Mierce Darkholds (Co-Op Dungeon Crawler Board Game) Live on Kickstarter

Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:

No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.

If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

**skullking**

Thanks for the details Tim! This puts it much more in perspective.

**Aeneades**

Alpharius wrote:
There's only a £5 difference - we'll be OK if we don't get it.

I do, however, understand the psychological benefit to getting one, and *usually* there are just enough Early Birds to 'fund' the project (The CMON Approach!) and I'll also admit that, as a long time supporter of Mierce's Darklands Campaigns, I'll still be (irrationally) miffed if I don't snag one too!

I do hope they off 'resin add-on' deals to get all the things in resin, as an option.

They confirmed earlier that you couldn't sub the plastic for the resin and that resins could be purchased from the webstore so sounds like no resin addon.

**Alpharius**

Right, except I was talking about add-ons, referencing this:

bananaman wrote:
Hi guys,

Tim from Mierce here. Just wanted to comment on a few points raised.

There will 68 minis in the box (and a shedload of cards, board tiles etc) - a fair few of them rather large miniatures too! There will also be a KS exclusive mini free to all backers of the game right from the get go. There won't be a resin upgrade (where PVC is subbed out for resin casts) I'm afraid as the boxes will be packed in China. - Resins can, of course, be purchased on our website as normal (and if there's demand we could add a bundle deal of the resins on the site) So you'll be able to buy the new stuff in resin, but there will be no subbing out. It will be an extra cost purchased via the website.
[u]

...which looks like it might be possible, if there's enough demand for it.

**yxalitis**

No Australia hub?
Darn, that'll push the all-in price up another $40!
That's probable gonna rule me (And a lot of southern hemisphere dwellers) out of contention.

**Aeneades**

Alpharius wrote:
Right, except I was talking about add-ons, referencing this:

bananaman wrote:
Hi guys,

Tim from Mierce here. Just wanted to comment on a few points raised.

There will 68 minis in the box (and a shedload of cards, board tiles etc) - a fair few of them rather large miniatures too! There will also be a KS exclusive mini free to all backers of the game right from the get go. There won't be a resin upgrade (where PVC is subbed out for resin casts) I'm afraid as the boxes will be packed in China. - Resins can, of course, be purchased on our website as normal (and if there's demand we could add a bundle deal of the resins on the site) So you'll be able to buy the new stuff in resin, but there will be no subbing out. It will be an extra cost purchased via the website.
[u]

...which looks like it might be possible, if there's enough demand for it.

Sorry, managed to miss that end part somehow.

**MattW**

yxalitis wrote:
No Australia hub?
Darn, that'll push the all-in price up another $40!
That's probable gonna rule me (And a lot of southern hemisphere dwellers) out of contention.

Yeah, that took the wind out of my sails a bit. :(

**RiTides**

bananaman wrote:
Hi guys,

Tim from Mierce here. Just wanted to comment on a few points raised.

PVC - yes. We'll be using Dust Studios moulding and manufacturing prowess. They made the minis for The Others 7 Sins, WoK (insert CMoN game with nice minis here) - the quality is excellent and we'll be adding hard plastic weapons for the spears and bows etc. The quality of The Others and Blood Rage (with hard plastic on spears etc) is what we will deliver.

Miniatures - the vast majority of the Jutes (undead) have been sculpted digitally already. We'll be revisiting the files and making alterations - increasing the size of the sculpts to allow for PVC shrinkage and will also be bulking up ankle, wrists, shafts (ahem) etc. Some slight pose changes will be made to make for better casts also.

Miniatures that aren't digital and already exist as traditional (by which I mean epoxy or polymer clay sculpts) - some of them such as Sathach and Nerys (already quite small) will be re-sculpted in a digital format (in fact they already have been!) they have been sculpted with PVC casting in mind (deeper details) and will also be printed larger than usual to account for shrinkage.

There are some brand new sculpts new to Darkholds - all are sculpted digitally and with PVC in mind. We have been in regular contact with Dust with regards to PVC shrinkage rates, moulding, parts etc.

We'll be showing off new and groovy stuff during the KS, of course.

Some miniatures that already exist in traditional format will be retained. These are Penda, Carrowek and Gnith (as well as the odd henchman and bad guy) in all cases these are miniatures that are quite large to begin with and have well defined details. (Gnith was actually sculpted with Darkholds in mind which is why he's a little large)

The scale will be 32mm (after PVC shrinkage) which is a little larger than the average Darklands miniature, though the scale of Darklands will gradually increase going forwards to 32mm also (some already are) . It allows for bolder details, thicker (more durable) weapons and is easier for the naked eye to read.

