Post by gamedave on Jan 15, 2015 14:17:27 GMT -5
So, big, expensive, tactical minis board games are really hot on Kickstarter right now. A Conan game just launched that went over $400,000 in less than 48 hours. I've briefly discussed with some of you, as a total blue sky project, that we Kickstart our own minis game. Spence made a suggestion that really got me thinking, so here's a (not really serious, but not entirely un-serious, either) proposal.
Sherlock Holmes: Blood & Steam
Sherlock Holmes fought his arch-enemy Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls. Both seemingly plunged to his death. Holmes later revealed he had survived but faked his own death. Now it appears that Moriarty also survived - in a fashion.
Col. Moran, Moriarty's most loyal lieutenant, recovered his body from the base of the Falls, and put into action Moriarty's sinister contingency plan. Combining the latest in steam-age technology, ancient alchemical secrets, and the researches of Dr. Victor Frankenstein, Moriarty's gang has brought him back to life! Or at least a semblance of it. Now, he has returned to London to bedevil his old nemesis, and live up to his sobriquet of "The Napoleon of Crime", launching a war to organize and control all crime in the vast metropolis!
Sherlock Holmes: Blood & Steam is a game of investigation, adventure, and tactical combat for 2-5 players. One player is the Mastermind - plotting in his hidden Lair, pursuing a fiendish Scheme, and trying to defeat the Hero and his Companions. The other player(s) control the Hero and the Hero's Companions, trying to thwart the Mastermind's Scheme, find his Lair, and ultimately defeat him.
At set-up, the Mastermind chooses the location of his Lair, his Scheme, his Henchman, and his initial Minions. As the game progresses, the Mastermind takes actions to advance his Scheme, which also allows him to acquire more Minions, and upgrade his Minions, Henchman, and Lair.
The other players each choose a Hero or Companion. In a two-player game, one player is the Mastermind and the other is the Hero. In a game with three or more players, one player is the Mastermind, one player is the Hero, and the other players are Companions. The Hero is generally more powerful than the Companions, but also has more significant hindrances, and each Companion has a unique special ability. As the game progresses, the Hero and Companions Investigate various locations on the map, attempting to defeat the Mastermind's Minions and acquire Clues. Once they acquire enough Clues, they can confront the Mastermind in his Lair. The Hero and Companions can also acquire and upgrade their equipment through game play, gaining access to advanced Steam Age technology.
In the core set, the Mastermind is Professor Moriarty. The two choices for Henchman are Col. Sebastian Moran (a highly skilled hunter and sniper with a silent air rifle), and Adam (a physically powerful reanimated man, Dr. Frankenstein's Monster). Moriarty's Henchmen are a variety of thugs and criminals, which he can upgrade through play with alchemical concoctions, steampunk technology, and reanimating them as steampunk zombie cyborgs.
The Hero is, of course, Sherlock Holmes. The Companions are Dr. John Watson, Inspector Lestrade, and Irene Adler. [Actually, Irene Adler, "The Woman", only appears in a single story, and briefly at that, but in pretty much all recent re-imaginings she plays a much more prominent role - plus there's a real dearth of female characters in the Holmes canon]. Additional Companions, available as Stretch Goals and/or Add-Ons, include Wiggins (street urchin, leader of the Baker Street Irregulars), Inspector Gregson, Mrs. Hudson, Mary Morstan (Mrs. Watson), Toby the Dog, Mycroft Holmes, and alternate Dr. "James" Watson [the name his wife calls him by in one story].
The core set includes a gameboard/map of Victorian London which the Hero and Companions navigate in search of Clues, and smaller tiles that can be used to set up various locations (docks, pub, backstreets, etc.) where the Hero and Companions fight Minions and the Henchman, as well as the Mastermind's Lair.
Expansion sets would each feature a different Mastermind, with new Henchmen, Schemes, and Hidden Lairs, such as Count Dracula, the Mummy, and various other public domain Victorian villains (or villains that can be retro-fitted into the Victorian era). Other expansion sets might feature alternate groups of (public domain) Victorian-era Heroes and Companions.
Sherlock Holmes: Blood & Steam
Sherlock Holmes fought his arch-enemy Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls. Both seemingly plunged to his death. Holmes later revealed he had survived but faked his own death. Now it appears that Moriarty also survived - in a fashion.
Col. Moran, Moriarty's most loyal lieutenant, recovered his body from the base of the Falls, and put into action Moriarty's sinister contingency plan. Combining the latest in steam-age technology, ancient alchemical secrets, and the researches of Dr. Victor Frankenstein, Moriarty's gang has brought him back to life! Or at least a semblance of it. Now, he has returned to London to bedevil his old nemesis, and live up to his sobriquet of "The Napoleon of Crime", launching a war to organize and control all crime in the vast metropolis!
Sherlock Holmes: Blood & Steam is a game of investigation, adventure, and tactical combat for 2-5 players. One player is the Mastermind - plotting in his hidden Lair, pursuing a fiendish Scheme, and trying to defeat the Hero and his Companions. The other player(s) control the Hero and the Hero's Companions, trying to thwart the Mastermind's Scheme, find his Lair, and ultimately defeat him.
At set-up, the Mastermind chooses the location of his Lair, his Scheme, his Henchman, and his initial Minions. As the game progresses, the Mastermind takes actions to advance his Scheme, which also allows him to acquire more Minions, and upgrade his Minions, Henchman, and Lair.
The other players each choose a Hero or Companion. In a two-player game, one player is the Mastermind and the other is the Hero. In a game with three or more players, one player is the Mastermind, one player is the Hero, and the other players are Companions. The Hero is generally more powerful than the Companions, but also has more significant hindrances, and each Companion has a unique special ability. As the game progresses, the Hero and Companions Investigate various locations on the map, attempting to defeat the Mastermind's Minions and acquire Clues. Once they acquire enough Clues, they can confront the Mastermind in his Lair. The Hero and Companions can also acquire and upgrade their equipment through game play, gaining access to advanced Steam Age technology.
In the core set, the Mastermind is Professor Moriarty. The two choices for Henchman are Col. Sebastian Moran (a highly skilled hunter and sniper with a silent air rifle), and Adam (a physically powerful reanimated man, Dr. Frankenstein's Monster). Moriarty's Henchmen are a variety of thugs and criminals, which he can upgrade through play with alchemical concoctions, steampunk technology, and reanimating them as steampunk zombie cyborgs.
The Hero is, of course, Sherlock Holmes. The Companions are Dr. John Watson, Inspector Lestrade, and Irene Adler. [Actually, Irene Adler, "The Woman", only appears in a single story, and briefly at that, but in pretty much all recent re-imaginings she plays a much more prominent role - plus there's a real dearth of female characters in the Holmes canon]. Additional Companions, available as Stretch Goals and/or Add-Ons, include Wiggins (street urchin, leader of the Baker Street Irregulars), Inspector Gregson, Mrs. Hudson, Mary Morstan (Mrs. Watson), Toby the Dog, Mycroft Holmes, and alternate Dr. "James" Watson [the name his wife calls him by in one story].
The core set includes a gameboard/map of Victorian London which the Hero and Companions navigate in search of Clues, and smaller tiles that can be used to set up various locations (docks, pub, backstreets, etc.) where the Hero and Companions fight Minions and the Henchman, as well as the Mastermind's Lair.
Expansion sets would each feature a different Mastermind, with new Henchmen, Schemes, and Hidden Lairs, such as Count Dracula, the Mummy, and various other public domain Victorian villains (or villains that can be retro-fitted into the Victorian era). Other expansion sets might feature alternate groups of (public domain) Victorian-era Heroes and Companions.