The Stargrave Nickstarter Preview on MCM

[MustContainMinis]

Over on MCM I gathered a bunch of images together to preview the upcoming Nickstarter for Stargrave. On top of that, I went through my review copy of the rule book to gave out a few little tidbits here and there through out the article about he upcoming game. This Nickstarter is going to be big and I can't wait to watch it all unfold.

I've heard that one of the extra miniatures that we can expect to see is the character on the cover of the Dead or Alive free expansion. How cool is that!

If you have been wondering about the game and want to learn a little more about the upcoming Nickstarter, come on over and check it out. I plan to also link to the campaign in this article once it is live.

https://mustcontainminis.com/2021/04/the-stargrave-nickstarter-preview.html



Article at...
https://mustcontainminis.com/2021/04/the-stargrave-nickstarter-preview.html

[snitcythedog]

The problem is no one seems to have a link to an actual nickstarter.  When you look at the Stargrave listings on the Northstar site they all say "BUYING THIS ITEM ON ITS OWN DOES NOT QUALIFY FOR NICKSTARTER REWARDS. CAN BE ADDED TO A NICKSTARTER ORDER."  So does anyone know if they are they posting a separate page this time or not?

[Cholly]

According to their FB page it kicks off tomorrow so hopefully it will all become clear. They also have some of the metals previewed

[Chief Lackey Rich]

Does the rulebook specifically say somewhere that you apply the advances for Level 15 to your captain?  Nothing I've read said so, and I'd assumed their starting profile already includes all that.  It comes stock with a load of of powers (some already improved), optional stat mods based on your archetype, and better base stats than your average grunt.  Layering on further bonuses from the level progression chart would make beginning captains very powerful indeed.

[Cholly]

As far as I’ve understood it your Cpt starts at Lv 15 with the various stat upgrades and powers from the creation chapter rather than adding on the various level upgrades as if he/she’d started at Lv 0. Does that make sense?

[Chief Lackey Rich]

As far as I’ve understood it your Cpt starts at Lv 15 with the various stat upgrades and powers from the creation chapter rather than adding on the various level upgrades as if he/she’d started at Lv 0. Does that make sense?

That's how I interpreted it as well. 

[snitcythedog]

Trying to get my order in and everything is showing not in stock!  Grumble Grumble Grumble.  I guess I will try later.

[Malebolgia]

Oh Brexit...why oh why Brexit. Refrains me from buying anything directly from the UK anymore...

[snitcythedog]

They have sorted it out if anyone is interested.

[Torben]

Oh Brexit...why oh why Brexit. Refrains me from buying anything directly from the UK anymore...

If you want to purchase from within the EU, you can go here: https://www.miniaturicum.de/Stargrave-Nickstarter

[Chief Lackey Rich]

Oh Brexit...why oh why Brexit. Refrains me from buying anything directly from the UK anymore...

Try living on the other side of the Atlantic.  Shipping costs and disruptions have gotten so bad the majority of US gaming distributors don't even carry UK companies with any sort of regularity any more.

[Psychopomp]

Try living on the other side of the Atlantic.  Shipping costs and disruptions have gotten so bad the majority of US gaming distributors don't even carry UK companies with any sort of regularity any more.

Brigade Games is doing their usual USA mirror of the Nickstarter.  If it's like past Nickstarters, money you spend there even counts towards the spend goals!

https://brigadegames.3dcartstores.com/stargrave.html

[Malebolgia]

If you want to purchase from within the EU, you can go here: https://www.miniaturicum.de/Stargrave-Nickstarter

Cheers man, excellent to know!

[Chief Lackey Rich]

Brigade Games is doing their usual USA mirror of the Nickstarter.  If it's like past Nickstarters, money you spend there even counts towards the spend goals!

https://brigadegames.3dcartstores.com/stargrave.html

That doesn't put stock on the shelves of my FLGS.  The problem isn't my getting ahold of the game, the problem is it not being in stores to build a new player base to actually game with.  If Stargrave's release to distribution follows the pattern Frostgrave, etc did, the product will be available in limited numbers to retailers for maybe  a month, then the distribution warehouses will run out of it and mysteriously "forget" to restock for months at a time, if ever.  It's become the way of things, and not solely due to the pandemic.  Risk-averse purchase agents are ignoring anything that isn't a proven seller, which obviously leaves new games out in the cold.  Too busy chasing the Pokemon bubble right now.

And to some degree you can't even blame them for being wary.  The last five-ten years have seen distribution and retail get burned repeatedly as products produced through crowdfunding prove to be nearly unsellable past initial release.  The people who want a game got it from KS more often than not, leaving very little market left over for stores or the traditional pipelines that feed them.  Whole industry's a mess right now, and I don't see it getting better any time soon even with the pandemic maybe ending soon.  Maybe.

[Psychopomp]

That doesn't put stock on the shelves of my FLGS.  The problem isn't my getting ahold of the game, the problem is it not being in stores to build a new player base to actually game with.  If Stargrave's release to distribution follows the pattern Frostgrave, etc did, the product will be available in limited numbers to retailers for maybe  a month, then the distribution warehouses will run out of it and mysteriously "forget" to restock for months at a time, if ever.  It's become the way of things, and not solely due to the pandemic.  Risk-averse purchase agents are ignoring anything that isn't a proven seller, which obviously leaves new games out in the cold.  Too busy chasing the Pokemon bubble right now.

And to some degree you can't even blame them for being wary.  The last five-ten years have seen distribution and retail get burned repeatedly as products produced through crowdfunding prove to be nearly unsellable past initial release.  The people who want a game got it from KS more often than not, leaving very little market left over for stores or the traditional pipelines that feed them.  Whole industry's a mess right now, and I don't see it getting better any time soon even with the pandemic maybe ending soon.  Maybe.

Well, yes.  These are all challenges the independent gaming store faces, problems with the limited number of distribution channels for gaming, and why most FLGS are nothing more than a Friday Night Magic center with comics and other games as a side vanity project according to the owners' interests.

Stargrave ain't gonna solve these issues, and Stargrave is what we were talking about.  There's a US source for the Nickstarter, and I'm grateful for that much. 

Also, if Brigade Games has a channel to import XGrave like this, it isn't impossible.  The stuff is coming over somehow, it's just not via the easier, standard channels your FLGS uses.  Maybe they can reach out to Warlord Games, or even ask Lon at Brigade how he's getting supply?  This won't change the fact that as a semi-indie wargame, the XGrave games will probably remain special order, but that's just good business sense on the FLGS's part.  The margins are too thin to stock EVERYTHING.