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 monders wrote:
I had no interest in this at all until a day or two ago, and now I NEED a set. It just looks so well put together.

I haven't played any Bolt Action, but by all accounts it's a solid system and this builds on it.

Agreed. This does really look like a well put together product, it's amazing how this has come on from the face-plant (or maybe 'small child lost in woods' would be more accurate) that was the Kickstarter programme.

Will ultimately reserve judgement until I've been able to play a sequence of games and get to grips with the mechanics but it is certainly very encouraging.

@Monders/Pacific: I agree. After the terrible aborted Kickstarter it is good that they gathered their resources to create what looks like a brilliant starter set and a great introduction to the BTGOA Universe. I hope the game and continued support lives up to the growing anticipation.

First boxes arriving



http://philhendry.me.uk/Phil_Wargaming_Website/my_blog/and-now-for-something-compl.html


The construction manual for the GoA building in that photo looks promising. I didnt realize until now they aren't just some unrelated lasercut stuff (not a bad thing but this is a step above) - The companies website has not yet put up the kit(s) though:

http://www.sarissa-precision.com/


Also regarding terrain types in the game like jungle, desert and so on - Rich from Warlord Games on the official forum today:

With regards to terrain.... there's a fantastic terrain section in the Rulebook, with LOADS of different terrain types to represent on your Antarean battlefields - the majority of which have special rules and effects in-game... it's well-worth pouring-over that section for a while... it's certainly given us Warlord staff a HEAP of food for thought... with all sorts of wild ideas being banded-about at various corners of the office....

Only the first few hundred preorders got the Sarissa terrain

I'm glad they stuck to their principles when naming the character.

@Pacific/Thraxas: in a community as Erm... Passionate as war gaming, and with the on-going AoS saga it's really good to have a pleasant surprise!

I'm eager to get a box, but might wait for Pacific to post his thoughts and see a few reviews first

Vermonter wrote:

 monders wrote:
I had no interest in this at all until a day or two ago, and now I NEED a set.

Damn, that is effective advertising!

If they send me a complimentary set, they can use it on the box on the next print run

Will post a full review as soon as I'm able, I'm away for a short while though and as is the way with these things no doubt the game will arrive then!

What I will say though is, despite not having received the game yet, is that it will be a better wargame than AoS (simply due to the fact that it has points values!)

Yeah I can't wait to dig into it -- but my copy arrives tonight and I am headed out of town for a week a 5AM tomorrow morning. But I plan to update my overview thread ASAP.

I went from zero interest in this game to now its a must buy. plus the boromite gangers could be the most awesome minis released in the last 10 years.

What is changing everyone's minds? Was the bar just set so low from the poorly planned kickstarter (the last time the game got a bunch of publicity)? They've admittedly made alot of progress since then.

 warboss wrote:
What is changing everyone's minds? Was the bar just set so low from the poorly planned kickstarter (the last time the game got a bunch of publicity)? They've admittedly made alot of progress since then.

I have been looking forward to it since I saw it. However seeing that inboxing with a snippet of some of the rules and ideas behind it really hit it home how great this game is gonna be. I know I personally love Bolt Action rules and always wanted to have a sci fi version.

im not sure how bad the kickstarter was, but im glad about the final result. Hopefully this game gets a lot bigger so I can some vehicles etc for the game.

For me it was the Bolt Action rules, which I've never played but heard good things about, combined with hard sci-fi.

I also like the look of the Ghar battle suits.

Plus just something about the name 'Beyond the Gates of Antares' screams the kind of sci-fi I want to be playing.

Pacific wrote:Will post a full review as soon as I'm able, I'm away for a short while though and as is the way with these things no doubt the game will arrive then!

What I will say though is, despite not having received the game yet, is that it will be a better wargame than AoS (simply due to the fact that it has points values!)

Manchu wrote:Yeah I can't wait to dig into it -- but my copy arrives tonight and I am headed out of town for a week a 5AM tomorrow morning. But I plan to update my overview thread ASAP.

Guys, pls.

jimf747 wrote: I went from zero interest in this game to now its a must buy. plus the boromite gangers could be the most awesome minis released in the last 10 years.

warboss wrote:What is changing everyone's minds? Was the bar just set so low from the poorly planned kickstarter (the last time the game got a bunch of publicity)? They've admittedly made alot of progress since then.

