MDSW wrote:
At first I asked, "Why on Earth would you not have additional troops available as add-ons - just dice and trees?" What if I wanted more basic troops, like Stark Bannermen or Lannister Guards, etc.

But, then it dawned on me... If you want to bolster your force, you are going to have to pay retail on those, boys...

 MDSW wrote:
At first I asked, "Why on Earth would you not have additional troops available as add-ons - just dice and trees?" What if I wanted more basic troops, like Stark Bannermen or Lannister Guards, etc.

But, then it dawned on me... If you want to bolster your force, you are going to have to pay retail on those, boys...

If they let me bid $1 and make the troop units available to purchase before the end of the KS, then I'm in.

Until, then, I'm out.

Anyone know the scale? Is it 28mm?

We also rendered a few shots of the pieces of the Woodland Terrain Set next to the the miniatures for a scale comparison:




VICTORY THROUGH VALOR
Unlike the dishonorable tactics employed by House Lannister, Starks do not resort to such things as bribery, manipulation, and subterfuge. When they win, it is through raw combat prowess and superior battlefield tactics! This is exemplified by the cards in their Tactics Deck, which we will go over in detail in a later update. For now though, the important things to remember is our strength lies in Combat and Maneuverability.

Combat: Starks excel at Combat tactics. Their deck features many abilities to buff their strikes, making them hit harder, deal more damage, and cause more negatives to the enemy. Cards like the namesake Winter is Coming allows them to make enemies Vulnerable, while The North Remembers and Devastating Impact enhance their already fearsome attacks above and beyond. As not to say they're not without tricks as well! Last Stand is sure to be a nasty surprise to enemies who thought they had them beat!

Maneuverability: Proper positioning, as any good commander will tell you, is one of the most important aspects to winning a battle, and it is one of their strongest advantages. While they don't have the fancy armor that the Southern Armies might have, they prefer their speed and maneuverability over being bogged down by heavy plate! Tactical Regroup allows them to rally units to better positions, while cards like Devastating Impact turn their expert mobility into an offensive weapon! Remember: charging headlong into the enemy may win them a victory or two, but knowing when to hit their flanks, when to retreat and regroup, and when to strike them down will serve you better than raw aggression!
With that being said, let us take a look at their loyal bannermen!

*Please note that all cards are subject to change before final release. This is not only limited to graphics but also gameplay content and stats as units pass through playtest and development cycles!

STARK SWORN SWORDS




The first of our troops, the House Stark Sworn Swords make up the bulk of our forces. With a decent Speed of 5 the Sworn Swords will be able to get where they need to go relatively quickly. Unfortunately they pay for this by being outfitted with only light chainmail and shields, giving them a 5+ Defense value. Their morale is average by all accounts, as while these men are loyal to our cause they are not fanatics.
What we do have, however, is better combat prowess! While the southerners enjoy their warm climates and relative safety we in the north are a heartier lot - having experienced the dangers our lands provide firsthand. This translates over to a respectable 8 Attack dice at max ranks... and any other time we want it as well! This is accomplished by our Stark Fury special ability, which allows us to push beyond normal limits and press the attack when we really need it. It will result in our unit taking some casualties, but we must be willing to sacrifice for a cause greater than ourselves if it means taking down the enemy!
Sworn Swords also enjoy the Banding special ability, allowing multiple units of Sworn Swords to combine together, upping their capabilities all the more by giving them a commanding 3+ to Hit. Not bad for the "basic" troop of our house! Better still, doubling the number of men in our ranks allows us to maintain that combat edge even longer. Of course, more men also means that the cost of Stark Fury is lowered as well. We don't want to view our loyal soldiers as just another "resource", but sometimes sacrifices must be made!

STARK OUTRIDERS




Development Commentary: Some of you might notice the "Swift Advance" rule shown on the Outriders here directly mimics the rule book saying that all Cavalry get a free Maneuver at the start of their activation. In an effort to actually remove as many "hidden rules" as possible, and keep all a unit's information on their card, that effect was actually integrated into the Ability and removed as a "generic rule". The more you know!

