Ah. Although that one doesn't seem to be working properly for me, I just see a big white square on the first post instead of a picture of the KS or the promo video?
Evil & Chaos wrote: Ah. Although that one doesn't seem to be working properly for me, I just see a big white square on the first post instead of a picture of the KS or the promo video?
I think that mods can be contacted to merge both topics with yours as OP to have all things visible
Hi Backers and Watchers!
We've had a nice strong start to our Kickstarter so far, as we're currently sitting at over 20% Funded. In previous campaigns it has typically taken us a week to get to 20%, so to be here on Day 2 is rather good for a little TMG campaign.
To celebrate, I thought I'd show a preview of one of our future stretch goals, the layout of the Country Crusher plastic sprue. If we reach this stretch goal level, every pledge for a single Country Crusher will be *doubled*, effectively reducing the price of our largest Crusher by half.
Country Crusher Sprue Layout Concept
Country Crusher Sprue Layout Concept
Wait. How did that second photo get in there...?
Thanks for all the support so far everyone. Please share the campaign around a lot on social media, and also shout at random people in the street about how great CityCrushers is going to be.
Thanks!
- Ben @ TMG
stonehorse wrote: Tempted just to get some cheap Stompas and Gargants.
Proxy them as you like, but I can certainly say we're happy with the price - and for the Boxed Game Set there's further discounts, you basically get ten sprues of scenery for free.
Were at 25% Funded now, a nice solid launch. For todays update, were going to look at the smallest Crusher in the game box, the eponymous City Crusher.
The City Crusher plastic sprue.
A City Crusher armed with a Howitzer cannon and a Slicer close combat weapon.
A City Crusher armed with a Gattler gun, and a Beamer laser arm.
Each City Crusher sprue comes with four different weapon arms to choose from. This should mean that a Gang owner will quickly end up with loads of spare guns, some of which can be used to make twin weapon Crushers if you desire.
A City Crusher wielding two Slicer weapons cannot shoot at all - but don't expect to walk (or roll) away from a close combat encounter!
A twin Howitzer City Crusher is a dedicated long range bombardment unit.
As each weapon arm has specific advantages and disadvantages in power, range and energy usage, the choice of which weapons to arm your Crushers with will inform some of your tactical choices when playing games. Do you want a gang of all-rounders, able to flexibly adapt to different scenario missions, or do you want to put more emphasis on particular play styles? The choice is yours!
City Crushers can be fitted with legs or tracks. In the game rules, Crushers with legs can turn faster and can cross rougher terrain more easily, while tracks are faster. Although we have painted our sample Boxed Game Set showing one gang with tracks and another with legs, the game rules do allow players to field a mixed gang of both forms of movement system, if they wish to.
A City Crusher with tracks, rear view.
A City Crusher with legs, rear view.
As with your weapon choices, the decision on which traction system to equip your Crushers with will help shape the character and play style of your Gang.
Currently the City Crusher plastic sprue allows for one out of every two models to be made with tracks - although we have a stretch goal in our pocket related to this down the line... More on that, another time...
Each City Crusher also comes with a 40mm round base, which has Health and Energy spinner dials incorporated into the base, as well as indicator details placed at 45 degree angles around the edge of the bases (to help quickly identify line of sight angles).
A slightly more rusty City Crusher!
Well then, thank you for your support so far everyone, we're really excited to reveal more of our project as the campaign continues... For now, please do keep sharing our page on your social Media feeds, every extra eyeball on the page really does help.
I implore everyone to not forget the cheap gargant proxies are only one half of this campaign. There's also a rather brilliant mech ruleset provided that deserves attention.
lord_blackfang wrote: I implore everyone to not forget the cheap gargant proxies are only one half of this campaign. There's also a rather brilliant mech ruleset provided that deserves attention.
lord_blackfang wrote: I implore everyone to not forget the cheap gargant proxies are only one half of this campaign. There's also a rather brilliant mech ruleset provided that deserves attention.
True, waiting for a play through video.
We'll be posting some video examples of play next week.
We're genuinely really proud of the rules system, we've quietly been working on it for good while, and would look forward to expanding it if we are Funded. One of the early stretch goals is a solo play system, just for starters.
