I have very mixed feelings about Kicksarter, Indiegogo and crowd funding in general. Mantic and other established companies have been using it as a pre-order system and a cash camel for a while now which is choking off funding for other smaller companies and start-ups that deserve the money but get overshadowed by a ‘sure thing’.
However, there are a few kickstarters that do get noticed and do get the funding they deserve. One such endeavour is Maki Games and their modular scenery kickstarter.
Quite frankly, this stuff looks the absolute, gold-plated, diamond encrusted, tits. Aside from being staggeringly flexible using pinned panels, it looks utterly fantastic.
And I suspect, because it’s build using pinned/pegged plates, you don’t need to glue it which means you can sling it all in a shoe box at the end of the game. Of course it remains to be seen how durable those pins are and how easy they really are to store once they’re painted, but that’s what reviews are for. Impressions are that this stuff could be utterly awesome.
It’s also the first terrain system I’ve seen that allows for ‘indoor’ structures to be built and thus opens up a whole new way of playing games. It’s also going to give the Necromunda die hards a raging hard-on. If I’m honest, I think it’s going to give most gamers that play any kind of 28mm sci-fi wargame a raging hard-on.
The really cool thing is that three distinct styles are available whilst still being cross compatible. So, if you’re feeling cheeky, you could even build a structure with changing design aesthetic to represent the building’s expansion over time. This is, of course, way cool.
It’s a remarkably well-timed move on Maki’s part as Spartan have just released their staggeringly expensive HDF range (with no match 28mm models) and Mantic’s Deadzone game has a modular terrain system that appears to be entirely more fiddly and flimsy. To be honest the Maki range seems a far more impressive and diverse option.
If you haven’t taken a look at their kickstarter page I strongly urge you to do so. It has already been successfully funded but I genuinely feel that Maki brings something original to the wargaming world and so deserves as much support as the community can give it.
They have just 14 days left to raise some extra dosh so, bip over to their page, take a look at the awesome scenery, wipe the dribble from your chin and then pledge your support.
