Kickstarter Corner

[Lori]

I'm going to wait until the previews are up on the page but basically... Jurassic Park the euro worker-placement board game. I'm pretty much sold.

Big names on this one.  It was completely under the radar for me.

[NeikeDjour]

From the miscreants at Weta Workshop and Cryptozoic comes Weta Workshop's first tabletop game, set in the sports-crazy dystopian future of Giant Killer Robots! Strap in for the most epic smackdown this side of the megapocalypse. Gather your squad of Giant Killer Robots (GKRs), build your deck, and face your rivals in the ultimate fight for fame, fortune, and sweet salvage rights. Scheme, strategize and strong-arm your way to victory as you dominate the media landscape, one billboard at a time. GKR: Heavy Hitters is a standalone, customizable tabletop game for 2-4 players, combining high-quality collectibles with dice-rolling, mech-building and tactical play! Pilot your Heavy Hitter (the biggest, baddest robot on the board) and a squad of three Support Units through the ruins of an old city, competing to either wipe your opponent off the map or reduce four skyscrapers to rubble. 

THE WORLD OF GKR
The story goes like this...Big plague. People died. Governments fell over. Things got bad, real fast. Fortunately, the corporations saved the day! Under their command, things got a whole lot better. But what to do with all those abandoned cites? There's money to be made in the salvage rights. But which corporation gets them? Enter the Giant Killer Robots League.

AIM OF THE GAME
There are two ways to win GKR: Heavy Hitters. Defeat your opponent through brute force, or reduce four buildings to rubble by Tagging them with advertising. Winning is a careful balance of managing energy, repairing damage, earning new Pilot skills, gathering and using sponsor-endorsed upgrades, and moving into positions that give you tactical advantage for your unique weapons.

CHOOSE YOUR PILOT
Part superstar athletes, part celebrity spokespeople for their corporate Factions, these guys have been chosen as much for their ability to drive Heavy Hitters as for their ability to drive ratings. Pick your Pilot carefully! Each will unlock special skills and upgrades on the Achievement board to help you strategize your way to victory.

CHOOSE YOUR FACTION
GKR: Heavy Hitters features four unique corporate Factions. Each has a squad of GKRs ready for you to take control, including one Heavy Hitter and three Support Units with a whole heap of special abilities. As Pilot, you get to pick one Faction to fight for. Which will you take into combat?!

DEPLOY PHASE
This is your chance to deploy your Support Units to the field. The Combat, Repair and Recon Units come with attack and defence capabilities unique to your Faction.

MOVEMENT PHASE
Next, move your Heavy Hitter and Support Units into a tactical position on the battlefield.

COMBAT PHASE
Time for the smackdown! In the Combat Phase, Factions attack and defend against each other with the roll of the dice. Rather than turn-based order, weapon speed determines who strikes first. Every Heavy Hitter has an arsenal of Primary Weapons, Secondary Weapons, and Orbital Strike. Primary Weapons are broken into 3 classes: Energy, Missile, and Ballistic. Use your cards wisely! If you sustain damage, you lose cards. If you lose all your cards to damage, you're OUT!

TAGGING PHASE
This is your chance to assert advertising dominance on the battlefield. Place four Tags on a building and you demolish that Building. Demolish four Buildings, and you win the game!
For each Building you Tag, you also earn a Sponsor Card. Use 'em throughout the game to give you a tactical advantage through hacking, counter-hacking, or even a spot of corporate espionage.

RESET PHASE
The final phase of the round is the Reset. Draw new Faction Cards, replenish your energy and get ready for another round of robot rumble!

[NeikeDjour]

I've been waiting a few weeks for GKR to start their KS. Really excited for this one. Saw a preview of it a while ago, looks really well done.

[NeikeDjour]

Rising Sun is a board game for 3 to 5 players set in legendary feudal Japan. As the Kami descend from the heavens to reshape the land in their image, it is up to each player to lead their clan to victory. Use politics to further your cause, negotiate to seek the most profitable alliances, worship the Kami to gain their favor, recruit monsters out of legend to bolster your forces, and use your resources wisely to be victorious in battle.

Created by acclaimed designer Eric M. Lang, Rising Sun reunites the same creative forces responsible for the smash hit Blood Rage, with stunning artwork by Adrian Smith and intricate miniatures sculpted under the direction of Mike McVey.

Each of the five clans in Rising Sun brings not only their own individual set of ten beautifully detailed miniatures for their Daimyo, Shinto and Bushi units, but also a unique ability that sets them apart from the others and affects all players' strategies.

Koi (Flow, Like Water) - Ever adaptable, the Koi clan is able to use hired Ronin as coins and vice versa, giving them great flexibility and making their decisions very unpredictable.
Dragonfly (Wings, Wind and Spirit) - Flying on gossamer wings, the Dragonfly clan is able to move anywhere on the map without restriction. You never know where they'll strike next.
Bonsai (Humility, Earth and Root) - Ever growing and evergreen, the Bonsai clan needs to spend no coins when buying resources. Strongholds sprout from the ground and Upgrades to the clan blossom naturally.
Lotus (Patience is key) - The Lotus clan dictates the flow of politics by turning the Political Mandates they play into anything they wish. A powerful ally to have at your side, and a terrible foe to betray.
Turtle (Hard as the mind; delicate as steel) - The Turtle clan builds their Strongholds on top of the shells of giant legendary turtles. These indestructible fortresses can move around the map and even join in the fights for the provinces.

