What KICKSTARTER(S) are you BACKING and WHY?

southernman wrote: Not sure what you meant about the season thing (me showing lack of nerdiness on a nerd site), basically it seems it will be a scifi exploration with co-op ship/crew management, research and planet activities, with dice assignment and use plus hidden information and narrative. I haven't been reading all the updates for months like many have as I don't want to know everything before I see the game.

What I meant by season was the way that star trek seasons (esp older) are a single ship going on many exploration, scientific and diplomacy missions (one off episodes), heavily focused the ship's crew and characters dealing with problems and less on like fleet battles or grand strategy. It sort of sounds a lot like that.

I think it's a great idea---I'l be watching it.

I believe Mark Chaplin's game is solo.

ISS Vanguard sounds a little bit like Awaken Realms take on Battlestations with a ground adventure component (basically Battlestations upcoming Dirtside expansion).

Gary Sax wrote:

southernman wrote: Not sure what you meant about the season thing (me showing lack of nerdiness on a nerd site), basically it seems it will be a scifi exploration with co-op ship/crew management, research and planet activities, with dice assignment and use plus hidden information and narrative. I haven't been reading all the updates for months like many have as I don't want to know everything before I see the game.

What I meant by season was the way that star trek seasons (esp older) are a single ship going on many exploration, scientific and diplomacy missions (one off episodes), heavily focused the ship's crew and characters dealing with problems and less on like fleet battles or grand strategy. It sort of sounds a lot like that.

I think it's a great idea---I'l be watching it.

The background to it is that scientists found some type of star map/co-ordinates in our DNA and this ship is us venturing to deep space to investigate.

southernman wrote:

Turek wrote: Mark Chaplin (LIFEFORM) has game similiar to ISS Vanguard planned for KS: Where humans don't belong

Sounds very different (apart from being a ship in space exploring).

Yes, different take on mechanics but similiar theme and scale. CYOA style exploring of space and planets while managing spaceship, crew and resources.
Strong Voyage of the B.S.M. Pandora vibe in Vanguard and some FTL in WHDB.

Turek wrote:

southernman wrote:

Turek wrote: Mark Chaplin (LIFEFORM) has game similiar to ISS Vanguard planned for KS: Where humans don't belong

Sounds very different (apart from being a ship in space exploring).

Yes, different take on mechanics but similiar theme and scale. CYOA style exploring of space and planets while managing spaceship, crew and resources.
Strong Voyage of the B.S.M. Pandora vibe in Vanguard and some FTL in WHDB.

While I like Mark and the enthusiasm and integrity he puts into his games calling them similar is a bit of a stretch, in theme yes.

Gary Sax wrote:

southernman wrote: Not sure what you meant about the season thing (me showing lack of nerdiness on a nerd site), basically it seems it will be a scifi exploration with co-op ship/crew management, research and planet activities, with dice assignment and use plus hidden information and narrative. I haven't been reading all the updates for months like many have as I don't want to know everything before I see the game.

What I meant by season was the way that star trek seasons (esp older) are a single ship going on many exploration, scientific and diplomacy missions (one off episodes), heavily focused the ship's crew and characters dealing with problems and less on like fleet battles or grand strategy. It sort of sounds a lot like that.

I think it's a great idea---I'l be watching it.

Here's a bigger fan's synopsis on what is known about it at the moment.

www.facebook.com/boardgamersassemble/posts/196241988765736



News

- ISS VANGUARD -
Awaken Realms has been known for the quality of its titles, the originality of the themes discussed, the excellent miniatures, the crazy art, the commitment made to an exceptional storytelling... and the hype who can infuse the boardgamers!
Their next big project, ISS Vanguard, is now close to the crowdfunding start date and has recently been released some video of both gameplay and unboxing overview.

- What is it?
It's a space exploration game, a narrative sci-fi campaign up to 4 players who, unlike their success "Nemesis", will be totally cooperative this time. If Nemesis matches (mostly one-shot) can compare to horror/action themes titles like Dead Space and Alien, we're definitely more about exploring star systems like No Man's Sky and Star Trek.
The plot focuses on the discovery of a common trait in the DNA of all living beings that seems to indicate a space coordinate. This place in the galaxy, renamed "God's coordinates", and the discovery of an alien wreckage on Earth with a unique engine for interstellar travel, triggered a coordinated project for this new space race across all the globe. Alien travel technology is not replicable, so ISS Vanguard, the ship that will mount this system, is the only chance to get these answers. And this is where the adventure begins!
Each player will impersonate one of the four sections on board the ship: Engineering, Science, Recon and Security. The play sessions are mainly divided into two phases: management of ISS Vanguard and exploration of planet.

