Beyond The Gates Of Antares: Getting To Know The Factions
July 27, 2015 by crew
In the first article for this series looking at Beyond The Gates of Antares from Warlord Games we gave a broad overview of the game and its basic mechanics. With this next piece we're going to explore the background of each of the factions in some more depth and fill you in as to just who these enigmatic races are...
Boromites
Among panhumans, the Boromites are one of the more extreme physical morphs. Originating from the mining colonies of Borum, they have evolved from the early settlers into large, robust and thick skinned panhumans. They are among the toughest and most unusual looking of the human morphs.
The Boromites have expanded into all of Antarean space by leave of the Concord and the Isorians. The Boromites maintain strong contact with each other across these vast distances with the aid of the Freeborn, who have expansive and lucrative trade connections at their disposal.
When engaged in warfare, several guilds will combine to work together and see off a common enemy, using mining equipment as weapons. These would be the likes of mass compactors and the much feared frag borer. Their reflex armour shielding nodes which protect them are embedded directly into their own thick hide.
They also make use of beasts found upon any world they are mining, such as the fearsome lava mites, whose very breath can cut through the toughest fortification.
Freeborn
The Freeborn are merchants and traders, who, due to their neutral stance manage to deal with most the races in Antarean space. They maintain a few hidden worlds, acting as their main supply bases. They recognise only one authority, their own.
Each household has a lord, known as the Vardo. Feuds often erupt between rival houses, and against anyone who threatens their trade routes. They also deal in human services, such as hiring out mercenaries. Theses soldiers are armed and equipped by the Freeborn and are recruited by the rest of humanity that are spread throughout Antarean space.
When the Vardo goes to war it is with a mix of these mercenaries and their own troops, who, despite their links to higher technology, favour mag guns and reflex shielding, to save on costs (penny pinchers!). It is within the ruling class that the best weapons and armour are utilised.
The Ghar Empire
The Ghar are a vicious race, living only for war, expanding their empire to enslave all other humans. Descended from genetically bred slave soldiers, they have been at war with the Algoryn Prosperate for centuries. They are small, with spindly arms and legs and short bodies but are rarely seen out if their heavily armoured and armed battle suits.
Cruel and sadistic, they punish those who disobey their overlords commands, forcing them out of their armoured skins and into groups armed with basic weapons, either scouting ahead or using them as a living meat shield. The Ghar use weapons created in their slave factories or trade with the few freeborn that would deal with them.
The Algoryn Prosperate
The empire of the Algoryn is one of the largest and most advanced of the independent federations. On their borders are the Isorians, Panhuman Concord and the Ghar. As a result of the constant warfare between the Ghar, and occasional wars with the other empires on their border, the Algoryn society is that of a warrior culture.
Every citizen is a warrior, where service and duty are held above everything. It is in these elite armoured infantry units where the greatest honour is to be had. The Algoryn military features a strict segregation of caste and gender. Heralding from their home planet of Algoryn, they are another of the more extreme forms of panhuman.
Featuring crest like growths on their bald heads and scaly keratin forming on their arms, necks and shoulders, this protects them from the harsh twin suns of Algor.
The Algoryn go to war in practical and effective armour, with reflex shielding built into the suits, armed with mag guns. They also make sure to bring with them heavier plasma based weaponry in support. They are the most warlike of all the races.
Concord
The Panhuman Concord are the largest and most powerful of the civilisations in the seventh age. They are ruled by the powerful New Human, of which the Mandarins are the most dominant. These tall and hyper-intelligent beings are to be feared by all. These NuHu are few in number and differ from other humans due to co-evolving with the sentient integrated machine intelligence, IMTel.
The military arm of the concord, the Concord Combined Command, or C3, are made up of strike units, featuring plasma rifle armed strike troopers. They utilise drone technology as weaponised support. Protected by hyper light shielding, they are the most technologically advanced race in all of Antarean space.
Isorian Shard
The world of Isori was the first of Earths settlements to be terraformed, and colonised independently of our home planet. Second only to the Concord's empire, the Isorians are also ruled by the NuHu, but the two cultures differ in a strange way. At the end of the sixth age, the Isorians were cut off and became isolated for a time.
During the centuries they explored local space, coming across another interstellar species. During the long war, which led to the eventual defeat of these aliens, the IMTel absorbed a portion of their foes silicon-based organic technology, giving the appearance of the Isorians you see today.
Their military resembles closely that of the Concord's strike teams, but some of their weaponry is more…alien. Their infantry are armed with plasma weapons, but they wear space warping phase armour. This coupled with their look is further testament to their unique appearance.
I hope that gives you more of an insight into the various races and factions with Beyond The Gates of Antares. Watch out for more soon where we'll be playing out a battle between some of them to test their mettle on the field of battle.
If you would like to write for Beasts of War then please contact us at [email protected] for more information!
"The Freeborn are merchants and traders, who, due to their neutral stance manage to deal with most the races in Antarean space..."
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
"...the Isorians are also ruled by the NuHu, but the two cultures differ in a strange way. At the end of the sixth age, the Isorians were cut off and became isolated for a time"
Supported by (Turn Off)
Nice article! I was interested in this game due to Rick being a huge part of it (I think he’s the one who is lead designer or something like that) but the minis haven’t won me over really. They’re not bad, not at all, just not my cup of tea. Dat Ghar Empire though…the little fella in the walker looks like he’s showing off his new clock to his mates. The topmost Ghar picture is AWESOME and the bottom one is AWFUL in my opinion. I might have to check out the rules though, if they’re good then I might… Read more »
Now all I can see is some little dude in a walker flaunting his new rolex
Definitely leaning towards the Ghar Empire.
