Lord, Skellies, Death Knights, Werewolves, Curse figure, Cursed Crypts, possibly a couple of heroes), and is almost complete, and expansion 3 will be demons/evil spirits.
My main reservation is that the aesthetics/setting of the game do little to distinguish themselves in a setting that is honestly rather tired. But then again, I backed Dungeon Saga...
Only reading about this now and my interest is peaked. Theme and design looks good, minis look nice and the creators appear to have a good track record.
Does anyone know, or has it been confirmed what kind of material is being used for the mini's?
Yes, the models are being made from the same "crisp" PVC that Super Dungeon Explore and recent CMON games are. I don't know what it will look like with those sculpts, Galaxy Defenders was entirely hand-sculpted and rather more cartooney.
What I'd really like to know is if the werewolves are "Part 2 enemies" and would get the different sculpts at the 340K stretch goals. If so I'm definitely getting a pledge + the dragon add-on
I like the Vampire. I have a decent collection of Vampires going already but him having wings is something I don't think I've got yet.
Act 2 poses and Demonologist I think are the next SGs.
I don't own it but I've never ran across anyone saying anything bad about it. In fact, I hear it hyped a lot. For a board game that struck me as a bit odd so I took it to be a good sign.
If you're interested in Galaxy Defenders, just get the base game.
It's a tight game. Tense. Strategic. Merciless aliens.
Biggest downside are the models are kind of derpy. Very old school style to them.
Anything else is pretty much superfluous bloat after that, and while it adds to the core mechanics, you really have all you need with the base game.
It's a lot of fun.
A shame this game doesn't look like it'll have as much tactical positioning as GD does. The maps are fairly open and you can really use the terrain to your advantage to block line of sight.
LOS is important due to how alien AI will react whether it sees you or not, how far away you are... stuff like that.
It looks like they're trying to shorten the play time of each mission/quest though, and a big part of that is simplifying the positioning and targeting rules, especially because they do impact on resolving the AI. Galaxy Defenders was sometimes tough to fit into a normal boardgaming session.
The downsides of Galaxy Defenders for me are:
- It takes up a lot of table space, between the board, various draw piles, and player sheets that have stuff bolted on to them.
- On a similar note, there are a lot of different kinds of token to keep track of. Good layout is key.
- It is remarkably difficult to kill things (at least with basic equipment), leading to the old XCOM thing of spending several turns shooting at something, it not dying, and your entire strategy being thrown off.
- It has permadeath/elimination for players, and the missions are not very short, as mentioned above. This is not an especially fun combo.
- For a narrative-focused game (you go through a series of set missions, progressing depending on how you did on previous ones) the quality of language isn't very high, seeing as how its an Italian game on a small budget.
But it is very cleverly thought out, now has as much content as you'd care to experience, and I haven't played anything quite like it. Although S&S is much slicker and looks to have been written in response to feedback on Galaxy Defenders, I feel that it has a less strong identity.
EDIT: And there are a couple of $99 EBs open right now!
I just copy/pasted this from the comments. Another backer posted it originally.
This was posted over on BGG from Simone:
"We are trying to create a different experience with each quest, so you will find quests where your party is splitted in two different paths but working together activating levers to open secret passages, quests when you have to defend the city buildings, epic battles etc... "
You should get this out on the campaign page. You may be missing out on a whole fan base because at the moment the impression is that it's just a fighting dungeon crawl.
Ah, another game where the female models are limited to half of the clothing of males. Look, if you want to see tits that bad, there's a whole internet out there.
That would have been awesome if I were in high school, but I'm not. The models look excellent, hopefully it translates well into actual production.
McNinja wrote: Ah, another game where the female models are limited to half of the clothing of males. Look, if you want to see tits that bad, there's a whole internet out there.
That would have been awesome if I were in high school, but I'm not. The models look excellent, hopefully it translates well into actual production.
Which model are we talking about here? Everyone seems fully clothed.
The demon hunter looks good. Succubi don't look any worse than any other version out there.
I don't see the moral outrage myself, but I'm sure that's a whole other kind of discussion so we'll leave that be.
McNinja - That's really uncalled for. The gremlins, Nightwalkers, and Efreet are naked, the Orc Warriors are showing a lot of skin as is the troll, orc shamans, werewolves, and Berserker/Slayer.. Your argument is flawed.
The SG summary pic doesn't show for me. The wolves get alt poses, yes? How many of them are in the pledge right now? Pictures of the new poses? Or a way to get just them? Yes, I just want some alt-Antipodes/Dogfaces/Cameronian/Devil Dog-not-hit-with-ugly-stick Infinity is expensive
Automatically Appended Next Post: The SG summary pic doesn't show for me. The wolves get alt poses, yes? How many of them are in the pledge right now? Pictures of the new poses? Or a way to get just them? Yes, I just want some alt-Antipodes/Dogfaces/Cameronian/Devil Dog-not-hit-with-ugly-stick Infinity is expensive, yo.
