badgerthebrave wrote: Not only are Jim Lee and Georges Clarenko works of are being use in the design of the game. Now David Finch joins the team.
Active since 1993 in the comics world, he quickly forged himself a solid reputation, becoming a star-artist of his generation. He regularly pencils the adventures of Batman since 2010 and started with Batman #700 and Batman: The Return.
He was also the lead artist and co-writer of the monthly issue Batman: The Dark Knight and one of the artists working with the writer Tom King on the Rebirth serie.
He had the chance to design many of the secondary characters like White Rabbit or the heroes Gotham and Gotham Girl.
He created an EXCLUSIVE ORIGINAL ARTWORK for Batman: The Boardgame depicting the rooftops of Gotham City. David included Batman, of course, the Bat-signal and also some of the closest allies of Bruce Wayne. Such collaborations with artists who are part of Batman's legend testify Monolith's will to offer the core of what the Dark Knight is to the fans!
badgerthebrave wrote: Just got back from Essen. The Batman booth was packed for 4 days. We saw many people being turned away but coming back.
Rules have been tweaked. Art has be upgraded and everyone said how good the game felt. Just a few criticisms about the art and icons, but that's all. Take a look for yourself.
badgerthebrave wrote: Monolith have just posted some new images, showing off the ACE chemicals plant, Red hood and the Joker.
Showcasing the graphic novel side of the game. Where you will play out certain scenes from some of the Dark Knights greatest story-lines. In this case, The Killing Joke. Maybe Red Hood will fall into the vat of acid, scaring himself into the Joker. Will Catwoman be the one that pushes him into the green abyss? Or will the tables be turned and Robin takes a swim? All of this can be written by you...
Then there will possibly be the chance of the Joker having his revenge in a second showdown in the plant. February can't come quick enough.
Awesome!!! I was hoping they would delay it to the beginning of 2018 vs holidays 2017... time to start saving!
Monolith did a great job with conan. Everyone who has played my copy has loved the mechanics, game, etc. The only issue we ever ran into was how to fairly substitute other enemies or heroes for the re-written scenarios. It seems they fixed this in this game from the demos and videos I've seen. Minis were great as always.
The batman minis look even better than conan, and they have hit a majority of the major players (batman and friends, bane, joker, riddler, penguin, court of owls, etc).
Really excited for this one. Just remember, like conan, this entire game will be KS exclusive (only sold on KS)!!!!! I'm sure they will run a campaign every year, but the prices will go up. Buy now or pay later!!!! I'm in for two copies of everything if I can. Then I'll always have a backup if something gets damaged.
455_PWR wrote: Really excited for this one. Just remember, like conan, this entire game will be KS exclusive (only sold on KS)!!!!! I'm sure they will run a campaign every year, but the prices will go up. Buy now or pay later!!!! I'm in for two copies of everything if I can. Then I'll always have a backup if something gets damaged.
Conan wasn't KS-exclusive - I picked my copy up on retail.
Really excited for this one. Just remember, like conan, this entire game will be KS exclusive (only sold on KS)!!!!! I'm sure they will run a campaign every year, but the prices will go up. Buy now or pay later!!!! I'm in for two copies of everything if I can. Then I'll always have a backup if something gets damaged.
I certainly hope not - I'm through with KS and wasn't aware they were even going to do this as KS - thought it was a straight-to-retail sort of thing.
Really excited for this one. Just remember, like conan, this entire game will be KS exclusive (only sold on KS)!!!!! I'm sure they will run a campaign every year, but the prices will go up. Buy now or pay later!!!! I'm in for two copies of everything if I can. Then I'll always have a backup if something gets damaged.
I certainly hope not - I'm through with KS and wasn't aware they were even going to do this as KS - thought it was a straight-to-retail sort of thing.
I think the core Conan set had a limited retail release and Mythic Battles is expected to skip retail altogether. I think that if this does receive retail release it will be for core game alone but they are likely to run further Kickstarter campaigns where you can buy non-retail expansions from previous campaigns.
IIRC,. Monolith lost money on Conan retail, and didn't release to retail some expansions they originally intended to. So, with that negative experience, I'm not counting on Batman being available retail, although the IP would certainly make it popular enough.
The problem with KS is that it's not a store, and it's not a distributor, either. Many boutique games would be priced way beyond the market if they were released retail, and retailers don't want to tie up their money in a single game that they don't know how quickly will sell, when they have other games (eg. Magic) they know will move faster.
KS has shown that there's demand for boutique games, and some creators only want to publish their games that way.
Between Jason Todd's death and his resurrection, another Robin appeared, Tim Drake, and he is without a doubt, the most famous Robin after Dick Grayson himself. Not only because that Robin (Tim Drake), contrary to those who preceded him, had his own comic books, but also because he featured in several by-products.
Tim really differs from the "classic" mold as he is not another orphan Batman ran into during one of his investigations and decided to shelter in Wayne Manor. On the contrary, Tim "invited" himself in the lives of Batman & Robin.
As a child, he was a fan of the Flying Grayson (Dick's family before he became Robin). The thing is, after some time, once Dick became Robin, Tim discovered that Robin uses the same acrobatic techniques used by Dick Grayson, the sole survivor of the tragedy that hit his family. On top of that, Dick Grayson now lives in Wayne Manor. So he deduced that Dick is indeed Robin and that Bruce Wayne is Batman. Not bad for a teenager!
But Tim did not reveal himself yet, he observed his idols from a distance. It is only when Jason Todd died that Tim noticed that Batman became more and more violent and destructive. That's when he reached out to Bruce and Dick to tell them he knows their secret identity... and that Batman behavior must change. One thing led to another, and within months he became the new Robin, adapting his costume to add...pants.
