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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/524168246/shadowsea-mini-kicker-the-good-the-bad-and-the-sca

AntiMatter is currently running a mini kickstarter to get a few more figures sculpted, cast, and produced.
In addition to the figures being produced, they are going to reprint the Stygian Depths supplement to match the updated rules more closely.

The Stygian Depths was a dungeon crawling supplement to the ShadowSea rules (which are themselves based off The Song of Blades and Heroes rules).

They will also be producing preprinted tilesets for those that don't like to print their own.
First two figures shown are already sculpted, ready to be cast.




Once funded, stretch goals will be to fund more sculpts. If anyone ever pays attention to things I write on the internet, you know I will want these.


Fulfillment recently wrapped up on their previous campaign, and as a prior backer I can say that the new figures came out nicely cast, be they in metal or resin. Almost all figures have some sort of custom base insert as well.

Antimatter is pretty flexible about how you use your pledge, letting you trade in just about everything in a given pledge for points, which you can then use to get whatever figures you want out of their back catalog.

Also- bonus rewards are available to backers who pledge over a certain amount.

Thanks for posting this!

Count me in for another very happy backer on all their previous projects. My friend created the clal-chk pirate in the previous KS based off his character in one of our D&D games, so I'm happy to see it fully realized (as well as pick up the other resin cast lol). Rules-wise, he's pretty badass, one of the few quality 2+ units.

Also, their ridgeback lizard men and dragon guys are pretty massive. They'd look good on 40mm bases no problem if people are looking for some counts as.

How many different Clal-Chk sculpts are there? They have sci-fi looking guns, and are a very cool design. Might be nice to get a force of them.

Really like DEEP WARS...tempted by this one too...

I'll echo the sentiment that the lizards are big- particularly that Coatlaxi, Lizardman Lord. Dude is huge! Stands taller than a Cold One Rider, mount and rider included. Most GW lizards only go up to his waist or so.

The resin pieces I got with the prior campaign all were very nicely cast too.

Dark Mariners make pretty decent chaos spawn if that's your thing, what with all the tentacles and misbegotten parts sticking out of them.

On that note, the Clal- Chk make pretty good Xenos as well, since they tend to all be armed with firearms of some sort. Heck, some of the fortune hunters from Deep Wars are good stand ins for guys in antiquated armor/ space pirates if you need those kinds of figures.

I will probably drop my Zombicide pledge in order to help support this (and get me more figures in the process).

I really shouldn't back anything right now, but I looked over the Clal-Chk sculpts and I see the Firesting one, which I previously coveted, is available through this KS as well.

Ordinarily I'd be all about the lizards, but Mantis warriors trump them this time.

I'll seriously consider backing this one for a Clal-Chk Deadzone squad.

Or, crazy thought here, for the game itself!

Deep Wars is a lot of fun, I bet this one will be too!

 Vermonter wrote:
How many different Clal-Chk sculpts are there? They have sci-fi looking guns, and are a very cool design. Might be nice to get a force of them.

If this gets funded it brings the total to 5. There are 2 in deep wars (one is wearing a rebreather for underwater action), the firesting, and there are 2 in the campaign (scavenger, adventurer).

I am sorely tempted to go in for the Clal-Chk Adventurer, Scavenger, and the Firesting. They're practically a ready-made INQ28 warband for a radical Ordo Xenos Inquisitor or Rogue Trader.

I've got to mention, I back the last Shadowsea kickstarter and the models are incredible. The castings are top notch and require very little cleaning, and the base inserts are a great addition. The resin is actual resin (not that restic crap Mantic pulled on us).

Overall I'm very happy with my pledge in the previous campaign (and pledged in this one too), and the products are of extremely high quality, especially from such a small company. This is definitely a company worthy of your support - great communication and products.

I like how they reward backers of their previous campaigns if they spent a certain amount. It's something I wish other companies would copy- it gets pledges locked in at a certain amount when people know they'll be eligible for free stuff from the get go.

Does anyone on Dakka have a copy of the previous version of the Stygian Depths? I'm curious if it's anything like A Song of Gold and Darkness, or whatever the SoBaH dungeon crawling supplement was called.

wow,Thismight make me renounce on my kickstarter boycott. Some real cool looking mini inthere

So, I am a bit confused and hope someone can clarify...

This KS is for a stand-alone game, with minis that can be cross-compatible with Deep Wars?