Have got a pledge in for this, excellent stuff! Loved the video
Looking forward to expanding my Epic Ork collection, these look like perfect proxies (there isn't that much of that sort of thing about and even very limited 3D print designs about) and also having a go at playing the game itself.
lord_blackfang wrote: I implore everyone to not forget the cheap gargant proxies are only one half of this campaign. There's also a rather brilliant mech ruleset provided that deserves attention.
True, waiting for a play through video.
We'll be posting some video examples of play next week.
We're genuinely really proud of the rules system, we've quietly been working on it for good while, and would look forward to expanding it if we are Funded. One of the early stretch goals is a solo play system, just for starters.
Excellent stuff, already backed, so just waiting to see more news now.
We've pushed forwards from 25% yesterday, up to 30% Funded today. Thanks for all the support so far everyone!
Today's focus feaure is on the Capital Crusher, our medium sized giant robot (so to speak) that stands 7cm tall.
Capital Crusher Body Sprue
Capital Crusher Weapons Sprue
80mm Base Sprue
Each Capital Crusher is constructed from three plastic sprues, allowing a choice of weapons and traction systems.
Capital Crushers mount three main weapons, as well as two smaller ornamental shoulder weapons.
Arms can be fitted with super heavy Howitzers, Beamers, Gattlers or Slicer arms, while the central hull mounted weapon socket can adopt any weapon except the Slicer buzz-saw.
As with the smaller City Crushers on 40mm bases, the 80mm base for the Capital Crusher comes with spinner dials for tracking energy and health at a glance, without a need for separate book keeping.
As with the smaller City Crushers on 40mm bases, the 80mm base for the Capital Crusher comes with spinner dials for tracking energy and health at a glance, without a need for separate book keeping.As with the smaller City Crushers on 40mm bases, the 80mm base for the Capital Crusher comes with spinner dials for tracking energy and health at a glance, without a need for separate book keeping.
As well as giving giant robots somewhere comfortable to stand, each 80mm base sprue comes with Ruins and Tech Marker scenery piece tokens, which are both useful in games of CityCrushers, and also just look really neat!
Thanks for eyeballing our campaign today, and thanks again in advance for everyone who joins in to support us, and/or shares our campaign on your social media cyberboxes!
Hi Backers and Watchers - We're cookin' on radioactive waste now!
As we've blasted past 45% Funded (!!), let's celebrate by adding another 3d file to our Free STL Files Pack - the Command Head, for use with Capital Crushers and Country Crushers.
Wot 'choo lookin' at?
Wot 'choo lookin' at?
In games of CityCrushers, the Command Head is an Upgrade that grants +1 Command points to the owning player at the beginning of a scenario encounter. Command Points can be used to carry out extra orders, increase the energy available to a Crusher, or even to re-roll dice.
Oi! Someone's cut me head clean orff!
Oi! Someone's cut me head clean orff!
We're looking forward to revealing many more free STL files as the campaign continues...
Thanks for the amazing support so far, please share our campaign on your socials, or a Crusher will step on your house.
- Ben @ TMG
Today's free update for the campaign is a STL Wrecking Ball for the Large classes of Crusher.
The Wrecking Ball arm has been added to the Free STLs pack.
Wrecking balls will cost more energy than a standard Slicer close combat arm to attack with, but does greater damage.
CityCrushers has also been featured on today's Battle Bling newscast, which is incredibly ace, thanks guys!
Thanks for your support so far everyone. We've nearly three weeks to go, so please do keep sharing our campaign into your cyber-social media tubes, to spread awareness of our mighty project!
Welp, I’ve backed them for numerous walking death machines. I would have loved to go for the Uber pledge but I can’t justify that with my current hobby horde.
Nomeny wrote: This is how Kickstarters should work. Which is to say that they should grow and attract supporters instead of being a glorified preorder.
Thanks Nomeny, we're a small company, and Kickstarter lets us produce kits we wouldn't be able to without that boost - so in return we make sure to offer the best value possible for our Backers!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ragsta wrote: Welp, I’ve backed them for numerous walking death machines. I would have loved to go for the Uber pledge but I can’t justify that with my current hobby horde.
Scrap For The Scrap God!!!
Thanks so much for the backing Ragsta, may your scrap be ever useful!