If they are the same scale as the Knight Models stuff it will push a lot of sales. Though Knight models have been getting better in terms of prices and releases.
Really excited for this one. Just remember, like conan, this entire game will be KS exclusive (only sold on KS)!!!!! I'm sure they will run a campaign every year, but the prices will go up. Buy now or pay later!!!! I'm in for two copies of everything if I can. Then I'll always have a backup if something gets damaged.
I certainly hope not - I'm through with KS and wasn't aware they were even going to do this as KS - thought it was a straight-to-retail sort of thing.
I would much rather see a Kickstarter then say like Fallout where they just did preorders through their website, the prices were so rediculous on that game I was really looking forward to it and then when they didn't do KS it concerned me. Once they finally released the pricing I definately was out dropping almost a grand on a game to get all the models is rediculous. I really loved fallout to and it was one of the games I was looking forward to the most but I was also expecting it to be under the $300 buy in which is where I usually set the line. Base game at around $150 and with expansions and stuff >$400 I think the KS give a lot more for value and we will be able to get an affordable game with affordable add ons and hopefully unlock some really cool models that sweeten the deal.
I only got burned on one of the 28 KS projects I backed (dang you Angry Mojo). Even still I will back KS projects because I see the need and the value. I don't want to see another "Fallout" on my dreams.
It's a new year and there is a new video and new mini render. This time for Harley Quinn. A fan favorite in this house.
Normally you would expect her to have her weapon of choice, a huge mallet. She can also handle baseball bats, handguns, and automatic rifles. Which weapon would you give her?
aku-chan wrote: I can't work out what it is, but there's something a bit off about that sculpt.
Gotta say I'm not as excited for this as I was, the minis have been more miss than hit lately.
How thick the diamonds detail is maybe? Or how pronounced the groove is for the seam lines of cloth are? And the fact that the seam line automatically gives her a cameltoe?
Plus the face doesn’t look attractive at all, the mouth seems off.
For that, I have to say from experience, you need to imagine how the miniature will be, renders need to be more deep and pronounced because they lose detail from printing and then mould casting.
It's the pose. Her midriff and thighs are facing almost 90 degrees away from her upper body and lower legs. Everything else is passable thanks to the cartoon style, but the pose is beyond unnatural, considering she's meant to be walking (with a spring in her step, I like that detail)
schoon wrote: I rather like the miniature style - more comic book or animated than "movie."
Just to clarify, the game is based on the comics, not the video games/TV shows/films. The scenarios will be based on story-lines from "The Court Of Owls", Hush" and others. Anyone who knows these stories will know that the artist is Jim Lee and therefore the sculpts are based on his art work.
Other artist work used on the project are Georges Clarenko and David Finch. There is talk of other artist work being used, maybe as an add on or in a future KS. I think we'd all love a Frank Miller Bat's
Over on Facebook Monolith posted the Jim Lee page from Hush it was taken from and it’s pretty spot on. If you google Jim Lee Harley Hush it should appear within top couple of image results.
I don’t like the pose or design (not liked most of the Jim Lee inspired ones). Monolith did post gray renders of the model on Facebook and it looks better, still not great but at least better, apparently the settings were wrong on the red renders and the prospective / depth was exaggerated.
Aeneades wrote: No idea why they added a belly button on display through the outfit, really not needed.
In case someone wanted to paint her nude? O.o Seriously though, that is just plain lazy sculpting. They took and posed a naked form, then added features to it. Normally that would be fine, providing they made a thin layer as "skin tight" material. I hope that isn't the final piece because the whole abdomen is just oddly looking when you think about the outfit and look at any actual artwork of her.
Aeneades wrote: No idea why they added a belly button on display through the outfit, really not needed.
In case someone wanted to paint her nude? O.o Seriously though, that is just plain lazy sculpting. They took and posed a naked form, then added features to it. Normally that would be fine, providing they made a thin layer as "skin tight" material. I hope that isn't the final piece because the whole abdomen is just oddly looking when you think about the outfit and look at any actual artwork of her.
It's also deeper to account for PVC shrinkage and the fact that the figure is going to be a little over an inch tall so all details need to be exaggerated. My money is on it looking fine on the tabletop. Her stance seems more off to me, since I can't tell what she's doing with her feet.
Hope they blind playtest the LOS on the boards. On the Conan pict village board, we had all kinds of ambiguity about the LOS (the dot in the center of a space to another), to the point that some conservative gamers found no LOS on most of the board, despite each space having a LOS dot.
Hanskrampf wrote: Do we know how much an all-in will be? Would suck to never get another chance to get addons and stuff, if it really stays Kickstarter exclusive.
Are you sitting down?
Not sure if this is Official Official or 100% confirmed but:
It's a really fun game. We were really surprised by the emphasis on stealth and co-operation: it's very easy to over commit yourself, partly because the gameplay is so intuitive. Because it's narrative-objective based in any given scenario (here, we were trying to stop Bane blowing up an abandoned Subway station below a hospital), it feels very much like a comic story and, crucially, different enough to other games out there, both of the super/mini variety and of the board/mini variety. Yes, £90 for a basic pledge, £140 with all stretch goals, through to £320 for a full pledge might seem steep - but, as I said, remember that effectively at the basic price you're only paying £20 for a heck of a game, and £1.50 a model for some stunning miniatures, never mind great rules, dice, boards... It won't be to everyone's wallet, but it's an excellent, accessible game from a company with a track record of delivering on their Kickstarters.
To be honest £320 all in including main game isn’t that bad compared to other recent miniature Kickstarters including Conan at $685 from a quick calculation and Joan of Arc at $700 the two additional gameplay mini expansions added in pledge manager.
Actually, and I am too tired to find it right now, but I thought the all-in quoted by Monolith staff on Facebook would be less than $300.00 US (though it may have changed or I'm just mistaken...or both!).
