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 Pugnacious_Cee wrote:
1) It's not that softcover is "worse" per say... but the durability of a quality hardback is typically greater, it sits much nicer on a shelf, and it just has a heft and substantial feel to it. I value a hardcover tome more than a softcover. I guess it's the same reason hardcover books for commercial consumption continue to be produced at all? I mean trying to deconstruct it, why does anyone buy a $30 hardcover of a Stephen King novel when the same words are also available in a smaller, more easily transportable, half-the-price softcover? Or even further why not go cheapest and get digital? I can't explain the reasoning behind it completely, but there is an enjoyment I have in holding and using a hardcover book that I don't experience with a softcover book or a digital book.

I will say, obviously it is an opinion backed by experience and it could just be me, I do not necessarily agree that Hardcover > Softcover. A lot of book durability and quality depends on the manufacturer. I have hardcover books that are great as well as a lot that the pages simply came out of the book and the hardcover separated, while I've never had that with a softcover. I tend to put my books in a backpack, travel with them over the years and the rest of the time they sit on a shelf. Maybe I treat them better but I've never had an issue with softcovers (talking since the days of RPGs from the mid-90s forward from Rifts, Star Wars, D&D, White Wolf, etc).

Now that said... I do like to hold a hardcover in my hand. I tend to only buy hardcovers if there are no other options (which companies do) but if the choice between softcover vs hardcover I'd normally take softcover. That may be partly why the expensive PDF can be off-putting because today, I could just print out my own softcover version based on PDF and be fine. The cost of that is subjectively low but more so when the PDF is more expensive.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
PS: Is shipping included in the $50, or additional?

There is a $5 shipping charge for those in the US. At least that is what is being charged for the Kickstarter pledge level. So the $50+$5 pledge for book or the $60+5 pledge for the book and acrylic tokens.

Really like the look of this. A question: as a huge fan of new Necromunda, how would you compare this ruleset to that one? Difficult question perhaps but I’ve never managed to find a skirmish campaign game that tells stories better than Necromunda.

Really like the look of the game but would love some more details. Think we'll see a let's play video or demo? I'm curious how the game flows once players know what they are doing.

I feel like I remember him saying at one point he was working on a gameplay video... ? I can't be certain, though.

Since this is supposed to be at LVO this weekend, maybe we'll get an update with some video footage from that!

Hey guys. Lots of good conversation--- pardon slow response here for you all. Been busy as one can imagine! But yes, it was a conscious choice to make a book directly comparable in production value, art, design to game books such as This is Not a Test, Infinity, the Warlord Games, Dark Age, etc. So that's about 170 pages on durable gloss paper.

I feel like I remember him saying at one point he was working on a gameplay video... ? I can't be certain, though.

Since this is supposed to be at LVO this weekend, maybe we'll get an update with some video footage from that!

We're going to be at LVO and aiming to get new videos made with folks there, running through the demos we have. It's a goal to get some of that shared with folks so you have a more clear play-through of the game.
That said, we do have the demo 'First Encounter' on the website which has a slightly earlier iteration and slightly simplified set of the rules and 2 pre-made teams to give you a taste of the core mechanics and how they can play uniquely.

Really like the look of this. A question: as a huge fan of new Necromunda, how would you compare this ruleset to that one? Difficult question perhaps but I’ve never managed to find a skirmish campaign game that tells stories better than Necromunda.

