Stunning 75mm Duel Fighters Comes To Kickstarter
November 26, 2013 by brennon
Scale Games have taken to Kickstarter with some awesome looking miniatures and a very neat sounding game. They have moved away from mass battles and instead focused on two epic warriors slugging it out with Duel Fighters in 75mm!
The game sees you playing as one of the six heroes above (for now) and then taking to the battlefield to beat the living snot out of each other in true cinematic style. Plenty of epic one-liners and twists in the combat are likely to come out with this one it seems.
From watching the video on the Kickstarter page it also looks like the game uses a card based mechanic for both your actions and your movement. You seem to move along the cards, probably having to choose which ones to put aside while you swing away with your weapons and choose actions carefully.
It helps that the models for this look utterly amazing. Above you can see one of the boxed sets for Lesdinn and Brock, I think Brock might be my favourite. Although these two below are coming in a close second and third!
I like the idea that these chaps are taking what would be display level pieces, ones you'd never consider being used for gaming, and actually thinking up some mechanics to go with them. If nothing else you're picking up some brilliant looking miniatures.
Update!
The chaps behind this Kickstarter have given us some very nice looking miniatures to drool over as an update. See what you think of these added heroes coming in the future!
As well as their deadly new warriors, who are looking very nice indeed, they also have plans for female warriors in the future and have also provided you with some choices when it comes to how you get your miniatures.
Do you think you'd pick this up?
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I have to say that I saw these as I was climbing into bed last night and they certainly made me raise an eyebrow at them. Models look great and they can be used as the game intended or as a painting project or even statues in 28mm games. 🙂
I think the industry has been crying out for a larger scale game like this since another company decided to abandon it.
50 quid for two models? And 45 minutes for a single duel? Nevermind that, but doing an interesting duel in miniature is extremely difficult. You will usually end up either with the combatants running to contact and then not moving anymore, or having them run around trying to exploit some loophole in the movement rules for a “runaround-backstab” -attack. GURPS had a system that addressed this at least partly. In addition to having weapons with differing reaches, you could make small movements as part of other actions but most importantly it was sometimes useful to retreat. But then again, it… Read more »
I was taken aback by the pricing to begin with but then I realised that you’re buying two ‘centerpiece’ models with this game.
For example a 75mm figure from Andrea Miniatures is around £30 so at £25 a pop it’s about right price wise. Admittedly it might make, well it does make, for a very expensive miniatures game but if you want the models more than the game it’s not too bad.
BoW Ben
30 pounds for one 75mm miniature is a bargain already. Here, you get a game and two miniatures for 50 pounds. People used to 28mm army prices are always surprised at how it climbs when you buy bigger scale… Well, that’s the price of things ! At least, I do hope the miniatures are just as “fully detailed” a the display ones ! It’s Scale75, one of the greatest names in display miniatures, and I see the miniatures will be resin (which is good). I am, however, worried about quality control : the miniatures are going to be produced “with… Read more »
I agree on the pre-assembly part, but I’m more interested in the gameplay side.
You need 75mm figures for this game because… they say so?
You need to redo all your terrain in a new scale because… they say so?
If it’s a naff game, I end up with two expensive minis I have absolutely no use for.
I don’t do display miniatures, I do gaming pieces.
Then the game isn’t for you. Protip, not every game is made to cater to YOUR particular tastes, shocking as it is for some people.
Hear hear.
Who’s to say one can’t play Warhammer with 15mm figures, for example ?
This is a game to go with the already imposing range of display miniatures provided by Scale75.
If you’re not into that, @maxxon, it’s fine… But blame a dog for having fleas, not for having hair.
Any one of them would make a good centerpiece for an army, as a giant. Just have to get rid of the clunky base.
If the quality is there I don’t have a problem with the price.
I’ll keep an eye on this KS but I need to know how’s the gameplay before pledging. Duel or gladatioral games can be either borring or bogged down by excessive simulation and complexity.
I’m already a big fan of the paints. I don’t tend to buy minis I won’t game with so I’ve never had a reason to buy the minis, but if the game play is any good then I’m definitely in.