Played over the course of a year, each Season in Rising Sun is divided into a Political phase, where players prepare their clans and set their plans in motion, and a War Phase, where dominance over each of the contested provinces is decided.

During the Political phase, players choose among a restricted selection for a Political Mandate to play. These determine the actions all players may perform. They can Recruit new units on their Strongholds, Marshal their forces across the map, Train to upgrade their clan with Season cards, Harvest to reap the rewards of the provinces they dominate, or even Betray their ally to bring opposing forces to their side.

When players perform a Train Political Mandate, they are able to spend their coins to upgrade their clans with Season cards that bring all manner of new abilities. From Virtues that give you bonuses according to your actions, to Enhancements that improve your clan, to powerful Monsters that may join your clan, bringing with them amazing strength or other more devious benefits.

At the start of each Season, players engage in a tea ceremony to negotiate new Alliances. Having the right ally and playing for mutual benefit (for a time) is often key to victory. Allies don't kill each other during war, and they also grant each other a unique bonus whenever they play a Political Mandate. Recruit extra units, build Strongholds when you Marshal, save coins when you Train, and reap a bountiful Harvest. However, the enticing Betrayal option always casts a shadow of doubt over Alliances.

Do not be too quick to Betray your ally, though, for such an action brings dishonor to your clan. Honor is a tangible force in Rising Sun. Clans are always competing on a ladder for who is more or less honorable than the other. Having more Honor than your opponent gives you the upper hand on any ties in the game, from a dispute when worshipping a Kami, to deadly war on the provinces. But occasionally being dishonorable might also be a valid strategy, for upgrades such as the nightmarish Oni often favor those at the bottom of the Honor scale.

When players Recruit their forces, they may choose to send their Shinto warriors to climb the mountains and go worship the mighty Kami. Three times per Season, each of these gods will grant their blessing upon the clan who worships them the most. The competition for the grace of the Kami can become fierce and change the course of the game. Each Kami grants a different benefit, from increased Honor, to extra Bushi, Ronin or coins. Only four of the seven Kami are used in each game, creating different dynamics each time you play.

Each Season ends with the War phase. In each of the contested provinces, the warring players secretly bid their coins on the different War Advantages. Only the winner in each of the different options is allowed to execute them, allowing for dramatic shifts in the outcome of each battle, or cunning players coming out ahead even in defeat. Bluff your way through impossible odds and trick your opponents into needlessly wasting their coins. Sometimes losing a battle may win you the war.

When Winter comes, all politics and fighting are over. Players gain extra points for winning battles in as many different provinces as possible, and also for certain upgrades they may have gathered. As the snow falls, the new Emperor will ascend!

ComicReaders (Regina) is going to do a Retailer Pledge of CMoN's Rising Sun.

We will charge a flat $100 USD (shipping and tax included). We will pay the first $10USD in duties if there are any.

To guarantee your pledge a deposit of $50 USD will be collected by PayPal. I will PM you our PayPal address. The remaining $50 USD will be collecting at time of shipping.

You will get the Core game, Phoenix Exclusive Monster and ALL unlocked stretch goals.

KS link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/coolminiornot/rising-sun/description

If you want in let Dana know.

[Luke Heidebrecht]

Hello all! 

I just wanted to alert the Saskgames community to a brand new kickstarter campaign for 18CZ - an 18xx title set in Czechia - or modern day Czech Republic.  See the link here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/22630337/18cz?ref=checkout_rewards_page

Anyone interested in going in on this for a bundle deal?

[Lori]

There's a 3-pack option on this one (US$29.35 per copy including shipping) and there are already 2 of us thinking about going in on it so let me know if you're interested.  This closes April 26/17.

Hardback is the follow-up to Paperback, the award-winning word / deckbuilding game from Tim Fowers. Hardback is not an expansion - it's a whole new game. Fans of Paperback will feel right at home playing Hardback, though there are plenty of new strategies and mechanics to explore:

    Hardback has no dedicated wild cards - your starting hand offers significantly more variety - and you'll never draw a "worthless" hand
    Any card can be made wild by playing it face-down - keeping you in control of which cards to focus on
    In Hardback, you do not purchase cards to earn victory - instead, play letter cards that score victory each time they are used
    Hardback does not have a pre-configured offer row - setting up a new game is as quick as shuffle and go
    No "draw extra cards" cards - instead, use "ink" to press your luck and draw extra cards - but go too far and you might not be able to spell a word
    Persistent cards provide stay in play and provide benefit each turn - until your opponents force you to discard them by using your letter in their word

In hardback, there are four distinct card "genres", each with their own unique mechanics to compliment your play style:

[silent_rob]

I'm interested, Lori, but I'm a little too far away, I'm afraid. 

[erdrikwolf]

Anyone else interested in some gaming terrain?

I am likely going to buy at least one crate, and might be interested in splitting another one:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1744629938/terraincrate-plastic-affordable-fantasy-terrain/description

[erdrikwolf]

Last chance for terrain- ends today around 5pm.

[diceborn]

  Hey guys, I'm Keith Donaldson from Calgary developer of Diceborn Heroes a 1-4 Player Cooperative Dice game!

I got to play games with Matt when he came into town and wanted to let you guys know about this game. We have 24 different hero classes unlocked
and working on adding more quests and heroes. I managed to get a review done by Rahdo who really loved the game and called it "Gloomhaven the dice game"

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/945679346/diceborn-heroes-a-co-op-dice-adventure-game?ref=user_menu

thanks a bunch guys!

Keith D