Kickstarter #3

Lets keep this going

So, week number 3.  I'm amazed people still read these posts, but I'm going to keep going.  As soon as I get 1000 views on the site I will try and come up with something interesting to do.  Anyway, some things on Kickstarter that I think are worth looking at.

Legends of the Mist - Kids love Tiger Games

Darn it I hate when there isn't a good picture I can use.

Anyway, Legends of the Mist looks like a combination of a lot of games all thrown together into something which just looks ever so pretty.  I do like pretty looking games.

I spotted this though because it seems to borrow a core mechanic from another game, one which I own and love a hell of a lot.  That game is called Roll for the Galaxy, and basically it involves a lot of custom dice, rolled and organised behind a board and then revealed to allow you to perform certain actions.  What sets Legends of the Mist aside is that it appears that you then interact with each other very heavily based on your results.  That is possibly the only thing that Roll of the Galaxy doesn't do.  RotG is very self centred in its play style, you can't really do a lot to stop your opponent doing what they want to do.  So to see a roll and reveal (can I trademark that as a Genre name?) type game like this, which is much more interactive.. sounds cool.

There are also tile placement and worker placement aspects, which RotG does have, but again this time it is a single central area rather than in isolation.  Plus you can attack tiles, buy extra dice, win extra dice.  There seems to be a lot to it.

The last thing is the theme, because I really do love things which have a bit of Asian theme about them.  Legend of the 5 Rings and Tsuro spring to mind, and the theme of those games and this one are quite rich.  I'm not sure how well the theme will work, pretty sure a game like this could be set with any background and it would work, but I do like the artwork.

Check it out here.

Rifts for Savage Worlds - Shane Hensley

Rifts was a game that perhaps a lot of people have heard of but never really played.  It falls into the category of post "event" earth, started by a nuclear war which just happens to fall under the perfect conditions for the energy released to be trapped by earth's ley lines.  This in turn causes more natural disasters, more death, more energy... rinse and repeat.  Ultimately the amount of energy is enough to cause rifts to open in the Multiverse and all manner of stuff can get to earth from pretty much every type of reality imaginable.  Oh and Atlantis rises again.. just cus.

Basically everything isn't all roses at all on Earth, as more or less everything you can imagine can get here.  Now, we are slightly lucky, because before the war there was a golden age of humanity.  Everyone worked together, science and technology are in over drive and things are pretty amazing.  Sadly everything goes wrong (Canada, America and Mexico get together in a big war ready alliance and start the aforementioned problems), as these things tend to do.  So now, with all our shiny tech we have to deal with all these problems.  Of course with all the Ley Line energy kicking around suddenly magic is back in the picture too.

There are a lot of games like this, Cyberpunk and Shadowrun spring to mind, though the premise of those is different (and Cyberpunk is less with the magic, k thanks).  Thing is Rifts went for High Tech rather than Punk tech.  All the power suits look like something out of a Mecha Anime.  Weapons are, quite frankly, ridiculous (Mega Damage!).  Light sabers are pretty much there is spirit and the game has this Golden Age of technology feel, with the darkness coming simply from the weird creatures and the evils of mankind.  It certainly has its place.

I played Rifts once, someone did a really odd demo type game when I was at school and we were basically all players in a really odd sports game where we could beat each other up or score goals.. nice to know that idea hasn't ever died out.  It was a lot of fun, not sure how it will fit with Savage Worlds, but it will be interesting to see.

Have a look here.

Town of Salem the Card Game - BlackMedia Games

I can say for a start, this looks like it heavily based off of Werewolf - quite an old game where people got hidden roles and then had to either eliminate the other players or work out who the bad guy was.  Town of Salem seems to up the ante a little by making it so each of the good and bad roles can do different things to each other.

I certainly don't think that is a bad thing.

In general, I probably wouldn't go for a game like this.  I've not really played and enjoyed Werewolf before, because there is a lot of player elimination in the game, but I have a feeling Salem has its advantages over that.  For a start the bad guys can end up killing off each other.. which is just funny.  Plus there seems to be a bit more of a lean towards each side winning rather than one person winning.  Werewolf, for all its popularity, generally involved the good guys winning or that one solitary Werewolf getting to the end and winning alone.

It looks quite good, the cards are a little cartoony, but I've never really had an issue with that.  Certainly can see this being fun, in the same way as lots of people tell me Werewolf is with the right group.  Anyway have a look here.