It looks as if these are one piece plastic versions of the regular minis. Either they’ve lost some detail in the process or the paintjob in the video isn’t doing them any favours.
That’s what I’m afraid of… It’s going to be poly-resin, so it could be detailed enough, for all we know ; but there’s other considerations : No clear picture of them, but the vague expression “Fully detailed” and the specific wording “pre-assembled in China” do not sound good.
We need more details, and possibly more detail !
i have to say, i agree with romain, they are a bargain (provided the pre-assembled stuff turns out to be ok) having looked at 54mm and 75mm a bit more recently for painting challenges, you pay for the quality you get! and, if you look at how much a GW dreadnought costs…..i know which i’d rather have!!! i’ve just been to the kickstarter page, and i have to say, i think their stretch goals are also excellent! (potentially giving you a free figure or 2 depending how much they raise) there’s not 1 i dislike (except maybe the t shirt… Read more »
I’ve seen these sculpts floating around the internet with some amazing paint jobs on them. I dont know of my skill level could handle moving up in scale but I would like to give it a try.
Do it, it’s brilliant ! A whole new ball game, room to breathe on details and surfaces.
Have to agree with Maxxon on the gameplay part in terms of duels. Given the abstract nature of miniature gaming it would be very difficult to pull of a duel game that feels exciting or engaging. If you compare it to a small-scale skirmish like, say, Bushido or Malifaux the extra minis thrown in adds a tremendous amount of tension as you have to worry about multiple pieces and their synergies with one another. But one on one? I’m skeptical to say the least. The models are nice but I personally don’t have much interest is going up to 75mm… Read more »
@deadjesterx – my own thoughts on this would be that we have been shown that one v one combat can work with Spartacus and there is nothing to say you cant add in more than one fighter to up the tension and tactical play of the game not to mention if you have one fighter who is over powered you can readdress the balance by having them fight two on one and give a great narrative to your games.
We find the one-on-one element of Spartacus combat to be a real problem. Though the mechanics contribute to the problem in that game and it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way. The two things the game needs to avoid are giving too much potential advantage to the player who strikes first (the big Spartacus problem when two gladiators are close in ability), and bogging down into a static slugfest. There are lots of solutions to both problems, hopefully SG will show us the game soon and we can see how they address them.
@redben – i’ve honestly never had issue with the combat with the dice wound system you can quickly change up what’s happening in the game I’ve seen a basic 2.2.3 gladiator take down Spartacus himself, was a great laugh and when you add in all the bits of kit to change things ever farther I’ve never seen really static fights but that might be a tactic thing if my opponent is silly enough to drop their seep first i can dance around them all day and fight on my terms 🙂 and if it seems someone os to OP in… Read more »
It’s not a case of any gladiator being OP, the more of a difference in ability there is the less of a problem this becomes. When you’ve got two gladiators who are evenly matched then the way damage works means if you take the first hit then the odds shift in your opponent’s favour. Take multiple wounds off that hit and you’re in real trouble. The consequence is a phony war of dancing around waiting for your opponent to get bored enough to move in range. If your group doesn’t play like that and prefers to get stuck in then… Read more »
I don’t anticipate any problem with one on one miniature fights… There’s lots of that in RPGs and there’s plenty of variety.
We will, however, have to have a look at the system/rules here, obviously.
@elromanozo Yes, you can play Warhammer in 15mm. In fact, you can buy just the rulebook and get your minis where ever you like. If I could get just the rules and scale-agnostic gameplay components for this game, I might give it a twirl. Yes, I guess there’s an option for getting just the rules as PDF, but based on the video the cards are pretty integral as well — they’d have to be scaled down probably. The game might be for me, but not in this sales packaging. I detest forcibly marrying rules with miniatures. Always and everywhere. I… Read more »
Yes… I’ve been known to fiddle with rules and materials a lot, with boardgames and RPGs alike. I think life is too short to be told what to buy/do by a booklet if you don’t want to, really ! 🙂 However, for some games (like SMOG1888, which inevitably comes to mind here, as it’s a skirmish boardgame with display-quality 54mm resin miniatures), style/form and rules come hand in hand. Even though it’s entirely possible to play SMOG1888 with different miniatures, would it be as elegant ? Would Infinity be Infinity with fantasy miniatures, or even Urban War ones ? A… Read more »
@elromanozo
I saw that the models are now able to be purchased as kits rather than painted!! bonus if you want to make them yourself and paint them up. There is also a picture on the main page that show their component parts.
