Yup, just one more week and then I promise I will shut up about Factious Waste and post some hobby stuff. Promise! Well. BOYL's coming up after all...
You've probably all seen it by now, but in case there's anyone new looking this is a near-future skirmish game I've been working on for many years now. It takes a strategic, action-based system and places it in a broad and comprehensive campaign framework to give you a strong narrative without the highly random elements that so often come with such games. Much of the rulebook is dedicated to background, scenarios and campaign elements that would work with any tabletop skirmish, so even if you're not interested in learning a new game I hope you'll find plenty of useful inspiration here. The seven factions in the book cover sci-fi commandos, insane lawmen, space cowboys, techno barbarians, pulp gangsters, revolutionary anarchists and gadget-laden craftspeople from an earlier century, so whatever miniatures you like to game with you'll be able to find something that fits!
If you have any of The Woods books you can also mix in the Action Tables from there to give you riding beasts and 'magical' aspects to the game. Or, of course, you can take the vehicle and firearm rules from Factious Waste to mix into your sci-fantasy!
6 months later and Oakbound are ready for a smaller campaign to get the Factious Waste rulebook to print. There've been some small revisions, some expansions and a whole lot more artwork so I hope you like what we've done with it!
Well, the second weekend of the Factious Waste campaign has gone past and by now it's pretty evident this has not been the success hoped for. After a really positive start the campaign has been coasting from 50-75% complete for a week.
It's pretty disappointing result given that every spare moment of my time (and pound in my account) has been spent on this project over the last 12 months, especially given all the positive responses the game has had from playtesters and those we've talked to at shows and shown the models to. Nevertheless it is not entirely unexpected given the imminent releases of Necromunda and Fallout (which were nowhere in sight when the campaign was planned back in June), not to mention the several post-apocalyptic skirmish games which have appeared since we first started on this four years ago. With a couple of them either on Kickstarter at the moment or taking to the platform in the next month competition was always going to be tight.
All these games look to be pretty conventional and I do believe there is still room in the market for a narrative-based skirmish which doesn't dispense with tactical elements and has a flexibility and depth which goes against the current trend in miniatures games. Whilst simplicity and speed of play are worthy ambitions in a tabletop game I feel too many systems achieve this by cutting out all the details that help absorb a player in the world. My aim is to balance the kind of modularity and 'complexity' of Laserburn and Confrontation with straightforward mechanics that don't bog the game down in endless referencing.
A lot of thought was given last week as to what to do should the campaign fail. Even if a last-minute push nudges the Kickstarter over the £2000 goal this would only allow the bare bones of what the game could be. The rulebook would have less artwork and no modelling sections (which are something I at least look forward to in a hobby game), the models would have been built for flexibility in equipment but would have to be supplied with limited options, the packaging would be a lot less glossy... I feel this would be a disservice to our backers and to the creative individuals who have put so much work in. We have therefore come up with a 'plan B' which we hope may actually turn out to be beneficial for the future of the game. Before we take any action, however, we would like to put forwards the plan for the comments and feedback of those who have been on the journey with us so far.
The first step would be to cancel the campaign. A cancelled campaign looks better than a failed campaign and in any case the trend of the last 7 days suggests it is unlikely to complete to any degree that would result in a product of satisfactory quality being released.
By mid-November I can have a PDF rulebook available. If you're anything like me then a physical release is a non-negotiable, but as a first step a digital copy would at least allow the game to be played. We would then work towards a print release in the next 6-12 months, possibly through a smaller-scale Kickstarter campaign. Personally I am really excited about the prospect of having Carl Critchlow involved, something we wouldn't be able to do with a 'bare bones' product from a barely-funded campaign.
Miniatures release is something that would have to be done as and when funds became available, beginning by prioritising a 'choice pick' of the sculpts created for the Kickstarter. In any case we are keen to promote Factious Waste as a game system that encourages the use of any models the players like and there is no shortage of post-apocalyptic miniatures around. I appreciate that not everyone likes an old-school, Rogue Trader-y style of miniature.
I have been working on revamping the old Factious Waste playtest community blog into a website for a live 'War 1984' campaign which will go online with the digital rulebook release. This will allow groups of players to link their games into the created world in such a way that their posses and adventures become a part of the growing and developing game background. This process (envisaged as a 3-6 month storyline) will further test and explore the possibilities of the campaign system and help iron out any creases so that the eventual print release is as perfect as possible. I'd love to have as many people as possible playing and contributing so if you'd like to take a look early, join the page and start thinking up your posses you can find it at http://www.factiouswaste.blogspot.com
If you have any comment, suggestions or ideas for how you'd like to see Factious Waste develop as we move ahead I would be very interested to hear them.
