Home Raiders - excited or disappointed?

[admiraldick]

so, Vesper-On have started their Kickstarter campaign for Home Raiders and its already met is funding goal. There has been some hype around this game on a couple of sites (particularly Beasts of War). its been billed as a wargame that is 1 to 1 scale and is fun and easy enough to pick up it can be played by everyone. Now that the Kickstarter is live, you can download the rules and sample character cards and see much more of the artwork and early miniatures.

I was wondering how people felt about the game, now that it can be seen in the flesh? Because I was pretty excited by the concept and really looking forward to the Kickstarter, but feel that the reality had fallen rather short. is anyone else disappointed? or has the concept art and rules piqued your interest?

[southheaven]

I liked the concept, but as a beer'n'prezel game i find the starter box pretty expensive. Also the demo video didn´t do it for me.

[admiraldick]

The concept sounded great. I guess I had envisioned something fun and friendly, yet classy like a cross between The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Flower Fairies, Epic (the movie) and the Borrowers.

But instead there it's a cross between the original Tron, Rastamouse and that penguins game by Disney. It just looks awful.

And like you say, the demo video hardly. Makes the game look fun either.

I wonder if it would be possible to find miniatures or make your own to fit with a more classy vision.

[Sir_Theo]

The concept sounded great. I guess I had envisioned something fun and friendly, yet classy like a cross between The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Flower Fairies, Epic (the movie) and the Borrowers.

But instead there it's a cross between the original Tron, Rastamouse and that penguins game by Disney. It just looks awful.

And like you say, the demo video hardly. Makes the game look fun either.

I wonder if it would be possible to find miniatures or make your own to fit with a more classy vision.

Pretty much my thoughts entirely.  Not a fan of the minis,  but the concept is good. 

I envisioned something more like the Terry Pratchett book Truckers,  or the Borrowers.

[beefcake]

Looks cool. I always thought of making up a game like this. Only you would scatter stationary around the place such as small pencils, paper clips and the like and they could pick them up and hold them and use them.

[Steve F]

I quite like the look of the little monkey-men.

[Lovejoy]

The 1:1 scale with everything in the room as terrain is an idea I've been kicking around for ages now, so I was quite excited to see this project.
But I agree, the minis aren't really what I was hoping for. They just seem like normal 28/32mm stuff, and could be 1/56th scale as easily as 1:1.

A few years back, I sculpted a concept model of an imp for 1:1 gaming. He was about 60mm tall, and had a bottle top for a shield, a thimble for a helmet, and a nail hammered flat for a sword, with a pencil as a spear. I'll have to try and dig him out of my 'dead sculpts' box.

[The Gray Ghost]

I'm disappointed with the miniatures
I might pick up the Fair Folk but I have no interest in the rest.

[admiraldick]

@Sir_Theo: you're absolutely right. i hadn't even thought of Pratchett's nomes or carpet people, but they're perfect inspiration.

@beefcake: i like Vesper-On's idea for a campaign driven by controlling various rooms, but different scenarios, like collecting resources or specific objectives wpuld have made for a more interesting game. I haven't had a chance to play it yet, but Deadzone seems to have an interesting objective system.

@lovejoy: i think that's something that disappointed me most. I wanted to see needles being used as rapiers, matchsticks as clubs and other odds and ends that really showed the scale of the game. As it is nothing shows that the models are 1:1.

On a related note, I'd have liked to have seen them at a larger size than 28mm. It would have felt more realistic, made the game stand out and given more opportunities to create exciting sculpts that reflected the 'human' world.

If you can find your goblin, i'd love to see it.

@The Gray Ghost: I'll reserve judgement until we see the models, but the concept art shows centaurs and dragons, neither of which are likely to fit in thematically at this scale, which concerns me.

[comet5]

I signed up for the kickstarter as soon as it was announced.  I dropped out yesterday.  I liked the initial idea.  But I thought £45 for so few figures and a couple of dice was too rich for my blood.

I also did not like the look of the last few groups, the lazy ones looking like hippies and penguins collecting dust.

I'll save my money for other projects.

[Braxandur]

I like the miniatures, but not the price.

as for the miniatures being on a 1:1 scale, maybe it would have excited me more if Kenzer and Co. hadn't released Fairy Meat in 2000, which also works in that scale. While I liked that game, I got less interested after having played a dissapointing demo at spiel many years ago and never bought it.

Added a link to a (not mine) blog:
http://wargamestuff.blogspot.nl/2011/04/fairy-meat-retrospective.html

[Dewbakuk]

Pretty much my thoughts entirely.  Not a fan of the minis,  but the concept is good. 

I envisioned something more like the Terry Pratchett book Truckers,  or the Borrowers.

Exactly this.

[Duncan McDane]

The few models so far shown don't do it for me, so I won't be backing this one. Yet 

[hjorhrafn]

I'm going to echo what many others have said.  The idea is cool, but the execution leaves me absolutely cold.  A shame really, because I love the idea of a 1:1 scale game.  It could be fun in an augmented reality game as well.  Use your smart phone to see and control the wee folk that are fighting for control of your home?  That's a game my whole household could have fun with. 

[beefcake]

I can just imagine minis balanced precariously on the rims of toilets everywhere.