I mentioned the Color Warz board game last month when they had a go at running a Kickstarter. Well that didn’t work so they rebooted it for another go. I still like it, and the deals are even better this time. They’re just put up their best and final special offer at £50 for this game plus their first game, and if I wasn’t already pledged for the same stuff I’d pledge for this.
Anyhoo, just thought I’d mention it 🙂
(Oh, and it’s nothing to do with me beyond me pledging on it. I just thought it looked like it might be fun.)
Quirkworthy 
Thanks Jake
Managed to grab a VIP just in time! 2 games for 50 notes, resin miniatures – nice.
If you want to spend money then please take a look at the Occulites, it’s funded but has been stagnent for a while now trying to reach the next goal and a new tribe: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2002188924/dawn-rise-of-the-occulites-0
I’ve looked at the Occulites and I think they’re amusingly wacky. However, whilst charming I can’t say they make me want the figures. They do remind me a lot of Bottersnikes & Gumbles though (in mindset if not appearance), and the reminder is always welcome 🙂
Oh, and it is already funded, which Color Warz isn’t. Yet.
I have to admit that the nipples of the tree ladies on the backgroud got immediately my attention 🙂
It’s all about the details.
I’ve backed Color Warz; Dark Threat from day one. That’s the original, pre-reboot, day one. They’re just stuck between two worlds. As just a board game, it’s a great deal. But just bg pledges aren’t gonna fund it. On the other hand, while the minis are great looking & I’d love to have them, most gamers can’t/won’t pay $10+ per mini. Not even for great mins like the entire Color Warz line has.
So they aren’t getting many minis gamers, which they’d need to fund the project. & there’s no way they have the money for plastic molds. :I’m at the Platinum level (all the minis plus I got in early enough to get their voucher deal to get the original CW boxed game, as well. But doubt I can keep it. $300+ for two boardgames & ~30 minis just isn’t in my budget. 😦
Some of the miniature games sell models at this sort of price (Darklands, for example) and they do OK. It may be, as you say, that they’re pitching something that folk are muddled by – neither fish nor fowl. I don’t know. I suspect it’s more to do with a lack of marketing reach.
I was in from the early days of the first version too, but despite wanting it to succeed I’m not at all sure it will. Which is a shame. They’re clawing their way up slowly, but at this rate they will just miss their goal.
I’d happily be wrong though 🙂
I am not sure how my wallet is going to cope with Kickstarters I am looking at backing, either I need to win the lottery or I will have to make some seriously hard choices.
Currently Wrath of Demons has my attention – those models are simply Stunning and also are of a scale that will give a lot of options for painting (40mm-130mm) though some more details on the game would be handy but its the models I am really interested in.
I wanted to back Darklands for the same reason but those models (though the quality is amazing) are at the expensive end of miniature gaming, and way beyond my budget without several months advance notice/preparation.
On Tuesday sentinelgames.com launch there 28mm sci fi wargame for Total Extinction which I will be watching with interest as they have some gorgeous concepts and initial models but I would not pledge heavily on this system as the company are a total unknown. Though I may change my mind, but with cash limits I doubt I will be able to stretch to anything bar a minimal pledge level.
Next year see’s Heroquest 25th anniversary edition released with resin models and scenery, its a long way off but any nostalgic gamer will no doubt be hard pressed to hold back on this one…
Most pressing on my list though is a release I know less about than any other and its expected to be a kickstarter but not confirmed in any way at all but one that if more details present themselves soon that it is coming to kickstarter I may drop all other funding/pledges entirely. My personal Fav Sci-Fi IP has been licensed for a 28mm miniature game by Prodos games – Alien Versus Predator, I dont know if its board/skirmish/wargame or really anything other than its coming soonish (maybe) and is expected by the internet masses to be a kickstarter. Prodos games are a new company that seems to have gotten some huge licences initially Warzone (A game I am really interested by) and now AvP. My only hope is they go toward the wargame direction over skirmish/board games simply because there seem to have been a flood of Skirmish/boardgames for Sci-Fi in the last 18months.
A final system I am very interested by but completely missed the kickstarter is the 18mm War of the Worlds by Alien dungeon, the models are funky but I also really like the IP and I feel the scale is one I feel really really works for wargames simply because it allows for massive scale vast conflicts while still being big enough to have details that make painting and modelling interesting and visably looking good without needing an electro microscope…
I know I have forgotten something as well which makes it worse, so who fancies buying me some new toys then??? :p
Crimsonsun
Hi Crimson! haven’t seen one of your little notes for ages ;P
Kickstarter fatigue is a phrase I see increasingly, and it’s understandable. The whole crowd funding idea is still new and shiny and has yet to settle down as one of a series of normal routes to market. It’ll get there.
For the moment, until we, as an audience, adapt, it’s a bit crazy. Loads of goodies all offered at once. Which to pick? Nobody else can tell you which suits you best, and so all of the clamour to give you the most exciting and generous offer they can. Naturally this varies depending on the type of product on offer. Still, the principle is the same.
We also haven’t had a lot of major failures on KS yet, though there have been a few. When that happens it will make the lives of first time organisers harder as people fall back on companies with a track record of fulfilling orders. Like I said, it’s evolving.
Personally I look at things like Wrath of Demons and though the models are nice, as you say, it’s not cheap and there’s that extra $30 postage cos I’m in the UK. I can then guarantee it will be impounded by customs when I’ll have to pay an extra 20-25% depending on how many “handling” charges they apply. All of which makes me think that I’ll wait till it’s in the shops. It’s just an example, but the principle applies to a great many KS projects. By the time I’ve paid postage, tax and duties I’m not getting anything very much different from just buying it from my FLGS. And, the big advantage there, is there is no time pressure.
For me personally, that process of extra costs is what makes me pass on 90% of the projects I look at on KS.
Well, that plus I’m actually trying to clear some space here…
Hi :D,
Ive not been posting much due to not gaming as much but I still keep up to date with the blog.
I agree with everything your saying and shipping costs are a real killer, as is the ‘shiney’ syndrome as well as the too good to be true bargain that kickstarter often presents that makes us pledge though I am being seriously hardcore now on what I choose. I pledged for bones but even at the time I was less than sure if I would stick to it just I had a 2wave shipping so I thought Its better to hold that and make up my mind, but the thing with that kickstarter is its a metric ton of models I dont actually need or have a use for so no matter how good the bargain its not a good deal if I would not buy them any way.
The wrath of demons kickstarter I agree with you that it could be brought in a flags but firstly the campaign is not even a week in yet and at over 200% which means the extras will likely be worth the additional shipping and for me its a 2+ hour drive into london for my nearest flags that would likely stock it as the only flags in my area closed down 2 years ago. 😦 (bad management over poor clients sadly as I have always been happy to pay an extra £5 quid to have a store than to order online) so 30dollars is not far off what it would cost me, plus an entire day of travel time to pick up a copy…so as long as shipping is not obscene I am fine with it. Though I do prefer to back uk projects for that reason.
I’m still keeping an eye on Wrath of Demons, but I’m undecided. There’s a lot of places my limited budget would like to go, and this is only one of them. Also, as it’s a game I won’t be pledging before I’ve seen the rules. I’ve bought enough pretty but dull games in the past and have no need to add to the collection. It could be great, it could be rubbish. Who knows? I’ll wait a bit and see what they’ve posted up in a couple of weeks.