Thats all folks

So thats it for this weekend.  I wasn't actually planning to do one this weekend, but needs must and all that.  As with previous posts, I don't do this with any pre-arranged plugs or samples of the product.  This is all perpetrated from looking at the Kickstarter pages and watching any videos on the site.  If anyone would like me to do a review of a product they are Kickstarting I would not say no... just so you know.

On social anxiety and gaming

The smallest straw

I should be in a field right now, in fact I was only a few hours ago getting ready for the first CP event of the year.

Now I'm at home.

The smallest straw can break someone with social anxiety and as a gamer it can have some seriously negative effects.  The straw this time was that the tent I had bought with me didn't have any poles.  It meant to stay I would need to share with someone or sleep in my car.  I had offers of somewhere to stay, but I just couldn't.  I needed my space, somewhere to relax and spread out, somewhere if I needed a break no one would come and interrupt me.  In the end, regardless of the obvious solutions I'm now at home, missing the first CP event of the year.

I don't know if everyone knows of the Spoon theory on anxiety and depression, but I'm linking it here.

http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/

Read it?  Go, please, it'll make sense I promise.

You see today I didn't have many spoons.  I'd not slept well, I'd stayed up late for no good reason, I knew this weekend was going to involve me being involved in a lot of plot, and that I had a lot of rituals to perform.  Basically a lot of spotlight moments I didn't necessarily feel ready for.  It was also the first big event I was going to alone in 5 years (guess why, if you don't already know).  It was also the first time I was going to be in the same place as the person I used to go to events with (got it now?).  Each of those things is another spoon gone.  So that tent took the last spoon I had and I realised I couldn't stay.

Thing is, I met my ex-wife (there we go), albeit briefly.  It was fine, perhaps if I'd done that to start with I would have got some spoons back, but that happened after I already decided to go.  Once you have lost that motivation, once anxiety has taken over, very little gets around it.

The thing is, its now doing the other side of things.  I'm at home and all I'm telling myself is that I've failed, I've let people down.  I now want to be back down there, working things out, sorting somewhere to stay, but I don't think I can face it.  I don't think people will understand.

Why is this important to gaming?  Because I think it can be a solution to an extent.  Gaming breaks people out of the normal, the standard of day to day life.  In the right doses, if it is something you want to do, than you can break out of needing those spoons.  It'll give you the social confidence, and it can make you realise that there are people out there you can get along with.

Its amazing how good I can feel at events, at tournaments, or just seeing people.

Its also true that it can be soul destroying, because sometimes anxiety will win.  Especially when you are in a field with hundreds of people, and all you want is a sanctum to get away from it all.  That is me, today, wishing I was in a field, full of nerds, and realising just a little bit of fore sight and I would be there now.  So to break my social anxiety I'm writing it down instead, not to justify my running away, but to remove it all from my head.

Of course what I now need to do is work out something to get me out of the house this weekend so I don't just Hermit.. Hermitting is a terrible idea right now, even if its the easiest thing to do.

So, all those people that are gamers, I'm afraid to say that a lot of the people you know (because I think social anxiety is very high in our niche group) are probably suffers of social anxiety.  Remember that the guy across from you probably has burnt a lot of spoons just to get out to the event or tournament you are at.  Hopefully, if nothing else, it will help you realise what you are doing for them is being around and helping them realise they can cope in a social situation, and the nicer you can be the less spoons they will have to burn to get through the day.

Reviews and Recommendations

War Gamer Gadgets

Actually time for a review I think, specifically in this case four different reviews.  I've recently been buying up accessories for Guild Ball, outside of the normal Steam Forged supplied tokens and the like.  There is a huge market for extra measuring templates, tokens and the like, so after getting my officially mercandise (in the form of the influence and status markers), I decided to have a look around for a few things I felt would be really handy.  So without further a due.

AoE Templates - Counter attack bases

One of the main things that I couldn't get from Steamforged (they were part of the Kickstarter counter set, but aren't in retail) were AoE markers.  Now I play Alchemists, so I have a bit of a need for AoE markers.  I'm planning on playing Smoke as my main captain, so I go from needing some, to needing rather a lot.

There are a lot of places that do AoE markers, some look really good, but only Counter attack bases seemed to mark off all the points I wanted.  Firstly that they didn't have additional "effect" bits, and by this I mean extra bits of plastic flames or the like in the middle.  Thats just a personal preference.  Secondly that the outer edge was small, as they need to fit over models, so if they are thick edged you get less space into which models can fit.  Finally they needed to have good colour options so I can see what I'm barfing onto the table at any given time.

