Wednesday, 6 March 2013

Torn Armor on Kickstarter


Another Kickstarter that has just begun has really caught my eye. Torn Armor from the Torn World RPG.
I have gather some of the information together here for people to check out.
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Torn Armor is a fantasy skirmish miniature game based on the rich lore of "Torn." It features anthropomorphic creatures such as cat, mouse, monkey, and rhino-headed creatures in their desperate defense of their homeland against the Spartan-like "Sisk" invaders.

Each side is beautifully brought to life through 39 expertly crafted miniatures, ranging from the 20mm "Mu" (mice-men), through to the lumbering war golems that tower a spectacular 60mm on the game board.



Gameplay is intended to be fast and furious. 10 minute set-up time, 30 minute whirlwind action across playing areas the size of a coffee table. While you can certainly set up a table-tennis sized surface if you wish and sprawl out half a dozen Torn Armor battlemats, the core game is intended to be played in a manner conducive to your modern lifestyle: the gameplay is quick, the required playing surface is small, and you'll get plenty of games into just an evening of play.


The core boxed set includes:
39 x highly-detailed miniatures
1 x Full color rule book
1 x Full color scenario book
4 x double-sided color battle posters
8 x Magical Item cards
8 x Spell cards
5 dice of 5 different colors (25 dice in total)
At the Ghost & Riftblade pledge level, the two Mercenary faction minotaur brothers are included.




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Really looking forward to seeing what happens with the Torn Armor Kickstarter (link)

What do you think of it?

Hendybadger awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!


Tuesday, 5 March 2013

Spinespur - A Dark and Twisted Survival Horror Game


Comfy Chair Games are running a Kickstarter campaign for the awesome game Spinespur.
I have been eyeing up this game for quite some time but just haven't managed to pick any up yet. I think this could be the perfect chance!
Below I have gather lots of info from the KS page and the CCG webste so people can find out what Spinespur is all about!

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Spinespur is better described as fitting into the horror genre, a genre that has been inundated with kid-friendly, plastic gaming for too long.  Horror movies and books are filled with rich subject matter that is ripe for gamers to explore but doing so requires a mature outlook and a story-focused perspective.  Merging the concept of an adult-oriented game with a horror theme allows us to tell rich stories and sell unique models that would be unacceptable in other games.  Some of the Spinespur models and stories would make a soccer mom cringe, and the “mature” label is in place to limit run-ins with irate parents.

Spinespur is a world where evil reigns supreme and even the angels have stains on their wings.  Spinespur is filled with the typical chainsaws, zombies, and werewolves as well as more obscure or innovative nightmares all its own.  It’s a Modern Survival Horror game with elements of fantasy alongside elements of science fiction.


What makes Spinespur different from other miniatures games?
#1. Spinespur is a skirmish level miniatures game where players will use between 6 and 10 models per side in a standard size game. Most every model has multiple wounds, so the one shot/one kill method of play is rarely a factor in games of Spinespur.

#2. When a model dies in Spinespur, their bodies and weapons don't magically disappear. A dead body is marked with a corpse marker, and other models can move up to the corpse and loot weapons to add to your arsenal. This means you do not have to enter the battlefield with the best weapons, you just have to kill your opponents models and loot their weapons.

 #3.  As mentioned above, when a model dies their dead body is marked with a corpse marker. Some models in Spinespur have the ability to use the corpse markers as resources. Some models are able to raise the dead from a corpse marker, and have the new undead model fight for them. Other models consume the corpse marker in order to heal themselves or sometimes cast magic spells. We don't leave anything to waste in Spinespur.

#4. Another game mechanic that has been rethought in Spinespur, is fear. Many games approach fear by having a player roll some dice, and if they don't roll over a certain number their models run off the board. What a cheap way to lose hardened warrior models in a game. In Spinespur, we made fear something that the psychopathic denizens of Spinespur can use as a weapon, not unlike what you would see in a horror movie. In Spinespur, fear is represented by fear tokens. As models do things to horrify or terrify opposing models, they gain fear tokens. Fear tokens can be used to reroll dice or even just tip the dice over one side. This makes fear a commodity in Spinespur. Besides, what is survival horror without fear?
Spinespur has also created a unique dice system in order to keep the game interesting. The blood and bone dice are sure to make the tactically minded raise an eyebrow in surprise and pleasure.

