(KICKSTARTER) Deadzone Kickstarter - Funding Successful

[tnjrp]

Wootz!

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I've been playing a lot of Dust Tactics as of late and I can see the merits of having squares; but I still think that you could just as easily use measuring sticks and so forth. I.e. I haven't really experienced any hassle with measuring in any of the multitudes of games that I've played over the years

Me neither, really. The real LOS which is being used for this game is I think actually more problematic than free form range and movement. Also, I still keep wondering why they insist going IGOUGO for what appears to be a small skirmish ("fire team level") game. I've always felt that whatever merits it has come at "platoon level" and up where "combined arms" style maneuvers become important. These traits make me even less likely to play than I would've been otherwise

[Giger]

Jake has said that he has tested out alternate activation and found a way for it to work so that he's happy with it, in fact he said its a win/win

[tnjrp]

Well, he would have to say that, wouldn't he?

I suppose we'll see for ourselves, by and by. Not holding my breath personally even tho the alt-activation system in Warpath is actually a bit innovative.

[kalamadea]

Although the grid system isn't something I'd look for in a skirmish game, I've played enough of the Gears of War boardgame to be intrigued by it. No, what has me REALLY excited is the SIZE of the board! The one thing that kept me from playing Infinity was the tremendous amount of terrain you needed to play the game. Beautiful models, fantastic system, but you just needed SO MUCH terrain to fill a board, and all the terrain that looked good enough to play with the models was really expensive. You might be able to build an army for $50, but you'll spend 10x that in money and time getting a table together. But for Deadzone, you just need a 2'x2' square. Make it as dense as you want, it won't break the bank or take all that much time, because it's just a 2x2.

It's gotten me so excited that I've already started on my own board. Still a WIP, only a few tiles done so far using Thelazyforger's method for cracked pavement. 1/4" MDF board cut down to 2'x2', grided out with a T square and panel line scriber for some nice deep grooves in it. Bit of sandpaper to get the burs out and now the time consuming part, going through with an awl and scribing in the cracked pavement look. Spent a few hours yesterday getting the board itself and a few of the tiles done, about to go back and do some more

[eMills]

That's awesome Kalamadea!  And amusing since I spent most of today doing the exact same thing.  1/4" MDF cut down, gridded, and I started engraving in the cracks.

I need to find a panel line scriber it seems. I used a plastic scriber/cutter and a file to get my grid in.  Took a bit longer than I would have liked, and the lines aren't as neat as yours.

Cracks are taking a good long while too...

Look forward to seeing more of your board.


Everyone else: Terrain only pledges are up, just in case anyone missed them.

~Eric

[Dr Mathias]

What is a panel line scriber? Sounds useful.

[kalamadea]

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/WTI0001P?I=LXFP37&P=8

Panel line scribers are awesome. I use the Squadron brand, bought it about 7 years ago. The guy at the hobby shop tried to convince me that the back end of a hobby knife worked fine but I bought it anyways and couldn't be more happy with the purchase. Paid about $8 USD for it, and it is awesome, very precise, even lines. Works great for cutting pavement tile shapes in plasticard or even directly on plastic bases and you can make thinner lines by less pressure. The curved shape and sharp sides of the cutting head make it a great seam scraper and I find the hoked shaped really useful for any time I have something in a recess that needs to be finagled out and can't reach it with a blade or file or pin.

The lines it made in the board are quite deep, between 2 to 3mm which is much deeper than you'd normally get with the tool, also a bit wider. I clamped a steel ruler to the board and did a dozen or so passes with the tool, then cleaned up the burs with some folded over 100 grit sandpaper in the lines. Took me longer to find my tools then it did to mark and scribe the grid

No getting around the time consuming cracks though I use a few passes with a sharp awl to cut the initial line, widen it slightly and clear it out with the panel line scriber and some sandpaper, then repeat. I'm afraid if I just used the scribe that it would look like a panel line and not a crack, using the awl for the bulk of the work gives a nice thin line that's deeper than the scribe would make for how wide the crack would be. Thin lines with the scribe are possible, but they're very shallow and far too even. Because the scribing tool is pulled to make the line, it's also harder to make irregular shapes with it than the awl.