Honestly Warboss, I think Zatsuku sums it quite well:

Zatsuku wrote:Plus just something about the name 'Beyond the Gates of Antares' screams the kind of sci-fi I want to be playing.

It's hard to pin point though.

Perhaps there's some nostalgia form gamers of a certain age, and it being a Rick Priestly Sci Fi game.

Heartily tempted to drop my Drop Fleet pledge and just get this.

Several of the upcoming releases and closeups - via Brueckenkopf-Online and Chaos Bunker from this year's events



(I love these)












And some w.i.p.










Painted stuff



Also Fartok is getting a Walker suit miniature soon according to the newest Warlord newsletter. A large one. And he clearly needs that :p

My 2 cents:

Ghar outcasts look a lot better unpainted. I think they need a new paint scheme.

Isorians look a lot better with the visors down. Not a fan of the "See? They're actually human!" exposed faces. They don't really go with the rest of the outfit. (Algoryns have different face / head structures that match their overall aesthetic, after all.)

Boromites look bad@ss. Very much looking forward to seeing troopers for these released in plastic.

Concord jetbikes - fantastic design. Are these going to be metal only?

I checked some of the interviews and event reports but found no confirmation the Concord bikes are in plastic. They were shown in a CAD-like (Zbrush render?) image first, the finished minis later, I guess there is a good chance they will get the full plastic treatment





The amount of bits plus a bike base should be of similiar size as a Ghar suit sprue. Pretty likely they will come in plastic.

Warhams-77 wrote:
Several of the upcoming releases and closeups - via Brueckenkopf-Online and Chaos Bunker from this year's events



(I love these)

Ok, that's enough. Sold! Where do I start? Think I'll join Monders in the "Saw the starter and these and were immediately convinced to buy them"

Yes, get the starter. The book and minis are not expensive in that set combined and you can get some games in until the Isorians have their release. Concords are probably the next, the bikes shouldnt be a long wait.

I found another photo of them - taken with activated earthquake effect nevertheless - giving another hint that the bikes are going to be plastic. Those bases... And all the sharp detail Maybe these are already the finalized kit



Source: Adam Ish's Wargaming Blog

Yup, ordered my starter direct from Warlord last night. I also ordered the mercenary captain we saw in the old Kickstarter a few years ago.

When this set was announced a few months ago there was a lot of conversation about tthe lack of value but for me it seems pretty good. The hardbacks rules retail at £30 so I see it as £40 (less if you go via a FLGS) for:

1 metal character.
20 infantry
6 Ghar
Various assorted drones.
1 metal Fartok *if you order direct before the 7th November.

Throw in the dice and templates and it seems like a reasonably priced introduction to the game to me.

I do hope those jetbikes are plastic, looks like some exciting releases are due.

So, with Dropfleet running that I'm definitely getting, it looks like the Battle of Calth is getting the boot.

So, any good UK places to get the starter? Cheapest I've seen is Dark Sphere. A smidge under £60 including postage.

That seems really cheap, Element has it for 63, so does Wayland, and I havent checked if thats with free UK shipping.

Vermonter wrote:I have a question for those better informed than me: what's up with all of the factions being human variants? Is the Antares universe relatively devoid of full-on Alien races?

I wouldn't worry. They'll likely be human variants too.

Anyway. Didn't hurt Dune or BSG... or Red Dwarf too badly.

edlowe wrote:
They were originally going to be based on this model

Which was some guy's daemon prince conversion for a GD competition, and just one part of why the first unveiling was so terrible.

volume wrote:Having had a few privileged trips to the Warlord design studio, the Vorl now look nothing like the previously shown model... they've come-on leaps-and-bounds, and have a very distinct style/look...

Well that's something.

Warhams-77 wrote:

With regards to terrain.... there's a fantastic terrain section in the Rulebook, with LOADS of different terrain types to represent on your Antarean battlefields - the majority of which have special rules and effects in-game...

Comforting.

Pacific wrote:Will post a full review as soon as I'm able, I'm away for a short while though and as is the way with these things no doubt the game will arrive then!

I have no interest in how well the minis assemble and paint up, or how smoothly the rules play. I just want to see one piece of cardboard removed from another, and how well the sprues stack.

warboss wrote:What is changing everyone's minds? Was the bar just set so low from the poorly planned kickstarter (the last time the game got a bunch of publicity)?