And I see references to Song of Blade and Heroes being thrown around (which I LOVE LOVE LOVE)... so is this somehow connected to that system of mechanics?

Very confused here. Sorry. :-p

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
So, I am a bit confused and hope someone can clarify...

This KS is for a stand-alone game, with minis that can be cross-compatible with Deep Wars?

Yep! Many units from Deep Wars are usable in Shadowsea. Actually they all can be used technically, if you run a map with both aquatic and land based areas.

And I see references to Song of Blade and Heroes being thrown around (which I LOVE LOVE LOVE)... so is this somehow connected to that system of mechanics?

Very confused here. Sorry. :-p

Yep, it uses the Song of Blade and Heroes game engine. It has some unique abilities which you'd need the main book for though, particularly the underwater stuff. Both Shadowsea and Deepwars have campaign modes where you can buy gear and improve your warband between skirmishes. This will also add a dungeon crawl style of play, which can be solo, vs. or co-op against AI controlled monsters.

Bossk_Hogg wrote:

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
So, I am a bit confused and hope someone can clarify...

This KS is for a stand-alone game, with minis that can be cross-compatible with Deep Wars?

Yep! Many units from Deep Wars are usable in Shadowsea. Actually they all can be used technically, if you run a map with both aquatic and land based areas.

And I see references to Song of Blade and Heroes being thrown around (which I LOVE LOVE LOVE)... so is this somehow connected to that system of mechanics?

Very confused here. Sorry. :-p

Yep, it uses the Song of Blade and Heroes game engine. It has some unique abilities which you'd need the main book for though, particularly the underwater stuff. Both Shadowsea and Deepwars have campaign modes where you can buy gear and improve your warband between skirmishes. This will also add a dungeon crawl style of play, which can be solo, vs. or co-op against AI controlled monsters.

Well holy gak... You may have just described my holy grail game. SoBH based mechanics, and it is both a table-top game, AND a board-game??? DAMN.

Ok, follow-up question... What do I need to buy to get started? If I back this campaign at the $235 level am I in a decent place for both? Do I need Shadowsea books and Deepwars books, or do the books in this campaign trump and replace both?

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:

Bossk_Hogg wrote:

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
So, I am a bit confused and hope someone can clarify...

This KS is for a stand-alone game, with minis that can be cross-compatible with Deep Wars?

Yep! Many units from Deep Wars are usable in Shadowsea. Actually they all can be used technically, if you run a map with both aquatic and land based areas.

And I see references to Song of Blade and Heroes being thrown around (which I LOVE LOVE LOVE)... so is this somehow connected to that system of mechanics?

Very confused here. Sorry. :-p

Yep, it uses the Song of Blade and Heroes game engine. It has some unique abilities which you'd need the main book for though, particularly the underwater stuff. Both Shadowsea and Deepwars have campaign modes where you can buy gear and improve your warband between skirmishes. This will also add a dungeon crawl style of play, which can be solo, vs. or co-op against AI controlled monsters.

Well holy gak... You may have just described my holy grail game. SoBH based mechanics, and it is both a table-top game, AND a board-game??? DAMN.

Ok, follow-up question... What do I need to buy to get started? If I back this campaign at the $235 level am I in a decent place for both? Do I need Shadowsea books and Deepwars books, or do the books in this campaign trump and replace both?

At the 235 level you get Stygian Depths, which I believe is just the dungeon crawl book, as well as Shadowsea. The only thing you'd be missing is the Deep Wars book or pdf to play everything. However you could also use 3 of your points to get the book. Antimatter is really good about letting you trade virtually anything for anything, points wise. This makes it nice for backers of previous campaigns who likely already have a book in a particular pledge level.

The easiest faction to get into to play everything is probably the Dark Mariners, since so many of their Deep Wars units can be used on land.

The big thing to watch out for when combining land and underwater maps are depth issues and space issues. You'll need a lot of space if you're going to be tricky and hide out in the water if your opponent is on land. Then again, nothing sucks worse than land based Dark Mariners gunning down your Fortune Hunters as they try to lumber out of the water, hoping to escape the ethereals their comrades in the deep summoned up.

Much like Songs (since that's the rules foundation), there's lots of room for narrative gameplay and ongoing campaigns. Lots of charts to play around with to see what you find, where you can go, what happens... it's fun stuff.