Our Outriders act as scouts for the majority of our forces- but don't let this fool you! They are every bit as deadly in combat as they are cunning.
Given that they are mounted, they enjoy the benefits of the Swift Advance ability, which gives them a free Maneuver action at the start of their activation. This means the unit could, for example, Maneuver and then March (covering a staggering 18 inches in a single activation) or, more to my personal liking, Maneuver into the Flank of an enemy and then declare a Charge. It's important to remember that the area you impact is determined when the charge action is declared, so being able to position yourself into a Flank can absolutely devastate a unit.
Past this, the Outriders enjoy an 8 Attack Die profile as well as a 3+ to Hit value. This is already impressive, but factor in that, given your speed and maneuvering capabilities, you should be hitting enemy Flanks and you have a truly nasty surprise for your opponents!
Charge Bonus: Re-roll attacks (noting, again, 8 attack dice hitting on 3+
Flank Bonus: Enemy suffers [-1] to Defense Saves
Just don't go charging directly into an enemy... While you'll deal some decent damage, you really have no excuse for not taking advantage of your speed. Another factor to remember is that, while the Outriders do have 2 Resilience, meaning they only lose a model for every 2 wounds they suffer, their save is still only a 5+. Outriders absolutely do not want to get stuck in prolonged engagements! If this happens then the unit is as good as dead!
...Luckily, we have the Hit and Run ability, which allows us to leave combat via a free Retreat action. We must remember that if we start engaged we can't make use of our Swift Advance ability (as you cannot Maneuver while engaged), but Hit and Run allows us to Retreat for free, which means we could, for example, fall back and immediately Charge right back into the fight, making this ability useful for both Defense as well as Offense!
Just don't let yourself get bogged down, and don't send the Outriders alone against something they can't handle. Remember that they are a harassment unit- there is no shame in charging in, weakening an enemy, and then falling back to repeat the process. This will prove not only beneficial for you, but incredibly frustrating to your enemies!

UMBER BERSERKERS




Ok, now we're taking a look at our serious guns... err, axes.
No enemy wants to look across the battlefield and see a grouping of House Umber Berserkers. No one. Berserkers are fast, enjoying a staggering 6 Speed. Berserkers also don't much care about such petty concept as "fear" or "bribery"- their 5+ Morale Value speaks to that (as not to say they can't be effected by such things... It's just going to take a lot of effort on the enemy).
We haven't even touched on their combat capabilities yet... And that's where Berserkers get really scary. Ok, so they have a 3+ to Hit and eight attack dice. Not a bad start. But if we look at their Attack profile we see they actually gain more dice as they lose ranks. Moving all the way up to ten attack dice when they only have one remaining rank.
That's not good for any enemy... But it gets so much worse.
They also have the Sundering special ability, allowing them to cut through enemy armor. Hit someone from the Flank and that enemy is going to suffer a staggering [-2] to Defense Saves! Even Lannister Guards with their staggeringly tough 3+ Defense Save will be sliced to ribbons by Berserkers on the Flank!
Finally, we have their Berserker Rage ability, which states if they are activated by [SWORDS] (which usually allows the unit 1 free Attack action) they can instead Charge. What this means is the unit could, hypothetically, charge an enemy, wipe them out, re-position themselves and then be activated by [SWORDS], granting them an additional charge action, potentially into someone's Flank or Rear. Absolutely devastating.
Perhaps the best application of Berserkers, however, is the psychological impact they bring- they are a no-win-situation for your foes. They're going to have to deal with them eventually, either by attacking them on their own, which will only serve to make them stronger, or try to avoid them, and we have the advantage on speed and maneuverability, so they won't be able to run forever... and even if they try, you're now controlling the flow of the battle, and that is in itself a victory.