These are lovely strong transparent plastic, that isn't going to take up too much space on the field, and not only are they multicoloured they also have the effect written on them in case I'm being ultra dense.  Which happens a lot.  Counter attack bases also sent these out really quickly, and to add an extra star to their name, I realised I needed 2 more than I had ordered, so I did an extra order and paid the extra packing.  I promptly got a refund and everything got sent out together.  Really nice of them, even though I was willing to suffer for my stupidity.  I now have 2 Burning, 4 Poison and 4 Cover AoE rings, because Smoke is quite prone to outputting these things.

www.counterattackbases.co.uk

Status Tokens - Broken Egg Games

I saw these on a Battlehammer Video.  I had to have them.  These are just beautiful little tokens they really are.

There are plenty of reasons and plenty of games that require status tokens.  In fact the Guild Ball set by Broken Egg Games are easily useful for Malifaux, and a slightly expanded range is available for Warmahordes as well.  Within the, frankly cheap on the wallet, set you get 5 of each of the main 4 status markers for Guild ball (poison, burning, bleeding and knockdown).  They are so well made, using clear plastic with double side printed backgrounds.  You get get versions that lie down, or if you like some with small bases that stand up.  I went with the standing versions because, well they look good.

I managed to snap one of the bases in two, but as luck would have it there were 2 spare in the packets I had received, so there really wasn't an issue.  All I will say is if the peg won't fit in the hole don't try and force it in... *cough*,  A careful bit of sanding down and they will fit together fine.  The blood tokens needed a little bit of superglue just to make sure they won't fall apart when you pick them up, and I needed to do the same for the odd one or two of the others, but mostly they don't need anything on them to hold them together.

Sadly I've not found the perfect UK supplier for these.  However, ordering from Broken Egg directly was a piece of cake, the shipping cost in minimal and they arrived within a week.  Can't ask for more really.

www.brokenegggames.com

Movement/Range templates - Art of War Studios

Tape measures are bad, ok.

I will admit I don't fully understand the above statement, but I do realise that in a lot of circles the age of using a tape measure is gone.  I can understand the reasoning too; its harder to get the tape measure into place to actually measure accurately, there is always a bigger fault factor, and more importantly bending a tape measure makes it longer, so curved moves firstly increase the amount you move at that time, and slowly every measurement is wrong.

There are a lot of movement widgets out there, but they tend to cap out at around 5" or 6".  So I wanted a few things to sort out 8" ranges without having to chain together widgets, and also some smaller ranges so I didn't have to fit a whole widget onto the board to see if I'm in range.  Art of War Studios thankfully have a decent option here, and they look good, are made of hard plastic and come in Guild Ball team colours.

They are also quite thin, meaning they take up less space.  I can probably use them like normal widgets and do standing up on end manoeuvres to get models about the board.  I considered the metal multipart measures, but couldn't find a good range that were available in the UK, and generally I prefer trying to buy in the UK as you never know about shipping.  These fitted the bill for me, and was more than happy to get them.. along with

Guild Ball tournament tray - Art of War Studios

I've not bothered with display/tournament trays before.  Now this is partly because I've not gone to a lot of tournaments before.  Its is also because with Malifaux I would take my entire bulk collection of Neverborn with me and one tray is not enough.  If I were a better player perhaps it would be, as I would have a core set of models and one, may be two masters I would use all the time, but I was happy to use my foam carry case and packed everything in.

With Guild Ball at the very most I need space for 8 players and a ball.  Obviously a carry case is better for getting to the event, but once there the tray will be perfect.

I wanted something that would fit everything, and with the Art of War Studios tournament tray I "almost" manage it.  The difference here, to every other design I have seen is the layout, and the functionality.

Layout wise, this is the first try I saw that had the extra token tray to the right hand side (as photographed).  This space is divided up so that you can carry and separate off each of the tokens you may have spent a bit of money on that week... to the left of the main space is the standard card and tape (etc) space that appears on most boards and then in the middle is a blank area, with nothing in it to hold models.

Instead you get a separate board and 4 tabs.  Once in place you get a pretty standard model tray, but the tabs can be removed (so long as you don't glue them down, and apply a reasonable amount of pressure from below) and the tray can then be outfitted with a different centre board.  This means the tray can be fitted with a Malifaux tray, X-Wing Tray, or Infinity Tray.  I have none of the extra trays, but I can pick them up at a later date if I feel I need them.

