Interview – Ghosts of Hefei

Among the great things Kickstarter brought to the miniatures wargaming niche, besides lots of interesting new miniatures, are the wealth of interesting game ideas the crowd-funding platform has helped bring to market.

Some of the highest-grossing tabletop Kickstarters have been co-operative miniatures games, a genre that – a few years ago – would’ve been considered a curiosity at best.

There’s more to come. Ghosts of Hefei, which is now looking for support on Kickstarter, is another miniatures game that breaks with the established standard of “two-armies-clash” and tries to bring a new approach to miniature (war-)gaming to the table.

Joseph Dragovich, the mastermind behind Ghosts of Hefei, was kind enough to share his thoughts about his game, the miniatures and his future plans for Ghosts of Hefei.

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#1 – Cops, Robbers and Robots

Zweischneid: Ghosts of Hefei is, at first glance, a rather unusual setting. Not because near-future games are rare, but because its theme of players battling to create a thriving underworld business stealing and trading robot-workers: fabricants.

On top of that, it’s your second “robot-themed” game already.

You got to tell me, what draws you to robots!

Joseph: I think the first reason is that robots are just cool!

When we set out to make our first game, we wanted to make Blade Runner the miniatures game, and using robots (as opposed to biological clones) allowed a clear distinction between the players and the beings they are meant to hunt.

It may sound strange, but when we create these games, we wanted to include background that could stand on its own merits. Just because it’s a tabletop game doesn’t mean there can’t be some great and hard hitting fiction in the book.

Robots also allow us to really explore the background of The Fabricated World (and the societal challenges it faces) without focusing on a specific groups of humans.

Using robots in the game allows us to explore a shifting economy, poverty, globalization and the welfare state more freely, and less heavy handed, than if fabricants were biological.

Kieran [Kieran Mathers] has done a great job writing robot centered fiction that makes this point, as well as filling out our world.

Just because it’s a tabletop game doesn’t mean there can’t be some great and hard hitting fiction in the book.

Zweischneid: And what draws you to this cops-and-robbers scenario?

Joseph: I really think cops and robbers type games are under-served in tabletop games.

So many skirmish games focus on muscle bound military types blazing away at one another. We’re trying to make games that provide a more subtle tactical experience with gangs and robbers.

Gang combat can be a really different animal than a military engagement. We’re trying to provide that play experience with Ghosts of Hefei.

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#2 – Game Play 1: It’s not About Killing the Opponent

Zweischneid: Ok. The main theme for a fight in Ghosts of Hefei is opposing criminal gangs trying to steal fabricants, and to prevent the other side doing the same.

How many miniatures/gang-members will a starting gang in this game field?

Joseph: Players will have about 5-7 “characters” which are permanent members of your gang with leadership responsibilities or specialized skills. You’ll also field 5-7 “thugs” which are temporary gang members that join your gang on a game to game basis based on your gangs Reputation within their neighborhood.

Zweischneid: And how does the “kidnap fabricants” play, as opposed to just “kill all opponents”?

Joseph: Stealing fabricants give players an objective to focus on that makes money for the gang. You can kill as many enemies as you want, but it doesn’t get you paid. Increasing the murder rate in Hefei is also a surefire way to wind up in prison, so you want to steal more and be more judicious with the violence that you deal out.

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#3 – Game Play 2: Law Enforcement in Ghosts of Hefei

Zweischneid: Your Kickstarter-campaign mentions that gangs in Ghosts of Hefei cannot go at it with impunity. The law is watching in Ghosts of Hefei! How does this aspect work in the game?

Joseph: If there is no dedicated cop player, the police are abstracted in Ghost of Hefei. They will pick up your gang members after the battle if your gang commits enough crimes during the battle (e.g. killing opponents and not wounding them).

Your crimes are tracked using “heat” points which you will accumulate during the scenario. After the battle, players roll against the number of heat points to determine how many gang members the police will round up. So you could decimate your opponents in one scenario, but you might pay for it with a having a lot of your gang end up in jail afterwards!

Zweischneid: Who will control the police, if it shows up?

Joseph: If the police are present in a scenario (guarding a block of fabricants or escorting a VIP) they will be controlled with an NPC table similar to those we used in ‘The Department’. NPC will react based on the general situation and a die roll, which correspondences to a behavior chart.

A character might be a powerful hacker on the street, but without their rig, they’re vulnerable to a sharpened toothbrush!

Zweischneid: What is the effect on an on-going game?

Joseph: Gang will constantly have to balance the violence they inflict with the legal consequences, similar to gangs in real life.

You may be able to afford that rocket launcher, but do you really need it to steal a few fabricants? You might want to save it for when you know you can get at your opponents leader.

Your characters that go to prison do not just disappear either, they can get paroled or escape, and players will be able to take their battles into the prison and eliminate enemies that they could not touch in the street. A character might be a powerful hacker on the street, but without their rig, they’re vulnerable to a sharpened toothbrush!

Zweischneid: Ghosts of Hefei is compatible with your previous game: The Department. There, players do take the role of police officers. Will players be able to take the role of the lawmen in Ghosts of Hefei too?

Joseph: If players choose to play the police in Ghosts of Hefei, they will be able to take their investigative skills against gang players in the campaign. They will be able to accumulate evidence points which they can use to arrest gang members and raid their safe houses.

Law enforcement players have it tough. They will be working to take down all the other gang players, though they will have some awesome toys to help. Armored police and heavily armed drones level the playing field.

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#4 – Ghosts of Hefei Miniatures in 28mm and 15mm!

Zweischneid: Ghosts of Hefei is said to play in both 28mm and 15mm scale (and you’ll make miniatures for both). What are the differences? Are these different, complementary games? Are 15 mm games build for larger gangs and conflicts?

Joseph: We’re providing both scales of figures to give our players the option of playing either scale. 28mm is certainly a more traditional scale for sci-fi skirmish, but there is a new trend for sci-fi skirmish in 15mm. The games are the same, but we wanted to offer players both options.

Zweischneid: Alright…  miniatures! Tell me a bit about your miniatures, which will come in both 15mm and 28mm scale! Where do you draw inspiration for your miniatures? Who is sculpting them? What material will the miniatures be made from?

Joseph: All of our figures will be a produced in both scales and will be cast in metal.

The figures are almost all sculpted by PF, a very talented sculptor based in France. You can see his work on his blog In Space, No One Can Hear You Sculpt.

We’re taking our inspiration from a variety of sources, but most of all are classic crime films and near future sci-fi. We’re combining The Wire, American Gangster, Blade Runner, Looper and other sci-fi movies into gritty near future crime drama!

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#5 – Beyond the Ghosts of Hefei Kickstarter

Zweischneid: Once your Kickstarter for Ghosts of Hefei is funded, what plans do you have for the future?

Joseph: We pan on taking this game as far as we can go. We would like to see it in stores and be a major gaming system in league with Malifaux and Warmachine.

Zweischneid: Do you have stretch goals you’d love to see funded?

Joseph: I’d love to see the Tongs funded. I have a soft spot for the local boys.

Zweischneid: What have you planned beyond the Kickstarter campaign itself?

Joseph: Lots of special characters and some new factions for the game. We want to produce figures for the Hefei police, so police players have some heavy hitting backup!

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Many thanks to Joseph for taking the time to answer all my questions.

I really like the premise of the game, especially the Cyberpunk vibes.

Take a look at the Ghosts of Hefei Kickstarter and tell me what you think about the game!

I am looking forward to your comments!

Z.