With such a low figure count needed, I'm thinking it's time to put together a Clal-Chk team and see how they do on their own in the Sunless Kingdoms.

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
The big thing to watch out for when combining land and underwater maps are depth issues and space issues. You'll need a lot of space if you're going to be tricky and hide out in the water if your opponent is on land. Then again, nothing sucks worse than land based Dark Mariners gunning down your Fortune Hunters as they try to lumber out of the water, hoping to escape the ethereals their comrades in the deep summoned up.

Much like Songs (since that's the rules foundation), there's lots of room for narrative gameplay and ongoing campaigns. Lots of charts to play around with to see what you find, where you can go, what happens... it's fun stuff.

With such a low figure count needed, I'm thinking it's time to put together a Clal-Chk team and see how they do on their own in the Sunless Kingdoms.

I don't know what most of that means... but it sounds very exciting.

I think I need this in my life. The Kickstarter also ends right around the end of my self imposed spending moratorium which is nice. :-p

So... 1. Is there a reason this KS is funding sooooo slowly? 2. Is there anything resembling staple purchases I should get on the cheap? I think Miniatures Market periodically clears out this stuff.

Both games (ShadowSea= land, DeepWars= water) are very narrative focused. I feel DeepWars is even moreso. Salvaging wrecks, uncovering ancient artifacts, fighting off the wildlife, getting killed from trying to depressurize to quickly, getting trapped in a thermal vent explosion... it's fun stuff. It's there in ShadowSea too, but I really can't think of any other games that offer a similar experience to DeepWars. Plus it's fun decorating the table with aquarium foliage!

Miniature Market tends to have DeepWars figures on clearance, not so much ShadowSea. Then again, prior to this last campaign, there wasn't a whole lot of ShadowSea stuff out there- most of it's been out of print for a few years, and the company producing the line is no longer doing such.

Not sure why it's moving slow- maybe everyone is busy with Z3? It's going up pretty steadily, and I imagine it will hit the 100 backers at the very minimum, and hopefully we hit a few of those bonuses before it's done.

Staple units? I'd say you can't go wrong with Dark Mariners. They aren't really penalized for switching between land and sea, they're visually distinct from just about everything else on the market, and the models themselves tend to be quite thick and chunky (which means less hassle about pieces breaking). They're fun to paint too- they're a mess of humanoid, crustacean, and cephalopod, all covered in filth and refuse from the ocean floor usually.

Which factions are allied again? The Fortune Hunters and Dark Mariners (faction names are the same across both games) are clear, but the others, less so.

I went in pretty deep on the previous ShadowSea campaign, I've received the rulebook (very, very nice) but am actually still waiting for the minis, as I asked them to hold my shipment a couple of weeks due to me not being home (they should be arriving maybe next week). Most people seem to have received their stuff, though, and I've heard nothing but good things. I'd say fulfillment has gone very smoothly; this little company seem to be on top of things.

I'm in on this for sure, to what depth remains to be determined by finance juggling. As everything in the pledge levels can be traded in via their point system, the built in discount on those higher pledge levels is kind of tempting. If I'm calculating correctly, here's what the different pledge levels are worth in points:

Captain ($50) - 4 pts ($12.5/pt)
Adventurer ($90) - 10 pts ($9/pt)
Stygian Lord ($165) - 18 pts ($9.2/pt)
Warmaster ($235) - 28 pts ($8.4/pt)
Gamemaster ($285) - 37 pts ($7.7/pt)

 Trodax wrote:
I went in pretty deep on the previous ShadowSea campaign, I've received the rulebook (very, very nice) but am actually still waiting for the minis, as I asked them to hold my shipment a couple of weeks due to me not being home (they should be arriving maybe next week). Most people seem to have received their stuff, though, and I've heard nothing but good things. I'd say fulfillment has gone very smoothly; this little company seem to be on top of things.

Interesting. It is the opposite for me. My figures arrived 19 June, but the rulebook has not. Eric says he will look into it.

Kinda of tempted by this, particularly with the new Deepwars Warband Starters [four figures, essentially a Leader, two troopers, and Support as opposed to the more campaign-oriented original starters which some people and reviewers complained about]. Also,really like the Koth-Yan beastman model.

 gunslingerpro wrote:
Which factions are allied again? The Fortune Hunters and Dark Mariners (faction names are the same across both games) are clear, but the others, less so.

