"Playtesters Wanted for Prehistoric Fantasy Miniatures Game" Topic

I'm looking for more playtesters to give feedback on a prehistoric fantasy tabletop miniatures game I'll ultimately be putting up for sale on Wargame Vault & its sister sites. If you are interested, please e-mail me at Lug (at) jadetowerstudio (dot) com. I'll send you a link to a Dropbox folder where you can download the (2) files.

If you send feedback, I'll list you as a playtester on the title page & give you a free copy of the final version. Here's a description so you can decide if you'd like to give it a try:

Battles Before Time is a prehistoric fantasy miniatures game set in an alternate prehistory where our Human ancestors – the Early Modern Humans, or Emohs for short – rub elbows with Neanderthals, Dino sapiens (dinosaur men), Florz (small Emohs), & other species. Dinosaurs, huge mammals, & monsters also roam the Earth, & shamans can use powerful magic.

The game consists of two parts. Part One is 26 pages long; it contains the rules (the core rules are only seven pages long) as well as a guide to the cavemen & creatures that will make up your warband. All warbands include cavemen or dinosaur men who can purchase special abilities, weapons, armor, cavepunk items, & spells. Warbands can also include heroes, dinosaurs, mammals, prehistoric "birds", aquatic beasts, & prehistoric monsters.

Players can use one of the pre-made warbands provided in a second PDF (Part Two), or can create their own balanced warbands using a simple point build system. Part Two is 62 pages long & includes templates, more than 100 unit cards, & all the tokens you'll need (though it is strongly recommended that you purchase cheap glass beads for the "stone draw" system that's used to resolve actions).

Thanks for looking, & please let me know if you'd like to try them out.

Rob "Lug" Lusk
Jade Tower Studio

Sounds great! Unfortunately I don't have the time to playtest this otherwise I would be happy to have a go.

Do you have any suggestions for 28mm Dino sapiens miniatures?

Hello,

Great question, and I hope others can chime in as well! Here are most of the figures I use for Dino sapiens. I also have some very nice triceratops men with spears (on the small side) that I picked up at Little Wars years ago, but have never figured out who made them.

Note that many of these are closer to 35mm, but I just account for this by giving them a bonus for being Big. I use the smaller ones for "lesser" Dino sapiens (with Small size). Also, many of these have at least some metal equipment or accessories, but all can be painted/modified to look "prehistoric" enough.

Alex Bates' Forge of Ice (Pteranodon Man, accessories)

Antimatter Games Draconid Legion (a bit on the large side but gorgeous)

Avatars of War Saurian Thralls (listed under Dark Elves – also gorgeous)

D&D Miniatures (plastic, pre-painted Lizardmen & similar creatures) – cheap but usually need to be re-painted

Games Workshop Warhammer Fantasy Lizardmen (Saurus Warriors, Skinks for Lesser Dino sapiens) – LOTS of these (both metal and plastic) on ebay

Hundred Kingdoms Outcasts (out of production, but available on ebay – on the large side, but great variety & animation)

Lance & Laser Saurids (decent figures)

Privateer Press Hordes Gatormen, Bog Trogs, & similar creatures (Gatormen are large & Bog Trogs are relatively small, but they look excellent)

Reaper Miniatures Lizardmen (various), Reptus

Again, I welcome other ideas!

Rob

Rob,

What is the rough size of the game? Approximately 12 fig individually based warbands (adjusted by points)?

Thanks,
Cort

Hi Cort,

All figures are individually based (except riders & figures in howdahs, which are on their mounts). A typical 100 point warband has 10-15 warriors, around 3 heroes (warrior, shaman, beast/monster master, &/or N.E.R.D.), & some combination of spells, beasts/monsters, &/or cavepunk inventions (e.g., chariot, gourd bombs).

So, a typical warband will have fewer than 20 figures (though there are exceptions).

Hope that helps!

Rob