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Thanks!!! I was terrified I was going to miss them! All signed up on the website and can't wait to get my hands on them. The guy whose wedding I went to had the electronic ones and was taunting me.
Cheers!

I really would like to get my hands on those novels. Should they completely sell out are there any plans to reprint or will it be electronic copies only after the current print run is completely sold out?

In the future we'll be pushing to get them out through an independent publisher, but for the near term, this limited print run will be the only option.

The girlfriend would love to get her hands on hard copies of those novels as the digital prints make her head spin. Any chance you kind fellows could ship a couple to France while you're across the pond? I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today

This might have already been asked, but will the other factions be an all consuming race like the zerg or tyranids, and daemon-like beings that came from the maelstrom? Also, is there a faction of self aware robots? I know you already have the factions planned out and I'm hyped to see whats next, just curious what you've got planned.

home_brew wrote:
This might have already been asked, but will the other factions be an all consuming race like the zerg or tyranids, and daemon-like beings that came from the maelstrom? Also, is there a faction of self aware robots? I know you already have the factions planned out and I'm hyped to see whats next, just curious what you've got planned.

We'll be revealing our new factions in time, but it's safe to say they won't be any of the above. Whilst in a scifi game it's impossible to not have any similarities to anything that's ever been made before, we are aiming for each of our factions to feel different to other games.

One new faction we have spoken a little bit about so far is the Broken, which is the remains of society left behind when governments and corporations leave worlds close to the Maelstrom. This will be a mix of human and aliens, banding together as revolutionaries, pirates and teams of survivors to get what they need to escape offworld and survive before the Maelstrom reaches them. We have a lot of exciting design work done for these guys and two more factions (the Remnant Fleet and the Kaigus Pact) but due to the levels of investment required to make an all-plastic game, how the launch of the first set goes (both Kickstarter and retail) will determine when we can start working on producing the miniatures. For that reason we are concentrating on the first two factions that will be in the first game, the Epirian Foundation and the Karist Enclave. We still have more models from both to show you so hopefully the Kickstarter continues to go well so we can add more to what backers will get for their sweet spot pledge - the Kaddar Nova and terrain sprue are hopefully just the beginning!

I have three questions about the fiction books that are available for sale online:

1. Are the only versions the Kindle editions from Amazon?

2. Can I read a Kindle Edition on my Samsung smart phone?

3. Why won't Amazon sell these editions to customers in the Middle East? I am in Kuwait right now.

 JB wrote:
I have three questions about the fiction books that are available for sale online:

1. Are the only versions the Kindle editions from Amazon?

2. Can I read a Kindle Edition on my Samsung smart phone?

3. Why won't Amazon sell these editions to customers in the Middle East? I am in Kuwait right now.

1. We plan to add the ebooks to additional stores in the future. Any requests of specific ebook stores are welcome so we can aim for the most popular sites.

2. You can download the Kindle app on any android smart phone and read it from there.

3. The books should be available in all regions but I think there are additional content restrictions for the Middle East that we have no power over. If you set your kindle account to be registered to a US address/credit card I believe you should be able to buy the books independently of where you are when you buy them.

Were there demonstration games at Salute? If not, can you film one and put it online?

Also, as some advice, maybe put pictures form Salute up on the Kickstarter as an update? That would definitely show that Maelstrom is a living company and not a fly-by-night operation.

I finally got around to downloading the books . Might take me a bit to get through them as I have quite a bit going on, but I will definitely leave a review when finished!

Thanks,

I discovered that my phone already had the Kindle app loaded and I was able to use it to purchase both books.

Looks like I have some reading to do. The formatting looks good on my Note 3.

DrRansom wrote:
Were there demonstration games at Salute? If not, can you film one and put it online?

Salute was a bit too busy and noisy for us to film a good demonstration game but we do intend to have a rules demo video online during the kickstarter.

I really love yak's ruleset - and playing and talking about it at Salute reminded me why. It's very difficult to damage an unit from the front when it's in cover and unsuppressed, but every attack, even if it doesn't do any damage, puts suppression tokens on a unit. Adding suppression makes it harder for a unit to activate and also easier to destroy at close range, because the reaction fire they would normally get when assaulted is much more difficult to do when the defending unit is suppressed. Added to the interesting alternating activation, realtime mission objectives and the advantage to attacking unit in their rear arc, the game really encourages fluid, tactical play and it's very satisfying when you use the first few units in a turn to suppress the enemy, setting up a devastating flanking attack from the unit you've been holding back until the end of the turn.

DrRansom wrote:
Also, as some advice, maybe put pictures form Salute up on the Kickstarter as an update? That would definitely show that Maelstrom is a living company and not a fly-by-night operation.

We posted an update on Kickstarter with pictures from Salute this morning! We aim to post updates regularly throughout the Kickstarter, as well as responding to as many comments as we can.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

RiTides wrote:I finally got around to downloading the books . Might take me a bit to get through them as I have quite a bit going on, but I will definitely leave a review when finished!