The Lite Edition is a great addition to the campaign. It's a much better option for those like myself who are curious about the game but primarily in it for the models for other games. Backed!
For today's Kickstarter update, we've been refining the design of the 80mm base sprue, and have been able to modify the design to add two more component parts on the sprue!
The new, upgraded 80mm Base sprue
These extra components add two more scatter terrain items to the CityCrushers offer, a gas tank component, and an industrial vent component;
Vents and Gas Tanks
This means that for every pledge including 80mm bases sprues, you now get extra models!
Already pledged for the 2x Capital Crushers pledge? Well now you'll get all this;
Already pledged for the 10x 80mm Bases set? Well now you'll get a truly huge amount of scatter terrain as part of that pledge, too;
Even the basic CityCrushers Boxed Game set will benefit from this upgrade, increasing from six to twelve scatter terrain items.
Thanks so much for the support so far everyone, we've still got more extra surprises planned to come as well, so stay tuned!
The lite edition is hopefully the thing this Kickstarter needs to get it to reach target. I think the initial box may have been a bit too high for some people (not me, I backed it straight away), so the smaller entry level may result in a bigger uptake.
Anyway, looking forward to seeing what else is in store for this game.
We are able to offer better value per £ at the standard and Deluxe edition sizes, but the Lite size is definitely proving popular as an entry level pledge.
And, we still have a surprise or five before the campaign ends yet... ?
Hi Backers, Watchers, and also everybody's pet dogs!
Today's update sees another expansion to our Free STL Files Pack.
These STL files are free to everyone who pledges £50 or more to the campaign.
A hull mounted rocket pod for the large classes of Crusher.
A hull mounted rocket pod for the large classes of Crusher.
Four more variant heads for the Large classes of Crusher.
Four more variant heads for the Large classes of Crusher.
We're now heading into the final week of the Kickstarter campaign, and still have a few more suprises yet to unveil...
Thanks for all of the incredible support so far everyone, we're nearly there!
- Ben @ TMG
£11k Passed! Plus an STL pack with 360+ STL files!
Hi Backers and Watchers!
We've just passed £11k, as things heat up in the run up to the finish line!
To celebrate, we're making available a Smallscale Scenery Printable STL Files Set for our more STL-inclined Watchers. This pack has been available in our previous Kickstarters, and since we've been regularly asked to make it available again, here it comes!
362 Smallscale Scenery STL files, for £35, for all your magical laser printer needs.
[quote
We're now two thirds Funded, and running in on the final charge to the finish line!
Today, we're adding an extra optional Snippy Claw Arm for the Large Crusher types into the mix. This claw should be played in CityCrushers games with the same rules as a standard Slicer type arm.
It is available both as a Free STL, and as a Physical Add-On pledge for £6 for a set of two arms.
A Capital Crusher armed with a Snippy Claw!
Thanks for your support everyone, we're looking forwards to unveiling a few more surprises in the next few days. Unless a Crusher steps on our computers.
Today's Update adds six more STL files to the Free STLs pack, which allow Crushers to be constructed showing battle damage scars.
These panels add a little rusty spice, for those who want their Crusher gang to look a little more beaten up.
And for those who don't find a partially damaged Crusher quite broken down enough, we're also adding a fully wrecked Crusher to the paid STL scenery pack;
Thanks for now everyone, more exciting updates are yet to come in the last 4 days of our Campaign, including extra rules, and shuffling a Stretch Goal or two...
Hi Backers and Watchers and also the Norse God Odin!
Notice anything different about the Boxed Game Set today?
Yes, that's correct, we've now added an Airbase to the standard and the Deluxe Boxed Game sets!
An Airbase consists of a Landing Pad, a Cargo Crate, and two Anti-Aircraft gun emplacements, and it is featured in two of the ten campaign scenarios in the CityCrushers game rules.
Furthermore, because the Airbase was originally a Stretch Goal, we've now restructed our Stretch Goals to add a Gothic Industrial Tower where the Airbase used to be;
And wait! That's not all, either!
We've also decided to add the Solo Play rules to the basic CityCrushers game offering, and not keep them to a Stretch Goal. So here comes our rules guru Barny, to explain all about how Solo Play will work within the CityCrushers rule system;
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Writing AI systems for solo wargames isn’t easy – there are often just too many possibilities for an AI to cope with, leading to many games giving vague guidelines rather than strict rulesets.