BONUS: GREY WIND




Grey Wind here is a bit of a cheat, since he really isn't a full combat unit. When Robb Stark is in your army, Grey Wind may be included for no additional points, tagging along on a Solo Tray all by himself.
Overall, Grey Wind isn't going to win many combats on his own, only throwing out two Attack dice (even if it does represent him mauling someone to death with a 2+ to Hit). Grey Wind's real strength comes from the unexpected surprise of having a Direwolf suddenly charge into you Flank or Rear while another unit hits you from the Front. Expert use of Grey Wind would see him roaming around near Robb, waiting for the perfect time to strike. When Robb's unit is ready to move in, Grey Wind leads the assault, hitting the unit on the Flank, dealing some damage, but most importantly causing them to become Vulnerable. Robb then in turn charges in and benefits from that condition.
Of course, you really don't want Grey Wind stuck in combat on his own, since while he has a decent Defense, Resilience, and even the ability to suffer 2 wounds before being killed, he is still just a single direwolf, and a dedicated unit of soldiers will make short work of him.
Channel your inner Robb, plan your assaults, use your speed to your advantage, and Grey Wind can prove to be a potent weapon in your arsenal!
And there you have it, loyal bannermen, a look into the combat units of House Stark! We'll be taking a look at our various Unit Attachments, as well as our Commanders, in a later update, both of which only serve to add more variety and tactics to our arsenal. Join us then, followers of the Direwolf!

 daemonish wrote:
Has anyone pledged to a CMON Kickstarter before? What are they like for sticking to deadlines and delivery overseas?

 daemonish wrote:
Has anyone pledged to a CMON Kickstarter before? What are they like for sticking to deadlines and delivery overseas?

 RiTides wrote:
The only real drawbacks to CMON's current level of PVC models is:

1. Difficult to convert
2. Limited poses (lots of repeats)
3. Bendy weapons

Those are significant, particularly in a wargame rather than a skirmish. But the individual model quality is pretty fantastic!

 Tamereth wrote:
I'm a huge fan of the show, and I think that's why this isn't wowing me. Nothing really ties into the look of the shows. When looking at the characters I don't recognise them without being told who they are (except the mountain).

 Bull0 wrote:
To capture the feel of the books it'd need to be primarily a game about banqueting. I swear more pages are dedicated to food porn than much else

evancich wrote:
I pledged, but I think this is a misstep for CMON.

They have crazy successful KS campaigns and having the war game license to A Song of Ice and Fire seems like the license to print $$$$$$$$$

I don't think doing a KS is as good of a deal (for the backers as the other ones were). They can't offer a bunch of KS item only because this will live on at retail

They also can't widely change the balence via a KS item

 Sqorgar wrote:

 Bull0 wrote:
To capture the feel of the books it'd need to be primarily a game about banqueting. I swear more pages are dedicated to food porn than much else

You could fill a book (or five) with GRRM's bad habits in describing breakfasts, heraldry, clothing choices, and ancestry:

"Ted Hammerbutt wore a boiled leather jerkin over his enamel green chainmail shirt, with a slightly less green cloak fasted by a gold chain linked to two small golden hamsters. His pants were also leather, mottled green and brown, and completely irrelevant. His shield had a golden kracken giving birth to a motley duck on a sea of green against an orange sky. His eyes were grey and purple with golden flecks and just a hint of nutmeg.

Ted broke his fast with some honeyed wine, some walnuts, an omelet made from swallow eggs, and a pan-fried cake made with eyes of sliced banana and bacon for a mouth. As he ate, he considered the House of Hammerbutt, from his father Filip Hammerbutt, his uncle Terry Hammerbutt (known to most as Terry the Rather Unpleasant), his nuncles Jeyne Hammerbutt (Little Jeyne), Jayne Hammerbutt (Big Jayne), Jaiiine Hammerbutt (The 10th Jayne), and some other guy who will never be mentioned again, probably, but you better remember his name anyway because you never know, it might just come up again in a Dunk and Egg story, Turd Gunderson, by way of the lesser Gunderson house."

 Nostromodamus wrote:
I would be happy if they just gave backers more of the basic units.

Kinda reminds me of Zombicide where they pile the Survivors on and don't even give you the option to buy more basic zombies, let alone give you a substantial amount of extra ones (which I feel was an especially bad move for Green Horde).