Putting it together was simple, even for me, and while I did use a bit of glue to just make sure a sharp knock won't make it fall apart, I don't think it is actually needed.  As with Counter attack bases and Broken Egg Games, delivery of the items took all of a week, so I was really impressed.  In fact from order to dispatch it took only a couple of days (and that was over a weekend too), so its mostly royal mail I have to say took their time over sorting things out.

art-of-war-studios-ltd.myshopify.com

Looking Forward

There are, as with any game I want to tournament with, a few more things to pick up (most likely).  If nothing else I need to get a soft foam transportation box, as I find metal chips easily within my battlefoam bag.  However, very happy so far, and (ignoring the fact the below shows Malifaux models, my Guild ball are still on the painting desk) I think I have most of what I need to start doing some Tournaments.  Each of these items though can easily be used in many other games, so I look forward to getting some actual game time in soon.

A bit of Nostalgia #2

Battletech

Monday, and it seems to me a good time to look back at an old game once again.  This time I'm going to look at Battletech.

Oh boy, where to start with a game like this.  It is fair to say that Battletech is a beast of a game, one of those grand old monoliths where seeing the beginning is like an archaeological dig, and seeing the end involves some sort of time machine,  If you are as old as I am, then you already know that Battletech really is an ancient artifact, something which is now whispered in dark alcoves as, possibly, being the start of many peoples love of wargaming, may be even the beginning of skirmish gaming.  It was innovative and at the same time tactically complex.  It has, unfortunately in my opinion, been bashed around and in some cases altered beyond reproach by companies that bought up the IP when Fasa fell down, but it does deserve a lot of credit for what it once was (and you can play the Battletech:Classic system now which does maintain the old version of the game).

Battletech, at its heart, was a combat game pitting giant walking tanks against each other.  It's scope was expanded over time to include power armoured soldiers, tanks, aircraft and orbital dropships, but the Battlemechs were always the bread and butter of the game.  Using Hexagonal maps to allow players to work out movement and firing arcs, there was also no need for masses of scenary, and games could easily be played on a small table space.  More map sheets allowed for bigger games, but in general most of the time players would have 3-4 mechs (and may be a few other things on the map).

One of the best things about the game was that it introduced the idea of having separate record sheets for each of the Mechs you were using.  This included locational hit boxes, a variety of different states, and the weapon load out of each Mech.  Before the days of Apps, Battletech had a wide range of open source PC software that allowed you to print out the record sheets and then away you could go.  Bring in the Clan's (see below) and you could even customise the Mech's with different loadouts.  This was heavily written into the background why these guys had better Mech's, and the customisation was a big factor for them.  Now it is all explained lower down, but having never been a competitive game (Battletech was solely a social/scenario type game), this meant the person playing against the Clans was never really sure what they were fighting against.

As mentioned above, damage was location based, so you could blow bits of the Mech off, and to make that even better, the loadouts where recorded as being in certain locations, so weapons or heat sinks could fall off.  In addition firing some of the better weapons would generate heat, and if you let that get to high the Mech could overload and even explode.  There was so much to balance and think of, can you cool down fast enough?  Should you just Alpha Strike and then try and ditch heat over time, or take things easy, chip away at the enemy with weapon fire you can cope with in terms of heat.

Even though it was a good game, the thing that dragged most people into Battletech was the story line.  I don't think the concept of War game based literature would have held for so long if Battletech hadn't done so much.  There is an immense back catalogue of books written within the universe.  It all came from the initial story arch made by Fasa, and part of the problem with some of the more recent versions of the game is it took the story in a direction most fans of the original game just couldn't stomach.  Fasa's background starts quite simple.  The Galaxy is split into grand empires ruled by Noble families.  Since the fall of the last grand alliance of all the families (called the Star League), the Inner Sphere has been in a near continual state of war.  Battlemechs are archaic weapons, barely understood, and certainly nearly impossible to build, simply due to the erosion of manufacturing facilitates from warfare.  With just the core game, you can either play as a member of one of the Inner Sphere empire defence forces, or as wily Mercs trying to make a living.  As the game expanded, a sudden strike, from beyond the bounds of the Inner Spehere, by the Clan's throws everything in to turmoil.  The Inner Sphere has to band together or be swept aside by the near Alien levels of technology that the Clans possess.  A new Star League must be formed or all will be lost.

