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From what it sounds like we should end up with a tentacled team of some sort by campaign's end.

If this is anything like Kaosball where there's a multitude of teams, hopefully we have a fair amount that don't end up exclusive to the campaign.

AQ was crazy in that regard.

That said I don't mind if we end up with an extra couple of merc choices besides the glam band and what we've got so far before all is said and done.

I'm glad they listened to popular complaint and made the add-ons part of a pack instead of individually. And yay for them getting quite a bit cheaper in the process ($10 for a single mini vs. 3 for $15)

I wish they'd listen to the "we're sick of everything being exclusive" crowd too though. It's better for everyone involved (CMoN too!) if more product is available for retail sale down the line.

They should keep the KISS knockoff mercs as the KS exclusive for the campaign and call it a day on exclusives.

Well what the heck - I've put in for $1

Although I've backed almost 100 campaigns, this is my first for CMON! Is there confirmation anywhere that you can in fact up your pledge later if you only put in $1, or is that a safe bet based on past campaigns?

Also, how long after the campaign ends do you generally have to finalize your pledge / add onto it before they close the pledge manager?

I've gone the buck route on the last 3 campaigns of theirs I backed (outside of SMOG) and have had no issues whatsoever.

You should be fine.

CMON is very flexible with their post-campaign PM's.

They'd be kind of silly not to be!

Stretch Goal Reached! Gameplay Video Uploaded!


Mateys, we've hit our $200,000 goal, meaning Slevin the Lucky has been unlocked and added to the crews of all backers! Yarg!



Not only that, but we also just finished uploading our Rum and Bones Gameplay video! Double Yarg! Check it out here:




Please keep in mind that all components in the video are still in prototype form and far from the quality of the final product (where quality cards and thick cardboard tiles will abound!)

Of course, now that we've hit 200K, I'm sure you're all wondering what our next goal will be!

Well in all fairness to the Bone Devils, we couldn't unlock another Hero for the Wellsport and not take care of them as well!

Meet our $225,000 stretch goal, Mr. Smith, Bone Devils Gunner! Triple Yarg!!!







We're nearing the end of our first week, Mateys, and there is still a sea of booty to be plundered out there! Let's go and find it! QuadraYarg!!!

I've only watched the first half hour of the video so far, but it's looking like a super fun game

 Alex C wrote:
I've only watched the first half hour of the video so far, but it's looking like a super fun game

Awesome!

It really is one of my faves, despite only have played it about 6 times (a few times in may, a few times this month). I'm just a huge fan of the gameplay and the models, that I really hope this one does well.

The game demo video is really chewy, wish it could be more concise and elegant. That's the one major gripe I have had with CMON kickstarters, they are rushed not very well planned.

Yes, less banter and more of clearly explaining what each player is doing, what game effects are taking place and how things are resolved.

Enjoyable to see the game in action though!

 Alex C wrote:
Yes, less banter and more of clearly explaining what each player is doing, what game effects are taking place and how things are resolved.

Enjoyable to see the game in action though!

This ^

I mean id feel the same if I got to sit down and play it, but id rather them go over it all and 1 person walk through a few rounds on how stuff works, and explain. Watched bout 30 min also and turned it off. Don't want to sit for an hour and a half of two buddies playing and joking around. No offense! Takes some of the professionalism away.

 Alex C wrote:
Yes, less banter and more of clearly explaining what each player is doing, what game effects are taking place and how things are resolved.

Enjoyable to see the game in action though!

The style of demoing they do seems to be ideal when you and your friend sit down, but when you do a video, break it up and get to the point of the aspects of the game mechanics. Infinity did a great job of this, in fact, they probably have done the best job of any introduction video to a set of rules for any minis/board game.

Schmapdi wrote:
I'm glad they listened to popular complaint and made the add-ons part of a pack instead of individually. And yay for them getting quite a bit cheaper in the process ($10 for a single mini vs. 3 for $15)

I wish they'd listen to the "we're sick of everything being exclusive" crowd too though. It's better for everyone involved (CMoN too!) if more product is available for retail sale down the line.

