CMoN_MrBlack wrote:
They are all the same sculpts, just some had to be modified to be castable in single-piece plastics.

During the video we're actually using a spare set of Resin Masters for the Heroes.

 Alex C wrote:
"CMON- Michael Shinall 6 minutes ago
@Alex
The miniatures are the same size as the old Ron and Bones/Tales of War miniatures- 32mm."

Are You Ready to ROCK?! A Look Into The Helrökkers

Michael here once again, and today lets look at the world famous heavy metal pirate team: the Helrökkers!

Before we begin lets cover some basics: First off, all these guys are Mercenaries, which means they will work for any faction, Wellsport or Bone Devil, that wishes to hire them. Also important- while they are a unified crew all of their own as well, they can all be used individually to stand in for their representative role on your ship.

Lastly, ROCK ON.



Presenting the first of our group, The Killmaster! Not your ordinary Quartermaster, The Killmaster brings a bit of everything to your crew.

His first action is Trade Route to Hell. Acting as his only actual Attack, and therefor source of Coin, The Killmaster features the standard 4 die 4+ to hit, with the avid caveat that Heroes hit by a 6 suffer Bleed. Want some extra boost to your Renfield Bone Devil's crew? Want an extra bit of Status Effect damage applied to your Wellsport guys? The Killmaster brings it in aces of spades.

Next up we have one of the first global effects in the game: Solo Performance! An expensive ability to be sure, but this dynamo's performances are potent enough to rob the entire enemy crew of an action next turn. True metal power cannot be contained. So, three Heroes, -3 Actions- you're basically stealing away 1/3 of their team's capabilities next turn. There isn't a crew out there that can't make use of this.

Rounding The Killmaster off we have Encore. It's here we'll note that The Killmaster doesn't function like most Quartermasters we've seen, as he has very little that directly benefits his crew. What he does have, however, is the ability to bypass all that "don't take damage" business and straight up keep them... Well straight up. Enemy think he has you with that last attack? Encore. Worried that that nasty Bleed is going to do your guy in if he does too much? Encore. Want to throw your guys at a possibly insane (yet totally awesome) suicide mission that could win you the game, but worried if it backfires? ENCORE!!!

And that is why The Killmaster is awesome.



Hier Kommt Alex! I mean Here Comes Alex- Alex of Pain! Alex here is a world famous Gunner, but like the rest of his crew, he is a performer unique in his own right. Were as most Gunners prefer just to shoot them, shoot them until their dead, and then shoot some more, Alex brings some finesse to the gig with his range of abilities.

He has a standard Gunner attack with Rose Thorns, in that he can always target Heroes. What sets this apart from most other Gunners, however, is that its 2 dice on a 2+. The trade-off here is that Alex will seldom miss, though he doesn't have the raw earning potential some of the other crewmen have.

This is more than made up for, however, in his second signature action, Are You Ready to Rock?! Once again pointing out Alex and his fellow crewmen work together, we see the second global ability, and boy, does it hurt. Are You Ready to Rock?! Silences all enemies, meaning they cant spend Coin on Actions. That. Is. METAL... Also super powerful. You can already see the nastiness in combining Alex and The Killmaster to cripple the enemy team... Sure, it's a lot of Coin, but a good strategy for them is to build everyone up to unleash one Mega Performance of Metal Death and outright shut down the enemy team for a turn. It takes lots of coordination, but it should never be overlooked.

Now, as mentioned, Alex is a Gunner who doesn't do a lot of damage- very unique, with his third ability, however, he continues his trend of punishing the enemy for merely existing. Last we have Showstopper, which is a free Reaction that punishes enemies for using Abilities near Alex. That enemy Quartermaster wants to heal guys up? Little Tom trying to wrangle your guys into a corner? They can still do it if they would like, but they're gonna have to pay for it.



Don't worry, the name The Slasher is only for show- He'll also stab, cut, gut, and bash you to death as well!

So jumping right in with Hunger for Destruction we have a Swashbuckler that rolls 2 dice and hits on a 2+, causing auto-Bleed. Again, like many of his Helrokker counterparts, he doesn't generate the most Coin of anyone out there, but he certainly makes due with what he's got. In the case here The Slasher prefers precision over raw dice. Wellsport can make good use of this due to the number of +attack dice cards and effects they have, while the Bone Devils get a Hero that hits when they need him to (and his other abilities play into their faction strengths as well)

Multi-talented is probably the most interesting ability on The Slasher, which is ironic because it does nothing in itself- instead giving him the insane ability to copy any Attack from a Deployed enemy Hero. I love effects that turn an enemies greatest strength against them! Think of the nasty combinations here: You're playing Wellsport, so you get The Slasher and copy Patchwork Porter's Soul Storm...except then you throw down an Unbridled Fury card to give him +3 dice on the attack... The amount of Coin generated makes me warm inside... Or lets say you're playing Bone Devils and they have Blackout Bart... Suddenly there's a surprise Bullseye or Greased Lightning Barrage. You can never discount this ability, and there has been several times where an unwary opponent will deploy a Hero, only to immediately have The Slasher utilize his attacks and win the game.