Hanskrampf wrote: Do we know how much an all-in will be? Would suck to never get another chance to get addons and stuff, if it really stays Kickstarter exclusive.
Are you sitting down?
Not sure if this is Official Official or 100% confirmed but:
It's a really fun game. We were really surprised by the emphasis on stealth and co-operation: it's very easy to over commit yourself, partly because the gameplay is so intuitive. Because it's narrative-objective based in any given scenario (here, we were trying to stop Bane blowing up an abandoned Subway station below a hospital), it feels very much like a comic story and, crucially, different enough to other games out there, both of the super/mini variety and of the board/mini variety. Yes, £90 for a basic pledge, £140 with all stretch goals, through to £320 for a full pledge might seem steep - but, as I said, remember that effectively at the basic price you're only paying £20 for a heck of a game, and £1.50 a model for some stunning miniatures, never mind great rules, dice, boards... It won't be to everyone's wallet, but it's an excellent, accessible game from a company with a track record of delivering on their Kickstarters.
And while I'd be happy if it was $300 and not £300...I'll probably still be all in at $400 +/-.
IF the minis are good and there are a lot of them, at that price point.
While I don't recall the amounts I saw, they were clearly quoted in US dollars, questioned by commenters if that was right, and then verified by Monolith as accurate. All of Monolith's KS projects have thus far been in US currency (with a Nevada location), so dollars makes sense even if they are actually in Europe. Regardless, as has been said we'll all find out in the near future. :-)
At least that batgirl looks a lot better than the batwoman the page prior.
Deathstroke used to wear scalemail pretty frequently but it was later updated to a more modern tactical vest style armor.
So what are the sources of these sculpts? Speculation on BGG is that Monolith wasn't given free reign of which art to base their sculpts on. That would explain quite a bit.
wana10 wrote: Deathstroke used to wear scalemail pretty frequently but it was later updated to a more modern tactical vest style armor.
It's less the mail, and more the Blood Bowl Blitzer-esque shoulder pads that seems out of place.
They're giant pieces of armour that seem out of place on someone so agile as Deathstroke. Then again, as Alpha put it, he has two eyes, so maybe he ditched the heavier armour and relied more on speed only after he lost his depth perception.
H.B.M.C. wrote: That's a weird lookin' Deathstroke. Looks almost medieval with that armour.
That looks like the outfit from his own Deathstroke volume 2 series from 2011. This cover shows the spikes shoulder and gloves, you can’t see the chest straps that well but they match up to the model design as well.
H.B.M.C. wrote: That's a weird lookin' Deathstroke. Looks almost medieval with that armour.
That looks like the outfit from his own Deathstroke volume 2 series from 2011. This cover shows the spikes shoulder and gloves, you can’t see the chest straps that well but they match up to the model design as well.
Spoiler:
Here is where it is from...
Automatically Appended Next Post: for an indepth look at the rules, this video just went up.
Main "problem" about licensed products is that some costumed characters change costumes, so different customers may have different preferences for costumes. Unfortunately, the 300 whatever all-in would suggest that we may not see alternative sculpts for characters, other than the most popular ones.
ced1106 wrote: Main "problem" about licensed products is that some costumed characters change costumes, so different customers may have different preferences for costumes. Unfortunately, the 300 whatever all-in would suggest that we may not see alternative sculpts for characters, other than the most popular ones.
This is very true. When the publisher is on limited to a selection or they can only make X amount of characters for the game. That means some peoples dreams go down the drain.
But it also leaves room for a second KS, with more of everything...only if the first one is successful.
Holy Flaming Swords, Batman!
Now we are getting deep into complex story telling territory. Once upon a time, there was this dude, called Jean-Paul. He was a good guy. Then he found a programme...in his head which unlocked Azrael, an avenging angle (maybe he should have been in Marvel) who was bad. Than Bat's interfered and made he good, before giving him his mask, that turn him bad.
How did it finish? I don't know, I haven't gotten that far yet. (Call yourself a fan Badger!!!)
A campaign has been reveled. Following the story of The Court Of Owls, Bruce will be attacked in his Mansion before being continuing his fight in the Batcave.
Detail on how this will work are yet to surface, but I'm sure there will be more like this to come.
Their Conan and Mythic Battles Pantheon stuff turned out really well, but I don't know how much of that was CG render vs traditional sculpt. We've seen some resin masters of the renders though, and they looked good.
I believe there was some discussion a few weeks ago (might have been here, might have been in the last thread) from a few people that had handled the production minis and were very pleased indeed, comparing them to KM's recent resin offerings.
I misremembered, the comparison to KM was a stylistic one, not a material one, but nonetheless the comments regarding the model quality are fairly positive. I believe KM's 'resin' is now more of a plastic resin anyway rather than the usual, strong, brittle material you'd typically call resin models, though that is working from pics/descriptions rather than having handled it myself.
In terms of quality, I think I trust Monolith to deliver just given their track record on their previous projects which all seem very impressive. I've not backed a KS before, this'll be my first, but it seems to be well-planned and from a company with enough experience to know what they're doing so I'm not too worried.
Alpharius wrote: Resin (*real* resin!) always looks good - 'production PVC'...not so much.
Fingers crossed here though...
True, but we have seen 2 successful KS from them. Unless they changed factories or something? The Conan hero pieces look much better painted BTW, the whiter plastic is more translucent so looks like weaker detail than it actually is.
In terms of quality, I think I trust Monolith to deliver just given their track record on their previous projects which all seem very impressive. I've not backed a KS before, this'll be my first, but it seems to be well-planned and from a company with enough experience to know what they're doing so I'm not too worried.
Me neither, I don't think...
Bossk_Hogg wrote:
Alpharius wrote: Resin (*real* resin!) always looks good - 'production PVC'...not so much.
