Kickstarter Loot: DreadBall Striker – Unboxing

My DreadBall Kickstarter loot finally arrived. Stores had the game for a week or so already, which I find strange. Nevertheless, I had fun diving into the box (no shrink-wrap to tear with Mantic though). Since I went for a “Striker pledge” during the DreadBall Kickstarter, I have many additional new toys. This “unboxing” is not representative a DreadBall box buy straight from the shelf!!

#1 – Opening the DreadBall Box

My DreadBall is here. It’s a big box, filled with miniatures, tokens and gaming goodness.

There is, of course, the gaming board. It is surprisingly large. Lots of dice, tokens, cards and.. of course.. several bags full of DreadBall miniatures. One of the main selling points of DreadBall, for me, is the tongue-in-cheek style and tone of it. The sculpts for the DreadBall miniatures reflect that. They are fun and full of character. Unpacking them, I find myself liking nearly every one of them.

Usually I not a fan of Orcs (and GW’s attempt at “funny” with them always seems to miss), I find myself being quite a fan of DreadBall’s Marauders. The Ref is also great!

The main criticism, which was clear from the start, are the tiny bases. They work for some sculpts (e.g. the Ref), but many will fall over a lot. Mantic Games shipped a lot of those clear, extra hex bases. They also come with most DreadBall products in the shop. In my opinion, they are likely near-mandatory to play the game without the constant annoyance of miniatures falling over (which represents prone players in the game).

The clear acrylic counters are – I believe a Kickstarter-only-bonus. To be honest, I am not impressed. They are hard to read and even harder to tell apart. These very much feel like a “Kickstarter-addition” for the sake of doing one. Or maybe they are left-over materials from Manic’s acrylic deluxe DreadBall pitch that were put to some use.

The standard tokens are – visually – a lot better. However, as they are plain, untreated card-board, I would imagine they will quickly show wear and tear from gaming. With a 3/4 of a Million US$ Kickstarter behind them, Mantic could’ve found a better solution here.

As noted above, the clear hex bases are ace (and likely soon a “standard” for DreadBall).

#2 – Mantic Miniatures vs. Games Workshop Miniatures

This is my first time holding a Mantic Games miniature, so excuse me for making some (indubitably flawed) comparisons to the Games Workshop miniatures I know best.

The first reaction – like many people holding a Mantic miniature for the first time – is how small they are. Human miniatures from Mantic stand only a little over half as tall as a regular Warhammer 40.000 Space Marine miniature.

Mantic’s DreadBall miniatures are plastic, though it is a softer, slightly more rubber-like material than the one used by Games Workshop (though certainly nothing like the flexible “Bones”). While Mantic’s sculpts are fun (see above), their material doesn’t seem to hold sharp detail nearly as well as Games Workshop’s plastic does.

Now. I promised I would make an inappropriate comparison. Before I make it, let me first say I am quite psyched at my DreadBall loot. My deal is also sweeter thanks to all the Kickstarter bonuses and an exclusive Z’zor resin miniature on its way.

Ok. The flawed comparison: Dark Vengeance vs. DreadBall – two boxes of miniatures.

• Dark Vengeance currently goes for £61.50 without discounts. It will give you 48 Games Workshop plastic miniatures, including things like Ravenwing Bikers and the Chaos Space Marines Helbrute.
• DreadBall goes for £49.99 without discounts. It will give you 21 Mantic Games plastic miniatures, consisting of only a handful of different sculpts. And as illustrated above, they are much smaller, softer and less detailed than their GW counterparts.

The comparison is imperfect, because you also get a very nice (and it is nice) DreadBall pitch to play on, lots of cards, tokens, etc.. . DreadBall is a board game, Dark Vengeance a starter set for the most renowned tabletop sci-fi skirmish game around. Still…

DreadBall is clearly a box you should only consider if you really want to play the game. It looks like a fun game! But DreadBall should not be on your list for the miniatures. They are – much more so than Games Workshop miniatures – game pieces, rather than hobby products, and – in my humble opinion – very, very expensive for what you get.

#3 – DreadBall Kickstarter Bonuses

With the “Striker” pledge from Kickstarter, I didn’t just get the DreadBall game, but the whole Kickstarter lot. This includes, in addition to the Human and Ork/Goblin team, the Veer-Myn and Forge Father teams from DreadBall’s Season 1. It also includes the eight currently produced MVPs (and a free Coach? A miniature I was surprised to see).

If I am critical above for Mantic’s miniature value-for-the-money in the box, one think I really like about Mantic games is their effort to get organized play for their games of the ground. The recently announced Kings of War tournaments in the UK and the US with meaty prizes. For DreadBall, the Striker pledge also comes with a ticket to one of Mantic’s DreadBall events in 2013. Signed by hand, which is a nice touch. Looking forward to this.

 #4 – Final Thoughts

My initial thoughts after rummaging through the box for an evening are more or less this.

Pros

• Lots and lots of miniatures (this being “Striker”, not just the basic DreadBall game).
• Lovely sculpts that greatly convey the theme of DreadBall
• Great, high-quality gaming board (i.e. the DreadBall pitch)
• Official tournament and organized play support
• The rulebook is also ace (I’ll look at it in detail in another post)

 Cons

• Game cards and token don’t seem designed for heavy gaming
• Some useless Kickstarter swag (e.g. acrylic tokens)
• Number and quality of the miniatures in the “non-kickstarter” DreadBall (even for a board game) does not live up to the price tag

Did you get DreadBall from the Kickstarter campaign? What are your thoughts?

Are you interested in getting DreadBall now that it is released?

Your take on my unboxing?

Leave a comment!

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