More releases planned for board game

And we are back for the second half look at the miniature skirmish game Godslayer.

As you will recall game co-creator David Saunders was good enough to answer a few questions via email for this article. He and partner André Schillo were going after a level of realism with Godslayer, no small feat in a miniature skirmish game.

"Now most people will say that realism and playability are opposite poles on a scale," noted Saunders. "So the more realistic a game is, the less playable it is, and vice-versa.

"However, we hit on a cool rule-mechanic which throws that concept out the window. We got playability and realism.

"How? With an action-token system. This a core rule mechanic of the game.

Back in our local world, I will say having been corresponding with Saunders the idea of developing a game is a lot further on the back-burner.

When corresponding with a game designer I am always curious which factions they favour, since they know them so well.

"However, as I sit back one year after release I do have some personal favorites.

"In terms of background I guess I like the Wyldfolk most because I personally have a Celtic background since my ancestors came from Ireland.

"I have always been fascinated with Celtic culture. So with the Wyldfolk I wanted a sub-faction to include, pseudo-historical and mythological elements like tribal warriors, druids, bards, megaliths etc. and add to it a Wicca-inspired sub-faction of nature-worshippers.

"And I also imagined what would a nomadic Celtic society be like (imagining for example how would Celtic plains nomads be like if they had ruled the Eurasian steppe). Added to that was a historical figure like a Celtic 'Alexander the Great' with overtones of King Arthur who lead an immense army of settlers east and conquered an entire continent.

"So its Celts with a strong twist of originality.

"Added to that, I'm really not a fan of original Celtic clothing and armor. So we developed a completely original look for the Wyldfolk which looks Celtic but isn't. For example we used the kilt a lot and bagpipes and Celtic-knot and extrapolated armor and clothing which looks much cooler than historical Gauls."

I have the Wyldfolk, and culturally I like them. However the starter I have uses staff sling weapons, and they are so finely detailed that frankly they are a bit fragile. Transport to the gamer table will certainly require padded cases.

"In terms of design, I have to say Halodynes is my favorite, since I love Ancient-Greek style armor," continued Saunders. "This was one of the easier factions to design artistically because there are already a wealth of armor, helmets and shields of different materials in many different styles.

"For the Halodynes we drew on classical Greek and mixed in some elements of ancient Greek (Trojan) and some Macedonian and Thracian and well as some Italic tribes.

"We aimed for a Greek-style, but we are not trying to create authentic ancient Greek miniatures; that would be a bit dull for a warband if they all looked so similar. so we added these various elements and mixed stuff around and added a touch of 'fantasy'."

"We aim to have all miniatures for Wave-1 released by January/February next year," said Saunders.

"After that we will roll straight into Wave-2 which we anticipate with be eight releases for each faction. Playtesting is already underway and designs for the models are almost complete

"We have done the conceptual design and model outlines for an additional eight factions. If you read the background book you can easily get an idea which cultures this could include.

"Releasing these next factions will depend on how fast we can develop the market share of Godslayer. Our focus must remain the existing six factions to continuously support the players who invest in them, but as soon as we have the resources, we will unleash the next 4-6 factions."

With such passion behind Godslayer from its creators, rules which allow a lot of battle realism, factions rich is background, and killer quality models, this one has it all. This is one well worth looking into for mini-lovers.

Check out the game at www.megalith-games.com

If anyone is interested feel free to contact [email protected]