Any idea of the paints they have? Seem rather expensive £41 for 16 paints, thats £2.56 each
Hope this helps.
I’ve got all their paints barring the B&W set which I’ll have as soon as it reaches these shores. I’ve gone into them in a few other places on BoW already, the main difference between them and most gaming paints is the matte finish.
Thanks for the info ! That changes a lot…
Looks cool, but do these guys have the rights to Drizzt Do’Urden? Lesdinn the Drow Swordmaster is a clear rip off of one of Brom’s paintings. Here’s a link: http://www.bromart.com/imagesprints/pDarkElf.jpg I’d image Wizards of the Coast is going to be very happy if they get wind of this…
You’re kidding, right ? Besides, Dark Elves and Drows aren’t trademarked, and can’t be, just like most of D&D except specific names and characters… And why is there always someone saying “uh oh, this looks like (such and such), I hope (such and such) doesn’t sue…” ? Has the world really come to this ? Not everyone is as paranoïd and stupid as GW when it comes to IP : most companies accept parody and hommage alike. If WOtC hasn’t sued the plethora of old-school retroclones of D&D, as well as Otherworld Miniatures and countless others for good measure, they… Read more »
Yet, this is a good catch :
compare this (from scale 75) :
http://www.duelfighters.com/s/cc_images/cache_22887707.jpg?t=1383552053
with Brom’s art :
http://www.bromart.com/imagesprints/pDarkElf.jpg
I don’t know how they got the right to produce such a VERY similar miniature (maybe they have the right to?).
Even the details of the armor and its shape are exact an exact copy…
At least you got to give credit to the artist when you blatantly copy a concept, even if it’s in 3D.
I’m not kidding at all. Has the world really come to a company not being able to design their own characters and ripping off another artists painting to make a miniature? Can you honesty tell me that miniature isn’t exactly the same character as in Brom’s painting? BTW, I didn’t say anything about Dark Elves or Drow being trademarked. My issue is with the miniature itself. By your argument, I can go ahead and make a miniature of anyone’s artwork and that isn’t the case.
They almost certainly don’t have the rights given the mini has been marketed for some time with the generic name “The Drow”. It’s not a new mini for the KS campaign and WotC have had some time already to have been made aware of it. They’d have a case if they wanted to pursue it, though I’m not sure they would as it’d cost them time and money with the best case end result of removing one mini from sale. A single mini that doesn’t threaten their copyright, isn’t marketed as Drizzt, isn’t marketed as a mini based on Brom’s… Read more »
My thinking is that Brom would have a case, but not WoTC… and even then :
This sculpt could simply be said to be freely inspired by illustrations found online and in books, which is fair game : the illustration is copyrighted, the sculpt is not.
You also can’t confuse it with anything official WoTC makes.
Today, I could conceivably make an original drawing inspired by one of the Privateer Press miniatures, changing a few details, and no one could do anything. It’s considered an original work.
Puh Lease… it’s one miniature in the range. Of course every display range must have an elf, an orc, a barbarian and a crusader, at least to start with, among more original works… A noble tradition started by Andrea’s hommages to films and famous people, completely unofficial.
There’s no point getting a license for one model… GW can pull it off with LOtR and Knight Models with DC Comics (barely… the price of Knight Models minis is quite steep) and no point un sueing for an hommage.
Funny you mentioned Knight Models. Right on their Facebook it says “licensed high quality miniatures”. I won’t even bother to go into how this company’s other models have suspect origins because what’s the point? I have no desire to continue and debate this as this topic has already been discussed ad nausaum. The details on the models are amazing and the game looks cool, but as someone who owns his own IP and has worked on others, this is theft plain and simple.
I’m interested in knowing the suspect origins of the other models. Hopefully that would be the point.
Making a sculpt inspired by an illustration is not IP theft, especially if you’re not copying an existing product.
You also misread/misunderstood my point about GW and Knight Models, but whatever.