Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Future Wars => Sci-Fi Small Skirmish Games => Topic started by: GilmoreDK on 22 December 2021, 10:59:50 PM
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Any one else here who is a little in love with Core Space.. Accessible rules, easy to convert exsiting minis, can be played solo, versus multiplayer with each player controlling a small ship crew of Traders (and an AI enemy) or as co-op against the AI opponent. Affordable and with complete cardboard terrain including game mat). Two versions: The "old" Core space (VS enemy AI or campaign with competing teams or the new First Born which focuses primarily on a co-op campaign (but easily modifiable. There is a lot of fan made conversions for Star Wars, Aliens, WH40K .. you name it,.
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I love Core Space.
https://thegrumpygnome.home.blog/2020/01/22/proper-core-space/
I just wish I had more free time.
Things have been so busy I have not been able to do more than have a quick look at our First Born pledge when it arrived… but it looks amazing.
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I have been looking at Corespace for a while but have made a vow that I will sell off some other projects before I buy it.
Sadly, 3 people have been interested in what I am selling but all dropped out over shipping costs so it might have to wait until the New Year and ebay sales.
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I love Core Space. So much that I have bought the entire range now and hopefully First Born will be arriving soon! Currently painting up the base set.
@GilmoreDK - How does the game system hold up with larger games as shown in your excellent photos?
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It holds up reasonably well... There is a lot of randomness in how the Purge spawn. So in order to give a bit of tactical forewarning we have changed the sequence a bit so that we roll for placement of the purge in the Hostility phase (at the start) placing the Purge to spawn outside the board (they cannot be harmed before they spawn). and then spawn them as normal in the Purge phase. This makes the game a bit easier but also a bit less random. To compensate we raise the starting Hostility by (typically) two pegs from the start.
In the mission on the pictures we are 5 players. With me playing the Mercenaries in the middle, trying to evacuate the high level target out before the Purge arrives in force. All the other players are trying to get said target. An Annihilator will arrive at the middle of the board at some point.
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The figures look excellent- I'd like to grab some for my F5 Parsecs From Home campaign.
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@GilmoreDK - Some good ideas there that I will have to steal as I hope to run some large games in the future too.
@Codsticker - The miniatures are great. They are full of character but not over over the top like a lot of other sci-fi ranges. I can see a definite improvement in quality of the miniatures from the base game to the latest releases.
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can't see the OP's photos.
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I cant see the pictures either.
Got the first starter set and quite a few of the faction sets too.
Not bought any extra terrain sets and book and missed-out on the last KS.
Have yet to play a game.
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I love Core Space. So much that I have bought the entire range now and hopefully First Born will be arriving soon! Currently painting up the base set.
@GilmoreDK - How does the game system hold up with larger games as shown in your excellent photos?
Porthius, your figures look great!
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Porthius, your figures look great!
Thank you very much Grumpy Gnome. I have managed to get the base box miniatures all painted up now and have started the Perseus Arm campaign with my gaming buddy. On to the Cygnus crew next!
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This is amazing paintwork. i am painting up the base set minis at the mo. I found the purge quite tricky! the detail that you managed to get on that assassin is particularly impressive. Up to now I have only been painting heroic scale figures for frostgrave etc, and some smaller Warmaster minis, but I found these figures to be a real challenge! Once again, well done.
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This is amazing paintwork. i am painting up the base set minis at the mo. I found the purge quite tricky! the detail that you managed to get on that assassin is particularly impressive. Up to now I have only been painting heroic scale figures for frostgrave etc, and some smaller Warmaster minis, but I found these figures to be a real challenge! Once again, well done.
Thank you! The Purge are a bit tricky. Took some effort getting the right shade of tan on the Harvesters. I have recently bought an air brush which I think will be good for the other Purge I have to paint up.
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I have recently bought an hair brush which I think will be good for the other Purge I have to paint up.
But the purge have no hair?
Seriously though, nice painting. I'm about half way through my Corespace minis and I find them a pain in the hole to clean up, and fiddly to paint with often shallow detail, so you've really done well with those.
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lol Ooops
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can see the pics now - yep, great paint-jobs on a very strking range of figures. Like the whole Purge schtick, and nearly went for the game a while back - should look at it again.
** - actually I realise I can't see the OP's photos - just aren't any links (broken or otherwise) visible at all?
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I heartily recommend it.
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very tempted GG. Such a good all 'round package.
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aaaand ... I went for it. Particuarly when I learnt that Battle Systems were offering KS deals for left-over stock on the new First Born stuff.
General impression: I think it is an overall brilliant package - and I really like the look of the rules - particularly using the Deluxe rulebook and Dangerous Days together with ALL the expansions to open up the sandbox, with GM control.