Fingers crossed here though...
True, but we have seen 2 successful KS from them. Unless they changed factories or something? The Conan hero pieces look much better painted BTW, the whiter plastic is more translucent so looks like weaker detail than it actually is.
Past performance is no guarantee of future results, especially with Kickstarters and especially with PVC!
All kidding aside, things will most likely turn out great here.
Which is good, since I've been setting aside funds to go...all in!
We are now less than 2 weeks away from the beginning of our Kickstarter campaign for Batman: Gotham City Chronicles, and it is time to reveal the art for our core boxes!
Pencils by David Finch, inks by Sandra Hope-Archer, and colors by Tomeu Morey, who we want to thank for their stunning work!
The game involves two opposing sides: the heroes and the villain. We wanted to represent that dynamic up front by making it obvious from the art on the boxes. That's right, boxes, because one box will not be enough to fit everything you will get.
But this separation has another purpose: it eases the setup of the game. The hero box contains the hero boards, screens, cards...everything the heroes need to play a scenario. The villain box contains the miniatures, tiles, dice, and everything needed to prepare the command board for the fight to come.
These 2 boxes will constitute the core game, which include all the base offerings plus all the Stretch Goals we're hoping will be unlocked during the campaign.
So, of course, these are board game boxes, but we also like to think of them as doorways to the many Batman stories we want to tell!
Batman: Gotham City Chronicles, the boardgame, hits Kickstarter February 27th!
Video is up now. Despite being a comic fan the video isn't really selling it for me. Would much rather have seen more of the models / gameplay than not great CGI.
PsychoticStorm wrote: It is the same thing they did with Joan, it served them well on that campaign, don;t see any reason why they would not do it again.
This is Monolith Games. Joan was Mythic Games. Completely seperate companies.
I actually liked the Joan one as whilst it started with the CGI it turned into a more traditional board game promotional video half way through where as the Batman one starts mostly CGI with lack of board game info / component shots.
Could be that they made changes to the game since the video production started, so wasn't able to add enough content for it. I do notice that they included the revised boards with the color.
ced1106 wrote: Could be that they made changes to the game since the video production started, so wasn't able to add enough content for it. I do notice that they included the revised boards with the color.
grefven wrote: While I do like the design of the sculpt, there are just a bit too much wrinkles/folds in the costume that make me lose a bit interest in it.
They ought to be less pronounced after you account for the PVC shrinkage. What it needs is a clear bubble helmet. Mars Attacks to the rescue!
I've not really been impressed with the company over my Mythic Battles: Pantheon KS pledge, which has been shipped to the wrong address, sat around in a depot, and shipped back to the fulfilment house, despite more than 20 email/messages from me to Mythic, Monolith, Philibert, Chronpost, and (finally) one of Monolith's staff via Facebook PM after he offered to help out personally. I guess I will find out tomorrow, when gets to work, whether I will someday get the game I paid for. But it's been way, way more trouble than I expect it to be worth, already.
The Versus mode will be an expansion/add-on as well. There is also at least one more unrevealed add-on, too (one of the Monolith crew said as much on BGG). So there will be at least 5 add-ons.
SG's haven't been announced. Could be that they're waiting on the first day's pledges to get an idea how far apart to space the SG's. Gonna make the pledge later when SG's have been released.
Good supply of generic cops and robbers for modern-day miniature games. Gonna use the carnivorous plants for a Betrayal on House on Hill game someday...
Textured bases, although miniatures are pre-assembled:
Looks like a good amount of stuff in there from the off, the Manor expansion definitely seems more exciting than the Asylum one but that's mainly on account of the expanded hero roster.
Just off the top of my head, while there are no Stretch Goals announced yet, this is what we're missing that they've shown, so that might be some indicator: - Red Hood - DKR and Year One Batman - Azrael - Batwoman - Deathstroke - Deadshot - Black Canary - Orphan
Might be more, this is just from memory but I'd assume all of the above will be coming as SGs.
Alpharius wrote: No stretch goals yet feels lame and a little...cynical.
Rather than reveal the first one they are now doing riddle clues instead (with no amount value to unlock). Makes me very cynical as well.
That said, I have backed all in, at least for the moment, as that all in pledge amount is very reasonable compered to a lot of recent campaigns. Will have to see if the end value still holds up and how Hellboy looks when that launches (already have enough Knight Batman / DC models to be honest).
Eh, I'm thinking everything's been planned and will be unlocked.
Hero box cover art has Superman, so mebbe we'll get him as a "bonus" figure, like we did in Conan with the Mythical Battles figure. Either that, or they paid the artist the same rates as they did Adrian Smith.
In for $195, the core and the Batcave expansion. The Batmobile is an easy pass for me, and for the versus mode I've got BMG, so that just leaves Asylum which I'm still not sold on (I don't need 2 more Jokers really, and the other villains there aren't the most exciting).
I am torn... I'll probably be in for a base game but part of me just doesn't want to back anyways because they'll never be 'growth' for this game. We knew they were going to make it "Kickstarter Exclusive" but the reasons just seems strange to me.
For a very simple reason: the game contains a lot of work and high-quality components on top of the cost of the Batman license.
To be able to offer you this game at a reasonable price, we had to cut our margins as low as possible. We cut them so much, in fact, that we cannot reduce them any further. Therefore, if we were to sell this game to a distributor, who then would sell it to retailers, the final price of the base game for you gamers would be multiplied by 2.5. That would be more than $350 for the base game only!
We talk from experience as we offered Conan, our first Kickstarter project, through retail a few years back, and it turns out, that we had to lower our selling price to the distributor so much that we did not make any money on this. And you will understand that this is not a very good business model for a company.
They say in order to offer it at reasonable prices, they had to cut margins. But if they go to retail/distributor they will lose money because they'll have to reduce the price because they did for Conan.
