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Fractured Stars - new sci-fi wargame coming to Kickstarter this autumn - 3rd update 12/07/18  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
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Made in gb
Fresh-Faced New User





MoB Games is pleased to announce that our first game and miniatures lines are coming to Kickstarter this autumn.

Fractured Stars is a 20mm scale wargame set in the mid 23rd century.

Humanity has discovered to its cost that it is not alone in the universe, and three decades since the Freeport Accords ended the war, there is still no peace in the seven systems. Now the fractured societies of humanity and their alien neighbours fight amongst themselves as much as against each other, and rumours tell of a new and deadly peril...


We at MoB Games would like to invite you to take this journey with us as we bring new battles (and new toys!) to your hobby.

Over the course of the next few weeks as we prepare to launch our Kickstarter campaign we will be bringing you regular updates and a few sneak peeks at what you can expect. Any questions we'll do our best to answer and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Why 20mm?:
Spoiler:
One of the issues that has generated considerable debate is our decision to make our models at 20mm scale.

There are a number of factors, but ultimately it came down to a trade-off between making the kind of game we want and the kind of models we want.

Fractured Stars is a game where multiple platoons and whole troops of vehicle clash. To create that kind of game using 30mm models requires a playing area that is impractically large for most gamers and have a massively high barrier to entry for new players. If, however, we decided to use a more familiar 10mm or 15mm scale it is impossible to get the level of detail on the models that we know we can achieve if they are made in 20mm.

The other big advantage for 20mm is terrain. The vast majority of '30mm' trees are actually far too short and are more appropriate for 20mm models (for reference most species of tree have a mature height of around 60ft +/- 15ft which would be about 10 times the height of a human model). Any other 'natural' features such as hills, rivers etc also work just as well if not better with 20mm models. The Fractured Stars Kickstarter will include laser-cut MDF buildings at an appropriate scale and huge amounts of easy conversion-fodder can be found in cheap and easily available 1/72 scale model kits (and similar sized model railway kits). Battlefield debris such as oil drums, crates, tank traps, sandbag emplacements etc are far easier and cheaper to source at this scale than in other scales more widely used in gaming!

We hope that potential players will not be put off by the scale issue but will instead see opportunities for epic battles without an epic price tag!


The Game:
Spoiler:
Fractured Stars is an alternative-activation game where each player takes it in turns to activate a platoon of infantry, a vehicle troop (or the appropriate alien equivalent!).

At the start of each turn orders are issued in secret to each formation in your force. There is then an intelligence gathering phase which allows certain specialised troops to reveal enemy orders and even try and change them by disrupting your enemy communications grid. Each player then takes it in turns to move and fight with their formations based on the orders they have received. Finally you will test to see if the stress of battle has taken a toll on your troops.

All movement is in inches and all combat uses d10s with a simple system that keeps the game moving at speed.

Unlike many games each player has their own mission objectives to achieve. Players score victory points for completing their own objectives and can also earn points for preventing their opponents from achieving theirs. There is no easy path to victory!


Background:
Spoiler:
The year is 2237 and civilisation is still struggling to rebuild from the most destructive conflict in human history.

The Terran Alliance and the Kannid Empire had gone to war in 2211. By the signing of the Freeport Accords that formally ended hostilities five years later nearly a quarter of the population of the Seven Systems had been wiped out and industry and infrastructure had been decimated. Billions more perished in the following years through famine, plague and the lingering after-effects of those hideous weapons unleashed by both sides in a desperate bid for a victory neither could achieve.

Both societies fractured into hundreds of factions based on old nationalism or new idealism. Independence movements that had been suppressed before the war flourished, notably the reptilian Druve Clans which had been subjugated by the Kannid Empire for over a century. Warlords and demagogues carved out their own bases of power. Demobilised soldiers and stores of weapons were requisitioned by new local leaders for defence – or their own bids for influence and wealth.
One force, the Covenant Navy, set itself above the petty squabbles in fear of the total destruction of life in the Seven Systems. The Freeport Accords had one overriding demand, backed by nearly every citizen of both the Alliance and the Empire. Orbital and aerial bombardment of all kinds were to be outlawed along with long range missiles and all weapons capable of mass destruction to avoid a repeat of the worst horrors of war.

To enforce this edict the Covenant Navy had been formed from the remnants of the Terran and Kannid Navies, whose starships had been the principle delivery system for such weapons throughout the war. Even the most hardened commanders on both sides, save those few who entered self-imposed exile rather than serve, could see the logic.