In many games a unit would activate to move then attack. This is tricky for an AI ruleset as it must know who it wants to attack, then work out where to move to do that. In CityCrushers, each turn is any two actions, and not even necessarily for the same crusher, so because decisions are atomised to a single action, the AI can look at the situation on the board before each action.
But how does it decide what to do? Well, basically with a flowchart, though a very short one, and one that changes each time…
But let’s back up. The solo mode for CityCrushers is designed for one-off games rather than a campaign, though we hope to add a campaign mode later. To play you select two Crusher mobs of equal points values, then deploy them according to the scenario rules, and only then randomly decide side you will play, and which will be the AI. This avoids the need for cumbersome deployment rules, as you’ll want to set both sides up fairly.
The game plays as usual, except that on the AI’s turn, you will roll 2 D10 to determine what the AI will do. The first D10 decides which of the 10 AI modes to use this turn, and the second determines if the action will cost Energy as usual or be a free action. The AI doesn’t track command points like you do, it just gets some actions for free, and the number required to roll on the D10 to get a free action sets the difficulty level; 9+ would be easy mode, increasing up to 6+ for nightmare level!
Once you’ve rolled the dice, you consult the AI Mode chart for the first D10 rolled to find out what to do. Each AI mode chart looks something like this, with 4 lines detailing possible actions.
Can hit on 6 -> ATTACK
Damaged -> REPAIR
Can hit Damaged Enemy on 8 -> ATTACK
Furthest from Objective -> MOVE TOWARD OBJECTIVE
To resolve this, you begin on the first line and see if there are any crushers able to perform the action listed. Are there any crushers in position to hit an enemy on a D10 roll of 6 or better? If so, and they have sufficient energy to do so (or it’s a free action), they will Attack. When Attacking like this, AI Crushers always go for the “easiest” target, that is the one requiring the lowest dice roll to hit, and as a tie break picking the closest target.
If no Crusher was in position to hit on a 6, you’d move down the chart and try the next line, seeing if there are any damaged crushers with sufficient energy to repair. If so, that’s your action; the most damaged crusher will always be the one to repair, tie breaking again by distance to the enemy.
If no Crusher can repair, move on down again and see if any Crusher can hit a Damaged Enemy on a roll of 8 or more. If not, the final line will mean the Crusher with sufficient energy to move that’s furthest from an objective will move towards the closest objective. There are rules for how curshers move, which basically come down to taking the shortest route, and at the end of a move turning to face the closest enemy if the crusher has legs.
That’s it really, for each action you just roll the dice and consult the chart, then check which crushers can perform the actions. The charts can vary quite a bit, here’s another example:
Can hit on 7 -> ATTACK
In base contact -> MOVE TOWARDS COVER
Can move to claim Objective? -> MOVE TOWARDS OBJECTIVE
Closest to Enemy -> MOVE TOWARDS ENEMY
If no Crusher can perform any of the actions, usually because they’re all out of energy, the AI will pass.
Currently the Engagement Scenario for solo play involves placing 5 Tech markers as Objectives on the board, and any Crusher within 15cm of one at the start of a turn gaining an extra Energy. With some adjustment however, the AI should be able to play most scenarios you can think of, if you’re clever with the rules around what counts as an Objective.
That’s it for now, make sure you back CityCrushers to make this all a reality!
------
Thanks Barny!
The full Solo Play rules will be made available as a separate downloadable PDF file, and as with the core rulebook we will treat them as a living document in the lead up to the print run for the CityCrushers rulebooks, taking feedback and suggestions from Backers to incorporate into the rules.
We're also going to look at adding a rules supplement for additional factions, drawing from the Vanguard Miniatures range of large Mechs to widen the scope of the game system beyond the initial offering giant robot types, out to several competing factions, all warring for the same resources in ongoing campaigns.
We will also look to expand the Solo Play rules to be compatible with a modified campaign play system.
Reader, if you were to make some suggestions, what would *you* like to see added to the CityCrushers rules?
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Well now, that's surely everything today, right?
A Gothic City Sprue Booster Pack is also now available, for discerning terrain-heads.
The Gothic City Sprue
Nah, I don't think I missed anything.