They should keep the KISS knockoff mercs as the KS exclusive for the campaign and call it a day on exclusives.

Devil's advocate here, but while I would very much like CMoN to stop with the sheer number of exclusives, I think they are doing better out of the current model than they would otherwise. Zombicide 3 took nearly 3 million dollars from 12 000 backers in direct sales (no retail cut), which is substantially more than the average specialist boardgame can hope to ever sell even at retail. They get the money all in one guaranteed chunk, rather than in an unreliable trickle.

A certain percentage of boardgamers will never buy expansions, or at least will never buy many small ones - they want something that is self contained, so will be happy to buy the retail versions. The other percentage that hoovers up every single available expansion? They'll be on the Kickstarter, buying every single add-on offered, for fear of missing out. In general, they cultivate an attitude of "I have to put money down for this now, even if it's not any good, because there's no point in buying it later", which is always going to drive more sales than people reading reviews and trying the game out for themselves - even if the game is actually great!

I dunno about that. You make some good points, but:

I would never buy a game like Zombicide or Arcadia quest at retail precisely because 30% or more of the content created will never be available to me (or I will be ebay gouged to get it). I'm not the only one - others have expressed similar sentiments.

Plus even with 12,000 backers, I'm sure well under half bought everything. Which means for each individual add-on they're only selling 3,000, 4,000 maybe 5,000 copies? That's a lot of sculpting and manufacturing investment to then toss aside.

Plus don't forget KS takes a chunk of that 3 mil, and they have higher shipping costs, and manpower vs. retail. I'm sure it's more profitable to make a sale via KS (which is why people do it). But I don't think it's THAT much more profitable, especially in the long run. Which is why current KS are much stingier with the freebies and whatnot than they were a year or two ago.

IMHO, in the long run - taking in nebulous things like goodwill, and word of mouth. CMON (and everyone) would be better served doing a few exclusives (to get some of the effects you mention) and then laying off.

Bioptic wrote:
In general, they cultivate an attitude of "I have to put money down for this now, even if it's not any good, because there's no point in buying it later", which is always going to drive more sales than people reading reviews and trying the game out for themselves - even if the game is actually great!

And thats the big problem. I missed Arcadia Quest. They give me 3 options.

1. Buy it all on ebay for +400$
2. Buy what I can in retail, missing 26+ heroes
3. Never buy any of it.

Only option 2 now helps the company, and the fact I cant get so many guys turns me off from buying it and giving them any money. The 100$ model they use is great, but id rather there be a million optional addons.

I like how the Rum and Bones looks, and hoping it does really well but not for the right reasons. I KSEd it and hope that they follow what they always have in past games with so many exclusives and I can resell it for triple the price or more.

While KS may take a small chunk of the cash raised, and even considering the extra warehouse costs

selling through retail distribution takes a much, much larger one

I think that's probably why there have been more exclusives in the recent CMON KS projects (eg arcadia quest).

Most board games are sold to people who buy them and stick them back in the cupboard after a game or two. They will never know that there was exclusive stuff they are missing.

Those who do are the ones who are aware of KS (or heavily into gaming so learn about it from review sites who will tell them about KS), if they want them and can afford them they'll use KS in the future (win for CMON),

if they can't afford them they're unlikely to be able to in the future (or if they can it will be at the expense of the 'new' upcoming game and exclusives) so they're probably not a market CMON feels he need to cater too strongly

Of course, (and this may be going too far off-topic) one of the more irritating aspects of using Kickstarter repeatedly is that you can't regulate 1) your outgoing cash easily (you don't know when Kickstarters are going to happen, or what they are going to cost, although some offer "$1 pledge manager" options), and 2) the delivery of products, due to all the slippage. I went through half a year of largely nothing arriving, and now everything's piling in during December/January!

If you were doing things the "normal" way, you'd decide you were in the market for something new (you're bored of existing things, your group wants to try something different, you have some spare hobby time and/or money), buy it and play it immediately. With multiple Kickstarters it might be arriving in the middle of 5 other games, it might arrive when your gaming group has just disbanded, when you're in the middle of annual crunch time...

