Finally putting the Review in the proper forum section.
This is the third of a series (of 6 at least, 2 starters and the rules to go) reviews of the Brushfire Miniatures Game by On The Lamb Games, and some of the attendant starter sets for it. I am reviewing the starter sets first as I am still acquainting myself with the rulebook and wish to have at least three solid games under my belt before reviewing the rules themselves.
I will be presenting the starters as I un-box them and prepare for assembly/painting and give an accounting of what I perceive to be the good, the bad and the ugly. This is purely subjective and My Opinion Only. I am not connected in any way with On The Lamb Games. This is because of how little I have seen out there about the game.
Brushfire is an Anthropomorphic Alternate History Miniatures Game. Animal People take the place of Humans here. Think Redwall and the Secrets of NIMH rather than Flintloque though.
The Free Cities of Mare-Civitas: Quickstart Rules, 3d10, Armory Cards, 1 Capybara Capitaine, 2 Mouse Conscripts, 3 Mouse Lancers. Retail Price: $34.95 USD ($27.99 at TheWarStore)
The Box and Packaging: Clamshell type like an old VHS box. For those of you too young to remember a VHS ask an old grey-haired person. ;) Color artwork on front, color picture of box's assembled miniatures on the back. The picture is not the best and is a bit dark, a closer shot would have been nicer. The picture from the website is MUCH better. All told, it's solid and more than adequate, with thin foam inside and individually bagged minis and attendant parts.
Capybara Capitaine: 3 Pieces (Body and 2 arms) +40mm base.
The Good: Nice casting, with minor mold lines, clean nice model. Detail is decent, not overly detailed. For those used to needing the maker to tell you what to highlight (coughGWcough) it's not like that. It's a big mini and I was surprised it wasn't on a 50mm base, very solid.
The Bad: The arms require some filing to make where they attach at the body correctly. There is no ‘peg and hole' here, and I definitely recommend pinning the arms and possibly some putty work at the join area. The mini's card states he's carrying a pistol, but it is nowhere to be seen on the model. The hatchet that he shouldn't have unless he is a level 3 hero is modeled in his left hand.
Mouse Conscripts: (x2) 6 pieces (Body, 3 arms, tail, and shield) + 30mm base.
The Good: Again, nice castings Next to no mold lines very clean nice model. Detail is minimal, not overly detailed. Not a very big mini, but hey, it's a mouse (more like a mouse-ling). Sword arm and bow arm are included.
The Bad: Yet again, there is no peg and hole here for the arms. Contact area to the body is not big and I definitely recommend pinning on this one, and possibly some small putty work. The Body has no ‘hole' for the tail to sit in and the contact area is so small that pretty much the only way to attach this (and have it stay) is to drill into the body and insert the tail base into the hole. While the bow arm is included there is no quiver for arrows. A minor detail and fixed by my bits box, but still…
Mouse Lancers: 7 Pieces! (Body, 2 arms, 1 tail, 3(!) heads, and a 30mm base
The Good: Continuing the trend; Nice casting. Bigger than the Conscripts and more heavily armored. Next to no mold lines, very clean nice model. Two of three heads are very nice.
The Bad: The third head included just seems way too small for the mini. Definitely a case of "One of these things is not like the others" and would be better on a Mouse-ling mini. Stick with one of the other heads.
More arm pinning and tail issues here. Get out your pin-vise, you'll need it.
The Dice: 3d10, nice, clean, numbers contrast marked. They're dice.
The Armory Cards:
The Good: Uhmm… they have the minis' info on them.
The Ugly: This is a recurring issue with this game.
Why, oh why, didn't the makers drop the dice to save money for some decent cards? I can't even call these ‘inexpensive'. They are cheap. Very thin paper that is laminated on both sides. The cards aren't even cut uniform as even identical cards are miss-sized when compared to each other. I have yet to open a starter set where the cards where uniform.
With the preponderance of games using cards for the minis these days there really is no excuse for this. The ONLY saving grace I can come up with is that any markings needed to do on the card with a grease pencil or erasable marker is easily accomplished without needing sleeves, however I really don't see these holding up very well at all. This is the part that makes this product seem amateurish.
Quickstart Rules: 1 Front and Back printed Legal-sized paper. Nice type font that you don't have to squint to see. Pure basic rules of the game. I'll get into the stats of the minis and game play when I review the game itself.
Note: There are Three Resource costs inherent within this game (Food, Lumber and Gold), so purchasing troops or upgrade equipment is a bit different than in other games. The standard equipment seems to come included in the base cost of the mini. I did have a question about upgrading weapons, and I am waiting on reply from owner/forum before I post on that issue and I will follow up on this post when I have the answer.
Heroes don't cost Resources; they have Hero Levels that you and opponent will determine before the battle. If you are having a Level3 Hero game you could have 3xHeroes of Level 1, 1x level 1 and 1xlevel 2 or 1xlevel 3 Hero. You're the one who has to decide what you take. This is a nice feature.
Overall: It's not a big budget production, but the maker is obviously trying hard. The minis look good when finally assembled and awaiting paint. The Troops points cost does come up the 25 (before add-ons) so back of box was accurate.
On a grading system of: Very Satisfied, Satisfied, Not Satisfied and Gimme me back my money!
I have to count this as Satisfied, bordering Not Satisfied. It's right on the edge, honestly. Not thrilled with the cards or arm and tail assembly. A newer miniatures player not accustomed to pinning will probably not be very satisfied with the work required.
Maker Website:
link
steps into the arena with two gladiators from 