Right then. We're over 70% Funded. We're about 26 Hours from all the Watchers getting their "remind me about this campaign" emails, and considering diving in.
Thanks for now for your support everyone; We'd love it if you share the campaign to all your socials, six more times in the next hour, every hour for the next three days! Just, really annoy all your friends with it, it'll be funny, I promise!
Any thoughts on adding a slightly more ramshackle version of the plates to the STLs?
Lots of smaller bits of metal (solid plates and corrugated perhaps even) rivited together or held by metal braces.
The dented plates are nice, but the huge solid sheets and giant rivets feel a bit awkward for the scale they are supposed to be and are a perhaps a little too nicely engineered for a junk for my tastes.
Hi Backers and Watchers,
It's Ben here from Troublemaker Games... As I type, we're at slightly under 90% Funded, and what I've been told about some intended pledges yet to come, we should pass our funding target later today!
So, I thought I'd lay out some of the plans Troublemaker Games have for the future of CityCrushers, primarily;
1- Ongoing Rules Development and Expansion
2- Website and Social Media
3- Online Worldwide Campaigns
4- Tournaments
We've also unlocked a new pledge type (see the bottom of this email).
So, about the future...
CityCrushers game box concept
CityCrushers game box concept
#1 - Ongoing Rules Development and Expansion
Our initial development pathway for CityCrushers will be to continue to playtest the game in the lead up to the print run of the rulebook. A few more weapon choices will be added and tested, a few more scenarios will be tweaked. After which, we'll print the rulebook.
But that won't be the end! We will be supporting the CityCrushers rules system for the long term, and that will mean:
Further rules development in collaboration with our player community.
Expanding the types of units that can be used in games of CityCrushers, both in terms of bigger Robots, and small squishy stuff to tread on!
Expanding the factions available in CityCrushers. Initially, we'll be starting with a rules supplement that will incorporate Vanguard Miniatures' range of Mechs and biological gribblies. We will also look to sculpt more designs ourselves here at Troublemaker Towers.
Further support the Solo Play rules system in tandem with other rules developments.
The CityCrushers rule system has at all stages been designed to be easily expandable to support taking it in a variety of directions in the future, without losing its primary aims of being fast playing, elegant, and with deep tactical depth. This Kickstarter is just the beginning.
#2- Website and Social Media
We will set up a new Troublemaker Games website, including a dedicated section of the site to support CityCrushers, which will host player resources, gaming aids, et cetera. We will also set up Social Media hubs for players to share their experiences of CityCrushers, show off their paint jobs, and lament their opponents' successes!
#3- Online Worldwide Campaigns
As part of setting up our new website, we will build a system that allows players to pick a faction or team to represent and submit the results of their games, which will then feed into deciding how ongoing online campaigns develop. Both multiplayer and solo play results will be accepted in the system: Who will rise to become world champion, as monarch of the moribund metropolis?! We're excited to find out!
#4- Tournaments
As well as being designed with campaign play in mind, the CityCrushers rule system supports tournament play. Once our player base is ready for the challenge, Troublemaker Games will look to host tournament days (in the UK). Crushers will duke it out to determine a victor, painting competitions will be held, and exclusive prizes will be won.
As we close on our target, I'd also like to highlight that we've activated a new pledge type, which includes:
10x City Crushers
4x Capital Crushers
8x Tech Tokens
2x 5cmx5cm Ruined Buildings
1x Rulebook
All for just £60. If you know anyone who might be interested in this pledge, either as a stand-alone taster of the CityCrushers experience, or as a top-up to an existing pledge, please do let them know!
Thank you so much for your support to date everyone, we're on final approach to the target (and beyond) now!
- Ben (and all the Team) @ Troublemaker Games
lord_blackfang wrote: Heyo... I might be the only person in the world interested but how about a rulebook only pledge/addon?
Rulebook will be available for sale separately later on. For now if you want to cover the postage, pledge whatever you feel like for the rulebook, I'll send you a few.
Oh yeah. We hit 100%.
No biggie.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Now. About those stretch goals...
lord_blackfang wrote: Heyo... I might be the only person in the world interested but how about a rulebook only pledge/addon?
Rulebook will be available for sale separately later on. For now if you want to cover the postage, pledge whatever you feel like for the rulebook, I'll send you a few.
