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GenCon : If you are planning at being at GenCon I will be working with Cryptozoic Entertainment running their tournament area. If you want to arrange some time to take a look at what we have done so far and demo the game, let me know.
Interstellar Conflict (previously Event Horizon) is an intense tactical miniatures skirmish game set in an expansive science fiction universe, where empires compete for control. Players utilize a unique movement card system to simulate actual starship combat in space, rather than a naval or airplane movement style. Movement and combat are simultaneously done allowing for faster gameplay while maintaining that feeling of actual combat.
What makes Interstellar Crisis different than other games?
Ship Physics : Ships flying in space do not have to move like a fighter plane or warship. They aren't required to only move in the direction they are facing or fly like they do in the movies. Ships generate momentum which will continue to carry the ship the direction it is going, unless the engines apply thrust a different direction.
Card Movement System : Unique card movement system letting you create unique combinations of movement and plot out orders without your opponent knowing your plans until they unfold.
Sensors : You can't simply look out the window to see the fleet in front is a group of destroyers. Sensors play a role by identifying what ship classes you are facing as well as determining real ships from decoys or drones.
Damage Arcs : Similar to fire arcs but instead of determining the direction that weapons fire, damage arcs determine where damage is applied from enemy ships. Instead of a single hit point track ships utilize four damage arcs representing different parts of the ship. How you approach ships and where they take damage is important.
Scenario and Objective Encounters : Combat is more than just one army vs another one on different sides of the board. You might be fighting in a nebula that causes interference with laser batteries or maybe a nearby black hole affecting the use of fighters. You won't know the scenario and objective until after you've chosen and created your fleets.
Simultaneous Combat and Movement : Initiative is important but it isn't so damaging that a bad decision or roll means you can't respond to an attack. No worrying about failing an initiative roll and then watching helplessly as your fleet gets destroyed without a response from you.
Campaign System : Make your battle with your friends count for something as they play a greater role in a campaign system. You may have lost a battle but you could still win the war.
Modular Miniatures : Using modular connector design, we can create a system to allow players to customize, create their own variations using the base components with this unique system. If a player likes the engines of one ship but preferred the front of another, they would now be able to combine them to create their own custom design.
The original idea was to utilize ship designs that didn't require a lot of cutting but could maintain high quality detail and still be appealing. The designs were created with the ability to be cast as one piece or split into 1-3 smaller pieces. As we continue to look for new methods to keep this appealing to vast audiences, the goal is to make sure they still stay high quality miniatures. Although we can keep it high quality as 1-3 pieces, we eventually made the decision to change how we cut up and separated the miniatures. This actually lets us get a higher quality and detailed miniature while providing some interesting options for players.
Here is an example of a miniature that would have normally been cast as a single piece:
Spoiler:
The new modular design will break up the miniature into more than 3 pieces but it gives players a lot more options. You can see an example of the same ship cut up into its individual pieces:
Spoiler:
Here you can see a few ship designs utilizing the modular system. This is just a small example of what is possible:
Spoiler:
Factions United Republic
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Europa Confederation
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Shingen Empire
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Federated Commonwealth
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Anazi Dynasty
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Outer Rim Pact
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Frequently Asked Questions
Why did you change the name of the game?
Spoiler:
Our original name Event Horizon: Fleet Battles, although seemed to fit at the time, confused quite a few people. Someone new to the game would immediately link it to an old sci-fi movie name, and having to explain the title just doesn't work.
What comes in the game box?
Spoiler:
There will be six different Fleet Starter sets, one for each faction, so backers will be able to choose their faction. Each box will contain four miniatures from that faction. Each Fleet Starter set will contain:
- 4 Starship Miniatures from that faction.
- 4 Movement Decks (96 cards)
- 4 Ship Status Cards
- 4 Ship Signature Tokens
- 4 Fighter Tokens
- 4 Missile Tokens
- 2 Freighter Transport Tokens
- 2 Asteroid Tokens
What Add-Ons do you have planned for your Kickstarter?
Spoiler:
- There will be at minimum 2 space themed playmats 4'x6' and 4'x'4. (waiting on the sample to arrive)
- Space Terrain: Space dock, space station, communication satellite, weapon platforms, asteroids and space debris.
- Laser Cut Items: Acrylic tokens and templates, special laser cut ruler for fire arcs and movement
- Dice
- Card Sleeves
What are the future plans for Garage Gaming?
Spoiler:
The main purpose of our initial Kicsktarter will be to finalize creation and publish Interstellar Crisis. We obviously want to do more than just Interstellar Crisis and we wanted to share the directions we planning to go. These plans may or may not become part of the initial Kickstarter but that is always a possibility. For now that portion will simply be focusing on succeeding and delivering. Here is a into what else we would like to work on and accomplish.
