If you haven’t heard about this amazing game, then you need to acquaint yourselves right now!
For me, skirmish games have been more of an interest lately than massive scale conflicts or the ‘rank and flank’ of mass army battles. This is mostly because a) I don’t have the mental fortitude of painting the same miniature a dozen times over and b) you can get your forces painted and table-ready in no time at a fraction of the price.
Cue Relicblade from Metal King Studios, the vision of Sean Sutter who is quite literally the one-man army behind the game. Quite literally, Sean designs, sculpts, paints, photographs, writes and oversees all aspects of the product. Relicblade is clearly a labor of love and it shows throughout.
I jumped in on this about a year ago when the guys in my group were buying up a bunch of models at Adepticon 2019. I didn’t bite until a month or so later, though I had played a couple games during this time. The rules are quick to master, though it takes a few games to figure out synergy and subtle nuances that work in the various factions.
Honestly the game is a riot, and a ton of fun to play. My group ran through the whole collection of campaigns in the core rulebook over several weeks, having two games per session. The rules are satisfying to play without being overly granular and clunky so you don’t get bogged down in the details. The dice mechanic for activation is a lot of fun too, and I like that it makes you think ahead.
There are a small handful of factions available at the moment, but don’t let that fool you, the characters (and the sculpts) are very unique and full of flavor (please don’t try and eat them though). You’ll either come under the banner of ‘Advocate’ (the ‘good’ guys) or ‘Adversary’ (yep, the ‘bad’ guys). Of course I chose path of the Adversary, and specifically ‘Bone and Darkness’. Here is my completed minis from the faction starter set:
I still need to pick up two more Bone Stalkers (the smaller two of the group) to max this group out, but you can quite happily play with the basic set. The Bone Construct creature at the back there was the deciding factor on getting these. He’s a wee bit creepy and I love it.
In case anyone hadn’t spotted it, but the colors for these guys were inspired by Skeletor/Snake Mountain.
Sean also sends a little character sketch with his orders. I got a bonedude sketch with mine:
But anyhoo, the purpose of this post was to bring this amazing game to your attention, especially as Sean launched a new Kickstarter this morning for his new expansion.
Go take a look and support this independent artist, you’ll not be disappointed! I mean, where else can you play a game where you can mount a Gnome on an Ibex? or maybe field a sabretooth cat? or play a Hammerhead Sharkdude? or have to escort a Yak safely through dangerous territory? Nowhere, that’s where!
If anyone out there already plays, tell me who your faction is! I’d love to hear some stories!
Cheers for now
P
When Cannons Fade... 