We’ve just broken through another stretch goal, funding the tooling and sculpts for the new poses. These upgrade the Asterian and Convict team with new and characterful figures, increasing the amount of choice and variety in a team. It’s a good day to be an Asterian or Convict coach!


Frenzy - what's that all about?

The Frenzy pledge level is a new concept for us, executed beautifully on other Kickstarters we’ve looked at. We have a reputation for pumping our pledge levels full of free stuff, but it can be hard to know what that looks like 21 days before the end.

So, what we’ve done is put together this enthusiast video, designed to give you a good idea on just what we’ve done in the past, and what we’re going to be doing over the course of this campaign. Over to James and Ronnie!
Video with the chaps

Note that everything in this video is being used as proxies to represent the sheer amount of stuff we’re going to be doing. Getting every 16 player team and all of the MVPs is just the beginning for Frenzy so we hope you stick with us right until the end!

Negotiations

“My guys are all out of your price range,” stated Mesut flatly, putting his tankard down - the alien who had turned up at his bar requesting to see “the goods” was making him uneasy.

“I can assure you ZhaoTek can more than meet the asking price,” smiled Ardia.

Mesut chuckled. “Really? Hamat killed three of Plalt’s guys last week, Jimen broke that Hulk’s arm mid-week and Ceno is currently the top scorer in five different sectors. What makes you think I’d sell them to a bunch of suits?” He banged his hand down on the table.

Ardia didn’t need to turn around to know that the pair had just been joined by some other guests - Mesut had a reputation amongst the Brokkrs when it came to aliens of the female variety.

Removing Arcadon’s leash, she simply smiled again. “I’m sure we can come to an arrangement.”


On Teams

Xtreme teams are a collection of individuals who play for a variety of reasons, not just for money. It could be freedom, it could be for pride – it could be to demonstrate product to potential buyers, or it could be to settle old scores.

From a pure, dedicated starting team to a mixed bag of alien and robot freebooters, to a full compliment of 16 players designed to give you the maximum number of every player type, DreadBall Teams are the bread and butter of the game. Pick the one that suits your playstyle the best, the one you like the look of most or the one that simply gets you excited inside.



My favorite of the two starting teams are the Asterian Kalyshi - not only are the models gorgeous, they have a rich background as well:

The Asterians are one of the most ancient races in the galaxy, a noble culture of great intricacy that has plied the stars since long before mankind had even taken its first steps away from the surface of Old Earth. Their ways are baffling to most humans, and they generally do what they can to stay away from direct contact with the realms of man, although this is becoming increasingly difficult for them as the ever-expanding GCPS encroaches into their territory.

The Asterians’ reluctance to make contact has led certain Corporations to develop something of an obsession with them. They do everything in their power to seek out these mysterious aliens, going to great lengths in their attempts to contact them - or even capture them. How successful they have actually been is a closely guarded secret, but the Asterians playing DreadBall under the DGB’s watchful eye are entirely the product of these Corporations. It is unclear whether they are clones, carefully disguised automatons or simply players who have undergone intensive prosthesis, but in any case they are almost certainly not true Asterians.

However, they are not the only ones playing DreadBall to lay claim to that name. There is an entirely separate group making a name for itself on the illegal circuits, and they seem to have nothing in common with the sanitised “Asterians” that treat the neodurium in the Core. These pale-skinned creatures, with their bestial tattoos and wild hair, are in fact part of a sub-set of Asterian society known as the Tu’var ho Kalysh, or simply “the Kalyshi”. They represent a growing wave of those that have chosen to return to what they see as the “natural” state of their people. Their belief is that the current path chosen by Asterians as a whole, one dominated by technology and the philosophical concept of Unity, is one that will lead to stagnation and eventually extinction. They are a wild people, bound less by ritual than their more “civilised” peers, with closer ties to the aggressive religious doctrine that threads throughout Asterian history. They also see less of a threat in the burgeoning human realm, seeing the rise of man as simply part of the great galactic plan.

As a group, the Kalyshi vary much more than the Asterian mainstream, and their ways can seem brutal to outsiders. Theirs is a martial culture, with members of all three genders learning to fight as soon as they can walk. Now, representatives from several of their clans have begun to make themselves known on the illicit DreadBall circuit, seeing it as a fitting challenge for their greatest warriors. It is not clear whether they know of the so-called Asterian teams that have been sanctioned by the DGB, but it is unlikely that they do not. Many have speculated that one of their motivations for entering the arena is to warn the Corporations that they are aware of the sham they are perpetrating, and that their mockery will not go unpunished.

Next Stretch Goal: $290,000 – Xtreme Acrylic Counters

The Xtreme Boxed Game includes a card counter sheet packed full of action tokens, injury counters, slippery blood splats (for when a player dies horribly!) money, betting chips, status counters and your usual rush and score counters.

We want to produce a set of high quality, hard wearing acrylic counters that will stand the rigors of gaming, and with your help we can work with our third party provider to produce a gorgeous set of Acrylic Counters.


If we hit this stretch goal, we will produce a set of DreadBall Xtreme Acrylic Counters that you can add-on to your pledge for an additional $15.

In addition, we’ll produce a second set with an exclusive Frenzy icon on and include them free in the Frenzy Pledge Level ($375 and Early Bird)!

And finally...

Here's a closer look at the robots from the Free Agents set!


Note that you can add additional sets on for just $15, and we've also made the hard plastic Scenery Pack available as well. Get more crates and more strike posts by raising your pledge $5!



Have at it guys - just $5K until the next one!