So my resentment of the CMoN model is that it removes a lot of choice from the equation. I'll still continue to go along with it though, as long as the value is there and I still have the "FOMA". It doesn't hurt that boardgame retail prices are abysmal here in the UK - Zombicide S1 at retail used to cost more than the Kickstarter pledge shipped from the US.

On topic, I really am a fan of the R&B models - they have a pleasing solidity to them that isn't as goonish as AQ or as...non-detailed as Rivet Wars.

I do wonder if some backers are being misled about them though. CMoN claims that "What we're showing here is just an example of what a skilled painter is able to do with them." No mention of the fact that the examples are clearly resin, or on completely different bases!

Bioptic wrote:
Of course, (and this may be going too far off-topic) one of the more irritating aspects of using Kickstarter repeatedly is that you can't regulate 1) your outgoing cash easily (you don't know when Kickstarters are going to happen, or what they are going to cost, although some offer "$1 pledge manager" options), and 2) the delivery of products, due to all the slippage. I went through half a year of largely nothing arriving, and now everything's piling in during December/January!

If you were doing things the "normal" way, you'd decide you were in the market for something new (you're bored of existing things, your group wants to try something different, you have some spare hobby time and/or money), buy it and play it immediately. With multiple Kickstarters it might be arriving in the middle of 5 other games, it might arrive when your gaming group has just disbanded, when you're in the middle of annual crunch time...

So my resentment of the CMoN model is that it removes a lot of choice from the equation. I'll still continue to go along with it though, as long as the value is there and I still have the "FOMA". It doesn't hurt that boardgame retail prices are abysmal here in the UK - Zombicide S1 at retail used to cost more than the Kickstarter pledge shipped from the US.

On topic, I really am a fan of the R&B models - they have a pleasing solidity to them that isn't as goonish as AQ or as...non-detailed as Rivet Wars.

I do wonder if some backers are being misled about them though. CMoN claims that "What we're showing here is just an example of what a skilled painter is able to do with them." No mention of the fact that the examples are clearly resin, or on completely different bases!

I believe the samples are actually metal.

IIRC, they're using the same plastic that they've used with the newer Guest Artist Boxes and newer heroes, and here's what some skilled painters have done with those models:



It's also of note that R&B models are a little larger scale than Zombicide, with more exaggerated proportions. I'm going snap some photos of some of the old metals with some zombicide models for reference.

R&B models are indeed on the large end of the hobby. I'd say they are pretty much the 35mm version of the 28mm scale.

Also, Mr. Smith is the first direct translation of the original metals to the board game in this KS. Grace, Albrect, and a couple of the deckhands look like re-imagined versions of some of the metals.

They are metal casts in the gameplay. When they tip some of the heroes over they have tac or some clay in the base to keep them steady when up

Here's those scale photos:

I'm glad they're bigger - the Zombicide minis are a bit small for my liking.

Same here!

IF the Rum and Bones figures are going to be scaled up and bigger than the Zombicide minis...

IF they're going to maintain the bigger size from the metals?

This is going to be fantastic!

Any chance anyone has pictures of them with some of the Black Scorpion Pirate range?

 CptJake wrote:
Any chance anyone has pictures of them with some of the Black Scorpion Pirate range?

I have some black scorpion cowboys..... They're the same scale as the pirates...any interest in those photos?

Sure. I would appreciate it. I have BS cowboys too!

I'm always a fan of larger and thicker figures. These looked like they would be a bit larger than the average game piece.

Good to hear.

Have they confirmed the size of the production miniatures, though? Since they seem to be all new, no recycled sculpts, there's nothing to indicate they're sticking with the larger scale, is there? If they were, it would've seemed to make sense to recycle some sculpts... I just think hoping for all the grunts (of which there are Many) to be bigger than Zcide might be wishful thinking.

The Mr. Smith sculpt is a direct recycle. So, if that model is done in the exact same scale, then its reasonable to think the rest of the models will have that larger-bodied feel the originals had.

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.