That tells me that they don't understand manufacture, distributor, retail level and the game isn't priced properly in the first place. If the game isn't set up to where it can be played with a certain amount of elements and in order to have those elements, you have to buy it in the base set... that screams poor game design. If the game needs to be priced higher, then price it higher. If it doesn't sell, don't blame it on costs but look at the design. People don't blame KD for not selling because it is a $400 game, they blame it on not selling because they don't want the miniatures and only want the game (which is valid).
Well, when poots offered the game without the miniatures (almost) nobody bought it, so those complaining must have been just complaining to complain, or are not willing to put their money were their mouth is.
Moving from KDM and on the actual topic, they said in BoW videos that they could offer this and Conan on a level were it would be marketable to retailers and make a profit, but would not be the game they want to deliver, so, I guess they stand by their design standards?
I don't know I said a lot kickstarter might be a venue for games that cannot be marketed to retailers and stores and this might be an example of such game.
Alpharius wrote: I keep seeing comments of ‘no Superman as that’s a separate license’ and/or ‘no JL characters as it will unbalance the game’.
Have these things been ‘officially’ said?
Also, as much as I love this one so far, I’d REALLY love a Spider-Man version...
They confirmed on Facebook a few weeks ago that they have the licence for everything including non-Batman characters but decided on Batman as the focus of the game as it has the biggest market. That said, it would be foolish not to include a few of the bigger names such as Superman and especially Wonder Woman given her current popularity.
No, it's more like the traditional retailer-distributor model isn't any good for expensive high-end games. Distributors and retailers aren't going to risk carrying a $100+ boardgame, when they could stock two more boxes of Magic cards or Star Wars Destiny.
An alternative to a high-end KS game would be to split it into a base game and multiple expansions, which the retail industry has been doing for decades (eg. Settlers of Catan, Lord of the Rings boardgame). You'd have a FFG model, where the retail base game would be something like Batman vs. Joker and goons. Then you'd buy one expansion after another after another, and the total you'd pay would be more than the KS price.
I don't see this as poor game design. Indeed, the reason why some games are split into a base game and expansion is more for market demands than the game's design. I do see KS becoming an alternative to the traditional retailer-distributor model. We already have an audience of alpha game buyers who want deep discounts and will buy through online game stores. KS is the next step, with various second print-run projects, such as the 7th Continent and upcoming Conan KS, overcoming the limited window a KS project has.
Red Hood and Red Hood goons now unlocked. Confusingly the Red Hood model is a hero version which doesn't come with a villain tile (based upon the contents listed) so can't be used as a villain alongside the goons.
Paradigm wrote: Red Hood (with a minigun, hoping for an alternate version with the iconic pistols later on) now locked in, Red Hood Gang thugs coming up next.
Not sure if it's a caching issue at my end but an alternate already funded villain Red Hood just popped up as already unlocked -
Still not the iconic version you were after though but instead the original possible Joker version.
PsychoticStorm wrote: I don't know I said a lot kickstarter might be a venue for games that cannot be marketed to retailers and stores and this might be an example of such game.
ced1106 wrote: I do see KS becoming an alternative to the traditional retailer-distributor model. We already have an audience of alpha game buyers who want deep discounts and will buy through online game stores. KS is the next step, with various second print-run projects, such as the 7th Continent and upcoming Conan KS, overcoming the limited window a KS project has.
I had not thought about it in that aspect. I could see that as valid. I guess technically not all things produced on Kickstarter needs to have a retailer channel, although I do think there should be a channel available. If one doesn't want to have a to deal with distributor/retailer levels, that is fine, sell directly via the website. I guess technically they could still do this via Kickstarter... in a couple years create a new one and do a 2nd Edition version.
Actually thinking about it more... this might make more sense for an established IP model. Usually licensing are for X Years, then open to renew with some other conditions sprinkled in. This means they do one chunk, everyone gets their cut and then be done with it. Not really valid for building a game, which is usually tied to necessary action for a new IP but something that works for something which has an existing fan base already.
Aeneades wrote: Red Hood and Red Hood goons now unlocked. Confusingly the Red Hood model is a hero version which doesn't come with a villain tile (based upon the contents listed) so can't be used as a villain alongside the goons.
There's a villain Red Hood too, it was unlocked at 945k, it's just at the bottom because they messed up the graphic.
Damian unlocked, The Orphan (confusingly, not Orphan...) up next. I consider myself fairly clued up on Batman but I've not heard of this guy. Can someone fill me in?
It's up to $100k for the next lot (4x Prisoners). No 'explanation' as such, I imagine it's just a case of them wanting to pace themselves and not blow through all their goals in the first few days, which I don't really mind; keeps it exciting if they're revealing stuff all the way through.
Let's be honest we're probably going to get through everything they have planned anyway. They've already added upwards of 30 models for free and there's loads of stuff previewed earlier that's not been formally announced yet.
Also, don't forget the math behind it. The more backers that join, the more of each freebie that needs to be made....thus increasing costs of each stretch goal. Several KS projects have overlooked this and later had to face the consequences.
BigDaddio wrote: Also, don't forget the math behind it. The more backers that join, the more of each freebie that needs to be made....thus increasing costs of each stretch goal. Several KS projects have overlooked this and later had to face the consequences.
I knew I was forgetting something!
BUT...the real cost in 'new' miniatures is in the sculpting and the mold - the material is negligible, as is the labor, mostly.
So if you could 'add' in a 'new' miniature for an extra $50K, you really don't need to double that later on.
But yes, it is most likely to slow down the pace here, and....stretch out the stretch goals, I suppose.
It is very much an artificial speed bump and/or governor to help smooth out the lulls which will happen here - especially when a project blasts out of the gate like this one!