One of the best things about Spinespur, it is that there is no set Army you are forced into playing. We designed a game system to appeal to everyone. There are 3 ways to make a force in Spinespur. The 1st way is known as an open build, it allows any player to use 65% of the models we make in a force based on the model's philosophy. The 2nd way is called the philosophy build. All models in your force need to share the same philosophy (malevolent, uncorrupted, calculating, psychotic or indifferent.) This build style will allow the player to have a 5% bonus on points used to build their force. The last way to build a model is known as an agenda build. All models in this type of force must share the same agenda, which is the closest thing we have to a formal Army. This is the fluffiest build available, and forces made with an agenda build have a special bonus unique to their specific agenda.


The Dark Faith is a church run by the depraved fiend known as "The Anti-Pope." This madman surrounds himself with wraith-like "Dark Cardinals" and the cruel Sisters of Obscenity (aka Stun Nuns.) The Anti-Pope is well versed in the darkest of magics. He specializes in raising the dead and torturing their captured souls. One of the more powerful mages in Spinespur, the Anti-Pope is not a man to trifle with, if he is a man at all.




The institution is an old insane asylum located in Spinespur.  This is the lair of Doc Akron, a madman who stitches together lifeless corpses in order to help him run his asylum while he strives to understand just what creates life. Though Doc Akrons soulless creations are something to fear, the good Doctor hides a very dark secret himself.




The Slaughterhouse. This is the domain of the twisted Pigskinman. This horrible miscreant runs a slaughterhouse on the outskirts of Spinespur. The workers in the slaughterhouse will fight ferociously for the Pigskinman, because they know that failure to follow his direction is punishable by being fed to his special, carnivorous pigs. One of Pigskinman's favorite tactics is to release swine onto the battlefield, in order to confuse and trip up his opponents so that his workmen can chain and drag fallen foes under the cleaver of the deranged Pigskinman!





The men of G.O.D. are and enigma in Spinespur, as it is yet unclear if they are truly good men fighting for what is right or people who have lost their full grip on reality. The men from the “Government Occult Division” or G.O.D. for short, use a strange technology unknown to most that uses pain as fuel. Their tenure in Spinespur seems to have blurred their understanding of what the acronym G.O.D. stands for, as they now enter the field of battle quoting from the Bible, and naming themselves after famous figures from the Good Book.

Spinespur Is a game that uses heroic scale miniatures (32 mm to the top of the head) made of metal, not plastics or resins. We do not have lag time due to shipping work out of the United States. Our books are printed in the United States; our miniatures are produced in the United States.

Spinespur has a parental warning label on the front cover of the book. This was not placed here as a marketing scheme. Nothing that happens on the game table is anything you would be embarrassed by your grandmother seeing. The reason for the parental warning is that we did not feel writing fluff for a survival horror game and having it sanitized for the eyes of 10-year-olds would do the atmosphere of the game any justice. We believe the atmosphere of the game is just as important as gameplay, and we were not willing to cut corners on either. We felt Spinespur needed stories more reminiscent of Clive Barker and Stephen King then stories you would find in Goosebumps.



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If you like what you see, and I don't see why anybody wouldn't, then head over to the Spinespur Kickstarter and help them out!

More on this dark and twisted game coming soon.........

Henydbadger awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Monday, 4 March 2013

Pulp City Preview - V.H Leader of Blood Watch


Pulp City have posted a new preview in their Heroes and Villains section on the website.

V.H aka Victoria van Helsing is the new Level 3 leader of the mystical Blood Watch sub-faction.
You can find her background info >HERE<


As with the other recent previews you can see that the model is almost spot on to the artwork.
Below she is shown with her Level 2 assistant Blacksmith.
I'm sure we will see more on him soon as well as this pair are due out as one of the monthly releases over the next 4 months.


