Massive Darkness Kickstarter is coming ... (delivering now ...!)

[Captain Gamma]

'Cmon' always feature far too many Kickstarter Exclusives. If you don't partake in the crowd funding and end up being an ordinary customer later on you don't get to enjoy the full gaming experience. I loved the look of Zombicide and Black Plague but couldn't afford to get in on the Kickstarters. Now I look at all the great 'exclusive' characters which are now unavailable and don't see the point of getting into the games. On a side note the recent Ghostbusters Board Game campaigns by Cryptozoic  were particularly infuriating, it had swathes of exclusives that are unavailable to rank and file gamers.

I understand that exclusives are seen as an incentive for potential investors but they could always be made available at a later date.

[Elbows]

I don't know how much the exclusives will add to the game.  For me it's a tough call though because of how affordable some of these games become at retailers.  You're paying more then MSRP (because of the add-ons) vs. 25-30-40% less than MSRP when it reaches retailers.  Big ones like this and BP etc. seem to offer enough to warrant the cost to me.

Essentially I look at the end result and simply think "would I pay $120 for this as one big box of contents - Kickstarter aside?".  As it stands now, while the minis aren't as nice, I feel the $120 is better spent on this than say Warhammer Quest Silver Tower.  So for me, that's a reasonable purchase.  Minis-wise I probably will rangle a few of these into my dungeon crawl minis, but I'll be using this more as a simple board game --- likely not painting everything, etc.

Now, Conan on the other hand...has some minis I really really hope are as good as they look.  (produced at the same factory)

[Cherno]

Newly unlocked: Elementals box.





By the way, I really love the art of the floor tiles. I think it's the same artist the created the Rackham floorplans for Cadwallon and Hybrid.

[psyberwyche]

I agree with Elbows. For a maximum outlay of $150 (including shipping), this already looks better value than something like Silver Tower, and given Cmon's history with Kickstarters it's only going to get better as the campaign progresses. I backed Black Plague, and although there were a few delays and shipping issues, I got my final box of stuff last week and the amount of content was staggering. Not just that, but it was mostly *useful* content too, rather than just pointless boxes of free stuff.

In short, I haven't backed yet, but I'm sure I will. I can't resist a dungeon crawl...

[Elbows]

Yep, I received my Black Plague pledge yesterday:



Now, this was a $150 level pledge which included the main Wolfsburg expansion and that's it...everything else was a "free" add-on.  The boxed game itself is MSRP $99 and sells around $76.  So at the end of the day I don't think I got a ton of stuff for "free" but I feel the amount of stuff I received was well worth the $150.  So I'm not looking to rob CMON blind by getting all kinds of free goodies.

They've done it enough to know what they need to provide and how much they can afford to provide etc.  I fully expect the Massive Darkness pledge to be extremely worth the $120 when finally finished.  Now, to be fair if you do buy all of the KS bits now on retail the Black Plague game is a huge value - but I think the $150 payment was fair for what I received. 

[beefcake]

I'm gutted I didn't get in n Black Plague, more so now looking at that pic. I'm definitely in on this though. I think I like the look more than Black Plague too.

[ced1106]

Yep! Looking forward to it. Seeing if I can make a 3D board with my game tiles. Game tiles and terrain from Dwarven Forge and Secret Weapon Miniatures "Tombs of the Dark Sun - Starter Set". Furniture by Johnny Lauck. JL has a "Dungeon Monsters 28mm miniatures Undead Zombies & Scenery" KS where you can get more furniture. Use the furniture to indicate lit squares.

http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=137_138&products_id=705
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/967512676/dungeon-monsters-28mm-miniatures-undead-zombies-an/description

[Verderer]

Kinda tempted, if they're really at the 28mm to 30mm range in size. Although the style is a bit cartoony for my taste, dare i say World of Warcraftey? I guess I will be following this to see what unlocks they bring.

Would the lack of undead indicate that this game can be combined with the other one, Black Plague? And I didn't catch it reading the KS, but does this game require an 'overlord' aka GM, or do all players play heroes?

Well, duh: it said so in the first sentence "with no game master"...

[Elbows]

I have to say after looking at my BP figures in person they might be a bit slight.  They're maybe 28mm tall, but rather thin in some cases.  I'll try to get some pictures of the Black Plague figures.  I obviously can't promise that Massive Darkness will be identical (same company, same factory, same style card pieces etc.).

[Verderer]

Elbows, would you say they have the same aesthetics as Rackham's Confrontation minis? maybe a tad shorter, or?

[Elbows]

Actually after handling them today while sorting out my pledge I'll say the scale is odd.  I'd say they're tall and slight.  So definitely 28-32mm in height (you get like 40 characters who vary quite a bit in sizes).  Here are some pictures taken with an old Eldar and a modern Space Marine.  As you can see some are tall and thin, others balanced, some quite large.






Hope that helps?

[maxxev]

Yeah they are more like 32-35mm scale, I was hoping to use some of the zombies but they are wall of out place with the Mantic games guys.

Rackham they may fit with.
They may go ok with Malifaux though they may be too slight.
They should fit ok with Wrath of kings figures (also from CMON).

[Verderer]

Ok, thanks useful pics. The bases are fairly thin too, about half a slotta-base, so if you raised them to slotta-base level, I guess they'd look even taller? Anyways, I am not sure if that is good or bad, I got loads of Rackham and Reaper minis too - the latter are all over the place when it comes to scale. These days they seem closer to 30mm than 28mm for the most part.

Mixing is only a factor if I want to use these minis with other makes, of course. That was my plan though, buying in to the KS for the boardgame alone wouldn't make sense for me.

[psyberwyche]

The bases are thin specifically to fit into those little coloured rings that are provided with the KS. Basically it's a board game - you choose your colour, pop the model in the coloured base, and take all the pegs and things associated with that colour to track your progress during the game.

In other news, I caved, as I knew I would, and backed it last night. This purchase has, however, come at the expense of Silver Tower.

[beefcake]

On the plus side a lot of these minis are not human so that makes it easier. Although then you just have the problems of different style orcs etc hmmm.