[Dr Mathias]

Great! Thanks kalamadea

[Giger]

That board looks great!

I've updated the OP with the new stretch goal etc.

[fastolfrus]

We oftern play PBI at the school club - squares are a definite bonus when dealing with teenagers.
So I can see the merits of a grid vs measurement.

As for the aesthetics, we don't actually mark the full squares out.
We mostly play on green cloths with scenery items laid loose on top, but the cloths are simply marked with a black permanent marker dot where each square corner would be. So if you are playing a game with squares eg PBI you have squares (just look for the dots), but if you use the same cloth for SAGA or Muskets & Tomahawks, ignore the dots (although they are still useful for working out deployment zones etc)

[winterborn]

Im in for the 150 with friends and ive been scouring teh interwebz for free papercraft terrain. Then i remembered the Ebbles dvd i got a few years ago. Lotsa good terrain there with some slight resizing to fit three inch grids. We should have an awesome board when its all done.
As for the activation, i am considering a random activation by teams, i.e. a deck of playing cards well shuffled. Turn over a card, one side red one black, whichever card comes up the player chooses one of their models to activate until everyone done. Just have to wait and see what Jake comes up with.

[tnjrp]

Well, the terrain pledge level is up. Not sure if it's such a huge deal (yet) at the starting $100 level tho, given that you need a complete building sprue to make a minimal "garden shed" building of 1x2 tiles/3x6'. But it's not that bad I suppose, assuming it does give you what is shown in the promo pic (didn't bother counting the tiles used in it yet). Obviously you get bulk dicounts if you buy bigger sets.

C.f. Pegasus Cyberclicks (originally by Tehnolog of Russia AFAIK) seem to still be available here and there, going for ca. 20 € for 6 sprues tho they have the problem with having Gothic window tiles in the mix that I don't find appealing and their tiles are smaller (maybe about 2x2') on the average (at least I think so, don't have any of those particular sets).

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The one thing that kept me from playing Infinity was the tremendous amount of terrain you needed to play the game [...] But for Deadzone, you just need a 2'x2' square. Make it as dense as you want, it won't break the bank or take all that much time, because it's just a 2x2

You can play Infinity on a 2x2 board if you use as much terrain as they did in the Deadzone test setup. It's sorta a stretch and you'll want to select your troops perhaps a bit but it should work. 4x4 is certainly quite decent.

[obsidian3d]

I'm still on the fence with Deadzone...but I really like Dreadball from the same creator so I'm leaning towards giving it a shot.

[eMills]

New update:

Here’s a little treat for you ahead of tomorrow’s open day… the first of the Reb sculpts have been painted!



Some of the more eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed some gorgeous resin scenery pieces in the shot above. These are from Antenocitis Workshop and we’ve worked with them to create some fantastic bundles that you can use to detail up your buildings, both with interior and exterior accessories.

From Vid Screens to advertising hoardings to military command decks and crates and barrels, every component is compatible with Deadzone – some have been even been remastered by Antenociti to work with the 3" tile template and we’ve even got our own custom Lockers featuring Enforcer weaponry!

The following bundles are now available for you to add-on to your pledge:








Not only that but we’ve also got a Mega Deal where you can pick any of the two bundles above and get a free Pollution Scrubber or Heat Exchanger!



We're think this stuff is absolutely beautiful and will help make your gaming table seem all the more real. Whether you use the components as objective tokens, cover or simply detail for your buildings, don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity for some truly beautiful terrain.

Love Antenociti's stuff.  Will be upping for this for sure.

~Eric

[eMills]

Pics of Deadzone stuff from Mantic's Open Day courtesy of Riquende:
http://riquende.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/mantic-open-day-deadzone-images/

~Eric