Killer Kickstarters: Rum and Bones Second Tide

 

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You lucky scurvy dogs you! It looks like two massive miniature board game Kickstarters are wrapping up in the same week. So I hope you sent your wallet and credit cards to Davy Jones locker when you had the chance. Because Cool Mini or Not is known for taking your loot faster than a drunken den of thieves.

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This is the expansion to last years successful Rum and Bones Kickstarter. Designed by Michael Shinal and is for two players only (the box says for 4 but it seems they still want you to split into two teams) and the game pits two pirate crews against each other as they battle for control of the enemy ship without losing control of their own.

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How are these classic nautical battles simulated you ask? Simply use everyone on your crew as cannon fodder (don’t worry you have an endless amount of these dim witted deck hands) while 5 actually useful pirates jump in and out of the fray destroying and slaughtering everything. If this sounds like some weird Indy video game you downloaded drunk recently then…yes you’ve got a good grasp on how it feels to play.

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Second Tide will include two new pirate crews and their respective ships, along with new cards and sea monsters. Also included is an option to purchase an update for the original game.

As is CMON style there are a ton of stretch goals and exclusives that you can only get through this Kickstarter.

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This was painted by BigChild Creative to show how the finished miniatures could look. Unfortunately us mortals will simply have to try our best when painting and attempt to not drool over all the pictures.

Theres still time to pledge (even if the Kickstarter is over they will accept late pledges for a time) if your interested. The game will be hitting retail later this year for those that want to wait for the reviews. You can also check out the original Rum&Bones to hold you over until the Second Tide release. So grab your grog, put on the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack and start plundering.

Click here to check out the Second Tide Kickstarter

Killer Kickstarters: Rail Raiders Infinite

Howdy everyone! Killer Kickstarters is a new segment that will showcase current Kickstarter projects that feature awesome miniatures and talk about the people behind them. All featured projects are still open (at the time of posting at least) so if you like what you see, you can click the link on the bottom to pledge. Let’s kick (pun intended) things off with a Kickstarter that has that old timy space western feel.

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Rail Raiders Infinite is the newest game by Soda Pop miniatures. It’s an old fashion western train robbing game. Except the train is a spaceship…and the law enforcement are bots…and there’s a bunch of laser guns.  So team up with your fellow outlaws and then back stab them for the loot. Because this space train ain’t big enough for all of you.

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If your not familiar with Soda Pop minis, they’re a board game publisher that specializes in chibi miniatures. (Chibi is an art style that makes everything kind of small and cute) They’re a fairly large and successful company so if you don’t pledge it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ll still get the game, and possibly for a lower price. But let’s be honest, this kind of Kickstarter isn’t about making a small time funding dream come true. It’s about all those glorious stretch goals

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The base pledge is $50 and anyone who buys miniatures knows that this is an impressive haul for that amount of money. Be aware some of the bots are only available to those who purchase the expansions but it’s still an impressive amount of things to paint. On top of that there looks to be a pretty fun game underneath all that plastic. image

As you brawl your way across this galactic space train you draw cards to place loot, law bots, and gain weapons and abilities. Then you’ll show down against opponents (bots or other players) by rolling 5 dice. The person who can form the best poker hand will win the duel. And of course there will be multiple ways to get a few aces up your sleeve. You are all outlaws after all.

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The art and components of the game look to be Soda Pop’s standard high quality production. And it includes plastic tokens and custom die, which is always a nice touch for a board game. There’s also more stretch goals to be unlocked so the game looks to get even bigger.

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If your a board game player and you love nerdy references to double dollars and certain bounty hunters than I would suggest checking out Rail Raiders. And if your a lover of chibi miniatures it looks to be a good deal for a train load of minis. You can go to Soda Pops Kickstarter page to learn more about the game, see video reviews, and even get a print&play to try it out yourself. Just hurry because this bounty is only good for another 30 hours.

See You Space Cowboy

 

Click here to go to Rail Raiders Infinite Kickstarter page

Painting Rocket Raccoon’s Last Stand

Convention season is upon us again and so is the most exciting and busiest time for a miniature painter. Apologies for not posting more regularly lately. I’m in a race against time to see how many figures can be completed before Origins and Gencon. So any spare second I have I’ve been painting. But I will try to post weekly at least. There probably won’t be any board game miniature posts until after GenCon but I’m excited to show off what I’ve been working on instead. First off is Rockets Revenge from Knight Models.

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This picture has trouble conveying how tiny these miniatures are. At 34mm Rocket is barely as large as my finger making him one of the most challenging miniatures I’ve painted.

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The base was made using a cheap Gaurdians of the Galaxy toy and sawing the wings off. Then using the plastic bits left over to create the engine. The rocks come from the bark of a very cool breed of pine tree that grows here and makes excellent looking stones. The base has also been burnt to create the scorch marks and bullet  holes.

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Originally I had wanted to have Rocket stand on top of the ship rubble. But Knight Miniatures uses an extremely soft metal that bends and breaks easily. Trying to remove Rocket from his base damaged him so improvisation was needed. Even though at the time it seemed devastating, it’s a good lesson to learn. Whenever possible I will now try to work the base into the piece as a whole. Or at least cut off the base first before spending hours painting.

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A Dremel helped in scouring the plastic toy creating a damaged look. Just make sure you wear protective glasses.

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Then just some tiny details to fill out the scene like this skull and a tiny alien pod crushed under the wing.

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As Knight Model’s new Marvel Miniature Game takes off I’m excited to what creativity others bring. And as new heros are constantly released there should be many more exciting things down the road for us all.

To check out the Marvel Miniatures game click here