Stargrave - New Campaign Book & General Discussion

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

Any folks out there played Stargrave yet? Anyone have the book and interested in trying a few games?

Looks pretty fun and easier to get into than Infinity. Personally I don’t like the strict new kill team limitations on squad composition and multiple paywalls for new options as they release.

I’ve seen a couple terrain crafting vids based on the Stargrave core missions - nice variety and probably pretty easy to modify for a narrative of some kind.

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

Forgot to mention there’s a 10-mission campaign book coming out soon as well: The Last Prospector

https://www.wargamer.com/stargrave/the-last-prospector-supplement-preview

[Ish]

I have the PDF of the core rulebook, so I’ve skimmed it but haven’t done a “deep read” and I haven’t played. But, I like what I’ve read and I’m a huge fan of Frostgrave and Oathmark, so at this point I’m just going to assume I’ll like Stargrave too.

I like that the game isn’t so strictly tied to the grimdark aesthetic of Necromunda or WH40k/Kill Team, nor does it have the mountain of detailed rules (or the locked in manga aesthetic) of Infinity. But, at the same time, there’s nothing stopping people from going grimdark with their models if they want to. Personally, I’m planning on leaning towards a Golden Age Sci-Fi Serial / Pulp Magazine with my models when I get around to it. I’ve already ordered a bunch of minis and am snooping around the ‘net for an appropriately Flash Gordon-esque rocket ship STL file.

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

Yeah, I want to do a more futurist or cyberpunk look.

Let me know if you want to play sometime you can make game night.

[Torg]

I’ve picked the books up (main rules and first supplement.  But have yet to get to play it.  

[Casiarius]

I have the rulebook and Quarantine 37 and haven't played.

I've watched quite a few battle reports on YouTube as well, so I feel like I have a good grasp of the rules, despite having never played Frostgrave.

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

Any battle report streamers you’d recommend?

[Casiarius]

I admit many of the battle reports kinda blur together now, but Guerrilla Miniature Games did a series which I think illustrate a lot of things NOT to do with Stargrave.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzrPO7KIAtwXsJFe6m_Hkf284HIXy15Mv

Both players seemed to treat Stargrave as just an alternate set of rules for 40K and they were obsessed with fielding Space Marines. The high upkeep cost of the combat armor completely distorted the economy of the game and really punished the "Imperial" crew who tended to lose and needed those funds for replacements. They also largely ignored all the special weapons and just spent each game shooting carbines at each other, which I think indicates a lack of understanding of the game mechanics and cover rules.

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

Sounds like they should be playing a certain other skirmish shooter game focused more on super-soldiers organized into Murder Parties.

What drew my interest in Stargrave was the narrative play and missions with task-based objectives.

Definitely want to try playing a few games if folks have loaner minis.

[Casiarius]

If I were going to wrangle someone into playing Stargrave, I'd just be sure they know what it is and what it isn't.

It's not 40K. Despite having aliens and robots, it's more similar to Firefly.

It also isn't chess, where you carefully consider the most advantageous move, and if you do this better than your opponent, you win. Stargrave generates narrative moments by having really swingy dice mechanics, and anyone can be killed in an instant.

[Ish]

I haven’t played Stargrave (yet), but reading it over I see a lot of the same themes and ideas present in Frostgrave (unsurprisingly).  What made Frostgrave really “click” for me was when I stopped treating it as a wargame and starting thinking of it as an “roleplaying game without a GM.”

[Tao Tsê-Mung]

Well, I don’t think we need to wrangle any uninterested folks into it, sounds like there’s plenty of interested people about we just need to arrange two of us showing up on the same day 😜

What interests me lately in these games is the combination of customization/narrative/rpg aspects present in their campaign or sequential scenarios. I love kitbashing and painting my own skirmishers - and it’s even more fun when they don’t just end up one of several generic units in an army. I’ve got some minis in mind for my own dudes already.

For the last couple months its been mostly GW:KT/Munda/Bowl people showing up so I’m looking for folks to climb out of the woodwork and play some games.

[Ish]

I’m just waiting for the new year, when things will stabilize at work and I can carve out some sort of regular work-life balance.