A really good question! I mean, many of us were influenced by Necromunda at some point as it's a gaming classic. We had some convergent design evolution it ends up, but there's a few aspects. One is that there's more openness to what 'your dudes' are, as they vary greater archtypes than gangers, from evolving robots to nanite-infused bio-monsters. There's more strategic options to customize your team's character by unlocking 'Doctrines', which are upgrades to the entire team's ruleset that have limited choices, meaning you can change how a group decides it wants to operate over time.
Likewise in a versus campaign, both players select their own objective privately before revealing them to each other and selecting a mission. One player may want to hijack an automated cargo loader for resources, while the other may want to capture a high-ranking prisoner from the first player's force. Ever play XCOM when you may decide to scrub the mission, but want to capture an intact plasma gun to reverse engineer? That sorta situation was designed in, so that you may make strategic decisions in campaign matches.
One scenario for example, is that the random battlefield setup roll may place a cryo chamber on the map, out of the way of your mission. Do you go for it? Inside, is it just resources? A rare gun? Or an ancient survivor from another era who has unique abilities, but must be rescued off the field to join your party permanently? Or does the other team decide to capture them first?

That's the kind of feeling and events that we wanted to make.

----

In any case, thanks guys for keeping the discussion and questions coming. We all have our different tastes and prefs, it's just part of gaming. I'm happy to be chatting through them of course.

https://zoneraiders.com/

I hadn't even realized there was a website! It even has faction descriptions.

Huh, that mission and objective structure has me really intrigued. How in-depth is the character development throughput the campaign, and is there a lot of resource management (territories, contacts, etc) as well?

 Mymearan wrote:
Huh, that mission and objective structure has me really intrigued. How in-depth is the character development throughput the campaign, and is there a lot of resource management (territories, contacts, etc) as well?

Yes, there's a bit of depth there: You have Resource Units (RU), which is 'money' to get things. TECH, BIO and TACTICS are resources which unlock level-ups for your team. Such as making new skills available or unlocking Doctrines. These are kind of how your group of survivors views how they need to take on their challenges collectively, such as developing better medical tech to reduce the chance of serious industries, or to have your rookies start at a more advanced state if you need to rebuild. Likewise, there's common and faction-specific ones so it has a bit of flavor there as to how your group institutionally develops. You can't unlock everything however. But you can get some cross-faction gear by salvaging it off the field, as well as a chance at rare artifact gear found in certain situations that represent lost technologies.

It's a lot of stuff, but handled pretty simply. Post-mission in this genre of game is always some of the most fun anyway.

I understand that the campaign has some stretch-goal-unlockable stuff like further campaigns, and that at this time you're not actively seeking creating models, but have you considered teaming up with any of the excellent 3rd-party MDF terrain manufacturers out there to create "official" Zone Raiders pieces? Kind of like how Twisted teamed up with Miniature Scenery, or Infinity has pieces with Warsenal/Bandua, etc.?

I almost backed this, but I just need to see some actual gameplay before I do.

I like these smaller scale type games because I can get my wife to play (she actually asked me recently when we can play Kill Team again and I did a legit double-take).

Gameplay video!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/346620204/zone-raiders-a-miniatures-campaign-skirmish-game/posts/2409871

If I wasn't already sold, I would have been immediately on seeing the sniper wall run down into melee. Hell yes. HELL yes.

Quasistellar wrote:
I almost backed this, but I just need to see some actual gameplay before I do.

I like these smaller scale type games because I can get my wife to play (she actually asked me recently when we can play Kill Team again and I did a legit double-take).

Heya! Glad you asked, as Pugnacious_Cee mentioned... we posted an LVO Update yesterday with a brief play video of the turn structure! It's a view of demos we've been giving attendees for the basic activation structure, and the fundamentals of what happens... plus some cool things. Flanking/Crossfire, shoving people off giant ledges, and dynamic movement actions.

That said, we've cleared 10.5k! That means free silhouette tokens into the token pack

That's great! Those tokens are very cool. Congrats on funding!

So we survived LVO! Great time meeting people, especially if any of you guys went out there. Everything was excitedly received and we had a fantastic time.

Update wise, we had a few:
Factions Info:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/346620204/zone-raiders-a-miniatures-campaign-skirmish-game/posts/2411341

Demo Video and stat sheets:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/346620204/zone-raiders-a-miniatures-campaign-skirmish-game/posts/2409871

Plus, we've cleared a number of stretch goals, including adding the standees to token sets, and unlocking more co-op missions in a future downloadable expansion.