- The ISS Vanguard
The main element is a large tome: the Ship Book (in other words, a sort of logbook). Everything kept inside represents the current situation of the ship and the campaign in general (and therefore also a kind of implied mechanism of "save game" system). If you've ever seen a card binder like Magic's, here you go... The idea you can do is vaguely that, but with inserts of various types and sizes, divided by sections. Page, sections, binders and cards entered as adventure progresses to describe countless situations and states.
A first section shows the staff and mood on board, the situation of each section of the crew, the supplies of materials, the lists of discoveries made up until then, the planets visited (with a saved condition, so if, for example, the atmosphere is changed during a mission and you want to go back there, you'll find it in the conditions of how you left it), the injured (and how badly) and those promoted, the memorial of the dead ones (and possible bonus / malus for the section of belonging).
Then we have the part about the control deck, with the spacemaps of the systems visited (and how far they are to reach), navigation ship updates and beyond.
Then comes the part for each of the four sections: Security on board with the morale and current situations of the entire crew (impaired, moods, riots, etc... which get worse if ignored), the Science section with all the projects from research and knowledge of encountered alien species, the Engineering section to manage and produce new equipment projects (cards to add to deck during exploration... yes, exploring actions will be managed via a deck building system!), and the Recon section that manages the hangar and ship and module updates (different ships with different spaces, skill, speed and armor) for landing on planets.
Finally there is the Barracks section, for managing the various characters on board the ship and their accommodation in the roles that suit them most (worker-placement type, but with cards in specific slots in the binder). You can't use the same character twice in a row for two consecutive missions because they have to rest, and obviously each character is unique with unique features, and can evolve individually. So it will be important to choose who and where to allocate each individual character, and when to choose to use it, and to make them do what.
Every division, every discovery, every choice during adventure leads to management of the entire game in all its stages. If, for example, you spend ship energy in the mission choice phase to activate long-range sensors trying to know first what conditions will be on the planet you're about to explore, you can optimize the characters' equipment for that mission and choose the shuttle right to land.
Yes, exactly: the possibilities are endless.

- Landing!
As the adventure progresses, players will be called to land to explore new planets and sites of scientific importance essential to achieve the ultimate goal. Although ship management is indispensable and requires a certain type of reasoning and decisions, it's safe to say that surface exploration is the real "active part" of the gaming experience.
Choice of planet, crew, equipment and landing shuttle to be used, proceed with the ground mission. Even the choice of seats on the shuttle is essential... especially in the event of an accident during the landing! But let's say that everything is fine, that it's not 2020 and that we arrive safely without too many hitches on the ground...!
Planets are represented by a sort of "booklet" which, with open-page couples, shows a planetary scenario, of the numbered areas where to place cards of various types and the links between them. By placing our characters (miniatures) on one of these areas (the landing one) we will then have the chance to manage our actions through cards in our own hand (deck-building style, as mentioned above) and features. Going from one area to another, things (cards) will happen, some history-related, some random, but always related to the type of planet we're on. Player's turn remembers Nemesis a bit: I choose what to do, play cards, roll dice, next player, and so on. It's imaginable that anything can happen here: incredible discoveries, collection of new materials, encounters with hostile alien species or not, volcanic eruptions, people who are injured or lose their lives... I mean... anything can really happen!
The excursion is over, back to ISS taking all the cards of the planet and tidying them up on the relative page inside the Ship Book. When/if we return to that planet in a next exploration, we'll find it as we left it. Maybe...!
The discoveries made and the materials found will end up in the relevant sections inside the book, some characters can be promoted for the deeds done, some will have to spend some time in the infirmary, some will still have their place on the wall of the fallen, inspiring the next ones to come.
Yes, exactly: the possibilities are endless. Have I written this yet? It's good to say it again!

- Thoughts
Considering everything is still prototyping and this title probably won't see the light on store shelves until a couple of years... Well, the only thing I think about today is: ′′ Wow!"
The AR team reveals themselves again as an inexhaustible source of original, and mastodontic ideas. Of course it's not all gold that glitters. Tainted Grail, Etherfields, Gloomhaven, etc... point to a certain audience.
- It's not a one-shot game. It's a campaign that, as the title would seem, requires a certain kind of commitment and steadfastness as their Tainted Grail is teaching us.
- The Ship Book structure gives the idea of not allowing "parallel" campaigns. It's quite unlikely to think about carrying on two different adventures with just one copy of the game. Similarly, it probably wouldn't even be easy to "let someone try" once the game, except maybe with a pre-set tutorial mission with exclusive cards that gives an idea of the game stages while exploring a planet.
- It's objectively a game suitable for four players. As XCom has already taught us, there are four roles to play and if you're less someone has to play two. Maybe as long as you just move a pawn on a scoreboard and throw a few more dice it's not a big problem, but in this case, as it's easy to understand, it could really be a headache.
- As with most of this type's titles, we're certainly not faced with a german style game. The alea between rolls of dice and unpredictable situations will be constant and planning could completely fall apart with a wrong shot or unexpected card. It must be said that it is the very kind of game that requires it. But it's also to be said that if the alea could be frustrating in competitive or semi-collaborative long-term games like Risk or Nemesis itself, we're looking here at a pure cooperative game, which undoes that irritating aspect of victory/defeat in front of the face to the blindfolded goddess.
So far it's all clearly in english but, as AR has used us for years now, 99 % everything will be completely located in multiple languages.
If you've read this far and you're a little curious, I highly recommend the view of the below links! Especially unboxing, to have a concrete idea of everything you've read so far.
That being said, the hype has already started and will stay high for several months, and over, and over...!
Just waiting for the campaign start date! And then a few years of production... and then delays... cruel world!