The Navy was obliged to transport for a reasonable fee any ‘lander’ – space to surface craft that could be owned and operated by anyone – throughout the seven systems to allow interstellar trade to rebuild and must strictly (and if necessary lethally) enforce the armaments ban. They became avowedly neutral and were forbidden to interfere in any other affairs. In exchange the newly formed Terran Colonial Union and the Confederation of Kannid Tribes would agree to supply the Navy with food, fuel and other supplies and allow any citizen to serve a tour without prejudice.

Such neutrality, however, came with a price. Landers were unarmed but could not be detained and their manifests were never published. Governments, corporations and even extremist groups were quick to realise that armed forces could be carried inside a Lander in total secrecy and safety so long as they were not armed with weapons which contravened the Freeport Accords.

Now factions across known space engage in armed conflict to further their own agendas. Companies of infantry and their supporting drones and armoured vehicles can be found across every world in the Seven Systems as Humans, Kannids and Druve wage undeclared wars amid the ruins of previous conflict.

Even as more civilised leaders attempt to rebuild the shattered cities of the last war a new threat has emerged that may prove worse than the sporadic violence and uncertainty of these incursions. As the year drew to a close, three Kannid outposts were destroyed by what the survivors claimed were Alarian forces – an alien race that had attacked the Kannid homeworld two centuries earlier and had caused untold destruction before mysteriously disappearing. As panic at the rumour spreads military commands across the systems are on high alert, wondering what will happen next if the tales turn out to be true…


TCU Images
Spoiler:
TCU Diamondback Scout Car


TCU Troopers


Kannid Images
Spoiler:
Kannid Tribesmen


Kannid "Ridgeback" Recon Mech


Supremacy Images
Spoiler:
Supremacy Durga APC


Comparison shot to other manufacturers
Spoiler:
A Fractured Stars TCU trooper between a Perry Miniatures DAK for Bolt Action and a GW Space Marine

This message was edited 11 times. Last update was at 2018/07/12 17:38:05


 
   
Made in gb
[SWAP SHOP MOD]
Killer Klaivex







I'll be honest, an introductory post for a new product that literally only has the name and the most generic of sci-fi descriptions is quite underwhelming.


 
   
Made in us
Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

20mm? What even is that?


   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

Honestly you want more than sneak-peaks - you want almost the entire launch product as well as at least a couple of stretch goals shown before the launch date. As an unknown name you don't want to play the mystery card because, honestly, no one will take the bait.

Mystery works when the company doing it is already established and already has a market and consumer base to get excited and interested and hooked on a simple few words or hint.

New companies need a lot of pre KS marketing revealing most of the product, the intent and the focus and the designs for the KS. You've got to build the hype to point that when you launch you've got people lined up ready to pledge in the opening few days to make it to the funding goal. Especially as miniature KS are often very expensive to fund.

A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in us
Been Around the Block






Las Vegas, NV

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
20mm? What even is that?



It is roughly equivalent to 1/72 or 1/76 in military models, and HO in train scales.
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Dankhold Troggoth






Shadeglass Maze

Well, let me just say I Love the name

I do think you want a fair bit of content to show when you make your big reveal. If you want to start fresh, feel free to start a new thread when you're ready to show more - just make sure you stick to one "active" thread here in News & Rumors.

Looking forward it!
   
Made in us
Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

 Oryza Sativa wrote:
 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
20mm? What even is that?



It is roughly equivalent to 1/72 or 1/76 in military models, and HO in train scales.


I know. I mean, why would anyone try to make a new game game in the scale that killed Arcane Legions?

   
Made in ca
Renegade Inquisitor with a Bound Daemon





Tied and gagged in the back of your car

This thread is basically a textbook example of how to make your Kickstarter announcement dead on arrival. Nothing to attract or retain any interest.

But hey, at least you've got a cool name for your project. Shame it'll just go straight down the memory hole.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/06/20 00:13:57


 
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Dankhold Troggoth






Shadeglass Maze

I think that's unfair, Fafnir. It's all (or mostly) about whether the content is any good, which of course we haven't seen at all

So, let's see what they have to show when they're ready (and to the OP - again, feel free to start a new thread when you do have a big set of content to reveal!)


This message was edited 6 times. Last update was at 2018/06/20 01:58:49


 
   
Made in us
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





Affton, MO. USA

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
 Oryza Sativa wrote:
 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
20mm? What even is that?



It is roughly equivalent to 1/72 or 1/76 in military models, and HO in train scales.


I know. I mean, why would anyone try to make a new game game in the scale that killed Arcane Legions?


Wasn’t dystopian wars/legions (one of them) 20mm also?

LOL, Theo your mind is an amazing place, never change.-camkierhi 9/19/13
I cant believe theo is right.. damn. -comradepanda 9/26/13
None of the strange ideas we had about you involved your sexual orientation..........-Monkeytroll 12/10/13

I'd put you on ignore for that comment, if I could...Alpharius 2/11/14 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





West Michigan, deep in Whitebread, USA

20mm scale is the scale of most Hot Wheels cars, so consider games that use those, like Gaslands.