That was just the back drop, to what became a massively rich world.  Hundreds of books, mostly very well written, came out from a wide range of authors.  The origins of the Clans was revealed, new hidden powers emerged, and everything just kept moving at such a pace that you never knew everything that was going on, yet didn't ever feel lost.  Roleplay games were released allowing you to play as the individual Mech pilots (to varying degrees of success), there were so many computer games that appeared all of which just felt right and played so well.  It even got its own cartoon, which I watched religiously as a kid during the mid 90s.

I don't know how I would feel approaching this game now, if I didn't have the background of growing up with it.  Sure I could get hooked on the newer computer games, and I would probably be quite interested in the record sheet system, but it has become difficult to get the models (Ironwind now make them, but you could find them in most gaming shops at one point), the Heroclix version would probably put me off (though I might cope with the extended timeline story they have for it then), and the fact that its an old hex map "boardgame" might well not quite be as exciting as things like Malifaux and GuildBall.. but for me, if Man O'War got me to realise that large open scale war games could have much more tactical content, it was Battletech that made me realise just how good a War Game could be.  It forms a major bench mark that all other games I play now have to surpass for me to want to play it long term, a bench mark that Warhammer 40k has never even got close to.

Kick the bucket

Kickstarter review week #2

So I'm back a week (and a day) later with three more kickstarter reviews.  As per last time, I don't have any insider benefits for this, I don't get freebies, these are literally things I have had a look at and I think are quite good.  This week will be three new kickstarters, from this week, which sadly I just can't throw money at, but in many cases kind of wish I could.

Dark Souls the Board Game - Steamforged

I'm going to start with the big hitter from this week.  Dark Souls TBG was funded within 3 minutes of the project going live, and with 22 days left to go has already reached £1.3m.

I'm not sure I can really say much more on the funding side of things, basically this is really quite impressive, its the sort of thing I expect from CMON products, and Steamforged (creators of Guild Ball) I think would not have expected this sort of rapid run.  That said, it is Dark Souls, and plenty of people are in the market for more things set in this meta.

It's not a game I have ever played, so this might explain why it hasn't jumped out at me to put money into.  I'm pretty sure there are plenty of people, who I know, that will be psyched out for this game.  It is a fairly good Board Game genre to work in (tile based dungeon adventure), and from everything I have seen and heard it is really well put together, and the minis are top top quality again.  Its certainly worth a look, and 14,500 backers (at time of writing) can't all be wrong?  Have a look here.

Tabletop Terrain and Trays - Mini Duels

If I hadn't just bought something for Guild Ball I would be getting into this kickstarter.

Not just a kickstarter for Guild Ball trays though, Mini Duels are running a new range of trays and mdf terrain through Kickstarter, and they look really good.  Now, I'm not really going to explain too much about the terrain, I want to concentrate on the tray, and this is because I think they have a really clever idea here.

Most trays are designed for the models, and have generally got a little bit more on them to add in cards, or similar.  I've just paid for a tray which includes a little bit more than that, so that there is space for tokens as well (little pots on one side for want of a better term), and when it arrives I may well do a review.  Mini Duels have taken it further, but building the tray up a little and adding a draw underneath.  The draw can then be divided up as you like, to include all of the extra tokens you need.

I think this is fantastic.  In fact I think the only step up from this would be to magnetise the tray, put a lid on the top, and then you have a full carry box for the models.  That might be taking it too far though (trays are designed mostly for tournaments, so you can move quickly between tables).

There is a wide range of options, they even have a magnetised top variant for 40k players, which just doesn't need the slots that other games needs.  The X-Wing version is ultra thin and the templates hide away under the tray in what can best be described as a school desk flip lid style (or you can get a deeper tray with the draw as well if you prefer).  A really cool design idea, and as said before, if I hadn't just spent money on one, I would get these.

Cavern Tavern - Final Frontier Games

I never got why people played the restaurant app games on phones.  The ones where you run around fulfilling orders and making sure you did everything on time.  They always struck me as something that didn't have the legs to be played over and over.  However, turn that into a board game, with win conditions and a bit of competition and I can see that being a lot of fun.

Thus, we have Cavern Tavern on the list, because it is basically that game.  Dice based, worker placement, running around fulfilling orders, while at the same time rating out your opponents to the boss to try and make sure they lose some points for lazy work ethics.

