Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms

[YellowKing]

I got the notice that the Hoplomachus: Victorum expansion is starting fulfillment on Monday. So along with Unstoppable coming Tuesday, I'll now have six games unplayed (Townsfolk Tussle, Vagrantsong, Freedom Five, and Pericle being the others).

Our Frosthaven group is finally getting towards the end, so I anticipate at some point in the next couple of months we'll be moving on to trying to knock out some of the backlog.

[Smoove_B]

Unstoppable just randomly arrived for me today - no advanced tracking information was sent ahead of time. It's pretty rare to get a KS project on time - early is even rarer. I'm still not entirely sure if this game is for me, but the price point was low enough that I'll give it a go.

[Smoove_B]

For those that enjoy Ashes Reborn (it's me, I enjoy it), there's a new expansion coming to KS soon that will expand options for both PvP and PvE solo play

Ashes Ascendancy

Ashes Ascendancy is the next era of Ashes; a new entry point for the series, and a continuation of Ashes Reborn. Fully compatible with all of Ashes Reborn, Ashes Ascendancy marks the introduction of two new magic types for Phoenixborn to use, the competitive card play you know and love, plus a new type of foe for players to take down in solo/co-op battles

I don't see too many people talking about Ashes Reborn, but it really fills a space in my collection - dice and cards. For solo play, it's quite enjoyable.

[hepcat]

Interesting. I don't believe they've held a crowdfunding project for Ashes in any way before. The Chicago gang have played it quite a bit in the past. But with a new game coming out every 32 milliseconds, it's difficult to keep it on the table.

[Smoove_B]

Good catch! They might be dabbling in the Gamefound/KS system as a pre-order engine like so many other indie publishers.

[hepcat]

I was under the impression they were owned by Asmodee still, but Colby Dauch (the owner/creator) apparently bought back Plaid Hat Games and their licenses from Asmodee in 2020. Good on him. I've met him a few times at conventions and he's a nice guy who really loves games. He probably bristled under Asmodee's approach to games.

[Smoove_B]

Yeah, I have a hazy memory of that happening in the early days of the bad times and thinking (then) that it was likely a good thing for all of their games to be out and free from Asmodee.

[Zarathud]

Colby got bought out when he had a hit and Asmodee looked like it would help game devs rather than just milk existing product lines.

[Blackhawk]

The expansion for the Monolith Conan game came in today. I'm still waiting for Tales from the Red Dragon Inn - after that, I won't have anything left pending for the first time in probably a decade.

[hentzau]

I thought I had broken my boardgame kickstarter habit, I haven't backed a boardgame in forever, just 3D print files, but then Word Forge Games just announced D-Day DIce : Pacific. Damn them.

[hepcat]

After months of waiting with bated breath, the new edition of Star Trek: Ascendancy is up on gamefound. They've revised the rules, added three new races (Tholians, baby!), included a storage solution (two...count 'em two kallax size cubes...I kid you not), and added a campaign mode.

Ascendancy is easily in my top 10 games of all time, so I'm in for the new stuff, the upgrade kit, and I splurged on starbase miniatures for all the races. 250 bucks for just that. But I've been pretty good at not doing crowdfunded games lately. And this is, as I stated earlier, in my top 10 list.

[Smoove_B]

Check your emails if you were a backer for Blacklist Games Lasting Tales / Fantasy Series 2. I was just sent an email from the company that purchased the IP (Wildspire) and it was for a link to My Mini Factory. They just provided all the miniatures from Series 2 as STLs; it's a 4.4 GB file.

I'm actually pleasantly surprised. I've been using the hero sculpts fro Series 1 for League of Dungeoneers so this is just another pile of potential characters and monsters I can pull from.

[hepcat]

There was some activity from Alex Lim and Blacklist Games last month. He released a couple of lengthy updates on their website announcing that he'd finally rid himself of some troublesome partners and that now Blacklist Games was basically his. Then he noted the names of companies where the various IPs were being held now.

I take whatever he says with a huge grain of salt though. He's apparently trying to get Dire Alliance into the hands of backers, and that's what I really want. But again, he's not shown us anything that makes me even begin to trust him.

[Smoove_B]

Oh, I have zero faith in anything he says and no expectations that any of the KS projects under his direct control are ever going to be shipped. I suspect Dire Alliance is long gone - in a landfill or sold off for parts in China. I don't believe he's been paying to have it sit in a warehouse now for 3+ years, undelivered.

[Isgrimnur]

Vampire: The Masquerade - Milan Uprising

Shipping soon...

[Smoove_B]

Oh..I didn't realize that used the Teburu system. I just saw that being mentioned for another game (can't remember now) and it looks interesting.

[Isgrimnur]

The Bad Karmas and the Curse of Cthulhu?

[hepcat]

Oh, I have zero faith in anything he says and no expectations that any of the KS projects under his direct control are ever going to be shipped. I suspect Dire Alliance is long gone - in a landfill or sold off for parts in China. I don't believe he's been paying to have it sit in a warehouse now for 3+ years, undelivered.

This made me laugh though

[Smoove_B]

The Bad Karmas and the Curse of Cthulhu?

A good guess, but no. I remembered - it was the announcement it would be coming to Swords and Sorcery.

This made me laugh though

Oof!

[baelthazar]

I'm still waiting on The Elder Scrolls - no word, no nothing.

And I got these STL files for Fantasy Series 2 that, without a digital printer, is pretty damned useless.

I was looking at Star Trek, but its pretty expensive and I don't think that I would have much fun solo playing. Oh well... Not like I need more backed projects!

[hepcat]

That's odd that Elder Scrolls hasn't shipped to you yet. Have you reached out to CTG? They're definitely not the kind of company that will ignore their customers.