Still, a wierd scale for figures stuck between 15 and 25mm.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/06/20 01:25:58




"By this point I'm convinced 100% that every single race in the 40k universe have somehow tapped into the ork ability to just have their tech work because they think it should."  
   
Made in us
Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

 Theophony wrote:
 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
 Oryza Sativa wrote:
 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
20mm? What even is that?



It is roughly equivalent to 1/72 or 1/76 in military models, and HO in train scales.


I know. I mean, why would anyone try to make a new game game in the scale that killed Arcane Legions?


Wasn’t dystopian wars/legions (one of them) 20mm also?


I thought Dystopian Legions was more like 35mm. Dystopian Wars was ...roughly double the scale of Dreadfleet?

   
Made in gb
Fresh-Faced New User





Hi guys,

just to quickly go through some of the early comments -

20mm scale (which as has been pointed out is similar to HO 1/72 1/76) was a very deliberate design choice. We wanted this game to give you the feel of commanding a sizeable force (without requiring a huge investment of time and money) and we also wanted the vehicles to be in scale with the infantry so as to avoid the 'how do 10 space marines fit in the back of a rhino?' problem

Any bigger would have made the vehicles prohibitively expensive and would have required a much larger playing area, whilst going smaller means you lose the detail on the sculpts so its harder to go to town with a paint job.


With respect to Overread's comment that a miniatures game needs a full product range at launch, that's something that we both understand and find frustrating in equal measure. Established companies have often used kickstarter as a promotional tool despite being perfectly able to fund their projects. As a new company we are looking to kickstarter to raise the investment we need to get our first product range to market. We are going all out to produce as much as we can on our own and are setting a modest fundraising target to help us get over the line and complete our range, with a huge number of stretch goals planned that will allow us to expand as much as we can from there.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
And now, our first reveal... Kannid Tribesman

This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2018/06/22 15:53:54


 
   
Made in gb
Decrepit Dakkanaut




UK

MoB I appreciate the the difficulties, though I think I got my message garbled a bit. I certainly don't expect you to have a full product range at launch in production; but I would expect to see a complete starter force for at least two or more factions in 3D design well before launch.
Because that is showing what you are making, its showing what kind of units and models players will have.

I'd also say that if you want to get actual funding you need some prototypes made up. 3D renderings have the major problem in that you can't tell how big they will really be, which is a huge thing when it comes to the detail required and what people can expect to see as ap roduct (many can't visualise scale based on a 1/20 - they've got to see the model next to other things to get an idea of what you are making). It's one area where greenstuff sculpting (as opposed to 3D computer design) holds an advantage because you can at least show the master greens without hsving to cast anything.

A Blog in Miniature

3D Printing, hobbying and model fun! 
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User





Hi Overread,

Apologies if I misunderstood what you were getting at there.

Before launch we will have an absolute minimum of one infantry type (in a range of poses as these will be monopose sculpts) and at least one vehicle sculpted and cast for the 3 factions we are starting with, in addition to concept art and/or renders for other units for those factions.

We have 6 factions written and depending on how many stretch goals we achieve hope to unlock all phase 1 models for all 6 of those factions.

We are hoping to have the first production run of the Kannid Tribesmen this week and I will post a comparison picture with some 'well known brands' as soon as possible.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2018/06/22 15:54:12


 
   
Made in gb
[SWAP SHOP MOD]
Killer Klaivex







MoB_Games wrote:
As a new company we are looking to kickstarter to raise the investment we need to get our first product range to market. We are going all out to produce as much as we can on our own and are setting a modest fundraising target to help us get over the line and complete our range, with a huge number of stretch goals planned that will allow us to expand as much as we can from there.

I don't think that there are any problems with that. It's more that your product is competing for the cash in my wallet; and I need to see more these days than a handful of 3d renders and long talk about what you'd like to do. I accept that the product won't be completed; but in my mind, I expect the design work for the basic pledge to be finished, with the Kickstarter trying to raise the money for the manufacture (before going on to consider the stretch goals). We're long past the KS days of 'Talk about a product you wanna make and hold out the begging cap', whether people resent it or not. There needs to be some substance to part the cash from my account.

Looking at the Canid, is that a helmet? Also, one of the hands looks comically oversized compared to the other (though that could be the angles).


 
   
Made in us
Fresh-Faced New User





Hi Ketara, yes that is a helmet and when seen from other angles and on the 3d print the hand looks fine.

With regards to the campaign we will of course endeavour to impress with all aspects of Fractured Stars, from the background to rules to models to scenery and hope we can convince you to back us when we launch.