I am writing because we are soon presenting a proposal for two ADD-ON BUNDLES, and I want to give you a few indications about them, so that you make the best choice, based on your current pledge level.
We are presenting two bundles:
- The first bundle, called “Dragon Slayer”, adds to your rewards the three gameplay-oriented add-ons: “Vastaryous’ Lair”, and the heroes “Samyria & Bjorn” and “Onamor & Volkor”. These three items, individually, would cost you $ 71 ($ 40 + $12+ $19). To add this bundle, a pledge $65 above the minimum is required (you save $6).
- The second bundle, called “Immortal”, includes one each of EVERY add-on in the Kickstarter – the three add-ons indicated above, and also a second set of dice, a second cloth bag, metal coins, plastic doors and chests, and a second set of Hero figures. This is a total value of $135, and as a special bonus, we will also include a second copy of the miniatures of your add-on heroes (Samyria, Onamor, Volkor) – to paint them, or to use them as “ghosts”. To add this “all-in” bundle, a pledge of $95 above the minimum is required (you save $40).
We are also adding two PLEDGE LEVELS – “Dragon Slayer Hero ” ($170+Shipping) and “Immortal Hero” ($ 199+Shipping), combining these bundles with the Legendary Hero rewards. These pledge levels are convenient for backers who are not early bird – but you ARE an early bird, so it is a better deal for you to choose the add-on bundles instead!
In case you want to include one of these bundles, just “Manage your pledge” and revise it to match the new amount inclusive of the bundle ($164 for Legendary Hero + Dragon Slayer, $194 for Legendary Hero + Immortal).
In case you are not interested in these bundles – please feel free to keep your pledge to any level you are comfortable with!
Without a doubt both those goals will be met, ye of little faith!
Not super impressed with the hollywood add on, but more choice of gear is more choice, and hopefully that 20k cost is going to help balance out some future baddies or heroes we may have showing up.
I think I'd be okay with more tiles too.
More than likely I'll pop up to a higher level pledge when the PM hits.
This started off like one of those parties where you're like "eh.. I dunno if I'm going" and now it's 2am and we're getting the cops called and kidnapping gorillas from the zoo..
Automatically Appended Next Post: Okay, this is what a base pledge gets you.. but keep in mind they added bundles and all-in type goals.. so.. look at the page if that sounds better.. it's a good bit of savings if you're getting everything anyway.
If you missed him, the new character
That guy is straight out of a 80s heavy metal video. Kinda reminds me of Evil Ash from Army of Darkness a little too. EDIT: Oh.. I missed the fact that's a straight up Kurgan homage. haha, nice!
I haven't really been following this, but it looks like some cool stuff has been added. I like the fact that the undead female pirate is actually a hero character. Not enough games let you have good undead. Being able to use a werewolf as a hero is also a nice touch. Again, not enough games let you be a goodguy werewolf. They should put some more animal companions in though beyond just the wolf.
The were-wolf is actually any character. You can contract lycanthropy apparently.
About the companions, there are Add-ons like that. There's a druid and her bear, and a pack with a summoner with some demon-ish servants
My comment still stands though. Rarely do you get to have a werewolf hero. I just saw the bear. That's exactly the sort of animal companion I'd hoped for. Now they need some sort of small dragon companion.
Whoops, thought I had linked the Hellspawn image too. Obviously not
No doubt he's going to be tough to take down. I wonder if they're planning on making him require more heroes to take on than the normal bosses, like what they were thinking of doing for the dragon?
So, they have production plastic photos of the 5-headed dragon from the factory! And I think it looks rather astonishing - I know that CMON, Conan & Reaper are doing great things with big models for boardgames, but I think that this is right up there (and will still fit on the table):
Put that in a box with 5 little dragon men, a new campaign and a few more room tiles, and I'm more than happy to pay $40.
Supposedly production model, assuming the factory isn't doing a bait and switch:
We will give you a more detailed report at the beginning of the new year, but I wanted to share immediately what I got in my mailbox this morning - the photos of the first injection shots of mighty Vastaryous!
This is a very complex model and we were a little worried about the transition from 3D to resin to plastic, but our factory team did an amazing job, preserving its beauty and massive presence...
We are now anxiously waiting to have the physical sample in hand.
Thanks for that, Bioptic! They've got a nice photo setup - I would have thought that was a render if it hadn't been called out otherwise (the resin pic, not the production one).
Highlord, I'll give you credit for this one, but other projects with similar renders got nowhere near the results of that dragon in their production minis, so it's really hard to tell ahead of time unless a company has done prior work in the same material.
