What KICKSTARTER(S) are you BACKING and WHY?

I'm bummed that I didn't back Lobotomy now.

You can grab it for $100 at MM. Unfortunately, it looks like the rulebook is a mess.

Definitely looks like one of those "cool idea, Kickstarter garbage" deals. I put Byron on the review at MM, he is really good with these kinds of things.

I just put in for the $149 level on Onslaught 3. I like that they have a "gameplay stuff only" tier, which is what convinced me to go in on it. Of course, by the time it rolls out I'll have to add Sleeper and Tcho Tcho to it and probably the Celaeno map.

I may have to continue to go $0 on CW OS3. I have most everything else, at least gameplay wise, via OS2 and trade, but unexpected expenses and "what the hell am I going to do with more of this stuff?" are making OS3 less attractive.

If it weren't one of my favorite games of all time at this point, I would give it a pass too. But it is a frequently played game, and it is like Cosmic in that the more of it you have, he more of it there is to explore and experience. I literally sold off a shelf's worth of inferior stuff to make room for what I have at this point.

But yeah, it is also a case where even if you just have SOME of the first wave, you've got a TON of game there. And a storage problem.

I'm constantly thankful that my group has a CW owner in it, and that person isn't me.

I'm in at $200, you just get so much more for only $50, couldn't help it.

If someone was thinking about stupidly backing CW this kickstarter (knowing they likely would not play it very much) without ever having owned it AND said person loves custom dice. What would be the way to go pledge add on wise? Acolyte + Battle Dice + Custom Dice Pack? What expansion should be the add on?

Just to be clear, I do like the game, and I'm supposed to run a 7p this very weekend. If my stepson hadn't broken a power mirror on the car, my refrigerator water filter hadn't shot water everywhere, including into the basement, and my roof didn't need repair from late-winter hail, I'd probably have been early in line; as it is, I still my have my kids forgo a semester of college so I can pledge.

The four expansion factions all play a little differently so some of it is going to come down to your personal preference.

- Windwalker is a slow-rolling, late game beatstick that is hard to beat if not kept in check (I own this one but have not played with it yet).

- Opener of the Way is a "tricky" faction that has all kinds of weird tricks (Yog Sothoth is a gate, units that survive battles can be mutated into more powerful monsters, and there is a power where they can move other factions' gates to different areas) which makes it more difficult to play well but the way it plays is unique amongst all factions (I own and have played with this one).

- Sleeper is also a "tricky" faction that has ways to remove its units from the board to protect them from attack, as well as a power that lets them pass their turn (without forfeiting further activations for the round, which is what normally happens when you "pass" as your Action) so they can go last when everyone else is out of power, and thus get up to some unopposed shenanigans with the power they've been hoarding. (I own and have played against this one, but have never played as the Sleeper).

- Tcho Tcho is the one I know least about and word in the forums on BGG is that they're broken. I couldn't say as I just received them as part of my OS2 shipment.

My order of preference is Opener of the Way, Sleeper/Windwalker, Tcho Tcho. OotW is just so weird and interesting, and Yog Sothoth is one of the "classic" Great Old Ones and is a nice addition alongside Cthulhu, Shub Niggurath, Nyarlathotep and Hastur.

As for the Custom Dice Pack, don't bother. They do nothing that regular d6's don't do. For instance, when you roll for Blight with the King in Yellow faction, there's no reason the d6 needs to have the Hastur symbol on it, it's just cosmetic (and your vanilla copy of CW will come with d6's, anyway).

Instead, I would advise you to scrape up $3 to add to the $12 you would have spent on the Custom Dice Pack so you can afford the High Priest expansion. In fact, I would advise anyone to get High Priests before they got anything else to add to the base game. In addition, if you print out the Unique High Priest PnP expansion (refer to the Omega Rulebook pdf, it's just 5 or so cards), you can use them with the HP expansion and add more variety without a lot of rules overhead or (additional) storage issues.

Finally taking the plunge on CW. When it first rolled around I thought it looked great but the price.... Then i start seeing how everyone is enjoying it and that it really is a great game. Very hard to come by so now that OS2 is shipping to the dustributirs and OS3 is starting I'm all in. This is going to cost a pretty penny but I know I can probably pull this out weekly and have 6 to 8 player games. Hell I'm thinking of starting a tournament.

SebastianBludd wrote: The four expansion factions all play a little differently so some of it is going to come down to your personal preference.

- Windwalker is a slow-rolling, late game beatstick that is hard to beat if not kept in check (I own this one but have not played with it yet).

- Opener of the Way is a "tricky" faction that has all kinds of weird tricks (Yog Sothoth is a gate, units that survive battles can be mutated into more powerful monsters, and there is a power where they can move other factions' gates to different areas) which makes it more difficult to play well but the way it plays is unique amongst all factions (I own and have played with this one).

- Sleeper is also a "tricky" faction that has ways to remove its units from the board to protect them from attack, as well as a power that lets them pass their turn (without forfeiting further activations for the round, which is what normally happens when you "pass" as your Action) so they can go last when everyone else is out of power, and thus get up to some unopposed shenanigans with the power they've been hoarding. (I own and have played against this one, but have never played as the Sleeper).

- Tcho Tcho is the one I know least about and word in the forums on BGG is that they're broken. I couldn't say as I just received them as part of my OS2 shipment.

My order of preference is Opener of the Way, Sleeper/Windwalker, Tcho Tcho. OotW is just so weird and interesting, and Yog Sothoth is one of the "classic" Great Old Ones and is a nice addition alongside Cthulhu, Shub Niggurath, Nyarlathotep and Hastur.

As for the Custom Dice Pack, don't bother. They do nothing that regular d6's don't do. For instance, when you roll for Blight with the King in Yellow faction, there's no reason the d6 needs to have the Hastur symbol on it, it's just cosmetic (and your vanilla copy of CW will come with d6's, anyway).

Instead, I would advise you to scrape up $3 to add to the $12 you would have spent on the Custom Dice Pack so you can afford the High Priest expansion. In fact, I would advise anyone to get High Priests before they got anything else to add to the base game. In addition, if you print out the Unique High Priest PnP expansion (refer to the Omega Rulebook pdf, it's just 5 or so cards), you can use them with the HP expansion and add more variety without a lot of rules overhead or (additional) storage issues.

Opener of the way is very fun but it's a faction that sits on the knife's edge. You can lose very hard or win equally as hard. Much of the faction's power is based on timing and using your once per game abilities.

All three of the original expansion factions are great (Opener, Sleeper, Windwalker). I think Windwalker was previously too strong but they've since nerfed it slightly and it feels much more in line. Tcho-Tcho does feel too strong and they are a bit boring to play. I expect a minor change at some point.

You guys should kick this into its own thread. This is a lifestyle game that is worthy of an extended discussion.

David, if you just want to dabble, I'd say just buy the core set, which is still available at retail (at least at MM, probably some other places). There is PLENTY of game there. As others have said, the custom dice are a big fat so what. They ain't that neat.

If you decide you like it and want more, then you can buy, it looks like, everything in Onslaught 3. The "must haves" IMO are the High Priests, at least two factions (I would go with Windwalker and Opener of the Way), Great Old One Pack 1 (for some neutral stuff), and at least one extra map (I'd choose Yuggoth).

It's a daunting proposition to get into this game at this point.