As for Star Trek Ascendancy, sounds like they added a new solo AI that is going to be more than just coop with The Borg expansion, as it was before. They're touting a full AI for each race. That's going to make it even more likely I'll play it solo as well as with the Chicago gang.

[Isgrimnur]

A good guess, but no. I remembered - it was the announcement it would be coming to Swords and Sorcery.

Gamefound campaign preview

[baelthazar]

That's odd that Elder Scrolls hasn't shipped to you yet. Have you reached out to CTG? They're definitely not the kind of company that will ignore their customers.

Apparently they are still waiting on a few US containers that have some of the All-In pledges. I mean, I get that the larger pledges are more complicated to ship, but it is funny spending more to wait longer.

[coopasonic]

My 'incoming' list is getting shorter and shorter.

Lords of Vegas gets delivered Monday after that I have one game left on the list and I regret backing that already. A co-op legacy game (Flashpoint) I may never actually get to play based on how things have been going.

Flash Point: Legacy of flame just arrived. I have zero outstanding kickstarters for the first time since you guys introduced me to kickstarter.

I sent a pic to my son who is at college. He replied spring break is a week and we can play for a week. That’s a good kid I raised!

[YellowKing]

I'm currently waiting only on:

- Earth expansion
- Tales From the Red Dragon Inn upgrade pack
- Hoplomachus: Victorum expansion
- The Cats of Mont Saint Michel

All of those are on time as far as I know and I think "Cats" is the latest to fulfill in September.

Honestly I don't see myself backing any more until the tariff situation becomes a little clearer. And even then my backlog is so deep right now it will probably take most of the year just to play what I've got.

[hepcat]

As for Star Trek Ascendancy, sounds like they added a new solo AI that is going to be more than just coop with The Borg expansion, as it was before. They're touting a full AI for each race. That's going to make it even more likely I'll play it solo as well as with the Chicago gang.

And a new update the other day noted that they’re adding campaign scenarios to the game based on iconic episodes of the franchise.

Spoiler:

Star Trek Ascendancy: The Final Frontier brings a brand new Campaign Mode to the table, making the most thematic 4x space game even more thematic as your play through Scenarios based on iconic moments from the Star Trek TV shows giving you even more ways to play!

These scenarios, which can be played as a one-off or as a continuous Campaign, introduce:
Additional Set-Up Steps - e.g. In Scenario 03 "Battle at the Binary Stars" you place the Binary Stars System Disc in the center of the play area, then each player (in turn) draws a System Disc and attaches it to the Binary Stars System Disc face up. These System Discs do not receive Exploration cards.
Special Rules - e.g. In Scenario 08 "The Great Tribble Hunt" whenever you Explore a Planetary System, roll a die. If you roll 5+, place a Tribble on the Planetary System (this is in addition to the normal Explore effects). A Tribble fills one Site in the System, it doesn't fill any specific type of Site but it does reduce the the total number of Nodes that can be built in that System.
Unique Victory Conditions - e.g. In Scenario 09 "Conspiracy" if any player controls their Home System and has resolved six Conspiracy Cards they win the game. They've uncovered the Conspiracy from the unknown aliens and were the first to free themselves from their influence.
Campaign Ability Rewards - e.g. in Scenario 13 "Favor the Bold" you can earn the Campaign Ability Reward "The Winning Side", you earn this when a peaceful rival controls Bajor at the end of the game, regardless of who wins (you do not gain this is you control Bajor). To use this ability you exhaust the card when a Peaceful rival assists you during a Space Battle of Planetary Invasion, this gives the Peaceful Rival +1 to all of their combat rolls.
With all that broken that down, lets take a look at the episodes from the TV show that inspired each of the Scenarios you'll be playing through as you undertake this epic campaign spanning centuries across the stars.

To break it down further, here's a list of each Scenario and the episode they're inspired by:
Scenario 01: The Andorian Incident (Star Trek: Enterprise, Season 01, Episode 07)
Scenario 02: The Expanse (Star Trek: Enterprise, Season 02, Episode 26)
Scenario 03: Battle at the Binary Stars (Star Trek: Discovery, Season 01, Episode 02)
Scenario 04: Despite Yourself (Star Trek: Discovery, Season 01, Episode 10)
Scenario 05: Red Angel (Star Trek: Discovery, Season 02)
Scenario 06: Errand of Mercy (Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 01, Episode 26)
Scenario 07: The Tholian Web (Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 03, Episode 09)
Scenario 08: The Great Tribble Hunt (Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 02, Episode 15)
Scenario 09: Conspiracy (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 01, Episode 25)
Scenario 10: The Best of Both Worlds (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 03, Episode 26)
Scenario 11: Unification (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 05, Episode 07)
Scenario 12: The Search (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 03, Episode 01)
Scenario 13: Favor the Bold (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 06, Episode 05)
Scenario 14: The Void (Star Trek: Voyager, Season 07, Episode 15)
Scenario 15: Progenitor Tech (Star Trek: Discovery, Season 05)
Choosing just 15 episodes from a show like Star Trek was an impossible task, but Campaign Mode gives us a great opportunity to continue to support Star Trek Ascendancy after fulfillment. So if your favorite episode didn't make it in, or if there's an episode you think would make a great Scenario that's not on the list, make sure you get loud about it in the comments so we can pass it on to our incredibly talented Studio team and it may become a reality in the future

[baelthazar]

I went largely all in after saying I would pass. I love the updates they are doing and the solo content looks solid. My wife and kiddo also like Star Trek, so I might be able to get them to play, although strategy games are a different concept for both of them.

[hepcat]

If you're gonna own one Star Trek board game, this is that game.