_______________________
Gamefound draft page: gamefound.com/.../xahtfnckfodcu92agtxy299y2gm ...


Edit: And here's a shorter unboxing video that also explains how some of it is used.

southernman wrote: So Awaken Realms put out the Etherfields kickstarter back in July 2019 and I didn't back it, can't remember if it was it sounded not my thing or it was too expensive or not friendly shipping for post-Brexit UK. Recently Shellie mentioned it as it was delayed as long as my Tainted Grail was (and coincidentally I just received an email from Gamefound today asking me to confirm my address for delivery of it - finally ) and then I saw a link on the ISS: Vanguard FB page showing it being unboxed, so I had another read through the completed KS project page and updates .... and I like the sound of it now (plus a few play-through videos assisted), and the PM is open again for late pledges .
Oh dear, may be more money going out ... well I have bailed on a few other KSers in the past few months being picky (sensible) so it may be time for some careless lunacy.
It does sound (to me, now) a brilliantly original idea for a game.

Still very keen to get a late pledge on this, the gameplay reviews and videos makes it look like something I'd like, The price will be massive but for the quality value of it and the massive number of hours of entertainment from it makes it very easy to compare to seeing a dozen films or just nights out ... plus it will still be there to play again or sell after.
And I'll get mine when Shellie gets hers so we can compare notes and exalt or swear over it.

I generally enjoy Awaken Realms' games, but they often shoot for an audience who is not me. I'm much more inclined to jump at a game offering a single experience and not requiring a massive time commitment for a campaign. At least I save money!

Lords of Hellas and Nemesis are great and I wish I got to play more of them.

A lot depends on the quality of narrative and writing, then. Anyone care to comment on the narrative and writing in Tainted Grail? It sounded like a pretty grindy game---I read an interesting short post by Frohike on this subject here: but I'm curious about the narrative plotting and quality of the writing.

Like I said, it's intriguing enough that I'll be watching, I only have two that would play but if it handled two easily (if running two depts wasn't too hard) that'd be tempting.

edit: Looks like charlest had some comments here: therewillbe.games/forum/35-mos-eisley-ca...g?start=11325#304820

All the comments I have read have been nearly the same (including from Charlie and Andi here), great story but far too grindy ... a nuisance as I am so looking forward to mine arriving hopefully next month.
Andi suggested an option in the rules called 'Story Mode' that removed a lot of the grindy mechanic.

Yes, accurate. Game is too grindy for sure, but I absolutely loved the narrative. There's something about the dark post apocalyptic Arthurian style that is full of wonder and brooding terror. There are scenes and set pieces in this game I will never forget. It's one of the few narrative campaign games that I've actually finished (although I did skip past some random combats and fast forward through some travel).

I wrote a few paragraphs about it in my 2019 Top 10 list: playerelimination.com/2019/12/31/theels-feels-a-2019-top-10/

I just backed some wonky trio of little games from Cryptozoic. They're all based on the graphics designs/illustrations of Steve Rhodes.

I own a few of his t-shirts, and they crack me up. These titles look pretty silly and light and that's exactly what I'm looking for.

That Cryptozoic triptych looks fun, but not quite seventy bucks of fun. Tbh I think I'd rather just buy a couple of Steven Rhodes' books and keep most of the money back for something else.

I decided to put a late pledge on D-6 Armada . A few days ago I sold my copy of the original game and expansion for a silly amount, it was perfectly fine but a fairly limited and linear experience and something something gift horses. My kids however got well annoyed at me so I put that money back into this newer version which we can at least play together co-op. It has a much cooler FTL vibe where you build up your ship en route to the end boss which the 'Endless' expansion tried but failed to do a particularly good job at implementing. I get the feeling though that I am buying something that will only end up getting sold on again a few months later.

Woo hoo ! Latest Tainted Grail update says shipping of Wave 2 (and us single wavers) starts for Europe on 7 Dec so I might have something to do over Christmas in our (probable) continued semi-lockdown (and my Waste Knights kickstarter also might arrive before the end of the month so need more tables) . Oh - apparently you greedy Americans have used up all the containers for your Christmas shipping so US and Canadian ones won't start shipping until the new year.