I think the main thing here is that this looks really good.  I like the fact that its going to be a cut-throat competitive game, and honestly worker placement games are usually good fun, because the tactical side of interrupting or impeding people can be a great laugh.  I can also see this working for people who like to game "in character", I certainly know a few people like that, and I would really love to be able to get this game.  Its already funded, so I would have to guess that it'll be something I can pick up later in my local hobby store.  I certainly hope so.

Though I wouldn't say no to this as a birthday present... just saying.  Though tell me if you do because I get paid before this KS ends and I might just bite next month.

Wrap up

So thats it this week.  I couldn't quite find a fourth for this one.  I said, last time, that the aim was to talk about things I really found interesting and would take off, and while there are plenty of interesting things on Kickstarter at the moment, these were the three that I really thought can and should go far.  In fact, this week I have two projects which are always well on their way to being seen in store soon.

Cthulhu Fhtagn!

The Children of the Night

I promised this a while ago, the work, and life, got in the way.

This is my second look at the content that has been released for the Mythos kickstarter.  I'm going to look here at some of the other models that they have announced with the project, as well as some things that are on the main Paranoid Miniature website.  For want of a better term, I'm seeing these as Campaign Factions.  By that, I mean they look like they are there for more of a story telling set of games rather than the straight faction on faction "standard games".  I don't know for certain if this is true, but looking at all the standard factions, the composition of the first box set they have shown doesn't seem to have the same layout (a mix of characters), and I therefore feel in standard games these campaign factions wouldn't quite fit right.

It's all guess work, I've not got any sort of insider information on Mythos, unfortunately.

Custos Crypta

I love the idea on these.  Basically go back to Ancient Egypt and the times of the Pharoahs.  Back then there were these somewhat ravaneous little insects that would eat their way through anything that was in their way.  The Egyptians would gather these critters together and use them, as far as I can tell, as a bit of a shock weapon.  The useful thing about them, other than the rather drastic and totalitarian way in which they could deal with a problem, was that they are able to reproduce without any sort of fancy breeding.  Every insect would lay a perfect clutch of eggs before dying, and a new generation would quickly hatch.

So, being relatively self sustaining, given a food source, these fellas were put in to the Pharoah's tomes as a defence mechanism (along with a few slaves to make sure dinner was on hand).  Once clear of the main course the new generations started snacking on each other, and while the intelligence of the species has devolved to a hunter prey level, they have adapted over time into something bigger than they were before.

Roll forward to the time of Mythos, and humanity has been its usual greedy self.  Open tomes has brought more food to the Custos Crypta, and also a way out into the wider world.

As you can see from the picture we have renders for these.  You get 5 Grubs and 1 Guardian model in the set.  I'd be interested to see if these play as a standard faction, or if they are designed for the storytelling campaign and roleplay games.

The Order of the Enlightened Path

A Cthulhu game would not be a proper game if there weren't a bunch of Cultists.  Thankfully Mythos has that in the Order of the Enlightened Path.

There is nothing on the main website for these guys other than the pictures, but we are going to get a Cultist model as part of backing the kickstarter, and you can see here that it really is a very nice model.  Certainly looks like the kind of gentleman you wouldn't want to meet on a dark night out, but I have a feeling they might well be plenty of these ones around.  I would have to say that I feel a cultist set could easily be used as a full faction, but they aren't listed as a faction on the Paranoid Miniatures website, so thats why I have included them here.  I think it is fair to say that these guys "want" the big ancient people devouring gods to rise from their dark slumber, they just have that style of sociopath about them.  Definitely interested to see what they are like.

The Sea Queen

Definitely a good reason to go look at the Paranoid Miniatures website.  The Sea Queen has a well written story over there, and we get to learn a lot about her.

The Sea Queen is one of the children of the main bad guy (that would be Cthulhu for those not quite awake yet).  The first chosen, by the mad god with too many tentacles, to awake and start harvesting the human race.  She has been given a humanoid form, something she understands but is none to happy about, so that she can blend in (a little) and start having her fill.

I'm not sure if this will be a box set of multiple models, or just her.  The back story suggests she won't exactly be a push over, and so I'm leaning towards her being a solo model.  She is deeply tied to the Hidden Ones faction, as they are her minions/children, so part of me thinks that for a campaign or roleplay encounter you could throw her in with the Hidden Ones and see what comes of it.

She already has a prototype model out, and there are pictures of that on the Kickstarter. So, again, it is well worth while looking on there to see some of the things they have produced.

Thoughts so far..

