[Kickstarter] Homeworld: Fleet Command Board Game

[sundancer 42976xp 0]

So Modiphius has started a new Kickstarter for another very popular video game franchise.

Homeworld: Fleet Command Board Game

I really do like the Homeworld universe and I have played all video games with the exception of the mobile game. I like the ship design and the universe and would love a board game in that universer…. buuuuuut the full title is:

Homeworld: Fleet Command Board Game (Kickstarter Exclusive)

Yeah… KS exclusive. That may could be overlooked but at the same time they hint at the possibility that some “lite” version might make its way to retail but at the same time state very clear that none of the expansions will. So where is the point? Besides infusing people with FOMO again.

Plus no word of shipping costs but a vague “there have been issues in the past….” and the fact that all is made in China (that’s when shipping gets *really* interesting) doesn’t really help to sell me on this.

What are your thoughts on this? And is the estimated delivery window of August 2023 in any way reasonable? (I personally doubt that)

[demonsub 12746xp 0]

I’ve just had a read through the Kickstarter and it’s already funded.

 

I’m not sure but I think they’ve expanded the info they have on the shipping costs.

Also why would they need a third party publisher? Battle Systems who produce Core Space do the whole thing on their own and they are a tiny company. Yes, you get a bigger Core Space box in the Kickstarter but the basic game and all of the add-ons can but purchased from their store afterwards (ie retail).

It is quite tempting to go for this, especially as the boards and pieces would be useful for other games like A Billion Suns for example (although I’m not sure if the minis would fit the scale ?).

On the other hand if I was to go for this I would want to go all in and it’s a lot of money with more to be spent on shipping (approx £18 minimum for me). I’m not sure how many games I’d play of this but compared with paying around £20 for Space Station Zero I know where I get my money’s worth.
Hmm, I think I’ve just talked myself out of getting this. Oh well.

[sundancer 42976xp 0]

yeah it’s one of those…. “I’d like to but there just to many red flags” Kickstarter.

Maybe it’ll be cheap on ebay in 2024 XD

[jamescutts 6924xp 0]

Very tempted as i love homeworld, then…

I saw the dreaded “Kickstarter Exclusive”

I saw the price! OW MUCH!!!

Sadly its a no from me, £60 i would have considered a punt but not a min of £90 on a exclusive money grab that will never see the light of day afterwards.

I’ll just have to managed with Total War when that KS arrives.

[jamescutts 6924xp 0]

I asked them why its a KS Exclusive and what that entails, got this response from Chris, which I think is reasonable

This version of the base game will not go to retail as it’s way too expensive, we’re going to strip back the contents, so there will be a lot less in the box for a more retail-friendly price. That would not go to retail until some time after this project ships. Think of this as the bumper Kickstarter edition that is amazing value with lots more content than you’ll see in retail. There will be late backer pledges – we won’t be locking people out, and any remaining stock will be available on our website for a higher price, but this box will not go to retail. (we can’t stop stores from purchasing it for markup and selling it of course). The expansion will never go to retail – it was too expensive, and we wanted fans to have something exclusive to increase the value of supporting the project.

We are aiming to unlock lots of templates so the community can make their own content.

Raises it slightly from my too many red flags don’t back impression to, one to keep and eye on and potentially consider later down the line.

[sundancer 42976xp 1]

It still irritates me. You need to make molds for plastic injection molding and if you where to sell more mini it would offset the cost more… but then again, what do I know? Calculating such a project is a job of its own.

[onlyonepinman 18060xp 0]

Monolith ran into this problem with the Conan game and it’s generally to do with weight which drives up distribution costs.  The Conan board game never really made it to retail – it was available briefly but was very quickly pulled.  The reason was that Monolith were losing money selling it after everyone had taken their cut.  After the distributor had taken a percentage and then retail stores, the result was a product that either cost Monolith money on every copy sold or had to be sold at a price way above what people would reasonably pay.  Sometimes there are things that you literally cannot do in any way other than via Kickstarter.  I think a lot of companies learned that lesson courtesy of Monolith

[captainventanusParticipant 4936xp 0]

The August date I would think to be rather optimistic. Don’t see why Modiphius created this unnecessary problem for themselves. I doubt anyone is backing it specifically for early fulfilment and adding on a few months for a more conservative estimate doesn’t harm anyone. Shipping is what I would expect these days, take it or leave it.

The models are awful though IMO. Probably the colours don’t help, but to take such iconic, sleek looking ships an make then look this bad takes some skill. Things are more expensive these days, whether that’s just what you get for this price or Modiphius cut corner’s I’m not qualified to say. Emphasising the number of ships is silly as they are mostly the smaller ones. Sure this is firmly in the board game camp, which is fine, but for that price the value is poor. The ships killed it for me and I’d have been happy that or more for better models.

 

 

[sundancer 42976xp 0]

I doubt anyone is backing it specifically for early fulfilment and adding on a few months for a more conservative estimate doesn’t harm anyone.

Just think of the positive PR. Plan internally for August, say “March next year” in the KS and deliver in October.  “Wow, 5 months early! SO GREAT!”

[captainventanusParticipant 4936xp 0]

That would be a plan.

[jamescutts 6924xp 0]

Certainly agree with the models, they are not the best by far. Though I can understand why given its a board game and probably mass produced PVC style minis theres probably limitations with the molding process without significantly increasing the complexity and cost.

I’d not spotted the delivery dates, back down to a avoid in my rating then.

[sundancer 42976xp 0]

Also, in general, I really don’t like fund raising campaigns that use only images as “descriptons”. For one it makes it extra hard to find any info you want (maybe on purpose?) but also it makes it extra hard for people with disabilities who use screen readers and stuff like that.

Again: would have been nice. Shame.

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