I think this one might have, actually... but I just plain missed it! Fingers crossed for a late backing opportunity
MLaw wrote: McNinja - That's really uncalled for. The gremlins, Nightwalkers, and Efreet are naked, the Orc Warriors are showing a lot of skin as is the troll, orc shamans, werewolves, and Berserker/Slayer.. Your argument is flawed.
So you're saying that because monstrous/mythological creatures are naked that its totally cool that realistic women are objectified?
I'd experiment with the pledge manager and find out! You appear to be able to add whatever you want. I personally think that if the Immortal Bundle add-on appeals, you'd want to pay the extra $105 to get a functional (and supposedly quite fun) game, but it's true that Immortal is as close to "models only" as you can get on this project.
So we can jump in late, awesome . Just have to look over the offerings... they seem quite simple, and of course incentivize the packages rather than the individual models. But even if just going for the dragon, $40 for that seems quite fair.
Bioptic wrote: I'd experiment with the pledge manager and find out! You appear to be able to add whatever you want. I personally think that if the Immortal Bundle add-on appeals, you'd want to pay the extra $105 to get a functional (and supposedly quite fun) game, but it's true that Immortal is as close to "models only" as you can get on this project.
I have zero interest in the game, but it seems that the miniatures could be well worth a punt.
Then I'd recommend that you look at a base pledge of $110 + the $40 Dragon pack. It gets you one of every model apart from the 3 add-on heroes (so 110 models in total), including all of the monsters, that aren't in the Immortal Bundle. Every model is going to be unique (although with the normal monsters, that might just mean a change in arm positioning or what they're carrying):
On the other hand, if you're purely interested in the dragon, then the $40 add-on is the way to go. The $95 Immortal add-on has too many things like metal coins, cloth bag, scenery, dice to be worthwhile if you're entirely in it for the miniatures.
They all will play different. I will warn you now, those of you who haven't played Galaxy Defenders. Palette swaps in this game can be VERY dangerous, often completely changing up how the creature fights. Just because you've been fighting a few green ones, be wary of when blues show up.
If you are into a lot of variety (and punishment), I would suggest getting the alien add on set as well, or actually in lieu of the dragon if you're just after enemy variety. The sculpts may not be as sharp as the stuff from this game, but those critters will mess you up good.
One thing Gremlins Project learned from Galaxy Defenders is that monsters will actually be swappable this time around, kind of like in Descent 2E where you can choose from a pool of monsters at a comparable level.
Bioptic wrote: Every model is going to be unique (although with the normal monsters, that might just mean a change in arm positioning or what they're carrying)
Ah, that's a big improvement over what I was thinking! All the pics have the same exact pose, which gets tiring... if they're going to be unique that is much better. I'd love to see a production pic of a human sized model (since the dragon is so large) once they're ready, as that would really help make up my mind.
Any idea how long we have to jump in on the pledge manager / how long it will remain open for backers and newcomers?
The way things have been stated for variant poses, expect a big difference (such as a head swap) for the "leader" model and then variant arms for the 4 "troops". Like so:
I can't see any links to 100% confirmed production models, although they did have two heroes (the knights and the elf) in what looked very much like production plastic for their videos. They're in this dragon picture, which is a little too zoomed out to tell detail. You can see a bit of bendy-sword there.
I can confirm that the detail level on my Galaxy Defenders sculpts is very good though, even though the sculpts themselves have a lot less detail than S&S.
Those do look like production plastics - thanks Bioptic! Not quite as convincing as the dragon (which makes sense as they're much smaller / finer) but very good for a board game.
I'm in it for Fausto's not-Antipodes. The rest ist just gravvy.
However I don't know if I want that dragon or not. The bear got a downgrade, so the pack with all the heros, bear and heroine and dragon pack got less exciting.
I'd say even with a basic pledge you're getting a LOT of bang for your buck.
With just the base game you're getting a lot of variety in terms of enemies and scenarios as well.
Didn't see it mentioned here, but all the flavor text for the scenarios is now being put in to a separate book, THE BOOK OF SECRETS.
For those of you who grew up with old PC games and remember where you would have to get out the booklet and read a text block about the event that just happened, it'll be a lot like that. The idea was that by removing all the fluff text from the actual scenarios, there would still be some surprises when you play the scenario as the opposite alignments.
I hope they have some random text in there for those of us who used to actually read all those passages. I remember Wasteland had all kinds of stuff in that read along book that never was actually in the game.
Is it too late to get in one this one if you didn't already pledge? Where does one get signed into the PM (if that's even an option).
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also, what kind of game was this? Is there a persistent/random dungeon crawl mode, or is it strictly played through the campaign books?
I have been told that I should be playing this and it is within the style of the games that I do like. Since I did miss the Kickstarter, I was curious if anyone who did back would be interested in trading or selling their KS version?