October 25, 2023: STL Spotlight

There are two notable Kickstarter campaigns that started on Monday, 10/16. But one of them ends Friday, so read this fast!

One is the Throne of Shards by Matt of the Forge of Many Things. You'll see some of his work in an upcoming project from Steve Jackson Games; he's very good. His new Kickstarter consists of a pair of thrones and their noble occupants, with stretch goals that will expand to the full court. The concept of the twin thrones itself is interesting and well worth incorporating into a game, and the sculpts are just beautiful. The pair are definitely fey, though they could be treated as particularly beautiful humans or even deities as well, depending on your game.

As usual for Matt's projects, this is very affordable, ranging from £1 to £6, or US $2 to $8. He's also offering a limited number of physical prints for £25/$31, an option for people without 3D printers, although shipping from the UK may bite depending on where in the world you are. I would also highly recommend the mimics add-on, because I'm just in love with that fireplace mimic. Go to pet the kitty napping on the mantelpiece and the fireplace attacks, at which point you realize the cat was actually a lure like an anglerfish uses!

These are definitely more campaign rather than skirmish oriented. Or, of course, absolutely gorgeous display pieces.

This Kickstarter ends at 12:20 AM EST on Wednesday, November 15.

The other campaign is Iain Lovecraft's newest campaign, Rum & Razing. It's pirates; what more do I need to say? Perhaps more relevant, it's pirates sculpted by Iain Lovecraft, who's one of my very few "pledge first, look later" creators. The set includes some great pirates and some awesome terrain. Naturally the campaign includes a ship, a fort, multiple buildings, and of course, a lot of pirates.

The stretch goals are even more awesome, including a galleon in addition to the caravel that is part of the base set. Add-ons include sets from some of his former Kickstarters and some new sets for this one: the Cartagena fortifications are probably going to be mine (and waiting in the endless queue to print!).

Iain's sets are excellent for skirmish games like TFT's Melee and Wizard, or any other fantasy (or historical, in this case!) skirmish games you play. The buildings have playable interiors, which adds to the tactical possibilities.

This Kickstarter ends at 4 pm EDT on Friday, October 27.

Now I have a tremendous desire to game out a raid on a pirate settlement with the octopi from Foes 1.

-- Jean McGuire