Empire of the Dead: Worth getting into??

[Tenz]

Hey Guys

Jet and I were having a discussion of possibly giving Empire of the Dead a try. We wondering what the opinions were of the game play etc. We are heavy into Adventure (Chaos in Carpathia, Pulp Alley, Legends of the Old West) gaming and wondering if the game is a mash up skirmish type or more of a campaign play style?

Cheers,

Tenz
 

[Penchour]

classic gameplay (very GW oriented if you see what I mean), excellent universe ... I really like it

[Van-Helsing]

Like all these sort of Games (Necromunda, Mordheim, Cutlass etc) its about the narrative more than anything (especially with its excellent background).

You might need to make a few "tweaks" here and there, but its a good solid "core".

[AzSteven]

Its definitely a campaign game, but suitable for one-offs as well.  Very interesting and well-written 'flavor' material, until you look at the rules.  The rules are badly organized, unclear and a bit incomplete, in my opinion, and don't always seem to support the universe described in the background.  Playable, but a bit of an interpretive struggle at times.

I found In Her Majesty's Name to be a better written set of rules, but with little of the background flavor found in EOTD - perhaps the real answer is a combination of the two?  That seems to be where my group is headed anyway.

[Malamute]

There are lots of new figures and factions coming out shortly for EOTD following the kickstarter earlier this year. The rules are being expanded to include these new factions, they will also include rules for vehicles, steam tech, carriages, flying machines etc.

I haven't played many games so can't comment much on the system, but I think it is most suited to campaign games such as LOTW etc.

Check out Anatolis blog. He has written an extensive review of the rules and has a number of AARs from games he has played. I think you should be able to formualte a good opinion either way by looking here:

http://anatolisgameroom.blogspot.co.uk/

[richarDISNEY]

I like them.  While you can do 'one off' games, there is rules for 'advancing' your war band.  So it works really well.

As for me, I'm not a fan of the WW figs, so I use other companies minis for these rules.

Also there is a good place online that where you can fill out your roster... http://www.umpireofthedead.com/

One thing about the rules, there is a lot of fiction/fluff in it that was almost too distracting to me... IMO,  YMMV...

[King Tiger]

Considering what an excellent job westwind are doing killing their own system, I would not bother, they've made the same mistakes with this that they did with secrets of, just buy in her majestys name, cheaper system and better from what players have been saying.

[Brummie Thug]

EotD is a nice system similar to Necromunda type skirmish game. The rules I found quite easy to get to grips with tbh. The miniatures are really nice and when boosted by Requiem there will be alot of choice to.

[muncehead]

Considering what an excellent job westwind are doing killing their own system, I would not bother, they've made the same mistakes with this that they did with secrets of, just buy in her majestys name, cheaper system and better from what players have been saying.

Intrigued by this KT - how are they killing their own system?

[Penchour]

Intrigued by this KT - how are they killing their own system?

Well, since it's basicaly a "1 man does everything" company, it's hard to keep the needed follow up on existing ranges and games. Yet  KS was intended to have a contracted out caster to help reduce the pressure and help focusing on sculpting and making new rules/supplements, so time will tell.

[muncehead]

My understanding was Andy Cooper sculpts and runs the store with his other half Wendy. The rules were for EotD written by Sam Catterall and Nigel Atkinson.

Personally I like the rules as you can play a campaign or a pick up (with a little prep). Simple turn sequence using d10s - although I plan to embellish it with a card based activation system.

[Van-Helsing]

Considering what an excellent job westwind are doing killing their own system, I would not bother, they've made the same mistakes with this that they did with secrets of, just buy in her majestys name, cheaper system and better from what players have been saying.

Having played both, I can say both have issues - Empire of the Dead has a few Rules problems, but they can be ironed out easily with house rulings. Animals are treated the same as Humans/Sentient Models in the rules when captured (for example) - that was easily sorted with a house rule. In Her Majesty's Name has a campaign system, but (to be frank) its not very interesting, and (kind of) feels "tacked on" to the rules rather than being a part of them.

In Her Majesty's Name is better for "one off" games, and Empire of the Dead is better for extended campaign play.

Out of the two, I personally prefer Empire of the Dead - but I think the "use whatever miniatures you want" approach of In Her Majesty's Name has won it a lot of devotees (FFS I've seen Sinbad Casts, Doctor Who Casts - its all over the place) that doesn't make it a better ruleset - it just has a lower price point, and people don't have to spend anything extra to play it.

I (again personally) prefer a game with a dedicated (and extensive) set of miniatures - and with the Empire of the Dead 'Requiem' miniatures on the way, we will have that with Empire of the Dead.

[King Tiger]

Are these the same "on the way" miniatures which like the "on the way" expansion rulebook might be knocked back till February?

[Van-Helsing]

Are these the same "on the way" miniatures which like the "on the way" expansion rulebook might be knocked back till February?

These are the same "on the way" Miniatures that were part of the Kickstarter campaign.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/832150598/empire-of-the-dead-requiem-0





















Some of the newer Rules have already been released to the Kickstarter Backers "The Supernatural Branch".

[shadowking1957]

King Tiger wrote Considering what an excellent job westwind are doing killing their own system,

How on God's good earth do you come to that? If you don#t like the  minis don't buy them don't like the rules don't play them.

We wait for wonderful miniatures  to be  sent to us on the kickstarter made to the  high standard we expect and paid for? The rules  are rules i played them i played IHMN, and pictures in a book? don't understand how its killing off EOTD.

My thoughts only