I like to think of myself as a self assured adult - independent, thoughtful and frugal. That self image is sadly untrue at a gaming convention where I can be lead astray and into a new game by the simple hint "all the other kids are doing it"
Such was the case at Historicon where I was "tricked" by great game play, wonderful mini's and a cool theme into trying Guild Ball a sports/combat themed fantasy game from
SteamForged Games Ltd.
After a few demo games with the WWPD crew, I was hooked and on Saturday Steve walked me through the vendor hall saying you need this, that and one other thing. At the end of our sojourn my wallet was a good bit lighter and I had the makings of a team from the "Engineers Guild". The minis in the pictures are a bit shiny as I haven't varnished them yet - there's still a little bit of detail work I want to do on both the figures and the bases. I went with a scrapyard theme for the basing.
The figures are wonderfully sculpted and perhaps the funnest I ever painted (sorry Michael and Alan Perry - I still love Perry historical the best)
First up is "Colossus" he's big and got mechanical spider legs - what's not to love?
Next up is the Mechanica, Velocity and the bomb thrower (literally) Ratchet. The Engineers can field mechanics (robots) which have some unique game play aspects. I went with the engineers as they reminded me of the robotics teams I coached when my son was in High School.
Finally there is Salvo, Ballista (the Team captain), and finally the mascot, Mainspring.
One of the more appealing aspects of the game is there are no points - each team consists of six players, one of which must be a mascot. Simples.
After putting on a giant battle game at Historicon, I really like the concept of just a handful of figures to field a team - easy to get into and transport. Each Guild has several other players - you can see one in the back of the pictures awaiting painting.
The pricing on minis is a little eye-watering but they are superb sculpts. Offsetting the cost is the fact that all the rules and players cards are available for free via download. You can buy nice printed versions (which I did, again due to travails of "peer-pressure" - that's my story and I'm sticking with it) but everything you need to play the game is available for free - including paper players. It's a great distribution model and since the company owns the IP for the game they can charge whatever they want for the minis.
I'm looking forward to my first game with these guys in a few weeks!