It is very much an artificial speed bump and/or governor to help smooth out the lulls which will happen here - especially when a project blasts out of the gate like this one!
The other thing is, Monolith needs to get paid on this. On something going to be an evergreen product, you can afford to make less on the KS because you'recreating a retail item that will sell in the future for more. You subsidize the KS backer discount with higher priced retail sales. This is a one shot, probably because the license was easier/cheaper to obtain that way, so they need to make their part in one go.
It is very much an artificial speed bump and/or governor to help smooth out the lulls which will happen here - especially when a project blasts out of the gate like this one!
The other thing is, Monolith needs to get paid on this. On something going to be an evergreen product, you can afford to make less on the KS because you'recreating a retail item that will sell in the future for more. You subsidize the KS backer discount with higher priced retail sales. This is a one shot, probably because the license was easier/cheaper to obtain that way, so they need to make their part in one go.
It may be a Kickstarter exclusive, but they could always come back to it again and again like they have done at least once with Conan. Making it slightly more expensive the next time around.
It is very much an artificial speed bump and/or governor to help smooth out the lulls which will happen here - especially when a project blasts out of the gate like this one!
The other thing is, Monolith needs to get paid on this. On something going to be an evergreen product, you can afford to make less on the KS because you'recreating a retail item that will sell in the future for more. You subsidize the KS backer discount with higher priced retail sales. This is a one shot, probably because the license was easier/cheaper to obtain that way, so they need to make their part in one go.
It may be a Kickstarter exclusive, but they could always come back to it again and again like they have done at least once with Conan. Making it slightly more expensive the next time around.
Maaaybe, depends on what they were licensed for. Conan was supposed to be a product sold in stores from my understanding.
Kickstarters have a ton more value then most things retail. I think it really allows them to focus more on development early on and try to get the best bang for their buck. This project got a good drive and they did a really great job with the models from Mythic Battles which made me want to go all in on this. There still could be more expansions and such I know Mythic battles started out basic but then went into massive amounts of expansions and such before the end of the kick starter.
Agreed. I was all in with conan, and conan turned out great. Love the game mechanics, which have been perfected for batman. Also backed all in with mythic battles... their minis have gotten better, and are a true joy to paint, game with, and display.
Really looking forward to batman, as I never was a conan or Greek themed fan (still love those games, so this game will be ace!!!).
All in. Question is should I get two copies so I have a backup if something happens... (Want the game to outlast me )
Mythic battles I wanted to go all in with but the all in cost was a little too high for me. The all in cost for Batman is a good fit and seems to be a very fair value. I thought about getting a second one so i have one for painting/ display and the other for playing but considering the amount of models I have to paint at any given time would take me two lifetimes, I am going to just go with one copy.
I didn't really notice anything too crazy with Mythic battles that would lead me to believe the game wouldn't hold up. I know with other board games I have backed through kickstarter I have a tendency to laminate most larger paper items and card sleeve cards. with how these cards fit into the holder though lamination may not work.
This looks absolutely amazing, but I have the resist the urge. Otherwise it will end up as another one of my giant billion part boardgames that no one in my group ever wants to play and I will be left with tons of (admittedly awesome) Batman minis with no purpose.
Taarnak wrote: Anyone know if there will be late pleading via PayPal? I just got a $700 repair bill for a hit and run on my car...
Amusing auto-correct lol. Sorry about your car. I have seen it stated by other people in the comments section, but it isn't in the FAQ. For both Conan and Pantheon you could up your pledge level and add more items, so assume it would be the same here.
Is anyone else experiencing issues with the KS website? I'm not talking about the downtime from the 27th; last week for a day the site wouldn't allow me to log-on, search for projects (the options were just missing from the site) , and none of the links on the page worked. I emailed support and they seemed to know the problem was occurring, but it was soon fixed. Now yesterday it started again and still remains despite a couple of emails to support (they have not responded yet). It's all very weird. I've used the site for years without problem. I really want to back and follow this project, but I can't !!!
(and no, I don't have the KS app; don't use my phone for anything but calls and texts)
BigDaddio wrote: Is anyone else experiencing issues with the KS website? I'm not talking about the downtime from the 27th; last week for a day the site wouldn't allow me to log-on, search for projects (the options were just missing from the site) , and none of the links on the page worked. I emailed support and they seemed to know the problem was occurring, but it was soon fixed. Now yesterday it started again and still remains despite a couple of emails to support (they have not responded yet). It's all very weird. I've used the site for years without problem. I really want to back and follow this project, but I can't !!!
(and no, I don't have the KS app; don't use my phone for anything but calls and texts)
I've got the same problem at the moment on computer but only when using Internet explorer or Edge, if I use an alternative like Chrome it's fine
(it also happened briefly last week but fixed itself within 24 hours)
Edit : just tried firefox too and that works as well
Edit : just tried firefox too and that works as well
Can't believe I didn't think to try Firefox, since I use both that and IE at home. Thanks so much for the suggestion!!! (and also glad to know it's not just me!)
The answer about late Pledges according to the FAQ:
Monolith FAQ wrote:
Can I just pledge a dollar now and increase my pledge during the pledge manager phase?
The Pledge Manager will be open to everybody. No need to pledge anything during the campaign. The offer will be the same. The only difference: your pledge will not help to unlock additional Stretch Goals.
Which is helpful to me. PayPal credit and 6 months to pay is the way I'm gonna go.
Yes, Monolith lost money when Asmodee took Conan to the stores. Therefore all of there projects will be KS exclusives. They are fans of role play, strategy and miniatures games and aim to produce BIG game that they themselfs love and you do too. And the only way to do that in a inexpensive way for us consumers is to go through KS.
Firefly is unlocked (and looking good), up next is an additional scenario for one of the base game tiles and then Bloom, another villain I confess to never having heard of...