Pretty much. There's actually half a good idea about mini concepts and ranges this time, and most of the initial ones look pretty good. Though I suppose there's the rules too, which are arguably better suited to the author's subsequent shot at space-fantasy than 1940K.

I simply can't understand how they've managed to harness modern digital sculpting and production methods and still churn out sculpts that would've looked dated 20 years ago. Also disappointing to see that the Hansa mini, which was widely mocked during the first poorly-though out kickstarter, is still the best figure they've put forth so far.

The rules may turn out to be the best ever put to paper, but I still won't source an entire army from other companies to replace GoA's sub-par kits.

 Vermis wrote:
Pretty much. There's actually half a good idea about mini concepts and ranges this time, and most of the initial ones look pretty good. Though I suppose there's the rules too, which are arguably better suited to the author's subsequent shot at space-fantasy than 1940K.

Oh, did Alessio Cavatore write Gates of Antares? Because he was, indeed the lead designer of Bolt Action (and has subsequently been in charge of all FAQ and Errata for the game since it's release). Not Rick Priestley. Oh, wait, you're not talking about Bolt Action, you're talking about something called 1940K - what's that? Is that a WW2 game using 40k rules? Because you certainly couldn't be talking about Bolt Action, which literally plays _nothing_ like 40k.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Guildsman wrote:
I simply can't understand how they've managed to harness modern digital sculpting and production methods and still churn out sculpts that would've looked dated 20 years ago.

Well, obvious hyperbole, because twenty years ago these models would have been revolutionary. Considering fifteen years ago we had the meatball head Warhammer zombies and the melonhead/hamfist Warhammer High Elf warrior multipart kit. These Concord and Ghar plastics, while no feats of engineering like the insanely perfect Age of Sigmar Stormcast Eternals plastics - are better than a lot of kits released in the last year or two (Nagash and Skaven Stormfiend Action Figures being the two obvious - and going with your hyperbole - any company could hire a toddler to etch a steel mold and it would turn out better than those laughably bad kits)

Those Isorians look pretty good. That's the faction I've been most interested in based on the original background material, so I'm really looking forward to those models being available, and seeing what's in their army list. I hope they'll be coming soon, being the only faction without any models available yet.

This just keeps going from strength to strength, absolutely love some of these new concepts and sculpts.

Guildsman - with the greatest of respect mate, what fething planet are you on?

 zedmeister wrote:
So, with Dropfleet running that I'm definitely getting, it looks like the Battle of Calth is getting the boot.

So, any good UK places to get the starter? Cheapest I've seen is Dark Sphere. A smidge under £60 including postage.

Yes that's where I've bought mine from, cheapest I could find at the time.

 Guildsman wrote:
I simply can't understand how they've managed to harness modern digital sculpting and production methods and still churn out sculpts that would've looked dated 20 years ago. Also disappointing to see that the Hansa mini, which was widely mocked during the first poorly-though out kickstarter, is still the best figure they've put forth so far.

The rules may turn out to be the best ever put to paper, but I still won't source an entire army from other companies to replace GoA's sub-par kits.

I don't think the "retro" look, for better or worse, is an accident or side effect but rather an intended design choice. I'm not a fan of it personally but they seem to be toning it down a little bit at least some of the plastics. I like the Algoryns, am ambivalent to all Concord except the Concord Drop troops (which I like), and think the Gar mechs are nice but the Boromites as well as little goblin monkey men gar outside of their suits as well are figs that I would only accept if they were free (and promptly put up on the swap shop to trade). The other stuff previewed here like the Isorians and the freemen are somewhere in between. The "retro" stink is on them but not as pervasive as the straight out the late 80's/early 90's minis catalog inspired by Doctor Who 1970's production value villains that make up the Boromite faction. I will however check out the rules to see if they're to my liking. If I really like them, I'll probably get a small Algoryn force with maybe some concord drop troops for gaks and giggles (or allies if they have that in the game rules).

I agree that the design and execution of the factions is largely hit and miss, but the Algoryn are my current favourites.

The appeal for me lies in what is hopefully a brilliant rule set and a new provider of, for me, good quality hard plastic kits. There is a real dearth of HIPS plastic sci-fi kits outside GW/Dreamforge/some Mantic.

The main downside for me are the bases, but I can just swap them out...and got an email from Warlord today they have already sent out my set, excellent.

No Algoryn? /sadface