Back in 2012 the story of Factious Waste began. It's been a long haul, with groups from across the world playtesting and feeding back on their experiences, but the final push to get this near-future dystopian miniature RPG to release is upon us! My to-do list has got pretty short now, with sculpting all but finished and final pe-launch costings done. So let's have a look at how the Kickstarter is shaping up.
Factious Waste c. 2013
It would be fair to say that I am a bit... apprehensive? Nervous? about the campaign. Necromunda is on the horizon and the Ramshackle Games Mini Gangs project has launched late- sci-fi skirmish fans have plenty to choose from and this will be the largest project we've done to date with a boxed set, big sourcebook (calling it a rulebook seems unfair, only a fraction is actually rules) and 50 sculpts plus templates, dice etc.
That being said, Factious Waste has attracted a lot of interest from games shows we've taken it to. Miniature Wargames and Wargames Illustrated both offered to cover it, the Golden D6 is plugging it and the engagement on social media seems high.
Factious Waste on display at Colours and the latest edition of the Golden D6 featuring Oakbound articles
In terms of content I have largely finished the layouts for the rulebook and testing of the campaign system is well advanced. My initial plan to have the whole thing read as a graphic novel has gone by the wayside (sadly) due to art costs, but I'm delighted that we have some amazing artists on board who have captured the comic vibe perfectly. Simon Lee Tranter and Mike Tenebrae may be less familiar to you than our own Tony Yates (check out their websites- they do stunning artwork!) but I'm sure you'll all be aware of the work of Dark Future, 2000AD and Thrud artist Carl Critchlow who is lined up to produce the cover. Working with these guys over the last year has been an amazing experience and the world has grown in richness and sprouted out in fun and exciting new directions as a result of their concepts.
Simon Lee Tranter, Mike Tenebrae and Tony Yates doing what they do best...
Inside the 200-page rulebook there's a load of background on outworld and the 7 main factions which inhabit it, the SystemMech rules with setting-specific Action Tables, a simple 3-step posse creation system, skills tables, traits, comprehensive equipment lists and rules for using and customising vehicles, location activities for some commonly-frequented settlements, a guide to narrative gaming and 25 objective-based scenarios. Definitely the work of 5 years' development!
Equipment lists- yes you can take a flamethrower and a chainsaw!
The miniatures are divided into 5 sets, one for the boxed game and 4 'faction packs'. The boxed game "War for 1984" contains 10 models and lists for using them as 2 pre-generated posses. They are all tributes to classic action movies of the 80s as a clear indicator of where the game draws its inspiration. There is no prize for listing them all! The faction packs are "Enforcers" (GenCorps and Doughnutters), "Reprocessors" (ReFrat and Trash Runenrs), "Wastelanders" (NeoPrimitives and Artisans) and "Workers" (Luddites and other boiler-suited types suitable for use as civilians). So even if you don't end up playing Factious Waste you should be able to find a use for one or more of these packs in your games, be it Arbites, pulp gangsters, wasteland tribespeople or civilians for a dystopian future.
A Frat Brat putting the Gangsta' into Gangster, Trash Runner and Artisan characters.
Over the course of the campaign I'm going to be stepping out into the world of videos, with streaming Q&A sessions and how-to-play videos (the first of which is below, comments and suggestions welcome!
Then there are the all-important add-ons. We've had great support from several companies who have offered casting services, bespoke items and discounts on their own product lines for kickstarter backers. I'm particularly grateful to Fogou Models (who also do wonderful Dark Age stuff) for making exclusive trash piles and barricades for the kickstarter and to Scotia Grendel who have put up some resin scenery as stretch goals and add-ons. There'll also be custom dice, counter sets and once again the opportunity to have yourself sculpted into the range so you can lead your posse in person!
Fogou Models specials, only available in the Kickstarter.
Cost will, of course, be an important factor. I have done very detailed spreadsheets to keep prices as low as possible. Despite my efforts to keep the boxed game under £50 it has ended up at £55, but balancing budget and content I think you'll be happy to spend the extra £5 for the bonus bits that will be going in! Faction packs are coming in at £25 each (£2.50 a model plus extras). There will be a limited opportunity to pick up the whole lot for £125 (saving £30) and offers for traders and clubs (contact geoff@propworkshop.co.uk if interested).
Add-ons and Stretch Goals
The kickstarter goes live on the 7th October and we'll be having a launch event at Blast-Tastic Bristol. It runs for two weeks, ending on the 21st. Please spread the word and let's make amazing things happen!
One of my friends' birthdays is coming up and I'm keen to play some 40k Apocalypse so I figured he should have something big and gribbly for his 'Nid army. Now I haven't got £250+ to fork out on a Hierophant, but I do have some clay, plaster and latex.....
Now the brilliant thing about casting this as a present is that I will have the mould for future use, so if anyone wants a giant Giger-esque alien nasty just let me know. I'm sure a few will pop up on ebay to test the waters at some point.