There was also a poll to decide on the pose of Ra's Al Ghul, so presumably he'll be along sooner rather than later.
Paradigm wrote: Bloom, another villain I confess to never having heard of...
Like most of the game's stuff, he's from the New 52. Bloom's actually one of the better things to have been in the New 52 Batman run, and a pretty cool villain in both concept and execution, though a lot of went on around it was somewhat controversial (Gordon becoming Batman in a mech suit, Bruce retiring 'almost permanently' after his death and resurrection)
So far, Batman has miniatures for various ATZ factions:
* Civilians
* Thugs and gangs (and prisoners)
* Policemen (and guards)
* Military (or at least SWAT)
Bloom 'zombies' in, up next is Batwoman. The stretch goals are coming about every 50k now, so hopefully we'll keep getting through them at a fair old rate now.
And in case anyone missed it, there was a 'secret' stretch passed for surpassing the total of their Mythic Battles KS, giving us a bonus alternate Riddler sculpt which is pretty neat.
I quite like that Black Mask, reminiscent of some of his scenes in Under The Red Hood where he just rants at his henchmen in classic gangster style.
Ra's is quite cool, but his face is a bit off... might just need a decent paintjob to fix that, though.
Still holding out for Spoiler sooner rather than later though, with Batwoman, Orphan and Azrael added on top of Batwing and Red Robin in the Batcave expansion (and Clayface, it'd be cool to get some Hero rules for him at some point) she's all that's needed to run a Detective Comics-themed team.
Black Masks jaw shouldn't move as it's just a mask melted to his face...unless the artist drawing him thinks it would look cool to have him yelling or making a goofy face, which I'm very ok with!
Hope we get the False Face Society, all of his goons wear different Halloween masks
Paradigm wrote: Bloom, another villain I confess to never having heard of...
Like most of the game's stuff, he's from the New 52. Bloom's actually one of the better things to have been in the New 52 Batman run, and a pretty cool villain in both concept and execution, though a lot of went on around it was somewhat controversial (Gordon becoming Batman in a mech suit, Bruce retiring 'almost permanently' after his death and resurrection)
Anyone that got upset about this has apparently been reading comics for all of 30 minutes....
Kind of surprised he's in this early, I'd have expected him to either be a late addition or the focus of a 'season 2' KS centred on GA and his various allies and enemies. Won't complain though, he should be a cool addition.
I think part of the problem is, until 'Arrow' came out, Ollie's allies and enemies were relatively limited, at least as far as the common audience was concerned.
EG, there was Roy. And, that's kinda it.
Like, sure, you had Black Canary, but I'd say that Birds of Prey ended up being her defining thing, rather than Green Arrow.
"My name is Oliver Queen. After years of failing to save my city I found myself sucked into a board game with a bunch of people I didn't recognise. Even Black Canary wasn't the Laurel I remembered. For the first time in 10 years, I am scared."
Makes me wonder if Knight Models are kicking themselves for not ever doing a kickstarter. I doubt over the several years they have been releasing batman miniatures they are close to making this amount of revenue.
Eh, they were about to release their Harry Potter game as a KS, but then decided to do pre-orders at the last minute. They even had announced the project as a KS.
I don't think KM is able to handle a KS. Their expertise is in resin, and that material is better for smaller projects. With KS, they don't know how much demand there will be, and could go bankrupt if they can't fulfill it.
A high gross revenue does not necessarily mean profit. After reading comments about KM's slow customer service, I think there's serious potential for dissatisfied KS backer backlash against the company.
This is a travesty! Batcow unclocked before we've even seen a preview of Ace the Bat-Hound!
Latest update has some painted pics of a few of the minis, looking very nice indeed. And Azrael is up after Killer Moth. Hopefully we'll get a couple more henchmen stretches before the end, at the very least I think we need some League ninjas to go along with Ra's (and why not add in Thalia while we're at it, she's conspicuously absent at the moment?)
As much as that campy stuff is fun, and as much as, yeah, people should learn to take a joke... that stuff evolved from probably the single most cynically cutthroat major decision in the medium's history.
Most of it is a result of the industry's self-censorship, that set it back hugely as a form, and was essentially a means of muscling out smaller companies.
Batcow is a tongue in cheek nod to that era, rather than actually from it, but I still can't quite laugh because the company able to make the joke is also one of the companies that orchestrated purging a lot of the medium's creative freedoms.
While I haven't backed, nor read the comments, I have no idea what the hate is about. However, if I had backed this project, I would rather see them create another hero/villian rather than having this cow. But that's just my two cents worth of thought. I guess the cow is rather nicely sculpted, though. Just nothing for me.
Thing is, we're not missing out on a Stretch for the cow. It was an extra for surpassing Conan so it's not like it's replacing a hero or villain people have been waiting for.
Will my copy of the mini almost certainly go straight into the depths of a bits box to be forgotten about forevermore? Yes. But that doesn't bother me as it's not a 'waste' of a SG that could have unlocked something better.
Speaking of SGs, can anyone think of anything we're missing from the core Batman mythos? Once Azrael's in, almost all the major hero/villain is represented, alongside plenty of rather obscure ones.
There are a few I'd like to see as we head into the last few days (Carrie Kelly Robin to go with DKR Bats, and Shiva and Thalia for the League) but this has come together as a very thorough collection so far.
I think it would be cool to see a Batman Beyond mini; in the animated series universe, it does fit in properly. Would be a cool addition (to me, at least). I'm not sure how BB works in the comic universe.
spiralingcadaver wrote: As much as that campy stuff is fun, and as much as, yeah, people should learn to take a joke... that stuff evolved from probably the single most cynically cutthroat major decision in the medium's history.