But - have to say I'm a bit disappointed with the figures. I guess one is spoilt these days, but some of the human/oid ones almost seem like 1/72nd scale - not least because they have real peanut heads (often a thing with one-piece 'board-game' figures it seems to me).
And Battle Systems have been a bit naughty - they seem to be using 'prints' or master figures on their box art which most def. aren't what you get in the box (I could post a telling example from the 'Trader Post 5' expansion).
But then some of the purge / first born figures are great - the 'insane god' is just spectacular.
Anyhow, hope to get somewhere with this, so might get 'round to my own thread.
Still wish I could see the OP's pics !!
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Glad to hear you got it and at the better price. I look forward to some battle reports in the future!
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well, you never know, I might actually get to play a game sometime!
I'm warming to the figures somewhat - it's partly my eyesight / age I suppose.
There's lots of detail and they've very characterful sculpts. Not much in the way of flash or mould-lines etc (not that the latter bother me at all).
Just wish they were a bit bigger / chunkier, and that the heads (at least on the figures I have) were a bit larger.
I've been looking at proxying the figures from various other manufacturers ... would be a costly process; think I might stick with the official ones.
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Yeah, they went more “true scale” and 32mm instead of 28mm apparently. I did not realize that until listening to Colin (the Battle Systems bossman) talk about their figure size in relation to their upcoming fantasy game Kickstarter. I am more of a 28mm than 32mm guy and I like the chunky look of things like the North Star Stargrave minis but Mrs. GG convinced me that tall and lanky works for spacer humans.
Here is a decent blog post by Charlie Theel (Player Elimination) with a review of Core SpaceFirst Born.
https://playerelimination.com/2022/03/21/the-second-coming-a-core-space-first-born-review/
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can't access that - although I've read a number of his posts on the first game and expansions ... asking me to sign into Wordpress or something ...
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can't access that - although I've read a number of his posts on the first game and expansions ... asking me to sign into Wordpress or something ...
Try it now mate. I think I messed up the link before.
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Cheers GG. That's great - was looking forward to reading his thoughts on the new iteration - have read all his previous posts and noticed many a post on BGGeek.
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I bought the kickstarter edition of the original core box a long while ago. I'd painted up some of the figures but this weekend I finally got around to assembling the cardstock terrain, with a view to playing the game.
I have to say, if I knew then what I know now, I would have saved my money.
The original selling point for me were the minis, and like Bloggard I was bitterly disappointed with the quality of the casts I received in the box. I know others do it too, but this practice of selling products with beautiful pictures of painted master casts, which are far superior in quality to the final production pieces, sucks balls. (Studio McVey’s Sedition Wars was another example of this dodgey practice.)
After spending what seemed like an age, (over two days,) freeing the card pieces from the sprues and edging them to hide the card edges, I found assembly to be frustrating and annoyingly fiddley. Many of the slots in the wall sections were not properly cut, meaning that the scenery did not fit in them, and after just one set up, multiple pieces are suffering from fraying edges where the layers of card are separating. Considering that one of the selling points is how adaptable their terrain is, suggesting it can be assembled and taken apart many times, I have serious doubts about the scenery’s lifespan.
I haven’t played yet, I’m still to get stuck into the rules, which I hope will be Core Space’s redeeming feature. I’ll do a write up after my first game.
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forthright views mr. Bubba ;)
But to clarify: don't think I said I was 'bitterly' disappointed ... my reaction to the 'production' figures was more of a comment on my own declining faculties really.
[Although this practice of using 'masters' or possibly 3-D prints for box art does seem to be fairly common practice in some areas (Fallout Wasteland Warfare could be the same based on my experience).]
Overall I think the production figures, on their own terms, are very good - particularly the aliens (the first-born are mostly brilliant).
In general all the figures have very dynamic and natural poses, and all are individual.
There are great painted examples around, both in this thread and elsewhere.
I haven't made up any of the cardboard terrain, but guess one has to work with it and 'at' it ... to get the best from it?
Again - it clearly 'does' work from examples around, but is a bit flakey in certain respects.
It is 'what it is', and one has to be forgiving in some areas to get the best from it (which in terms of pre-coloured detail [superb] and storability [new word?], etc , is excellent).
I think its glory is combining those features with its particularly well-done RPG-lite quality - but here, again, I think you have to work 'at it' - and the 'advanced /deluxe' rulebook, and 'dangerous days' supplement go quite some way in adding (pretty much essential imo) refinements / options.
