Black Sun is back on Kickstarter from Crucible Crush and they have taken some time to break down what's new and changed from their previous fundraiser to this one with us.

Consider Backing The Kickstarter Campaign Here

The first thing we have done is straighten out our Pledge Levels. Now the Complete System Pledge and the Starter Pledge are two basic pledges. We also added a rulebook only pledge and a pack of figures option for those that want to get into the Kickstarter for a minimal amount.

We have also added in the terrain and battle mats that we have available as Add-ons. So, now you can purchase these items to add to your Pledge from the beginning of the Kickstarter. This makes the whole Black Sun Game System available to you right away!

We have had the chance to complete a few new sculptures for the Kickstarter. Jason Wiebe has created a digital sculpture of the Golem figure based on Bob Murch’s artwork. This is an integral piece to the Golem Faction and deserved to be posted as part of the Kickstarter. Bob Murch also sculpted a specific one-off US Army soldier that was only available to those that jumped in on the Kickstarter in the first forty-eight hours.

Changing Rules

As we had a chance to take a break from the Kickstarter it gave us the opportunity to reassess what it was that we were doing. We have made two significant changes to the rules as we continue to playtest and move forward with the Black Sun gaming system. The first and most important change to the rules was to introduce the use of Force Cards.

Force Cards are the new record sheets for the figures in a game. Each player chooses their Faction of choice and then picks the figures they want to use from the Force Cards included with the game. You can then choose a leader or Boss for your Squad. This Boss then gives you a point value that you can use to fill out your troops with. Choices include other heroes like Tops or Vets and also Squaddies which are bought as a group of figures. Many of these Squadies are based around the real TO&E of the troops involved in the Vietnam War. In this way, you can play completely historical scenarios if you want.

The troops in Black Sun now have four statistics that make up their profile...

Your Figure Profile - The 4F's

Each Hero figure in the game is given a Figure Profile that consists of the four basic characteristics of the miniatures in the game. Heroes will use all four of these characteristics in the game while Squaddies will only use three, they will not usually have a Frag Index. These are...

• Fighting Value - Within the Squad, each trooper has a Fighting Value which shows his level of Fighting effectiveness. Fighting Value (FV) is expressed by a number between two and five and is designated FV. Success in the game is based on rolling a D6 and scoring equal or less than this FV number. The rules will say “Test against FV” when this is required. Experienced troops, with an FV of three, will thus have a 50% chance of performing any test required of them. Use Fighting Value for Shooting and Close Combat.
• Frag Index - This is a measure of the capabilities of your Hero and the level of confidence he provides to his troops. At times in war friendly fire can cause casualties. Sometimes this is an accident and sometimes it was used to remove a leader who was particularly disliked or inept. Without going into too much detail this statistic measures this occurrence in the Black Sun game. Frag Index is checked whenever a “What the...” roll occurs with failure (or success depending on your point of view) resulting in the death of the Hero that was checked. Success is measured by rolling less than or equal to the Frag Index listed on the Heroes Force Card. Squaddies usually do not have this characteristic.
• Freakability - This statistic is a measure of the mental fortitude or sanity of the Hero or Squaddies. You must check against this number with success as measured by rolling equal to or less than the listed number on the Force Card when indicated by Terrifying or Fear causing events or creatures in the game. Note: Each figure must check against its Freakability separately, this can cause some troops to bolt while others fight on.
• Frostiness - This is a measure of moral or nerve of a unit or band. It is usually tested for by a Group (see below) and with success measured by rolling equal to or less than the listed number on the Force Card of the best figure in the Group. Therefore, a Boss or Top who has a better Frostiness than his Squaddies will help improve their morale in this type of test because you would test against his better statistic.
• Abilities - Force cards will give Boss, Top and Specialist models Abilities. Some will be Advantageous whilst others will be a disadvantage. These abilities affect the points that your leaders will provide and how much the supporting Heroes will cost. Regular troopers, known as Squaddies, will not have abilities and will be listed as a unit that can be purchased for use in a game or scenario. Some of these Abilities will be rather normal and can appear on multiple Heroes affecting the game in a similar manner among different figures. Examples of these types of Abilities are Marksman, Nimble, and It’s on the Map.

We have made the change to these Force Cards to make the game more playable. You will now be able to figure out which Boss you want to use, find out how many points he provides and then build a Squad around him by spending those points on members of the unit by taking the appropriate Force Cards.

Each figure will be able to be used in multiple ways in this manner, so players will not be stuck using a certain Force Card for a specific figure. This being said there will be some figures that get their own special Force Card that you can or cannot use with that figure.

These Force Cards also make the game more character driven. We went this route for several reasons. The first and foremost being that Bob Murch has spent years developing the ability to put such character into his figures. It only seems like a positive to bring them to life in the game. Also, this system allows us to tell the story of Black Sun through the figures and characters that are portrayed on the Force Cards.

It is our goal to make a lively and entertaining backstory as well as due credit to the actual historical aspects of the period. Bob is very talented in creating this balance as anyone can attest that has collected his Pulp Figures over the eras. As we go through the Kickstarter we hope you will approve of the characters that we have chosen to add to this project.

Tweaking The Sights

Recently, we have changed the Shooting in the Black Sun Rules. Please note that this system is not significantly different than the one which is presented in the Alpha Playtest Rules that are posted, but it does play differently. I was always unhappy with the way playtesting was going on the Shooting rules in Black Sun. We had tried two different methods and we had talked at length with Howard Whitehouse about his thoughts. I was also very happy with the Shooting in Flint And Feather and I wanted to get the weapons closer to that system.

So at this point, we have streamlined the chart and brought it more in line with the Shooting Damage Chart in Flint and Feather. This means that the weapons have been changed to a Damage modifier at Long and Short range as well. The chart becomes more linear but not as lethal. There is also a separate chart for Concussive weapons, like grenades and artillery, which will be slightly more deadly than small arms fire but will be handled in a slightly different manner. Concussive weapons do a template for damage, while small arms hit targets in a group. We will get this information out in a new PDF probably as we close out the Kickstarter so our supporters can see the rules as we work on them.

Finally, we want to stress the point that the Black Sun Game is intended to be a complete system. We wish to provide rules, figures, terrain pieces, an exciting back story and all the cards and tokens needed to play the game. It is actually one of our corporate goals, to provide a complete gaming experience, so you can see that it is a focus within our greater purpose as a company.

By Lee VanSchaik

Let us know if you've been inspired to dive back into the world of Black Sun with their new Kickstarter project...