As things stand I've only been reviewing the planned models.  I've looked at artwork and background stories, and if they have been released I've also mentioned the test models and the stat cards.  My initial thoughts are that Mythos is going to be a very impressive looking game.  The test models are really good for a small company, and the art work really does fit in with the style of Cthulhu.  I'm really impressed with how the Wildborne look, and I really want them to come out so I can add them to my collection once the game is funded.  I also like the idea that Paranoid are going to support the Campaign and Roleplay style of games with some specific models that won't necessarily be seen in the straight off games.  Now for me, once the models grab my attention I will, and have, happily fund the project, because ultimately they are the things I will have in my hands and store on my display shelves.

Of course the thing to look at next, will be the rules.  I'll take a nose at them in the coming weeks (they are available, as they stand, on the kickstarter page).

For now though, if you like the models, go have a look at the kickstarter and start burning your wallet.

In Lovecraft's Shadow

In the Vault

One blog every couple of days, thats what I promised myself.  I would only update the blog once every couple of days.  Apparently not.

Today, I'm going to look at Mythos again, because erm ma gawd look at all the lovely stuff that is going to be coming out with this game.  I've already put this on my Kickstarters to look at this week, and without any real shock I have put some money on the table and made sure I'm going to claim two of the faction boxes when the game gets funded (because it will, after only a couple of days its over 75% of the way there).  So with that in mind, its off to Paranoid Miniature website to see what they plan to make.  In general you can get most of this from the Kickstarter page, but without too much surprise they have only put the first couple of factions onto the Kickstarter, and I would assume the others will open up the more the funding increases.  So lets start with the two "factions" that are in the Kick Starter, and then work our way onwards from there

The Priory faction

Outwardly these are the good guys, humanity's last defence from the darkness that is ever present, and ever hungry for those sweet sweet humanoid shaped snacks.

This is the one faction, so far, that they have released 3d renders for, and I have to say the models look pretty sweet.  The Leader, Professor Zarchary Lazarus, looks like a really nice model, but the star of the box is definitely going to be the Egyptian Golem Marahal.  Now from what I can tell, which isn't much, these guys basically tread the line between using whatever means they can to stop evil in its tracks, while constantly trying to maintain their own humanity.  A lot of the insanities for these models are based around initially working as a team, and then when they snap they start thinking their own side is out to get them and they become solo nightmares.  The prime example of that appears to be Abigail, who when sane gets a bonus for being near the Professor, but when she loses her grasp on reality will start getting a negative instead.  Bertie gets to be a bit of a nutter with a flame thrower, obviously that doesn't go well if his sanity goes, and the Cat has the ghost of a dead Egyptian priest in it.. obviously.

It looks to me like this is more of a ranged/casting team, though it does have the odd obvious beat stick in there.  There is plenty of casting, and as I said before, quite a few mechanisms for the models working well together until they lose their marbles.

Hidden Ones faction

So for all the good the Priory do, the Hidden Ones are pretty much trying to do the opposite.  Now, unlike the usual approach where these are just bad people doing bad things, with Mythos we get to see something new.  These aren't "people", these are actual sea monsters and in the vast majority of cases they have come up on dry land and hijacked some poor persons body so that they can go and run riot.  Well, not the giant crab, obviously the giant crab is just doing his own thing minding his own business.  You know, the kind of guy who just wants to do a days work, have a few beers and have the respect he deserves.  I mean can't you just see it in his eyes, its all he wants.

Ahem.  So we have here a leader in the Dockland Queen, who goes a bit mental if the Crab or her fish/person hybrid gets stomped on.  Basically if you kill either of them she gets to mark the killer and then just open up on them.  The fish/person steals mythos from your opponent, which is a resource to allow people to get extra actions at the cost of sanity.  Then there is Molly, who is possessed by something, but I can't see what it is in the artwork.  Either way she basically seems to be a melee monster, who can heal people, and cast spells.  I mean I say she is a melee monster, but that's purely based on one ability which means anything she is touching at the end of her activation has to make a combat roll or take damage.  And finally there is the poor sailor who has an octopus on his neck.  Doesn't go insane anymore, but you can flip between the sailor having control or the octopus, and you get different abilities from each.

These do look a little bit more like a beater faction, getting up close and personal, and not really caring as much about what their mates are doing and where they are.  I have a feeling Molly might well be a bit of a star in this pack, so long as she can stay upright for long enough.  There are some aspects which make the Dockland Queen react when her "children" are killed, but it is a solo puncher faction from the outside perspective.