I love the fact that the game's basic premise (overall) is that you're 'searching' for 'stuff' (with the lovely conceit that this is given physical representation within containers), and the 'baddies' come into play in a staggered-way based on the character's actions etc (to a degree).
Again - I think a GM-managed campaign using the material Core Space supplies, both in terms of play-concepts/mechanics and physical components, would be just about the perfect game for me ... but ... :
That's my take on it anyway - without having played a game (and not looking likely to for personal reasons unfortunately).
Should add - when I was buying into the game, Stewart at BattleSystems (seems to be the main customer care guy, although he's considerably more than that) couldn't have been more helpful and responsive.
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Deleted as I'm getting old and tend to repeat myself.
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forthright views mr. Bubba ;)
Yeah, I wrote it after putting together Battlesystems’ card stock terrain, and I was not a happy bunny at the time.
But to clarify: don't think I said I was 'bitterly' disappointed ... my reaction to the 'production' figures was more of a comment on my own declining faculties really.
Yes, on reflection, that's me projecting, sorry.
I also had a very good experience with Battle Systems’ customer service. After opening my box and discovering a lack of detail on some of the minis, I wrote to them and they happily replaced the worst offenders. Unfortunately the replacements were not really much better.
I too have noticed over the last year that my eyes are failing me, I find it very difficult to focus on the faces of the figures and painting eyes has become a most arduous endeavor. The shallow detail on the Corespace minis makes this even more difficult. Still more annoying is the clean up, mold line removal is a real pita.
My experience with their figures is similar to that of CMON's zombicide line, I find it frustrating that such fine sculpts are produced in such poor material, (although the Zombicide sculpts, being larger, generally have superior detail, they have the same issues with clean up.) Interestingly, they released two sets in resin, but their production was short-lived.
My conclusion is that as the product straddles that thin line between board game and tabletop mini game, concessions have to be made in the quality of the minis for the product to appeal to the board game market, and as such I'm perhaps foolish to expect the type of quality product that one might receive from Corvus Belli, GW or one of the smaller indie manufacturers. Additionally, the sheer quantity of beautiful digital sculpts available online has perhaps raised the bar even higher in terms of my expectations.
I hope as Grumpy Gnome has said, that the quality of the product has improved because as a company I like their ethos and hope they succeed, even though I myself will not be spending any money on their products in the foreseeable future as there's just too much other good stuff out there.
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The cardstock terrain has not in my experience been as robust as I had hoped. Judicious use of superglue helps. And the quality of the cutting for the slots has improved with each iteration. But it is still just cardstock. There is only so much that can be done with it.
Colin, the boss at Battle Systems is a brilliant salesman and his enthusiasm is infectious. He is perhaps a little too good at his salesmanship at times if you catch my drift. But I do not think it is malicious. He merely loves his products and if he glosses over an issue it seems down to his positive mental attitude rather than trying to con anyone. The customer service at Battle Systems seems to support this.
The material used for the figures, like with CMONs Zombicide is a pain. But it is robust at least. Again a compromise for a game straddling RPG, wargame and boardgame markets. Both this plastic and cardstock keeps costs down compared to other mediums… and in generally I think those cost savings are passed down to customer. And allows for neoprene mats instead of paper ones to be standard.
I do wish the First Born mats did not have a grid though.
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I have used the cardstock terrain about half a dozen times and it's starting to look shoddy.
I keep repairing with superglue as necessary but I intend to replace with something more robust in the future.
I do regret the purchase as I could have bought mdf for nor much more; I suppose it was the teardown to reduce storage space which sold me.
The teardown ability is the systems greatest strength but also it's greatest weakness.
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I think those cost savings are passed down to customer. And allows for neoprene mats instead of paper ones to be standard.
That's a good point about the neoprene mats, definitely the best thing in the starter box.
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My conclusion is that as the product straddles that thin line between board game and tabletop mini game, concessions have to be made in the quality of the minis for the product to appeal to the board game market
I made the same conclusion when I went all in on this game. Being both a board gamer and miniature gamer Core Space really hit the sweet spot for me but I can see how some of the first lot of miniatures could disappoint. Saying that I was very pleasantly surprised when I had a look at the First Born miniatures in person. These seem to be crisper and have fewer mold lines etc.
I've had over half a dozen games now and have only noticed some slight fraying with the terrain.
Part of me wonders if these issues may be in the earlier editions/kickstarter edition as across the range an improvement is very clear.
Anyway I hope you guys enjoy the rules.
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I finally succumbed and managed to buy a starter set for the initial release fairly cheaply.. Has a quick look at the contents and am impressed by what you get. I still have the "Space Hulk" set of scenery from Battlesystems that I have never used or assembled - hopefully I'll be able to mix and match with this game.