Is that because you’re drunk? ;P
Nah because all the others seem reminiscent of the quality GW was putting out back in the days of Necromunda. The ghar are still in render form, so hopefully they end up better!
It’s a shame for me, because this has to potential to wrestle a reasonable amount of market share away from 40K, but I just don’t like the models or the aesthetic in general.
I am in the same boat.
The minis and the looks just don’t float my boat at all. They go from meh to downright awfull.
I tend to agree that I wouldn’t pick this game up on the quality of its minis. They’re by no means of insufficient quality that a strong game system couldn’t make up for it.
In your opinion. 😉 I think they are rough, but I’m more of a collector than a gamer.
Sure, I thought it was clearer that I was talking about my preference 🙂
I love DUNE! I love the freemen trade angle. I love the high sience fiction.Man this and Infinity is my bag of gaming(outisde of my true love histroicals but hey a man needs some variety)^^
I think the problem is that a lot of them look like generic future guys, I mean a few them look like they came from infinity, Algoryn especially. I don’t mind the freeborn, but only the lady with head dress makes me truly interested. Concord’s drones look interesting, but if I was to do anything I would wait for the Isorian Shard, they look really interesting.
The rules are pretty strong – basically an improved version of Bolt Action. The figures don’t particularly excite me though. Right now I’m sticking with Infinity and also Mercs for sci-fi skirmish. To be honest, I haven’t seen a sci fi game that inspires me to collect armies of platoon size in 28mm. 15mm or smaller scale when you can use squads of vehicles however to me works a lot betterfor sci fi.
Thinking about it, I could see myself using these rules withGround Zero Games 15mm models or similar. hmmmm.
I like the look of minis and the rules are highly regarded. However I feel like it is hard to get excited about any game at this stage where there are so few options available. When more releases come out other than starter packs I’m sure we will see some interesting small vehicles and maybe assualt/jump pack guys or something else really cool, one to watch imo.
I have been following Antares since the original Kickstarter campaign. This is definitely my kind of game, and personally I like the miniatures. As osbad notes, the game system is an improved version of Bolt Action, so the rules set is top notch, and for myself I like the fact that this game setting is going down a harder Science Fiction route than many of its contemporaries. Of the factions, the Concord are my favourite, and this leads me to my one quibble with the article – the NuHu aren’t widely feared per se, and certainly not within the Concord… Read more »
I’ve got a few of the minis for BtGoA (couple mercenary characters and a few Algoryn squads). I think the quality of the sculpts is quite good. Not quite cutting edge infinity level but not far off. I think it’s the paint job that’s making them look a bit flat and uninteresting. In any case feel free to break out some Infinity figs and use them instead.
Sci-Fi bolt action is a cool concept. The drones, change in dice type and stat lines for troops makes it different enough from bolt action to make it interesting. Some of the miniatures don’t have the level of detail of others, but I like the boromites look and the various drones look cool. Going so far into the future is a good idea. They can develop the fluff, factions, weaponry and scope of the game in almost any direction they want without reference to the present. They have the opportunity to make the lore of the game something really inspiring… Read more »
Warlord certainly have something for everyone. This wee company from our Great British Isles has awesome gaming template, with all the epochs, that the entire market (minus X Wing type) would ever desire. Smart cookies. I agree that the miniatures need cleaning up/ sharpening there details. Just think what the future holds for Warlord. If you haven’t seen it the watch the Interview with the designer John Stallard and Warren. Insight into the industry.
Semi official word is there will be a starter set with plastic figs when the game releases. Right now the beta rules are free to download so go get me and pull out some Infinity or 40k minis and give it a go.
i like The Algoryn Prosperate
sounds like an interesting universe.
This antares stuff is lovely, I hope there will be an Antares Bootcamp in the future 🙂
I have been following this project since the early stage of the KS back then, and all the way until now. I feel the game didn’t got all the care it could have had, here is why: -Great Designer, you hardly do better than Rick P. -Great Rule Set, solid and really promising (I wasn’t expecting less from Rick P.) -Great setting, I love hard Sci Fi. The story is solid, and with a huge scale. Great stuff! -Initial art was Badass. Those few color characters and concepts were awesome. What happened to that awesome art direction, the new cover… Read more »
Well I am an unabashed supporter of Beyond the Gates of Antares. It is very similar to to Bolt Action but uses a d10 instead of a d6. The rules are slightly more detailed, so far. So far I have picked up 2 forces the Algoryn Prosperate and the Boromites. I intend to pick up the freeborn later this year as well as the starter when it is released. I really don’t see the issues people have with the minis as they appear very good to me. They may not be as detailed as the infinity line but are still… Read more »
I own two squads of boromites and algoryns, got them cheap. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality. While the boromites did have a lot of flash, they were some nice models. Tbh I’ve never been that impressed with warlord on the whole and find these models as good/bad as anything they’ve done. Seeing BtGoA at salute was actually kind of exciting, as I find the potential of the setting more appealing than infinity, which is a poor comparison anyway. So for me it’s more a matter of cost, and variety, some plastics and vehicles would really help. But with… Read more »
I’ve a Concord army for Antares and have managed to get a few games in now, and it’s probably my favourite rule set at the moment, even above Bolt Action. The pictures don’t do the figures justice either, the sculpts are incredible, and have only the tiniest amount of cleaning up required too. I’m massively sold on it. One thing that is worth remember too as that this isn’t the full release at the moment, the game is still in it’s beta stages, and isn’t due to be fully released until later in the year.
Very interesting.
This’s going to be a big release later this year.