- Eminent Domain: Interstellar Crisis is the first part of a larger full campaign game that also includes planetary control and combat. Interstellar Crisis deals with the space battles and Eminent Domain will be the 32mm fast pace skirmish combat game set in the same universe. There will be rules for larger campaigns that integrate and mingle elements, allowing someone to turn an interplanetary raid into a full planetary invasion.
- Updated Galaxy Map: We wanted the games and battles in Interstellar Crisis and Eminent Domain to mean something, or at least portray the ongoing struggle happening in that universe. We also wanted to provide a means for players to gain access to more dynamic campaigns and games depending on what is happening around them. Players will be able to register their games and choose to upload their results which then updates a global galaxy map. Interstellar Crisis wins can change the borders for empires and available resources for those playing campaigns. Eminent Domain can change the control of planets, increase or decrease resources for both Interstellar Crisis players and Eminent Domain players. For example, subsequent wins for a faction on a planet would eventually lead to that planet becoming under control of that faction. Some wins/losses may cut off resources to certain parts, limiting what ships that a particular faction could bring to their games.
- Games that Matter and Player Created Universe: We also want to work on an expansion for Interstellar Crisis and Eminent Domain. This takes the conflict to other galaxies, and introduces new factions and aliens. Some of the mysteries behind what happened to Terra are also revealed. Along with the Updated Galaxy Map, player reported games will help shape the direction and new shape of this universe. It is possible that some factions may end up completely eliminated, lose access to troops or ships, planets, etc... in the expansions depending on the ongoing results of the battle reports. This lets players directly have a hand in shaping and contributing to this new universe.
- Maids vs Butlers: Card Battle Go!: It is a card and dice battle game unrelated to Interstellar Crisis. Create your Battle Deck using your favorite maids and butlers, and compete against other players. You can design your deck with only butlers, only maids, or a combination of both. Will you focus your deck on maximizing combos, or will you collect your favorite characters - harem style? Maids vs Butlers: Card Battle GO! uses a game system designed to also interact with future Card Battle GO! games - Pirates vs Ninjas, Demons vs Angels, Elves vs Dwarves, etc.
- Maids vs Butlers: Manor Mayem: Maids vs Butlers: Manor Mayhem is a PvP adventure board game. Characters from the card game come alive as miniatures trying to win the praise of the the Master of the Manor, while working to get the rest of the staff fired. Maids vs Butlers: Manor Mayhem can also be played as an optional cooperative, story-driven adventure. There are unique victory conditions that ensure a versatile and highly replayable experience. Maids vs Butlers: Manor Mayhem is also be designed to connect the manor gameboard to future gameboard sets to create games such as Maids and Butlers vs. Pirates, or Maid and Butlers vs. Magical Girls to name a few options.
- 1/6 and 1/8 Resin Garage Kits: We are working with some talented sculptors to begin plans on creating 1/6 and 1/8 scale resin models of some of creations from Eminent Domain to Maids vs Butlers. Some will be hand-painted resin figures series while others will be unpainted, unassembled pieces for collectors and artists to collect.
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2014/08/07 00:50:08
Looks cool... There's a lot of competition out there for spaceship battles, so a lot is going to come down to how it plays... But the minis look nice. The modular approach is very cool, each fleet is nice and distinctive.
I love the design of the mini's and the rules sound interesting. I much prefer simultaneous combat and movement. What will the size of the mini's be? Any idea on what material they will be made of?
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/08/05 15:29:26
I'll try to hunt you down at GenCon to check it out.
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Hallowed is the All Pie The Before Times: A Place That Celebrates The World That Was
Jehan-reznor wrote: I am intrigued! I hope you can shed more light on the mechanics, turn sequence etcetera.
We made a few small changes but for the most part the turn sequence and mechanics are similar to what was posted in our initial Kickstarter we did. We didn't reach our funding goal and this will be a reboot of that project. The video will be re-recorded to update the changes like the name change. They should still give you a good idea of how the sequence and layout.
Game Setup
Spoiler:
Game Phases
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keisukekun wrote: I love the design of the mini's and the rules sound interesting. I much prefer simultaneous combat and movement. What will the size of the mini's be? Any idea on what material they will be made of?
There is more information on our website. The sizes are going to be comparable to most of the miniatures out there. We want the miniatures to be be compatible with other games so if someone just likes the miniatures, they have an option. For those that just like the rules but want to use their own miniatures, there will be an option for that as well. Then there will also be the starter set that has both. Before we actually launch the Kickstarter I plan to do better size comparison pictures but initially this should give you an idea.
Platuan4th wrote: I'll try to hunt you down at GenCon to check it out.