In terms of the game - it is indeed a simple, tactical game. My favourite game growing up was Space Hulk and it's still a game I play regularly now. I suppose the best way to describe Darkholds is a bit of Space Hulk, Zombicide and WH Quest. Not quite akin to any one in particular but certainly has some inspiration here and there. There is character progression but this is handled via game level rather than XP. We have a golden rule of 'No pens' and any book keeping will be done via cards (treasure, items) and the player dashboard.

I think people will love the 'agendas' and I feel I must point out that although this is a player vs game co-op there is no rule that stops players from attacking one another....... There is also an option to make the game player vs player is someone would prefer to play as the undead.

There will be a gameplay example video shown off from the start of the KS.

There will 68 minis in the box (and a shedload of cards, board tiles etc) - a fair few of them rather large miniatures too! There will also be a KS exclusive mini free to all backers of the game right from the get go. There won't be a resin upgrade (where PVC is subbed out for resin casts) I'm afraid as the boxes will be packed in China. - Resins can, of course, be purchased on our website as normal (and if there's demand we could add a bundle deal of the resins on the site) So you'll be able to buy the new stuff in resin, but there will be no subbing out. It will be an extra cost purchased via the website.

The pledge level is £90 (ROUGHLY $117 USD) - there will be some very limited early birds set at £85 ($110) - shipping will be calculated at the time of shipping. We will have European and North American shipping hubs.

We've stretch goals planned out as long as your arm that we will unveil as we go along. How far we go and how many extras and freebies we unleash is all down to you guys. You won't feel short changed. There are freebies galore up for grabs if we get far enough. There will also be optional purchases and also a chance to buy extra Jutes as units should you plan to use extra for your wargames or other gaming uses.

I hope that covers most things. I don't pop by too often as I'm understandably very busy (always, especially right now) - the KS launches Tuesday the 15th August at 6pm (UK) which is 1pm (EST) and we'll have a regular online presence there during the KS to answer any questions you feel aren't covered by the KS and FAQs themselves.

See you next Tuesday!

Wow, thank you for posting all that great info! I had been leaning towards not backing just with how tight things are at the moment - but this has convinced me

Looking forward to it!

**Zethnar**

bananaman wrote:

There is character progression but this is handled via game level rather than XP. We have a golden rule of 'No pens' and any book keeping will be done via cards (treasure, items) and the player dashboard.

Eh, I'd prefer something a little deeper. To be honest if I wanted a game with a shallow character progression system I could get either Sword & Sorcery or Massive Darkness right now rather than having to wait a year plus for it.

Are the dungeon layouts randomized or does it follow a layout presented in a quest book?

**smurfORnot**

This one really interests me, since I love co-op&good minis. On the other hand, it will all depend about the gameplay, if game is easy and no brainer with obvious choiches, straight forward, there will be little point for me to pick it up :(

**bananaman**

Just popped on for a quick snippet ahead of the launch of the KS on Tue.

The pledge for the boxed game Darkholds: Ancient Barrows on Kickstarter will be £90/$117 USD. If you were to purchase just the minis (so no tiles, cards, dice, book etc) from the Mierce website right now, choosing the cheapest possible option (metal where available, in units where possible etc) then the RRP just for the minis alone would be £478/$620 (all resin would be even more, so this is why a 'resin upgrade' might not be too desirable ;0) )

The boxed game basically includes a Jute army! The game itself is awesome and to top it off you get an undead army to use in any other boardgame you feel they'd fit or games of Darklands or any other fantasy wargame!

We'll let you know the actual contents later, but that should be a juicy tidbit for now!

**zedmeister**

Excellent. I've got a lot of Skellybobs already and more will just mean that I'll end up fielding hordes of Wihtgar...

**Alpharius**

Same here - which is why I'm somewhat (not) patiently waiting for some living Jutes already!!!

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

This looks to be on target for tomorrow

fingers crossed

**Alpharius**

I've got the day off tomorrow - need to set an alarm for this...

So...what time again tomorrow?

**bananaman**

2 hours until launch at 18:00 GMT 13:00 EST 10:00 PZT

There will be 500 Early Bird pledges for £80/$103 so get there early!

Automatically Appended Next Post:
It's up early. Got excited

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mierceminiatures/darkholds-ancient-barrows/description

Get them early birds!