JB wrote:Thanks,

I discovered that my phone already had the Kindle app loaded and I was able to use it to purchase both books.

Looks like I have some reading to do. The formatting looks good on my Note 3.

Thanks both, hope you enjoy the books!

Got my copies of the novels at Salute yesterday and I am working my way through number one - really enjoying it so far, helps to flesh out the world and create a sense of depth to the back-story. Plus some really nice touches of language in there which is good - it isn't prose for prose's sake nor overwrought florid language but there is some real craft in there which is good to see especially since most of the genre gets written off (unfairly in some regards) as pulp.

Edit: I should also note that the sneak-previews of some of the upcoming models that I saw were stunning and will certainly whet the appetite. Looking forward to seeing more of them!

I finished the first book earlier today and I've made a start on the second, I'm really enjoying them and I'm definitely looking forward to any more books or short stories that might come out in the future.

filbert wrote:Got my copies of the novels at Salute yesterday and I am working my way through number one - really enjoying it so far, helps to flesh out the world and create a sense of depth to the back-story. Plus some really nice touches of language in there which is good - it isn't prose for prose's sake nor overwrought florid language but there is some real craft in there which is good to see especially since most of the genre gets written off (unfairly in some regards) as pulp.

Edit: I should also note that the sneak-previews of some of the upcoming models that I saw were stunning and will certainly whet the appetite. Looking forward to seeing more of them!

Tibbsy wrote:I finished the first book earlier today and I've made a start on the second, I'm really enjoying them and I'm definitely looking forward to any more books or short stories that might come out in the future.

Thanks guys, that means a lot having worked on them for so long. We've got a bunch of short stories that we'll be releasing in various forms soon - and I've already started writing the next novel featuring two of our future factions...

I'll definitely grab a physical edition when available of both books. For future releases have you considered using a POD service like Lulu.com?

I've used them for my own novel (and the physical copy of The book I wrote for Mantic). You can then either buy in copies to sell yourself or set up links to Lulus own site so no warehousing costs incurred by yourself. Revenue streams vary on each approach but still a lot higher than traditional publishing.

Oh maaaan. I was trying to be a good boy and keep all my KS money in my wallet until the Red Box Games big project. Just bought an engagement ring, moving house in a couple of months...

Guess I'll have to back this anyway. The sound of the mechanics closely matches my ideal sci fi game (funnily enough I was working on a similar set of ideas for a skirmish game I was thinking of putting together for fun!). I like the models, and I like the basic outline of the background well enough.

Plus, it's Dakka, and that does count for something

 darrkespur wrote:

DrRansom wrote:
Were there demonstration games at Salute? If not, can you film one and put it online?

Salute was a bit too busy and noisy for us to film a good demonstration game but we do intend to have a rules demo video online during the kickstarter.

I really love yak's ruleset - and playing and talking about it at Salute reminded why. It's very difficult to damage an unit from the front when it's in cover and unsuppressed, but every attack, even if it doesn't do any damage, puts suppression tokens on a unit. Adding suppression makes it harder for a unit to activate and also easier to destroy at close range, because the reaction fire they would normally get when assaulted is much more difficult to do when the defending unit is suppressed. Added to the interesting alternating activation, realtime mission objectives and the advantage to attacking unit in their rear arc, the game really encourages fluid, tactical play and it's very satisfying when you use the first few units in a turn to suppress the enemy, setting up a devastating flanking attack from the unit you've been holding back until the end of the turn.

/quote]

Those rules sound great. Might pick up a rules only pledge.

 JP1138 wrote:
I'll definitely grab a physical edition when available of both books. For future releases have you considered using a POD service like Lulu.com?

I've used them for my own novel (and the physical copy of The book I wrote for Mantic). You can then either buy in copies to sell yourself or set up links to Lulus own site so no warehousing costs incurred by yourself. Revenue streams vary on each approach but still a lot higher than traditional publishing.

Listen to this man. I just picked up a copy of Bloodstone of Cerillion (from Amazon. Sorry), and it was convenient and affordable. The finished product looks and feels good, although I'd suggest adding more logos to the spine for that store-bought mass market charm.

Isn't the guy who wrote Hardl Luck Hank a Dakka member? Those books are also printed independently and hugely successful (relative to other POD lines I've seen) , so he might be able to give some great advice.

We're definitely looking into a bunch of ways to get the books in your hands. I'm really proud of them and think they will give people a great idea of the kind of universe we're creating, and of course as one of the guys who wrote it I'd love for as many people as possible to read it.

We're looking at POD and a couple of other options for long-term hard copies, and we have some of the limited edition paperbacks from Salute to sell soon too. Creating a game of all-plastic models, a ruleset, a whole load of background, two novels, a bunch of short stories, running a Kickstarter and launching at Salute has taken up a lot of our time, but getting more availability of the novel is high up on our list of things to do next!