Awesome! I'm not sure of my schedule yet but I'll be in the Cryptozoic Tournament area during the day. Then should have Interstellar Crisis and Maids vs Butlers to demo in the evening for anyone interested. I will be using some of the older 3D printed prototypes and have some older resin versions, along with the newer card designs and starter pdf rules. I was hoping to have metal miniatures ready but the new designs aren't ready. We made the decision to make them modular to not only make the rapid prototype process easier but also to give a higher quality with casting. I'm waiting for the new modular versions from Vision Proto which may arrive before we leave. But then after I approve them I have to send them off to Iron Wind to get casted so I won't have the metal ones with me. We also plan on going to BBG Con (BoardGameGeek Con) so if time tables are correct we should have metal miniatures there to show, along with playmats and some of the terrain we are working on.
2014/08/24 20:27:39
Subject: Re:Interstellar Crisis - Coming to KS soon
GenCon was great as usual. I was able to run a couple of late night and early morning demos. I was also able to go over designs and plans with a few friends. It wasn't as big as I'd like, but since I was already scheduled for other plans, it wasn't awful either. We are making plans to make it to Board Game Geek Con in November as well.
Modular Design
The modular design was a big hit, everyone was really excited about them. The detail on the model is great and I can't wait to see it translate into the metal miniatures. There are some minor issues that will need to be addressed but they are not project stoppers.
Spoiler:
There are extender pieces to connect other ship pieces together, as well as wing connectors to connect the wing sections. They were slightly smaller, in that they were loose, which is easily fixed. I'm torn though because the advantage means I can rotate pieces easier or allow the wing section to not be flush and be slightly out. This gives a bit more freedom with the designs as well. When the other 3 ship designs come in, we'll do a compare and then determine which direction we want to go.
Spoiler:
Note: Alternate configuration. These are dry fitted, so they aren't glued together but you can see what I mean by allowing gap or changing the angle of the wing sections because of the looseness in the connector.
Tightening Game Rules
We are currently testing a secondary version of the rules. Originally we were using D6 to determine hits and crits. We are evaluating a D8 version utilizing symbols on the dice versus a specific number to hit. This does require a slight revamp of the combat system but it has the added advantage of speeding up gameplay, making it easier for new players to pick up. We still need more testing to determine which direction we will be taking. This is also one of the decisions we would love to get feedback on from players once we release the Quick Start Alpha Rules. We are curious which version players will enjoy more.
What Now?
I've measured the initial modular prototype with a caliper and sent off the measurements to the design team. They will take those measurements, compare with the original 3D files and determine where we need to make adjustments. Then we'll get 2-3 different modular ship designs prototyped again. Once we have cleaned them all and approved those pieces, they will be on their way to Iron Wind. There they will be vulcanized into a spin cast mold and masters will be created. We plan on doing a small run to get some demo models created. Then we'll be sending off a couple games out to reviews with the miniatures. In the meantime, we are close to releasing the Alpha version of the rules for review. Providing there are no other issues, we are looking to relaunch the Kickstarter in October/November.
Will it be possible to pick out individual ships in the KS, perhaps by offering a $1 pledge and then offering them as add-ons? A mix of the Europa and Shingen vessels would make a fine addition to my BFG Rogue Trader fleet, but there are enough in each faction that I don't like that I wouldn't be prepared to just buy both the factions' packs.
"Your society's broken, so who should we blame? Should we blame the rich, powerful people who caused it? No, lets blame the people with no power and no money and those immigrants who don't even have the vote. Yea, it must be their fething fault." - Iain M Banks
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"The language of modern British politics is meant to sound benign. But words do not mean what they seem to mean. 'Reform' actually means 'cut' or 'end'. 'Flexibility' really means 'exploit'. 'Prudence' really means 'don't invest'. And 'efficient'? That means whatever you want it to mean, usually 'cut'. All really mean 'keep wages low for the masses, taxes low for the rich, profits high for the corporations, and accept the decline in public services and amenities this will cause'." - Robin McAlpine from Common Weal
I wish this had funded the first time around. Now that it's relaunching my group are looking forward to the forthcoming Star Wars Armada and Firestorm Armada has grown in popularity in anticipation of the Planetfall release. There's even a few holdouts for the Dropzone Commander space game. That's not to saw this game isn't excellent or fills an entirely different niche, it's justice now badly timed for me personally.
Yodhrin wrote: Will it be possible to pick out individual ships in the KS, perhaps by offering a $1 pledge and then offering them as add-ons? A mix of the Europa and Shingen vessels would make a fine addition to my BFG Rogue Trader fleet, but there are enough in each faction that I don't like that I wouldn't be prepared to just buy both the factions' packs.
Yes it will be possible to pick out individual ships as add-ons.
Zond wrote: I wish this had funded the first time around. Now that it's relaunching my group are looking forward to the forthcoming Star Wars Armada and Firestorm Armada has grown in popularity in anticipation of the Planetfall release. There's even a few holdouts for the Dropzone Commander space game. That's not to saw this game isn't excellent or fills an entirely different niche, it's justice now badly timed for me personally.
Yeah I agree I wish it had funded the first time around as well. Although there are some good things that did come about because it didn't launch. Most likely we will feel the sting a bit from Star Wars Armada (which I will also be getting).