Now--- to rest.

That demo video was great! I like all the wall running, grappling, overwatch and suppressing fire they were doing. Seems like a very fluid game.

So, backed.

Update with example models, how to build a team, some sample team rosters--- and a link once again to our earlier Demo Rules!
Now--- time to finally get some post-convention sleep!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/346620204/zone-raiders-a-miniatures-campaign-skirmish-game/posts/2413794

I've been waiting for this for a while, I backed immediately. One of the points that is most attractive to me is the fact that it can be played both competitively and cooperatively. The more material that supports coop play the better!

You mention that the stretch goals with added campaigns will be released as downloads later. Is there any chance that they will be available in print at some point, some sort of "print on demand" option perhaps? Perhaps through DriveThroughRPG or some other publisher?

 Soul Samurai wrote:
I've been waiting for this for a while, I backed immediately. One of the points that is most attractive to me is the fact that it can be played both competitively and cooperatively. The more material that supports coop play the better!

You mention that the stretch goals with added campaigns will be released as downloads later. Is there any chance that they will be available in print at some point, some sort of "print on demand" option perhaps? Perhaps through DriveThroughRPG or some other publisher?

Yeah, it's a gap I really wanna fill. Especially if we hit the 'Narrative Co-Op Campaign' level where we can play a branching story...
For the added components, we'll do downloads but eventually incorporate that in a future expansion if a physical copy becomes viable.

Been a phenomenally busy last few days, but we just cleared 17500, unlocking 4 new factions for a future expansion! More on that will come in the next update. Less than 3 days left though for what's left!

In the meanwhile, we've got the following updates people here may be interested in!

Asymmetrical Missions, Competitive and Solo/Co-Op Modes:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/346620204/zone-raiders-a-miniatures-campaign-skirmish-game/posts/2414958

Building your Teams and Demo Rules
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/346620204/zone-raiders-a-miniatures-campaign-skirmish-game/posts/2413794

In-Depth Faction Previews
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/346620204/zone-raiders-a-miniatures-campaign-skirmish-game/posts/2411341

Thanks all!

I looked but didn't see the answer anywhere so I'll ask here:
Will there be a post KS way to back? Late Pledge, etc.

I like what I see and want the game but don't have the funds free right now.

Oh man, this looks cool! I may have to get in on this!

Last 48 hours! We've unlocked a new stretch goal: The Solo/Coop narrative campaign. Likewise, we have a new goal up on the horizon: Standalone Fantasy Supplement beta for later in the year!

Exciting times
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/346620204/zone-raiders-a-miniatures-campaign-skirmish-game/posts/2419337/

 Taarnak wrote:
I looked but didn't see the answer anywhere so I'll ask here:
Will there be a post KS way to back? Late Pledge, etc.

I like what I see and want the game but don't have the funds free right now.

We'll have a post-KS Pledge Survey to help with that.

Well, that's a wrap! After 14 days, we raised over 350% of our initial funding goal!
Now onto production and getting things out there! Surveys forthcoming!

Was crazy. I knew it would succeed but not by so much. Congrats guys.

WHOA! I didn't get my 48 hour warning email from KS! Are you going to allow late pledges in the pledge manager?

We're looking into seeing how we can set that up. It's something I want to do! Just going to make sure it's practical. Most likely will have to keep it to US though for a few logistical reasons. For now!

Well! Belated update, but our surveys and late backing are going out now!
https://zoneraiders.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

Been thrilled with seeing what people have been doing too, prepping for the game as well! One of our fans posted up these gorgeous minis for his raid team

Can an option for both hardcover and pdf be added?

I want both but at $30 the pdf is a bit on the high side.

Hey! All options that include hardcover should have the PDF also included.

 Fractal Basilisk wrote:
Hey! All options that include hardcover should have the PDF also included.

Excellent! Thank you.