So, last up for The Slasher we have Nirvana, which proves you cant keep a good musician down. All in all, this Reaction makes The Slasher one of the most survivable Heroes in the game- as long as you're willing to pay for it. Note that this functions on friendly or enemy Tide Cards, so it will add some extra through to your opponent and put them in a no-win scenario: I need to play this Tide Card to kill The Slasher... But by playing it he's just going to heal... and then I can't kill him... Aw hell!

So rounding him out we have a Swashbuckler that is good at keeping himself alive and turns the enemies greatest strengths into his own. That is a style I can get behind!



DRUM SOLO!! Thunder Lars, that is. The Brute of the Helrokkers, Lars bullies his way around the board. Like most Brutes, Lars specializes in making the enemy pay for dealing him damage, and nowhere is this more apparent than his Mace of Valhalla ability, where if he's suffered 10 or more damage then his thunderous choir dishes out Silence to all nearby enemies. Basic bit of advice: don't leave Lars alive- take him down if you're going to target him!

Next up we have Thunderous Beat, which offers some nice board control to Lars- it also means that Gangplanks become super deadly for a Hero to be standing on, least Lars come up and bring the pain, knocking them Overboard and out of play! And what if you start next to him (like some foolish attack that didn't work out??!), then he'll just BAMBAMBAMBAM (I'm... not good with drum sound effect...) and begin pushing everyone back. Push, move up, Push again- BAM- into the drink with ya!

Then you can follow up and Bring the Thunder!! Which not only removes those pesky Condition tokens from a friendly Hero but also gives them +1 attack die- that's right, rock enthusiasts, here we have a Brute that also acts in some ways as a Quartermaster!

Wellsport will love to take advantage of this and Lars and Miss Mags can team up and give 1 Hero a staggering +2 attack dice for the rest of the turn. Meanwhile on the Bone Devil side they have a large number of healing-on-hit effects, and Lars just amplifies that to 11 (while also helping to remove Conditions- something the Bone Devils struggle at!)

Of course, Lars is also at home pumping his own Helrokkers and pushing them to extremes- most of them already hit on a 2+, and now they will have more attacks to work their magic with!



Le petit empereur himself, Napoleon, is the Captain of the infamous Helrokkers. Believing him to be the rock and roll messiah due to his invention of platform shoes, Napoleon doesn't let his stature get in the way of his raw I AM A BETTER COMMANDER THAN YOU tactics.

He starts with Inspiring Strike, which is a basic 4 dice 4+, but allows you to give a Deployed Hero a Coin. Yes, he and Miss Mags from Wellsport share this ability, meaning you can double down and gain a huge economy of Coin! Or you can take him with the Bone Devils to help pump out the expensive abilities all that much faster.

This is very important seeing as how most of the Helrokkers have some expensive abilities (as we've seen)- Napoleon takes a lot of the pain in paying those costs out with help from this ability.

So, taking a moment, let me preface this by saying Napoleon is the first Captain we've seen who excels at manipulating the Tide Deck... and boy, he does not mess around when it comes to his job! Total Recall allows him to pull any discarded Tide Card back from your discard pile- the effects of this are two-fold. First, the obvious benefit- you get to double up, triple up... quadra...up.. whatever... the Tide Cards you've already played. Want your Deckhands and Bosuns to make a huge push across the lanes? Pull back See Some Hustle and let them go crazy. Want to pump a massive amount of Coin into one Hero in particular? Play Rum and then play Rum again, gaining them six Coin to use as they please!

The second benefit is much more subtle, but still just as powerful. Don't want to suffer the ire of the Kraken? Pull those Kraken symbol cards back into your hand! Did an opponent summon the beast then laugh at you because you had more icons? Show them your raw tactical genius by pulling all those cards back into your hand then laugh, LAUGH at them as the eye of the beast suddenly turns back upon them! AHAHAHAHA!!!

Ok, so that all sounds great, but it requires me to have the cards I need! Well, I'm glad you brought that up. Napoleon knows just when to act, he's a genius after all, and nowhere is that seen more than his Perfect Strategy ability. Sure, it's expensive at six Coin, but searching your Tide Deck for that specific game-winning card will always be worth it! And remember, once you have it you can keep pulling it back with Total Recall. The fact that Napoleon is a Mercenary means everyone gets to benefit from this, and all opponents will suffer for it.

Napoleon exemplifies a Captain who doesn't take the fight to the enemy. No, he sits back, lets his crew do the hard work, and wins through sheer force of will and tactics. He is a welcome addition to any crew that feels they have enough raw killing power and instead want to opt for something a bit more subtle.

Use his tactical mind well and he will lead you to victory, disregard it and suffer the fate of countless enemies who have stood against him!

And that, backers, wraps up the Helrökkers! These Mercenary Heroes are KICKSTARTER EXCLUSIVE, so be sure to get your friends in on the action, least they be assigned to being a mere Deckhand (the roadie of the sea) while you rock and roll your way across the seven seas in search of plunder and the lost treasure of Les Paul, err, Davy Jones!

Until next time!

-Michael Shinall

skarsol wrote:
It continually baffles me why companies trying to run a professional KS fail to get even minor proofreading done on their copy. :(

New Faction: Mazu's Dreadful Curse!

