Fanticide is a brand-new 28mm skirmish wargame set to be released in September this year by the guys from Alien Dungeon. It will come with 4 unique factions. The miniatures were developed together with Eureka Miniatures. So far so matter-of-fact.
But it doesn’t stop there. It doesn’t even really begin there. They guys at Alien Dungeon have plunged themselves head-first into an unapologetic the-devil-may-care mindset to develop a fun-and-furious game that caters to their personal whims above all and – certainly – never to any, in their own words, “sanitized, market driven, “our figures or else” Mega Game Mart style“.
What do flying monkeys, twisted fairy tales, hand grenades, and skin eating creeps have in common?
Apparently the same thing as a loose band of veteran games designers, Australian miniature makers, UK sculptors, fantastic fiction writers, great artists, and a crazy megalomaniac have: They all come together in Nowhere, the setting for Fanticide, a new and different kind of fantasy miniatures game coming very soon from Alien Dungeon.
Fanticide is a skirmish game for battles between opposing homicidal warbands. We wanted a game that was easy to pick up, full of furious action, and whimsically grim, all at the same time.
Their author credits are equally stunning. They definitely got some celebrity talent on board to design the game.
I cannot really tell you what on their website is another prank and what is serious (as far as it gets), but it sure is fun to read. If they keep their style, the rule-book will be a worthy by just for their unabashed style of writing.
Fanticide’s Card-Based Game System
From what I think is honest information, Fanticide will use a card-based shuffle-system to determine the flow of the game. Though unlike Relic Knights cards-only system, it will still use dice (D10 to be exact) to resolve actions.
Fanticide is driven by a Card Based turn sequence. A card for each unit, monster, and character in the game (on both sides) is shuffled together along with an event card each turn. These cards are then flipped over one at a time and the unit activates. When the Event card is flipped, the resulting Event then takes place and effects the game as detailed on the card.
This style of activation is different from the usual “You go, I go,” gameplay of most tabletop miniature games. You must constantly be planning your actions and how you will react when that card comes up that you are waiting for!
Alien Dungeon also uploaded a video to YouTube to explain how the Fanticide event cards will work with this card-based system (along with their musings about Unicorns!).
Moreover, the team seems to have put a lot of thought into getting “the magic right” for their fantasy skirmish game. I can’t tell you whether they succeeded.
If you ever played some of the more popular fantasy wargames out there, I am sure you can sympathize with their observations.
Four Factions… And Not What You Expect
Their loony approach to gaming shows through again with the factions and miniatures. You certainly won’t find your generic faux-medieval-European factions here. Instead, Fanticide will see flying monkeys of the Kingdom of Odd clash bloodily with the shamanistic Centaurs known as the Liberi. Oh, and of course also the skin eating creeps mentioned earlier. Below is a picture of the creeps going out for war.
To be perfectly honest, I am still not 100% sure if not the entire game is just an elaborate prank. But it’s without a doubt fun to read. Either way, their blog claims that their rule-books are printed and ready to ship. They have also announced a miniature-giveaway supposed to go live on their Facebook-page on Wednesday (tomorrow) the 15th. So have a look their for a chance to win some free “creeps” (or whatever)!
Would you buy into such an off-the-wall game? Or are the guys from Alien Dungeon too far out there with Fanticide? Let me know what you think!
Z.
About Zweischneid
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