Vanguard - The Kickstarter is Live!

[MongooseMatt]

Vanguard: Boarding Actions in the Fifth Frontier War has come to Kickstarter!

Based on the Traveller RPG, Vanguard is a complete miniatures game that pits the forces of the Imperial Marines against those of the psychic Zhodani in desperate shipboard actions against the backdrop of a mighty interstellar war.

You can pledge your loyalty to the Imperium or Zhodani Consulate right here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1990654819/vanguard-boarding-actions-in-the-fifth-frontier-wa

Vanguard provides a complete campaign in which players build their forces and then play through a series of missions to enact the taking of a warship – from the initial breach to the final assault on the bridge or engineering section.

The box set contains 32 Imperial and Zhodani miniatures, gameboards, iris valves, strategy cards and everything else you need to conduct a boarding action upon a ship. The Kickstarter page already has previews and you can download portions of the rulebook – we will also be previewing a complete battle report during the campaign, as well as never-before-seen fiction written in the Traveller universe, showing you just how terrifying a boarding action can be from the point of view of those conducting it.

The Kickstarter is running until December 14th – we hope to see you there!

 

[Annatar Giftbringer]

Looks like fun!

Does any game mode require more than one box’s worth of models? Playing on a battleship for instance... or does the size of ship affect the amount of reserve troops both sides have but not how many are deployed at once?

 

[MongooseMatt]

Looks like fun!

Does any game mode require more than one box’s worth of models? Playing on a battleship for instance... or does the size of ship affect the amount of reserve troops both sides have but not how many are deployed at once?

The latter - you have enough to play with one set, on any size ship, but more sets/models will allow you to have more variation in your units (weapon options and such like).

 

[Annatar Giftbringer]

True, good point!

Are there more special weapons in the set than models to use them, and are there restrictions to the number of special weapons allowed?

Or: A 40k space marine tactical box gives multiple special weapons, but in-game only one model per squad may be equipped with special weapon, so you’d need to choose which one to build or make several special weapon models but only using one at a time, how does Vanguard handle that?

 

[MongooseMatt]

Later today or tomorrow, we will be showcasing all the models (at least, as they stand now - always subject to revision!), and the full force lists will follow soon after!

 

[torus]

Looks nice, considering this.

But.. can I strongly suggest not making all the gameboards 11.7 x 16.5 inches, and instead going for a modular 11.7 x 8.3 system - or at least a combination of the two? For two main reasons:
1. The large boards will be very likely to warp - just like the Sedition Wars boards did.
2. More modularity is much better for building different layouts, e.g. for interaction with the rpg.

 

[MongooseMatt]

We looked at exactly that size, but during playtesting we found the larger boards just worked better.

As for warping, we are using very thick cardstock. If you have seen GW style boards, you will know what we are going for.

 

[torus]

We looked at exactly that size, but during playtesting we found the larger boards just worked better.

As for warping, we are using very thick cardstock. If you have seen GW style boards, you will know what we are going for.

Ok sounds good. Can I also suggest then, as a stretch goal or add-on, a set of additional boards with different locations? Or perhaps even just a pdf of them..

 

[MongooseMatt]

Already on the cards

 

[Sigtrygg]

And now its cancelled.

Not good.

How about a basic set with cardboard counters instead of minis and sell the minis separately?

 

[paltrysum]

And now its cancelled.

Not good.

How about a basic set with cardboard counters instead of minis and sell the minis separately?

I don't see that working. You don't make a BMW appealing by replacing its engine with one from a Yugo. The appeal of the game is the miniatures. And miniatures are too expensive to produce. It's a catch 22.

 

[torus]

And now its cancelled.

Not good.

How about a basic set with cardboard counters instead of minis and sell the minis separately?

I don't see that working. You don't make a BMW appealing by replacing its engine with one from a Yugo. The appeal of the game is the miniatures. And miniatures are too expensive to produce. It's a catch 22.

Well, clearly the appeal of the miniatures is not sufficient. Plenty of us remember having fun playing Snapshot with cheap counters and paper maps; I'd be delighted in a redesigned version such as this with quality modern production.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Break it up into its components to offer people a range of price points for the kickstarter.
pdf rulebook, pdf maps and counters
printed rulebook, maps and counters
boxed minis
deluxe boxed set all of the above

I would actually have paid more than £90 for the 'deluxe' set - my last purchase of Twilight Imperium was over a ton...

 

[Old School]

Matthew,

Sorry this one didn’t work out. Hope it can be done in a revised format down the road.

 

[TrippyHippy]

I think the psychology of Kickstarters is you need to include low points of entree, in order to build momentum. If you are anything like me, I don't make my final pledge to the very last moment, but you need to have that low point entree to stay informed and engaged.