**Pacific**

Brilliant stuff

Got me an early (late afternoon?!

) bird!

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

Tweet Tweet

**RiTides**

Got one! Thanks for the heads up

**judgedoug**

Pledged!

I think it'll suffer a little because there's no "piles of free stuff" stretch goals, and it has an actual realistic goal, versus an artificially low goal.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

Set in the lands of darkness - the brutal, uncivilised world of dark ages Britain in the 7th century AD - Darkholds: Ancient Barrows is a board game containing miniatures, tiles, counters and cards to enable 1-4 players to control legendary heroes and their henchmen as they explore the caverns, barrows and halls of the undead Wihts.

The game can be played as a story campaign comprising ten levels of varying design and aspect in three areas, beginning in the caverns and natural gorges near the coast (area 1, levels 1-3), then exploring the catacombs and barrows of the undead (area 2, levels 4-6) and eventually fighting through the halls of the ancients (area 3, levels 7-9) to gain the secret of undeath (the quest's end, level 10); but each level can of course be played on its own. You can even choose to play each area - three levels - as a mini-campaign!

Players need not worry about the experience of their heroes or henchmen if they play later levels, either, for the skills and abilities of the adventurers are tied to the levels themselves.

If Darkholds: Ancient Barrows is played as a campaign, players can purchase certain types of mundane equipment or hire henchmen in between levels - effectively meaning heroes have a retinue they can bring with them to the next level!

To succeed in their quest for eternal life players must overcome a horde of enemies trying to stop their heroes, gathering treasure, ancient artefacts and sorcerous weapons or armour to help them along the way. The Wihts, scampering grave spiders and huge, terrifying mound beetles, ancient Gāsta and shrieking Drēaguth all wish to deny the secrets of the Jutes to the outsiders, and they will do anything - including the destruction of their own halls and tombs - to stop them.

Players must also understand that - whilst the game is co-operative - there will also be an element of selfishness to how each player plays the game, for each hero must draw a quest card at the beginning of each level.

[youtube]https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mierceminiatures/darkholds-ancient-barrows?ref=hero_thanks[/youtube]

**RiTides**

Ah, I didn't see the goal - it totally makes sense, but I wonder if they should make another early bird tier after this one?

I've noticed that having enough early bird slots to approximately reach the base goal has been a good formula for a lot of campaigns. So, something to think about it as the pledges come in

**bananaman**

There will be another set of early birds but at a slightly higher price.

**Bossk_Hogg**

Pledged too. Oof, that's a high starting goal, but realistic I think in term of what is needed to fund. Hope they make it. There's this bizarre mentality on KS where people don't want to pledge before it meets its goal.

**bananaman**

The goal is realistic - there's little point in funding if the true costs are lower than the pledged amount.

There will be freebies aplenty though - just need to fund first. We're just popping the first goal up now.

**Pacific**

Yes it doesn't make much sense does it! Hopefully the early bird goals goals will go some way towards getting to that total.

I have to say, I love the art direction of this game. The grisly, dark-age and Slaine-esque setting is a nice alternative to the cheery cartoonism of Zombicide and Massive Darkenss (as much as I love those games!)

Was interested to find out as well that Mierce isn't pronounced as I thought it was pronounced!

**bananaman**

Heh I had to record a short clip of me pronouncing some various words so the narrator could pronounce everything correctly himself!

**overtyrant**

Only had a quick flick through, I'll have a proper look later when the opp arrives, but I did not notice any SG and the tiles look a bit cartooney and something looks off about the cards in general, can't quite put my finger on it. Minis look lovely though they are the resin ones and not the plastic ones right? Was that mentioned clearly on the KS page. I'll get a proper look later.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

Yes the minis show are the resins, but the same factory that handles CMONs boardgames is scheduled to do the plastics so they should be comparable to that

(which is pretty good unless you're after a single display piece or painting competition entry)

Stretch goals are yet to be revealed

**BobtheInquisitor**

I wish I could pledge a small amount for just the heroes. Otherwise, I'll have to wait for retail or trade for what I want.

**Azreal13**

In for £1 for now, can't be confident I can back for a full amount, and sitting on an early bird I know I may have to ultimately drop feels like a bit of a douche move.

My pile of new resin, DZC starter and incoming package of hobby materials are all glaring at me accusingly, especially as I've got a really strong Jute itch that this would scratch.

Hopefully this follows other Mierce KS and has a healthily flexible pledge manager in the post-project phase if I can't swing it!