Most of it is a result of the industry's self-censorship, that set it back hugely as a form, and was essentially a means of muscling out smaller companies.
Batcow is a tongue in cheek nod to that era, rather than actually from it, but I still can't quite laugh because the company able to make the joke is also one of the companies that orchestrated purging a lot of the medium's creative freedoms.
Can you go into more detail? Are you just referring to the 'Comics Code' things, or something more?
Paradigm wrote: Will my copy of the mini almost certainly go straight into the depths of a bits box to be forgotten about forevermore? Yes. But that doesn't bother me as it's not a 'waste' of a SG that could have unlocked something better.
Better yet, get a hold of those grimdarks and buy their cows cheap off of them. Then start up a game of Battle Cattle.
Paradigm wrote: Will my copy of the mini almost certainly go straight into the depths of a bits box to be forgotten about forevermore? Yes. But that doesn't bother me as it's not a 'waste' of a SG that could have unlocked something better.
Better yet, get a hold of those grimdarks and buy their cows cheap off of them. Then start up a game of Battle Cattle.
Battle Cattle?!
I now need a Brahmin with a Twin-Linked Gatling Gun loadout.
Paradigm wrote: Thing is, we're not missing out on a Stretch for the cow. It was an extra for surpassing Conan so it's not like it's replacing a hero or villain people have been waiting for.
What I mean is that they could have spent time and resources and develop a hero/villian to offer as the special "beat Conan freebie" rather than the cow. That is why you are missing out. All these stretch goals are "fake" anyhow, just like in any large project. So all of that already have been made will be included in end regardless of the end result.
Compel wrote: Can you go into more detail? Are you just referring to the 'Comics Code' things, or something more?
Yep. Having studied the period for a decent time, I find it hard to ignore how it's structured and what it specifies. It has such specific clauses that they were clearly designed to torpedo companies' signature lines, clearly in reprisal. The major companies involved in shaping it sacrificed what little artistic integrity they had to cull the market of competition, with the side effect that it obliterated whole genres--some of which are just now starting to reemerge--and led to such tight control of the medium that the only areas it could be salvaged were in moving to a different medium or in the establishment of a counterculture.
Add to that all the regular hypocrisy of vague censorial standards that allow an industry to arbitrarily and financially control cultural output, and it's hard for me to say "haha, cute, it's referencing that period where everyone had goofy family sidekicks."
To be honest, I'd almost be tempted to headswap that and the minigun RH, and add a pistol to this new one and make that my main Red Hood model. It'd look a lot closer to the modern Outlaws-era Hood and that's got to be more relevant than
Spoiler:
a guy pretending to be another guy pretending to be another guy, who then turned out to be the original guy all along!
God I love Hush, but it ain't half convoluted at times!
I checked on Batman Year 100, and, apparently it's a grimdark Elseworlds mini-series. From an Amazon review:
"*Batman: Year One Hundred* is the most famous work from writer/artist Paul Pope. Pope takes the concepts of realism that Christopher Nolan's *Dark Knight Trilogy* is famous for, and did it better than Nolan could. He combines a gritty future dystopia with some slight fantastical elements to tell a story of a Gotham City desperately in need of the Batman.
The year is 2039, and it is one hundred years since the Batman first debuted, at the advent of World War II. After disappearing for decades, presumably due to old age, a man in the cape and cowl has reappeared to fight for justice. Justice is in short supply in this world.
The state is a large apparatus of government psychics and technology monitoring everything and everyone. Privacy is non-existant, and the Federal Police like it that way. Into this mess comes Detective James Gordon, grandson of the original Commissioner Gordon, who worked with Batman. Now he finds himself thrust between a Batman (who is he? Is he the same man?) falsely accused of murder, corrupt federal agents, and a plot by rogue agents of the government to create a weapon of unimaginable proportion.
What I liked about this story is that Pope managed to portray a dystopian future, and some more realistic ideas on how to portray Bats in a way that didn't seem to limit his comic-book origins the way that Nolan does. He embraces them. The art was kinda strange, to be honest though. Not bad, at all. Quite good actually. I just had a unique aesthetic to it that was... different.."
In 2007, the series won two Eisner Awards for "Best Limited Series" and "Best Writer/Artist."
Eh... dropping my pledge to $1 for now. I'm not familiar with Batman past 52. The only explanation I can come up with for the sculpts we're seeing is that, either Monolith couldn't get rights to more popular sculpts, or, to keep costs down, DC's using the game to promote their trade paperback collections.
The next stretch is 280k for Harley, Lou and Bud so feels very much like the final stretch goal so Spoiler, Ventriloquist, Talia and league of shadow goons seem very unlikely now (these seem to be the most requested stretches not included).
I'm guessing that there will be plenty of fan-made stat cards and such for characters that didn't make it into the KS. There have been people making some really nice additions to the Conan game, including new boards. I imagine Batman will draw even more attention from those talented enough to create custom components. And it wouldn't be overly difficult to find proxy models for some of the characters left out.
Ended, Harley unlocked without reaching the stretch goal amount by 100k (no surprise), not sure how successful it was in the end, did all the renders previewed showed up?
Yeah, we got everything that was shown and 4 million dollars is hardly an unimpressive sum. Neither is 160+ minis in just the base pledge, way less than a dollar a mini even before game components.
There are a few omissions as mentioned earlier (odd since Spoiler is actually on the cover art for the Hero box, but oh well) and not all the sculpts are hits, but I for one am very pleased with what's on offer, and look forward to eventually getting the huge pile of bat-minis!
Heads up, the pledge managers are now going out, and are open until the end of the month I believe.
Shipping to the UK (for the box and one expansion) came to about $30.
Also, be sure to read the last update, there's a little extra freebie throwing in that's probably going to make a lot of people rather happy. Or, of you're too lazy to look there...
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