What do you think of the deadly V.H?
Will she be leading Blood Watch for you?

Henybadger awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Sunday, 3 March 2013

Steampunk! by AlienAmbassador


The City of Lost Children, © 1995

Hi there. My name is Christopher Sheets. I’ve been a journalist for more than 15 years and a gamer for twice that. I’ve hung around all the various Internet watering holes for mini gamers at one time or another. Now I tend to frequent the Lead Adventure Forum (where I’m Eisenfaust) and the Miniature Addicts Anonymous group on Facebook (where I’m me.) Anywhere else, I’m usually AlienAmbassador.

I’ve been writing a gaming blog called Dispatches from the Rim since July 2012. Hendybadger and I cover similar ground, in that we both love 28mm skirmish gaming. I focus on steampunk, sci fi and modern zombie gaming. When Ian put out a call for articles to replace some that he lost in his recent technological meltdown, I offered to write him a piece explaining the attraction of the genre that has most captivated my interest of late.

Why do I love steampunk?

I love the trappings. Cog-driven creations, devious devices, wonderful weapons, drawing rooms bedecked in gleaming brass and polished wood.

I love the vehicles. Dauntless dirigibles, resolute railroads, landships labouring across the landscape.

I love the characters. Elegant intellectuals, gamines in goggles smudged with boiler smoke, venomous villains encircled by shadows.

I also love alliteration.

I love that steampunk penetrates so many different forms of expression. Fiction, cinema, music, fashion and, of course, gaming.

Most of all, I love that it fires my imagination as few other genres of fiction do. It is the ultimate hybrid, allowing, even inviting, the admixture of Gothic horror, high fantasy, alternate history -- whatever suits one’s taste.

Just within my particular favorite flavor of gaming (28mm skirmish), three games spring to mind that fit those recipes. West Wind’s “Empire of the Dead” blends steampunk and Gothic horror; Warmachine from Privateer Press stretches high fantasy across a steampunk framework; and the upcoming “In Her Majesty’s Name” from Osprey (with figures from North Star) posits an era with a technological revolution and a clandestine war for power resources among empires of the Victorian era.

It is an embarrassment of riches for the steampunk skirmish gamer. Truly we live in a golden age.

Even beyond the many extant rulesets, figures abound for use in these games. Here are but a few. This list is meant to be expansive but not all-inclusive:

  • Armorcast: Known for their range of steampunk terrain, including the awesome Steam Mushroom. Also makes a line of effects pieces for conversions, invaluable for that smoke from a coal-fired boiler.
  • Brigade Games: Lon at Brigade carries many lines of miniatures but also produces his own, including a recent line of new VSF/Steampunk minis. I am particularly fond of the British Character Pack (although it is not yet in my collection.)
  • Eureka (Australia or USA): Eureka has an entire line, Pax Limpopo, based on an alternate Victorian world where, after the death of Albert, Victoria married Shaka Zulu. Of particular interest to steampunk enthusiasts may be the professors in the “personalities” section, each bearing a particular artificial enhancement: Heironymous Pratt and his Audio Hat, Professor McHoots and his Circular Boots and Professor Niagra and his Ocular Viagra. The entire line is worth a look, especially if you like your games to show a sense of humor.