Ancients of Atlan & Axibalan Empire {The factions I'm interested in, but there's little crossover, unlike the Dark Mariners. Most Dark Mariners (the humanoid figures at least) are Amphibious so they swing either way. Also interested in DM, so I checked the cross-over potential for them as well.}
Draconic Legion & Scaly Horde
Sunless Kingdom & Scaly Horde
Order of Yosoth & Scaly Horde [Special: One way alliance. The Order can hire Scaly Horde, but not vice-versa.]

Yeah, I have the Ancients Starter from the first KS, but the Axibalan stuff just doesn't jump out at me. I liked the smooth lines of the AoA.

Seems like an odd pairing, but they both seem to be the oldest of the factions, so it works.

 gunslingerpro wrote:
Yeah, I have the Ancients Starter from the first KS, but the Axibalan stuff just doesn't jump out at me. I liked the smooth lines of the AoA.

Seems like an odd pairing, but they both seem to be the oldest of the factions, so it works.

Yes, I think that's why. My impression is that the Axibalans are the barbarian cousins of the Ancients. They both had the same magi-tech at first, but the Ancients left and managed to retain the magi-tech (probably since they lived underwater ... forgetting how to make rebreathers etcetera would be BAD) . Meanwhile, the land-based Ancients degenerated and lost the magi-tech, becoming the primitive Axibalan Empire.

So what faction are people looking to get?

Sunless Kingdom starter seems to be the best deal this time around.

You still get 4 figures, but individually or as a swapped point set they're worth 5 points (due to the lava lizard being there).

I'm wondering just how big that lava lizard is. They all seem like good candidates for dungeon fodder too if I run a different faction.

So what are you guys doing for bulk "dungeon" monsters? It sounds like this setting uses near, but-not-quite monsters from traditional DnD/Underdark, but i'd hate to roll "not-Myconid" on a random dungeon table, and have no minis to represent them.

Or is this dungeon-crawl table more pulling from the existing pool (hehe) of Shadowsea/DeepWars models?

Either way, I need to go in on this. I LOVE Song of Blade and Heroes and all of its derivative systems, and desperately want to see it more widely played.

Nice, I was able to do a really late pledge for their last campaign via their website, and got the models last month. Absolutely love them- this company has some beautiful and unique sculpts. Sculpt quality does seem to vary a bit, imo, but is overall pretty high and there are some fantastic ones.

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
So what faction are people looking to get?

Sunless Kingdom starter seems to be the best deal this time around.

Yeah, at the very least I'm in for the Sunless Kingdom starter; I got the Axibalán Empire and Dark Mariner sets last time around. I'll probably be wanting to add for the Gark Gutripper which is Sunless Kingdom but not included in the starter (it's a fun sculpt).

I'm honestly also quite tempted by a number of things from the Dragonblood line that I didn't pick up in the last KS but have heard people rave about (pretty much all the Dark Mariners and the Skullcracker Bird). I'm also toying with the idea of picking up the DeepWars hardcover book, as the one for ShadowSea I got last week was so nicely done. But to fit these kind of things into my pledge I'll really need to be at one of the two highest levels, and I need to be sure I can afford it.

At time of posting, Miniatures Market has Deepwars figures on clearance. Someone got the only Raider Cavern Crawler, but I still got figures I wanted.

NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
So what are you guys doing for bulk "dungeon" monsters? It sounds like this setting uses near, but-not-quite monsters from traditional DnD/Underdark, but i'd hate to roll "not-Myconid" on a random dungeon table, and have no minis to represent them.

I've assorted Mage Knight, WHFB, and Malifaux figures: even if it's not exactly right something should look about right and/or have the right base size. Some of the more obscure Deepwars/Shadowsea creatures either don't exist or aren't used that often, so they are a lower priority purcahse. What goes into a warband is another story.

Will go for Deepwars Dark Mariners and Ancients, cashing in the Stygian Depths stuff for more points for figures.

Tenatively, the pledge would be for $100 ($90+10 for extra figure)
Deepwars Dark Mariners and Ancients Warbands
Thulaja (1pt)
Koth-Yan Beastman (2pt)
Chimalma $10

So can someone give me a sense for how a Stygian Depths dungeon-crawl plays out?

Maybe I just have the wrong sense of, "enter a room, roll on a table, spawn 10 skeletons warriors"?