Cheers I hope 20£ is okay! I'd have gotten the box if importing post-Brexit wasn't an unsufferable hassle and practically double the expense here
lord_blackfang wrote: Heyo... I might be the only person in the world interested but how about a rulebook only pledge/addon?
Rulebook will be available for sale separately later on. For now if you want to cover the postage, pledge whatever you feel like for the rulebook, I'll send you a few.
Cheers I hope 20£ is okay! I'd have gotten the box if importing post-Brexit wasn't an unsufferable hassle and practically double the expense here
Understood, let's sort you out with the actual boxed game another time. :-)
Wow, we Funded! There's an incredible mood here at Troublemaker HQ, I can tell you. We're so grateful for all the backing support you've shown us, and so excited to press the Greenlight on telling the plastics factory to get cracking on the mould-tooling process.
Before we do that, we'll do a final "detail pass" on the Crusher models, to see what extra details we can add to the designs, so that they arrive on tabletops in tiptop form. Extra rivets, extra doodads, extra design upgrades, we're dedicated to making our Crushers the most impressive little giant robots they can possibly be.
Now, we've also got some Stretch Goals lined up... can we knock a few down before the end of the day!?!
Thanks again for all your support so far everyone, it's an absolute privilege, and we always take that trust you place in us, 100% seriously.
Now, I'm off to design some more silly robot ideas...
I will be honest I was a little worried halfway through, but this is really a great idea and there is obviously a demand for it - and the intro of the lite package I think was a great idea also.
Now to start thinking of some colour schemes for those bad boys
Got the backer message through asking for an address, so hopefully these will be sent out soon! Might well get it before Legions Imperialis, those new Heresy marines are going to have a whole lot of Gargants waiting for them
I… I’m not actually sure how many Gargants this will bring me to when mine arrive! I have a pile of original Warlords l, Reacers and Warhounds too so my intention is to use them as ‘Counts As’ opponents. Any leftovers can be kitbashed into Ork warships
My box just arrived in NY! The packaging job is pretty poor, mostly just brown paper around the game box and zero packing materials inside. My box was jam-packed with sprues and arrived safely, but the box is a bit smushed. Need to sit down and count out everything but the sprues look sharp! Very excited to dig into this.
I just got an email from EVRi that what I'm assuming is my box for this is getting shipped on Monday. Looking at the comments, it looks like the deluxe boxes shipped out last due to being the most complicated to pack.
Finally got my box. Mine was in good condition. Having a lot of fun with the minis already
The scale really matches vanguard miniatures skinners great, so I added some crew to the capital crusher. Man, I kinda wish I had gotten one of the capital crushers too. But the minis in the box turns out great, while they were a little tricky to assemble. They seem robust though.
Would have been fun with some more varied melee weapons, but gonna add some variation with conversions. Good plastics to work with.
After customs I ended up paying about 30€ for 3 copies of the book, which is not exactly an efficient use of money, but I am still convinced the rules are good. I'll just print some gargants. And I'm hoping for another faction in the next wave.
Mine also arrived, packaging was poor and the box was quite dented, though thankfully that only went down to one of the bags holding the sprues, not the sprues themselves. Surprisingly, I did not need to pay import fees.
Haven't gotten around to building the models yet, detail looks good but not amazing. Better than DZC, worse than DW or 40K.
Kickstarter Standard Edition Boxed Game Contents Reveal!
297 plastic infantry.
56 plastic vehicles.
7 plastic superheavies.
1 rulebook (not plastic)
We currently intend to launch the Kickstarter.... Wednesday!
Kid_Kyoto wrote: Am I right that it would be Skinners (not~orks) versus Nova Regulars (not~Imperial~not~guard)?
That is correct. Its apparently 'wasteland' style regulars. Its apparently 8mm scale, rather than the regular 6-7mm scale of vanguards 'normal' metal models. I'm not sure thats going to be much of an issue, but they are going to get some comparison shots up soon.
Ahtman wrote: An almost two year thread bump is impressive.
Its a brand new game and almost all new miniatures, just with the same sub heading. The not-stompas are from the original game it seems, but everything else looks like new models (The not-chimeras might be upscales of the existing minis though, just retooled for 8mm).
