(Commercial) Stargrave Nickstarter begins today.

[nicknorthstar]

Hi everyone.

The Nickstarter pre-order program for the new Stargrave game and the official miniatures range begins today.

You can join in here: http://nstarmagazine.com/STARGRAVE_1.htm

[Juan]

These figures, painted, are very interesting, in the end. Time to convince myself I need another SF game 

By the way, the Goal 2 is... amazing 

[snitcythedog]

By the way, the Goal 2 is... amazing 

I don't have one in blue either.

[Westfalia Chris]

Must Contain Minis did a preview thread which can be found here:

https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=130605.0

Please also visit that thread and the respective blog entry linked therein:

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

for various info on the project.

[Mr. White]

I can't find information on the shipping prices on that Nickstarter page. Where are they?

[Pattus Magnus]

The shipping is identical to Northstar’s normal shipping policies explained on the main website. I see you’re in the USA, so you’ll benefit from having the VAT deducted from list prices. It offsets over half the shipping cost.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

I can't find information on the shipping prices on that Nickstarter page. Where are they?

I thought there was a US distributer who was mirroring the NickStarter (maybe on the MCM thread).

[Edit]
https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=130605.msg1655759#msg1655759

[CookAndrewB]

Badger Games out of Wisconsin will also be a stateside retailer for the Nickstarter.
https://shop.badgergames.com/category.sc?categoryId=997

This is probably who I'll end up buying from. I would rather go this route than deal with international shipping (when I can).

[Seditiosus]

I'm so confused by the offered plastic kits. I assumed we were waiting for the previews for the remaining sets, but then realised, that they all look basically the same and I had been seeing all of them, just didn't realise it. Which is so confusing. all the artwork shown for the book looks beautiful and is a hightech version, but then those figures... I don't get it. they look like they are for 7tv, in which they would go for a trash-TV episode of space odyssee in the 70ths... i mean. startreak jumpsuits looked more hightech, then the overalls with tiny armor plates the minis are wearing... all of them. it really does look like a band of guys in the 70th put on some cheap costumes for a halloween-sci-fi party... I don't want to bash them, I just cant get them together with the artwork and style the game tries to convey... heavily baffled. not sure I want any of those... also the choice of weapons... so they have space ships, but still use AK47-looking equipment? I am so confused.

[Sir_Theo]

The game is figures agnostic, like Frostgtave, so if you don't like the style of the 'official's minis then there is no shortage of sci fi models that will fit an aesthetic you like.

[Blackwolf]

Oh dear. Actually I’ve always considered hard round weapons in sci-fi a good thing,and the various lazguns et al faintly ridiculous. The miniatures look good to me

[snitcythedog]

The game is figures agnostic, like Frostgtave, so if you don't like the style of the 'official's minis then there is no shortage of sci fi models that will fit an aesthetic you like.

Agreed.  The main thing is the rules.  It is not a GW sponsored game so no one will question the use of alternate figures. 

[Seditiosus]

yes I know that. I was just really looking forward to some nice interchangeable sci-fi plastics.. and what we got is just... vexing. I don't know, it doesn't seem on par with what was released for frostgrave, doesn't fit the bill for the style propagated in the book and just overall look like a parody. very surprised. unfortunately negatively.

[Chief Lackey Rich]

yes I know that. I was just really looking forward to some nice interchangeable sci-fi plastics.. and what we got is just... vexing. I don't know, it doesn't seem on par with what was released for frostgrave, doesn't fit the bill for the style propagated in the book and just overall look like a parody. very surprised. unfortunately negatively.

The sprue closeups make it pretty clear that the three boxes more-or-less tier upward in terms of tech level and gear quality.  Crew are mostly armed with near-future slugthrowers (including an obvious AK-XX homage) and wear a mix of civvie outfits that wouldn't look out of place on modern day factory workers, mechanics, or truck drivers.  The mercs have a mix of zap guns and slightly scifi-ish slugthrowers and more obviously armored outfits that still have enough variation to not really be uniforms.  The troopers are toting more energy weapons and/or advanced bullpup designs and wearing real uniforms with a lot of armor plating and helmeted heads, although their arms do seem kind of lightly armored.  Obviously you can mix-and-match between kits (and probably between them and the other XXXgrave fantasy stuff if you want some soldiers from a regressed colony or something) so none of that's a hard limit, but the trends is apparent.

There are some things that don't really seem to fit the Stargrave rules, and other things missing.  Two of the three sets seem to have personal missile launchers, which aren't a thing in the game AFAIK unless you squint and call them grenade launchers, so that's odd.  Some of the scifi weapons could double as flamethrowers or rapid-fire guns (which are in the rules) but something more obvious for them on the sprues would have been nice.  The armor on many of the figs could be either light or heavy depending on what you want to call it (which might be confusing for opponents unless you use some sort of visual cue to differentiate them) but none of them are really the really heavy combat armor power-suits - but you shouldn't need very many of those anyway and there's lots on the market elsewhere.

So overall not perfect, and maybe you dislike the aesthetic, but I'd want to see them painted up differently before making any final judgements.  The shots we've seen are very cleanly and crisply painted (as usual if that's Dallimore's work) but maybe too clean and too crisp.  This is supposed to be kind of a "desperate post collapse period" setting and those minis would look very different with a more grungy, beat-up, dirtied look.  The artwork you wanted them to match is relatively dark and muddy outside of pronounced lighting/energy glow effects, which fits the setting and makes the very tidy paint jobs look relatively garish by comparison.

I don't see this "70s scifi look" you are at all, but I'll agree they aren't as high-tech looking as (say) Corvus Belli's work.  Be curious to see what the (probably inevitable) modular robot box will look like, and whether they retain the more futuristic look of the artwork.  Little surprised there's no "bot box" in the initial release, honestly.  The rules support using a bunch of them (8+ per crew if you really pushed it) but I suppose they wanted t start with a good mix of organic human and humanoid alien bits.

Probably too much to hope for a kit with more exotic alien body types down the road, but like power armor, there's quite a lot on the market elsewhere.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

I have to agree with Chief Lackey Rich.

There appears to be a scoped rifle and an LSW with bipod on the Merc sprue.

As long as the crew type is identifiable, the weapon and armour set is implied (similar to Frostgrave).

I also admit to have ordered two boxes of each.

Anvil have just released Exo-supported armour (Male and Female Drop Troops) (plus new Gothic Void troops) plus the recent Eco-Lords for super troopers.

Spiral Arm have rather Live/Die/Repeat style Exo-supported troops (Master Bot Handler) and the SecDef troops for Combat Armour.
https://ultravanillasmurf.blogspot.com/2018/05/maelstroms-edge-epirian-master-bot.html
https://ultravanillasmurf.blogspot.com/2018/07/spiral-arm-epirian-secdef-troops.html