  • Freebooter: Werner Klocke’s company is perhaps best known for its line of pirate miniatures for its Freebooter’s Fate game, but there are several selections here that are relevant to our interests. The steampunk section of the site includes the multi-limbed Doc Taranto, the Time Witch with her Clockwork Familiar, and the beautiful alchemist Sarah. All Werner’s minis are multipart kits, but the quality, I’ve found, has always been beyond reproach. Note that these links are to the English-language version of the site; its parent site is in German.
  • Ironclad: Fans of my blog know I love Ironclad and acquired the minis that will become the heart of my Ladies Auxiliary warband for Empire of the Dead from them. They have a full range of VSF minis, but I stick to the “Characters” section. Mina Harker, Irene Adler and Constance have made their way into my grubby mitts, but I want more, especially Ironclad Man. Note that they have the entire cast of “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” at hand. The Alan Moore/Kevin O’Neill comic, not the abysmal movie. Which I own. Don’t judge me.
  • Lead Adventure: Its line called 1881 includes a steampunk version of Tin Tin; a man, woman and dog all covered in armor and gas masks; and a beautiful version of Bonnie and Clyde as VSF ne’er-do-wells. They also produce a couple of nice sets of heads for conversions.

  • Micro Art Studios: The Wolsung “steampulp fantasy” miniatures game melds fantasy and steampunk and, I only recently found out, has an already popular RPG behind it. It’s also where you want to go for unusual props and extraordinary weapons. A butler wielding an umbrella; a female tinker with a giant wrench; a woman with a ladder-like weapon called a Sun Spear, whose beam is reflected by mirror-bearing goblins; an inventor with a Hellboy-like power glove. The Asian-influenced Orc faction is also very nice, but some of the clothing is too modern in era to fit easily into a steampunk setting.
  • North Star: The aforementioned “In Her Majesty’s Name” is currently the subject of a “Nickstarter” pre-order program. All the factions for the game -- Lord Curr’s Company, the Society of Thule, the Black Dragon Tong and the Servants of Ra -- seem delightful to me and, while I’m not participating in the program due to other commitments, I certainly see myself buying one or several of these upon general release.
  • Privateer: Warmachine. Do I need to say more? How bout big stompy coal-powered robots? How about, they keep getting bigger, going from the Warjacks to the Battle Engines and now the Colossals!
  • Reaper: Much steampunky goodness in the Chronoscope line and in the Savage Worlds releases for the Deadlands setting. Some of the Chronoscope entries capture what might be called the “archetypal” steampunk look -- gears, clockwork, goggles, top hats. The Deadlands figures show steampunk at work in the Weird Wild West, freeing mad science among an alternate history that includes magic and the undead.

  • Steve Jackson Games: There’s a boxed set to go with the GURPS: Steampunk book (available as a pdf) that includes a big robot, a mad inventor, a clockwork cat, and five more.
  • West Wind Productions: The Empire of the Dead boxed sets -- Lycaons (werewolves), Gentleman’s Club (humans), Vampires and The Brotherhood (a religious warband) -- and character minis are out, and much of their Gothic Horror and Vampire Wars ranges mix right in. There’s a Kickstarter currently for the 80-or-so miniatures in the EOTD: Requiem expansion, so there’s plenty to get in on for this Gothic Horror-meets-Steampunk universe.
  • Wyrd: Malifaux occupies a lot of the same psychological space Deadlands once held. Wild West-meets-Far East meets steampunk meets magic and demons and elder gods, oh my! But because it is set in another plane, it’s not married to its own version of America’s Civil War and Wild West. The narrative woven through the books is some of the best game fiction I’ve read. Some of the more steampunk-themed minis I like in their line are the Peacekeeper construct, Hoffman with his exoskeleton, the Executioner-class Steamborg and the winged Kaeris.


That’s just the tip of the iceberg. As I said, we steampunk 28mm skirmish players are spoiled for choice in today’s market. There’s plenty more out there, and your google fu will reveal it all for you in short order. In the meantime, come visit me at Dispatches from the Rim as I explore this topic, as well as modern zombie, pulp and sci fi gaming.

Christopher Sheets
@AlienAmbassador

Saturday, 2 March 2013

Batman Miniature Game - Points and Team Building


A couple of people have recently asked if I knew the stats of the models for the Batman Miniatures game from Knight Models. I still haven't managed to get my hands on any of the models yet (hopefully soon) so not a clue at the moment.
Helpful? No! But I know a man that is!

