Another a week and another wargaming kickstarter I hear you say. Well yes, but we at The Shell Case don’t showcase any old tat; we have a far more sophisticated palate and so only waggle our searchlight on the shiniest and face mangiest of games.
This time it’s the turn of Dying Star Oblivion from Superfluid Industries based on the fantasy novels by Samsun Lobe.
For the uninitiated here’s the blurb from the first novel:
As the life-giving star, Shu, slowly makes its transition from a white to a black dwarf it changes the ocean planet of Gebshu and its moon beyond all recognition.
We follow Var of the Enki ocean tribe as he is thrust into a world he is struggling to understand. As Var battles against the elements, the unstable Emperor sends his two sons on a treacherous mission. We follow the characters as they encounter strange creatures, ancient races and each other.
The bloody and violent action unfolds as the prophecy becomes entwined with Var’s destiny. Through his actions he will unknowingly decide the fate of the fading system.
Needless to say much crunching of heads and manging of faces ensues. And best of all you get to do it on a table top now. Huzzah I hear you shout.
Dying Star Oblivion looks so rather sexy. And, more importantly, it seems to be something a bit different. There’s not shortage of skirmish games out at the moment, each offering something unique but at the end of the day how much originality can there be when probability and dice are involved? Sometimes you just have to look at the premise and the toys and say ‘that makes me hot and hard’. DS: O is 28mm Techno Fantasy game and with its hugely differing tech levels and cultures it’s promising some very diverse factions with units and styles of play to match.
Granted it has the compulsory dwarf like blokes and something that looks a bit like a Chaos warrior, but as it has the bloke above and the critter below, so I’ll forgive it.
Personally I’m really excited about this game. I like that it’s based on a trilogy of books and that the author is supporting it whole heartedly. It’ll only mean a continual enriching of the canon and new and exciting models, scenarios and campaigns which means it won’t stagnate. I like the premise of a far distant future in which technology has been lost, abandoned or forgotten so what little tech remains is jealously guarded or barely understood. I also like the fact that you can, if you so choose, play a small game on a 2×2 foot board or go all out on a 6×4 foot board.
I really think this project has legs so get your muscular butts over to the Dying Star Oblivion Kickstarter page and give them all your money.