And there is more..

So these are the two factions on the Kickstarter right now, but looking over at Paranoid Miniatures Website we can see that there are actually another 3 lined up by the looks of things.  No idea what they do, but lets have a little look anyway

Wildborne faction

These are the witches of old come back to save the world, and teach humanity a bit of humility in the process.  It looks like it is going to be a faction based on leaders with spell casting abilities and then half-human beat sticks.  There is also a mix of animals in there as well.  The first thing I would note is that the leaders image looks quite gothic/vampiric rather than pointy hats or druidic, and I do like that for a Cthulhu style game.  The half-human beaters are also a lot of fun, especially when you read the back story and find out that they used to be people, who were tested to see if they could be part of the "coven" and failed, getting turned into monsters instead so they are still useful.  There is also a hint that the people who get tested don't always volunteer to join in the first place.

Going just off the pictures, the Wildborne are going to be a very impressive looking force.  The Goat is just brilliant.  I'm not sure I would put all the eyes all over him, I would be tempted to just go with the half-human half giant ram, and avoid making him look anything other than the sort of Monster mother nature would come up with.  The centaur type monster is really cool, and probably where my idea of how they play comes from.

Complete and utter guess here, but I would probably guess these will be the hit and run faction, building up conditions on enemies, and then diving in and running away before they get hit back.

The Brotherhood faction

I hope that Mythos gets enough funding to include these in the game otherwise we will never hear the end of it from Straw.  They are Werewolves Wendigo, or at least some of them are.  The rest are cops, and not all of them are good.  The Leader is a Wendigo who can control his shifting, and on the sly has been the chief of the police force in the game's urban centre.  No one seems to mind when some of the local crooks go missing after all, and the Wendigo can keep themselves fed in the meantime.  The mascot is some sort of Wolf Hound super dog, while the cop that looks after the dog is a serial killer (which, as hobbies go, is generally not viewed as kosher) and wants to become a Wendigo after "accidently" seeing his boss turn and get all gore faced.  There is also the police chief's half brother who is stuck in Wendigo form and is pretty much mad to begin with because of that.  Then finally the Brotherhood rounds out with the rookie cop sniper who hasn't got a clue that he is surrounded buy all these skin shifting psychopaths, and you need to read his story on the site to realise just how messed up that really is.  Don't worry son, you'll find the bear that did it one day...

Picture wise, I'm not sure they jump out of the page at me yet.  I have a feeling these will be best shown off by the models that come out rather than the concept art.  I will say I prefer the drawing of the leader where the remain of his human hand aren't sticking out.  Personally if they are skin shifters then the hand would change rather than the Wendigo sort of slicing his way out, but again, as with the Goat that is my opinion rather than a criticism.  I think the fluff for these guys makes them cool through and through though, so thats enough for me.

Looks to me like these are going to be mental melee beasts, with a long ranged support, and a leader who can swap between supporting at range and then jumping into melee in Wendigo form to really lay in some hurt.  My guess is, to make them different from The Hidden Ones, these guys will either be a little slower and take time to get in, or need to work as a pack to get the best out of them.

The Travellers faction

There is only artwork for these guys at the moment, but if these guys end up on the KS and are fully funded I will definitely be looking at picking them up.  Just from a guess, we have a circus Ring Master, who has a bad case of needing to eat a burger or two (he'd be right at home with the Morticians), a rather hefty looking Strong Man, and then quite possibly a few demons.  You know, the lighthearted sort of things you would expect with a circus.  Fun for the whole family, so long as you can stop little Jonny getting eaten along the way.

No back story so far means I can't even begin to guess what they do, but part of me hope they are the complicated, messing about with Mythos, or activation orders, or some such.  I'd love to have a group who are basically all mad already, and the flip side is like the blaze of glory side, very low down on the track, but when they are about to die they really go bonkers.

And is there more?

Yes, yes there is.  I'm not going to include them here though.  All I will say is it looks like there are a further 3 boxes of miniature somewhere down the line as well.  However, they don't look like they are factions, now that I look at them in more detail.  So I'm going to split them off into a separate blog (hmm, do I do that later or tomorrow?).  I have a feeling they fit more into the Campaign/Roleplay settings that Paranoid are going to set up, with a special set of scenarios that call for one player to have the "team" of heroes and a GM running the special monsters for each game.  I'll try and explain that another time.