My friend Dr Warlock from the Arkham City - Protocol 10 Blog and Arkham City Limits Facebook Group has put together a list of all the models released so far with their points and who they work for/with.

From the good Dr himself
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Ok - here is the up-to-date list, including all the BMG models released so far.
As usual it's "formatted" in the usual way - "Name" - "RP Cost"/"Type"/"Affiliation" (or any restrictions specific to the character) - plus I've added the spending allowance (in Dollars) for each character. Don't forget, when planning a "Penguin Crew" Chesterfield Cobblepot is a “Lord of Business” and that Gang led by Penguin has $500 more to spend to create the Gang.

Batman Allied

Batman - 130 RP/Leader/"Batman" - $0.00
Nightwing - 85 RP/Sidekick/"Batman" - $0.00
Robin - 68 RP/Free Agent/"Batman" Only - $200.00
Green Arrow - 117 RP/Sidekick/"Batman" - $300.00
Gotham Policeman - 16 RP/Henchman/"Batman" - $0.00
Agent Ron - 25 RP/Hencheman/"Batman" - $300.00

Free Agents

Catwoman - 66 RP/Free Agent/Hates Joker - $0.00
Killer-Croc - 95 RP/Free Agent/Hates Batman, Hates Bane - $0.00
Mr. Freeze - 75 RP/Free Agent - $500.00
Deathstroke - 122 RP/Free Agent/All Except Batman - $500.00
Scarecrow - 57 RP/Free Agent/Hates Batman - $200.00

Arkham City Gangs

Talia Al Ghul - 71 RP/Sidekick/Ra's Al Ghul, Affinity Batman - $0.00

Bane - 150 RP/Leader/"Bane", Affinity Batman - $0.00

The Penguin - 75 RP/Leader/"Penguin" - $0.00
Royal-Penguin - 24 RP/Henchman/"Penguin" - $600.00
Blue-Penguin I (Shield) - 13 RP/Henchman/"Penguin" - $0.00
Emperor-Penguin - 31 RP/Henchman/"Penguin" - $0.00
Blue-Penguin II (Machette) - 13 RP/Henchman/"Penguin" - $0.00
Blue-Penguin III (Automatic Pistol) - 13 RP/Henchman/"Penguin" - $300.00

The Joker - 90 RP/Leader/"Joker" - $0.00
Harley Quinn - 61 RP/Sidekick/"Joker" - $0.00
The Ringmaster - 32 RP/Henchman/"Joker" - $0.00
Contra-Augeste - 21 RP/Henchman/"Joker" - $0.00
The Clown - 15 RP/Henchman/"Joker" - $0.00
August - 25 RP/Henchman/"Joker" - $0.00
Triston - 26 RP/Henchman/"Joker" - $300.00

Movie Characters

Batman - 120 RP/Leader/"Batman" - $0.00
Bane - 96 RP/Sidekick/Ra's Al Ghul - $0.00

As before the two seperate blister pack Penguin Thugs are both designated "Blue-Penguins" so they have been numbered following on from the Blue Penguin in the Penguin Crew set, and added a description (in parenthesis) to futher clarify which model is which
 
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Hope this helps some people out.
Head over to Dr Warlocks Batman blog and Facebook group and say thanks if it does!

Hendybadger awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Friday, 1 March 2013

Malifaux from Mars - Meet the Guild



Malifaux from Mars: The Guild

Hi! Welcome back to another Malifaux from Mars post and today we will talk about the first faction available in the world of Malifaux and all the Masters available. The Guild is, in my humble opinion, the most straight forward faction out of all the other factions in Malifaux. They are packed with hard hitting models that prefer a direct confrontation and physical damage. The Guild is probably the easiest faction for new players to start learning Malifaux. Hit the jump when you are ready to learn a bit more about the Guild.
In Malifaux, there is no law above Guild Law. Although these laws do bring some protection to the citizens, order is prized above mercy; because ultimately it is order that keeps the gears of the soulstone trade turning. A world without order is a world without profit, and The Guild always turn a profit. Hit the jump to learn more
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