You honestly didn't think Wellsport and the Bone Devils were the only pirate factions on the high seas did you?

In honor of completing our first week (with an explosive 2400 backers Week 1 alone!) we're proud to bring you an all new faction for your enjoyment: Mazu's Dreadful Curse!









Mazu's Dreadful Curse is a FULL EXPANSION BOX featuring the following:

5x Hero Miniatures
24x Deckhand Miniatures (3 Sculpts!)
6x Bosun Miniatures
1x Unique 30 Card Tide Deck
3x Junker Boards (See how they interact with the Galleons of Wellsport and Bone Devils below!)
3x Objective Tiles
3x Deployment Point Tokens
3x Windgate Tokens (this blessing of Mazu allows the pirates to quickly move between the different ships!)

By purchasing this expansion box, you'll also receive the following KICKSTARTER EXCLUSIVE bonuses:

1x "Nemo, the Lost" Miniature
1x Sculpted Deck Gun Miniature



To claim this faction as your own, merely add $40 to your pledge and we'll get it sorted once the Pledge Manager is released!

So, just who are the crew of the Dreadful Curse? Let's take a look:





















And the Kickstarter Exclusive:





As always, these models are sold UNPAINTED, the paintjobs above just show what a skilled painter could accomplish

Lastly, we'll show you their Hero Cards and just how their ships interacts with the Galleons of the Wellsport and the Bone Devils.

Mazu's Dreadful Curse brings lightning speed and Hit-and-Run tactics to the field! These deadly pirates get in, destroy what they need to destroy, then escape before the enemy even knows what hit them!











The Kickstarter Exclusive "Nemo, the Lost"



And lastly, the Board Layout for when Mazu are fighting Wellsport or the Bone Devils:



You may notice the small Whirlwind Icons around Mazu's ships! Those are Windgates and they allow rapid teleportation between the 3 Mazu ships! Note however, a crafty enemy can make use of them as well!

We're rapidly approaching our latest Stretch Goal, dear backers. Just one small push and things will really start to heat up!

 cincydooley wrote:

skarsol wrote:
It continually baffles me why companies trying to run a professional KS fail to get even minor proofreading done on their copy. :(

I only skimmed it; nothing stood out to me. What did I miss?

 porkuslime wrote:
I know it is silly, and goofy.. but..

I LOVE the lil Pet in Captain Nemo's hand..

Whomever painted that has an evil sense of humor..

-P

 porkuslime wrote:
I know it is silly, and goofy.. but..

I LOVE the lil Pet in Captain Nemo's hand..

Whomever painted that has an evil sense of humor..

skarsol wrote:

 cincydooley wrote:

skarsol wrote:
It continually baffles me why companies trying to run a professional KS fail to get even minor proofreading done on their copy. :(

I only skimmed it; nothing stood out to me. What did I miss?

Real quick once over:

In general: dashes should be x-y or x - y, not x- y. Ellipses and capitalization are inconsistent.

basics: First -> basics: first
the avid caveat -> the added caveat
Heroes hit by a 6 -> Heroes hit on a 6 (debatable)
Renfield Bone Devil's crew VS Wellsport guys -> should be Devil crew to match Wellsport guys, or else "Devils" if it's plural.
keep them... Well straight up -> keep them... well... straight up (at least the lowercase w, the cadence they're going for needs the extra ellipses)
Were as most Gunners -> Whereas most Gunners
until their dead -> until they're dead
is that its 2 dice -> is that it's 2 dice
Are You Ready to Rock?! Silences -> Are You Ready to Rock?! silences
they cant spend -> they can't spend
That. Is. METAL... Also super powerful. -> blarg
Now, as mentioned, Alex is a Gunner who doesn't do a lot of damage- very unique, with his third ability, however, he continues his trend of punishing the enemy for merely existing. -> Rough. Maybe "Now, as mentioned, Alex is a Gunner who doesn't do a lot of direct damage (very unique), however, with his third ability he continues his trend of punishing the enemy for merely existing."
makes due -> makes do
need him to (and his other abilities play into their faction strengths as well) -> no ending punctuation
you cant keep -> you can't keep
add some extra through to your opponent -> I think they wanted "thought"
standing on, least Lars come up -> standing on, lest Lars come up
action, least they be assigned -> action, lest they be assigned

 cincydooley wrote:


Oh, so a bunch of pedantic nonsense only you care about. Gotcha.

 Alpharius wrote:
I'm liking it all so far - but would also prefer more 'themes' and less 'wacky homages'.

I'd also not like to pay $40 a crew too!

skarsol wrote:

 cincydooley wrote:


Oh, so a bunch of pedantic nonsense only you care about. Gotcha.

i sea watt you did their.

skarsol wrote:
You're going to just ignore the completly wrong word choices? Got it. Also, an official company communication with the goal of soliciting money should reasonably be held to a different standard than people shooting the gak on a forum, no? Regardless, we obviously have different standards, and I guess thats why they feel comfortable pooping on English. ; P

skarsol wrote:
In re the actual product, I'd love to get a couple of the models but the range as a whole isn't enticing enough to get my money.