Now need to find the time to punch it all out and assemble it...
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I have some of the older sci-fi stuff too. It mixes and matches alright.
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very glad to see your post Porthius.
I was going to say again that there seem to be a fair few buyers/ players out there enjoying the game/s and doing ok with the components.
I still think the games are fantastic packages overall, and perhaps one has to take extra care with the terrain to get the best from it (in terms of handling etc)?
I've had no end of trouble with MDF, resin and hard-plastic kits in the past as well, as far as it goes (and those materials are an awful lot harder to bodge or sort-out ...)
If I'm ever to get into actually (!) playing the games, I hope I can get on with the terrain acceptably.
The modular nature of it, and the range of other terrain sets that can be integrated (I've got the 'Shanty Town' terrain set and some of the ships and other smaller expansion sets) are things I'm particularly looking forward to playing around with ...
In that context, o Grumpy one, I'd prob. have to disagree a bit re: Colin at Battle Systems.
I think he's a brilliant Game designer (in every sense - rules to components) but, tbh ... a bit of a liability in terms of video promotion / instruction.
For me, he's too gabble-y and casual - it's charming in its own way, and he comes across as a nice bloke, but they really need more 'professional'/ methodical videos as well at this point in time, if that's going to be their main (only?) approach to providing instruction for the terrain, as well as game-play tutorials etc.
On another point - the downloads they provide for the game are great.
e.g. For making your own character cards (and aliens / hostiles cards too), a layered graphic file is available allowing you to do all you need to create such in a program like photoshop.
There's also a drag n' drop layout simulator allowing you to plan out a custom terrain set-up.
Quite a few extra scenarios too.
So ... 'as is' there appears to be a huge amount of content, and there's just so much potential with the game too; particularly if you've got a gaming group, and someone willing to create campaigns and GM.
Be interesting to see how the new 'Fantasy' variant they'll be K'Starting this year pans out.
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Finally got Core Space onto the table and played a game.
And loved it!
Quick write up here:
https://littlewars1913.blogspot.com/2024/02/core-space-finally.html
Mike
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I have their original sci-fi modular terrain - the one with the triangular bases that the new stuff doesn't match. :?
Predates Core Space by a few years. Ever since the change in style I've stayed away from Battle Systems.
Despite it's age it works, but does need some TLC.
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I have the original KS box of the triangular based terrain still unpunched if you wanted some more of it? Not looking for much as I can't see me using it now.
Mike
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Apparently I am late to the game. So far I like it.
Yeah, they went more “true scale” and 32mm instead of 28mm apparently. I did not realize that until listening to Colin (the Battle Systems bossman) talk about their figure size in relation to their upcoming fantasy game Kickstarter. I am more of a 28mm than 32mm guy and I like the chunky look of things like the North Star Stargrave minis but Mrs. GG convinced me that tall and lanky works for spacer humans.
I don't mind the figures, my question what works well with them.
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Is the deluxe rule book worth it?
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Is the deluxe rule book worth it?
I love Core Space and have found it only gets better with each expansion. The extra material in the Deluxe Rulebook was definitely worth it to me but as always your mileage may vary.
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Finally finished the painting for the Core set and the Purge Reinforcements.
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgycUIZGZ2KVy7yDBUQC47ZRraIG3fNwUFlQ1YALOeFofooi7JP3Vnn5BB_TeiLkh2EXFj2k-svDDbna9sjGO0UQBg8Az2f0rVnGYLjheORNqShSVgDkxxl2piKfsAHLAwOUigU8-9MEV2PmlTHGEoqkrvKD53LI9Ws-jotIrbkw7zGenpPZv2cdkiuvUf3/s910/purge.jpg)
(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbg_V0eWiGAmpRs_ffar_r2Gm2xbZ9sl8DY8WviB8RAnlh50Va3n-Apqmi8RVZUL5n8b8XK2RICC8frOxA4UtkfippMwqSJCpIJ16Cq_1gGH-F5hPRYGmZuqGlZz7wW-w0Yk6UVpX5gw_b4q85E4BCaDMlRJnWBF1ZWoDt9E5eqQis9wg0eGfNxNl1vhff/s896/cs-crew.jpg)
Two more crews to paint and then I'm ready for a 4 player game.
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Nicely done.
I will get to them... eventually... ::)
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How did you find them?
They're as fiddley as a catholic priest at choir practise no?
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How did you find them?
They're as fiddley as a catholic priest at choir practise no?
They were okay to paint I thought. But I primed them grey, very heavily dry-brushed white and then mostly used washes to paint them.
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Looking good! 👍