"When is Dreadball not Dreadball?" Topic

When you're buying the figures for use in scifi skirmish and roleplaying, not in Space Rugby, of course. Looking at the figs from the Dreadball Kickstarter

link

there are several teams that could work well as generic scifi pieces, either as unarmed types in lightly-armored vac suits, as guys with integral weapons built into their suits, or as the base for armed conversions. Some would even make pretty good superhero types – the whole basic human team looks pretty Iron Man-ish, and there are female versions coming in season two. The robots, Z'Zor, and Judwan are all nice inhuman types without the fantasy baggage that most of the the season one teams have. Some of the many star players are also interesting, but at 8 times the price they're better gotten by the Jack/Striker pledge levels if you want more than a few. The Keepers are also nice, especially the four-legged Z'Zor.

The minimalist price appears to be $10 USD (base pledge) plus $20 USD per 8 figures, which isn't bad for 28mm. Blowing $150 USD for Striker pledge level is more efficient if you need a lot of figs – you get about 80, and buying more team sets is $25 USD for 2 groups of 8 figs, which can be the same figs or different as desired. If you don't care to play the game, some of that could be recouped by selling components and unwanted figs.

As with all Kickstarter drives, there will be a delay in actually getting your figs, and with a lot of it you have to trust the concept art to look like the end product. Still worth a look even for non-fans of sports game, though. Adding some Z'Zor to an existing bug army is pretty appealing, to name just one possibility.

I have kicked in on the DB (for the game itself), but I have considered the minis' utilization factor for shooty games. I may be experimenting on some of the Season 2 "sample" miniatures.

Being plastic is also a big plus- makes conversions dozens of times easier.

… and with a lot of it you have to trust the concept art to look like the end product.

It's not like Mantic has no track record. Does any of their previous design-to-execution give you reason to think such?

LOVE the dwarves. But I'm predisposed.

I finally backed this since it's a board game (I do 15mm for wargames) and I like games like Blood Bowl. The amount of figures for the price is good and the new teams for Season 2 are much better than season one. I figure people could also use some of these for Elfball and Bloodbowl type games as futuristic tears. I hope they get the games out for Christmas!

Jeff

CLR wrote…

The minimalist price appears to be $10 USD USD (base pledge) plus $20 USD USD per 8 figures…buying more team sets is $25 USD USD for 2 groups of 8 figs…

I have been tempted by the game and the Z'Zor figures. I am unclear how US shipping works at the $10 USD pledge level (PDF rules). [EDIT: I saw a comment in the KS Comment forum from Mantic that ordering a team was $1 USD pledge level + cost of team with no additional shipping charges.]

Is it possible to pledge $10 USD + $20 USD/team (or $25 USD for 2 teams) + $8 USD for a card deck to try game before committing further? [EDIT: I presume so from the previous example, but I have yet to read it explicitly on the Comment forum.]

It's not like Mantic has no track record. Does any of their previous design-to-execution give you reason to think such?

They've been fairly good in the past, but it's still a trust issue, which will make some people balk. Personally, I wouldn't call Mantic perfect when it comes to matching their teaser art, but they're better than many – call it an A- if you want a letter grade.

I am unclear how US shipping works at the $10 USD USD pledge level (PDF rules). [EDIT: I saw a comment in the KS Comment forum from Mantic that ordering a team was $1 USD USD pledge level + cost of team with no additional shipping charges.]

The FAQ at the bottom of the page claims free shipping within the US with no restrictions on pledge level. If that's incorrect, you could simply pledge at the $30 USD level, get a team of your choice and the pdf, and add extras from there – that should fix the problem, since they're obliged to ship something physical at that point anyway.

I think you an only get two teams for $25 USD if yoy pledge the Striker level ($150). Below that you have to pay $20 USD each.

Yes, I said that in the original post. As I pointed out, it's only worth doing if you want a lot of minis, or intend to play the game. If you don't want to play, you could still recoup some of the cost of going to Striker by selling unwanted figs and game components.

$20 USD for 8 figures (which is available at any pledge level) is still not a bad deal for 28mm plastics, even in the specter of Bones.

I'm really tempted by the Z'zor, they speak to the Thri'kreen lover in me. (I may just try converting them into a clutch of Tok'sa, they really just need hands and larger abdomens)

I was responding to religion's post:

Is it possible to pledge $10 USD USD + $20 USD USD/team (or $25 USD USD for 2 teams)

Jake

Thanks Rich and Jake.

Superhero games?

Yep, certainly some superfig potential. Look at Trontec as Iron Man type armored hero/villain types. That trope doesn't usually feature obvious weapons. Good as elite henchmen/agent types too.

The robots work fine as security bots or villain creations. The Z'Zor are good generic xenos, which you can never have enough of – DC Earth-1 alone was invaded about four times a week throughout the 60's and 70's.

Those Z'Zor, plus guns, I'd buy.

(Not to say that the rest of Dreadball isn't neat, just not my cup of tea.)

I see the elf team hit funding, and they've got a mecha power-suit as a teaser stretch.

That's how I see spending that much on a board game. Lots of cross platform minis. I love how they move away from fantasy-in-space minis almost immediately. Season Two teams are great for sci-fi.

I agree that most of the stuff produced for DB is pretty ubiquitous. Which is good. All the same, I don't have the funds to blow on this right now so I'll have to see what comes out in the regular shop after the KS and at what price.

I think the models are mostly inspired by their existing or forthcoming Sci Fi wargame races. The Humans wear converted enforcer armour for instance. They plan to do a sci fi Kickstarter next year.

THEN can we get some not-slann?

Some interesting ideas being bandied about for the game itself in the last few days of the KS. Apparently Season 3 will include rules and models for multihex figs for each team – big mecha suits, Iron Ancestor robots, presumably a giant Z'Zor. Also taking advantage of those odd modular boards to do a four-teams-on-the-pitch multiplayer variant. There's also a more skirmish-combat version ("street league" play) planned, with games run by pro gamblers with no refs, more violence, and wide-open hiring rules.

Almost enough to make me want more than just the figs.

Can it be made to work in reverse? How about 15mm figures for Dreadball? Are there any that could be used to make up teams? I am tempted, but not in 28mm.