A new company from Canada has started to show off its wares for an upcoming fantasy skirmish game.  Hardsix Gaming is currently working on a game called Kingdom & Empire, a 36 mm skirmish game in a fantasy setting, which is set up to pit the Kingdom of Celesia against the Ithican Empire.

The premise behind the game is that the Kingdom of Celesia, Pitia’s largest nation, is being attacked by the Ithican Empire following years of an uneasy peace. In the winning of the Dragon War, two decades earlier, mages produced arcane cores that allowed the Celesians to develop giant skyships alongside the Praetorians. These massive piloted mechanical suits of armour changed warfare across the face of Pitia.

As you can see these Praetorians dwarf their accompanying foot soldiers and rock in at close to 80 mm tall in a 36 mm game. The game is currently under beta testing and all we know currently is that it runs off a 2D6 system with modifiers. Hardsix Gaming is hoping to come to Kickstarter in 2020 to produce their game and flesh out the world of Pitia. But in the run-up to that launch they have opened a shop on their website and are planning on selling some of their sculpts ahead of the campaign, the first of which is the Missionary MKII

The Missionary has a clean knightly look to it, and has some possibility to the miniature with the arms, head, and torso having ball joints. Matching the back story and ethos of the Kingdom of Celesia it has a feudal knight design and its use in combat follows on from this. The Ithican Empire may be keen to industrialise but the Kingdom remains true to its roots.

The Mk II is a standard medium Praetorian, but the first 50 people who pick one up will get the Mk I rules which won't be available anywhere else, including the Kickstarter when it launches. The Mk I is a faster more lightly armoured version that will change up how it plays and what you can do with that.

I'm very interested to see where the folks at Hardsix Gaming go, they've started to build up an interesting history and art for some of the forces the factions involved can call upon for the fight. They have plans beyond the two factions that they have started to showcase on their website and the rules they are working on are based in competitive play, but with the flex to allow narrative gameplay as well. Their hope is that later expansions will introduce other factions that showcase the arcane power of mages, the ferocity of mythical beasts, and the inventiveness of those unbound by traditional ideas of war.

The idea of mechs in fantasy settings is by no means new, but I am looking forward to seeing their rules and world unfold and the direction they take. You can stay up to date with Hardsix Gaming on their facepage.

Do you fancy taking on the Missionary Praetorian?