We certainly don't feel this is a begging bowl, but unlike some more well established companies that run Kickstarter campaigns we accept that we may not be able to do as much as we would ultimately like beforehand. What we can promise is a passion for quality that we believe we can represent with those products that will be completed, and inspiration for the rest of our range we hope our backers will allow us to bring to life.
   
Made in us
Stealthy Space Wolves Scout






You've got my interest. Looking forward to seeing your ideas and the campaign. Best of luck !!



"You never see toilets in the 41st Millennium - that's why everyone looks so angry all the time." - Fezman 1/28/13
 
   
Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut





2 cents...20mm is a no go. I understand what you are trying to do, but I have tried 20mm in the past and could never find enough people willing to do the same. So everything sat on the shelf. Good luck though.
   
Made in gb
Fresh-Faced New User





Next up - the TCU Diamondback (the principle recon vehicle for one of our human factions).





Also the OP has now been updated with an expanded introduction to the setting taken from the Fractured Stars rulebook. and I will try and collate all the images and text there as things get posted.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2018/06/22 16:01:52


 
   
Made in us
Legendary Master of the Chapter





SoCal

Did the Forgefathers build that car?

   
Made in gb
Leader of the Sept







The shape of the diamondbacknlooks good but for.a.scout vehicle, it doesn't look like.it has much visibility. Maybe add bigger Windows or some kind of sensor pods?

Please excuse any spelling errors. I use a tablet frequently and software keyboards are a pain!

Terranwing - w3;d1;l1
51st Dunedinw2;d0;l0
Cadre Coronal Afterglow w1;d0;l0 
   
Made in se
Executing Exarch






20mm is going to be a VERY hard sell. Who has sci fi terrain in 20mm?
   
Made in au
[MOD]
Making Stuff






Under the couch

 AegisGrimm wrote:
20mm scale is the scale of most Hot Wheels cars, ...

Only very, very roughly. The actual scale used for Hotwheels, Matchbox and other similar type cars is 'What fits in the packet?'



For the topic - Yeah, 20mm is going to be a hard sell. It forces established gamers to replace their entire terrain collections, which makes them grumpy. And while quality has certainly improved somewhat in this age of 3D printing, 20mm figures just don't look as good on the table as 28-30mm figures do. They're less detailed, and harder to paint well.



I do like that buggy, though.


 
   
Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut





 insaniak wrote:
 AegisGrimm wrote:
20mm scale is the scale of most Hot Wheels cars, ...

Only very, very roughly. The actual scale used for Hotwheels, Matchbox and other similar type cars is 'What fits in the packet?'



For the topic - Yeah, 20mm is going to be a hard sell. It forces established gamers to replace their entire terrain collections, which makes them grumpy. And while quality has certainly improved somewhat in this age of 3D printing, 20mm figures just don't look as good on the table as 28-30mm figures do. They're less detailed, and harder to paint well.



I do like that buggy, though.



Thats why this is perfect for Kickstarter.
See if there is a market for 20mm sci fi figures. personally I like the idea, and the kanids to me seem scale nutral. I could see 20mm dog soilders fighting 28mm human sized figures
   
Made in us
Decrepit Dakkanaut





The Battle Barge Buffet Line

I agree that 20mm will be a hard sell and a turn off for me personally. YMMV. Also, maybe it's the Kannid pics before it but the front of that vehicle looks very canine to me as well with the eyes/windows and hood and not "human".

We Munch for Macragge! FOR THE EMPRUH! Cheesesticks and Humus!
 
   
Made in us
Is 'Eavy Metal Calling?





Affton, MO. USA

I just got into Gaslands (hot wheels meet mad max ), so 20mm might work, especially if I can use some figs to kit out my hot wheels cars and if weapons will look good on them as well. Multipurposing parts already.

LOL, Theo your mind is an amazing place, never change.-camkierhi 9/19/13
I cant believe theo is right.. damn. -comradepanda 9/26/13
None of the strange ideas we had about you involved your sexual orientation..........-Monkeytroll 12/10/13

I'd put you on ignore for that comment, if I could...Alpharius 2/11/14 
   
Made in us
Been Around the Block




20 mm is a total dealbreaker, for me.
   
Made in gb
Battlefield Professional




Nottingham, England

Launching in Autumn = walking into GWs Adeptus Titsnicus marketing blitz.

I know no one who games at under 20mm but also nearly everyone I know wants Titanicus. I think the scale is not important but rather the content , the buggy looks like a resistance dropzone commander car with a resistance dropship turret on it.
   
Made in gb
Fresh-Faced New User





A new pretty picture for you - today the Supremacy Durga APC




I have also updated the OP with some more information on the game - and our reasons for why we chose 20mm!
   
 
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