DriveThruStuff's POD program is great as well, we use it for all of our books/cards/pdfs.

 darrkespur wrote:
We're definitely looking into a bunch of ways to get the books in your hands. I'm really proud of them and think they will give people a great idea of the kind of universe we're creating, and of course as one of the guys who wrote it I'd love for as many people as possible to read it.

We're looking at POD and a couple of other options for long-term hard copies, and we have some of the limited edition paperbacks from Salute to sell soon too. Creating a game of all-plastic models, a ruleset, a whole load of background, two novels, a bunch of short stories, running a Kickstarter and launching at Salute has taken up a lot of our time, but getting more availability of the novel is high up on our list of things to do next!

When the Salute copies go on sale through the website, what are the odds of getting our copies autographed?

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:

 darrkespur wrote:
We're definitely looking into a bunch of ways to get the books in your hands. I'm really proud of them and think they will give people a great idea of the kind of universe we're creating, and of course as one of the guys who wrote it I'd love for as many people as possible to read it.

We're looking at POD and a couple of other options for long-term hard copies, and we have some of the limited edition paperbacks from Salute to sell soon too. Creating a game of all-plastic models, a ruleset, a whole load of background, two novels, a bunch of short stories, running a Kickstarter and launching at Salute has taken up a lot of our time, but getting more availability of the novel is high up on our list of things to do next!

When the Salute copies go on sale through the website, what are the odds of getting our copies autographed?

Possible but will require some planning as Stephen and I don't live where the books are being stored. Let me get back to you on that!

roughly how many miniature a side will be the ideal game size for Malstorms edge?

 carlos13th wrote:
roughly how many miniature a side will be the ideal game size for Malstorms edge?

The first post in the thread is filled with lots of info including the answer to your question (20-30) in the first couple of lines.

 carlos13th wrote:
roughly how many miniature a side will be the ideal game size for Malstorms edge?

20-30. Yak has called it a 'squad-based skirmish game' - a lot of the fluidity of a skirmish game, but activating small squads of 3-6 models rather than individual models. We're hoping that if we hit our stretch goals in the Kickstarter we'll be able to up the number of models and unit types in the box set, but even what's in the sweet spot at the moment will be enough to play a small game - although buying two sets or swapping one set's worth of models from a faction with a friend will let you try out more themed armies with more of one type of unit.

Incidentally, all our models (both revealed and the upcoming stretch goals) are done or almost done in hard plastic already, so even if we manage to add additional unit types through the stretch goals, it won't delay delivery.

 Da Boss wrote:
Oh maaaan. I was trying to be a good boy and keep all my KS money in my wallet until the Red Box Games big project. Just bought an engagement ring, moving house in a couple of months...

Guess I'll have to back this anyway. The sound of the mechanics closely matches my ideal sci fi game (funnily enough I was working on a similar set of ideas for a skirmish game I was thinking of putting together for fun!). I like the models, and I like the basic outline of the background well enough.

Plus, it's Dakka, and that does count for something

That's awesome, Da Boss! On the engagement ring in particular but backing here too, of course . I've been impressed with your eye for minis (particularly with Tre's stuff of course, he's in a class by himself) so it is awesome to hear you like the models! For myself, I was sure I'd be playing Karists from some sneak previews lego had showed, but the drones have won me over instead

warboss wrote:

 carlos13th wrote:
roughly how many miniature a side will be the ideal game size for Malstorms edge?

The first post in the thread is filled with lots of info including the answer to your question (20-30) in the first couple of lines.

Thanks mate. I read the first page a while back then clearly forgot everything I read.

darrkespur wrote:

 carlos13th wrote:
roughly how many miniature a side will be the ideal game size for Malstorms edge?

20-30. Yak has called it a 'squad-based skirmish game' - a lot of the fluidity of a skirmish game, but activating small squads of 3-6 models rather than individual models. We're hoping that if we hit our stretch goals in the Kickstarter we'll be able to up the number of models and unit types in the box set, but even what's in the sweet spot at the moment will be enough to play a small game - although buying two sets or swapping one set's worth of models from a faction with a friend will let you try out more themed armies with more of one type of unit.

Incidentally, all our models (both revealed and the upcoming stretch goals) are done or almost done in hard plastic already, so even if we manage to add additional unit types through the stretch goals, it won't delay delivery.

Thanks. That seems reasonable. Not crazy number of models but not a small ten man skirmish either. It sounds like cover and facing will be very important in the rules. I have always wanted a wargaming ruleset similar to the full spectrum warrior game and it sounds like these might do that.

Is the rulebook softcover or hardcover?

Are there plans to upgrade the templates/tokens to plastic or other sturdier materials?

Cheers

The rulebook will be A5 softcover, so that is is portable and convenient to quickly flick to a needed page.

I wouldnt call changing the templates and tokens to plastic 'an upgrade' as they would lose their cinematic effect from the lovely artwork. The card is thicker than other games which have used tokens like these, so provided they are assembled well, they will last a decent amount of time. If we made plastic versions of the templates, they would be the same or very similar to a bunch of other products on the market which would be a bit boring too.