Sunday 13 August 2017

Dracula's America: Shadows of the West

Have you ever had one of those days when everything went right for you? They are rare but when they do happen it is such a wonderful feeling. Last Thursday was such a day for me. I received so many parcels that morning you'd think it was Christmas and my birthday rolled into one. From Amazon, I receive two plastic storage boxes that I keep figures and boardgame counters in. I received 12 miniature merchant starships from Brigade Models as well as five 28mm scale sci-fi figures from Space Vixens from Mars, and two big Kickstarter parcels. The first was everything produced for Dracula's America and the second, which came in a huge box, was everything that was produced for Massive Darkness, the new dungeon crawl game from Cool Mini Or Not. To top it all I had two hospital appointments that afternoon for check ups and both went amazingly well with the two consultants being delighted at my progress since my major operation in 2013. It was just a great day. Anyway, in this post I want to take a closer look at Dracula's America.
To give it its full name, Dracula's America: Shadows of the West is a skirmish wargame set in an alternate world Wild West where Count Dracula kills Abraham Lincoln in 1869 and becomes President for Life of the United States of America. Naturally, this intrigued me greatly and I quickly supported the North Star Nickstarter for this project by ordering one of everything that was on offer - rulebook, figures and dice.
I was very impressed by the quality of the products when I received them. the rulebook (shown to the left) is hard-backed, in full colour and runs to 140 pages. It is very easy to read and the rules are simple and easy to learn. The basic rule is if you roll a 5+ you have scored a success. On a roll of 1-4 you have failed. Characters come in three classes - novices, who roll d6s, veterans who roll d8s and heroes who roll d10s, so you can see, the more experienced your character is, the greater the chance he has of scoring a success. Some tests require one die being rolled, whilst others require three dice being rolled. Modifiers add or subtract the number of dice you roll but you can never roll less than one die. The more successes you roll, the greater the degree of your success is. That is the basic rules in a nutshell. Very simple.
The rulebook is split into three sections. Part 1 is The Rules, which cover the core rules, advanced rules, building your posse and 7 simple scenarios. Part 2 is Campaigns, which goes beyond one-off games into linked games that form a campaign. Part 3 is Dracula's America, which introduces the supernatural elements to the game. In here you will also find details of the six main factions of the game. The Twilight Order are the forces of good and light who have access to blessed weapons and ammo. The Red Hand Coven are the thralls of Dracula and his Shadow Union. The Skin Walker Tribes are native Americans who become shape-shifting guardians of nature. The Crossroads Cult are demon worshippers. The Congregation are sworn to stop the Dark Confederacy and to protect the remnants of the Free South with the power of Voodoo. The Dark Confederacy are made up of necromancers who raise the dead so that the Southern states may rise again in power.
I should point out that it is entirely possible to play this game as a straightforward Wild West skirmish game without using any of the supernatural elements... but where's the fun in that? This game is called Dracula's America and that is the setting I want to play in. I can't wait to get started. I can see crossover potential with THW's High Moon rules and maybe with Shadows of Brimstone, but that would require more work.
Here's a photo showing all that I received in my parcel. The rulebook, six of each type of dice used in the game and 42 beautifully sculpted 28mm scale figures. By ordering one of everything I earned a nice discount on the recommended retail price.
Here's a closer look at the figures. I based them all on the green plastic bases that came with them. Some of them, which I've glued to MDF bases, should have been glued to 40mm diameter plastic bases, but I thought they were far too big for the figures so I glued them on smaller sized bases. Only the summoned Temple Snake has been glued to a 40mm diameter base (see far left of the back row).
In the back row are the summoned creatures. In the fourth row from the front are The Congregation. In front of them in the middle are the Dark Confederacy. In the second row are from left to right, two Crossroads cult members, four Red Hand Coven vampires and two free exclusive figures I got for backing the Nickstarter, a Chupacabra and a Jackalope. In the front row are the forces of good - the Twilight Order and a single Skin Walker at the far right.
If you'd like a closer look at the figures, I've included this photo taken from the Nickstarter campaign which shows all of the figures except the Chupacabra and the Jackalope. The painted figures were painted by the highly talented Kevin Dallimore, a man whose work I greatly admire.
I'm a big fan of the Weird Wild West genre and I'm building up quite a collection of figures for this genre. I'm also slowly building up my collection of Wild West buildings and scenery. I think you can expect to see a lot of Weird West posts on this blog in 2018, by which time I should have enough painted figures and buildings to do it justice. I have to say that I am very impressed with the Dracula's America rulebook and setting. I see no reason to convert it to one of my other systems but to play it as written. But what has really impressed me is the quality and sculpting of the figures. Indeed, some of them are so good, they have jumped to the front of my painting queue. My favourite figure out of this range may well surprise you but I shan't say who it is until I have painted him or her. Yes, I am a tease!
The rulebook, dice and figures are all available from North Star. See here - http://www.northstarfigures.com/list.php?man=248&page=1
Highly recommended if you are at all interested in the Weird Wild West.

16 comments:

  1. Those a rather nice Bryan, and that's a fair ol' bundle of figures you have added to your painting que!! Who sculpted them? though the figs are only small in the photo's (even when opened up, a few of them have the look of Mark Copplestone work (I could be wrong though), look forward to see what you do with these.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Many thanks, Roger. You are spot on with the sculptor - it was Mark Copplestone who made the figures. He does have a very distinctive style, doesn't he?

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  2. Wow - "Happy Thursday" Bryan.
    I completely missed Drac's America until it was released (probably thanks to losing my old email account and not renewing the North Star newsletter). Although 'Weird West' is going to be very much a side project for me, I like the sound of the dice mechanics in these rules and will be keeping them in mind when it comes round to getting stuff together.
    Looking forward to hear how you get on with them.
    I'll also be watching out for your review of "Massive Darkness" :-)

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    1. Thanks, Greg. Thursday was just one of those very special days, that happen so rarely. I got whiff of "Dracula's America" very early on and the whole concept intrigued me greatly.I simply had to back this project.

      Yes, there will be a big review of Massive Darkness, very soon.

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  3. New shines aside, Bryan, I think the most encouraging thing about this post is the news about your health. So many gamers I know seem to struggle with ill-health and find solace in our hobby, so its good to know you're doing well.

    That's a great selection of minis, and obviously I'm much intrigued by how you get on with "Dracula's America". I wasn't overly impressed with a couple of the minis I received, finding the heads a little smaller than anticipated, but beauty is always in the eye of the beholder - and I have a similar gripe with some of the "Frostgrave" models too.

    Hopefully you'll do your usual sterling job of furnishing us followers with a series of postings on how you found the minis and how they've played out in your games - here's to 2018!!

    Plus "Massive Darkness" too... I know Michael (Awdry) speaks highly of the KS package he received, so I'm looking forward to your thoughts on that one too; especially as I don't recall ever hearing of it when it was KS - an omission I hope I don't regret ;-)

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    1. Many thanks, Simon. it is true what you said about my health. Getting that news was a massive boost to my confidence and i left the hospital feeling ten feet tall!

      Regarding the small heads issue, I agree the head of the Wendigo was smaller than I was expecting but actually once I glued it in place it didn't bother me too much. As you say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

      As for "Massive Darkness" you can expect a big review very soon. First impressions are highly impressive and some of the figures are just awe-inspiring!

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  4. I cannot/will not get distracted. I must resist.

    Looks good though.

    But I will remain strong and not get all sidetracked... Strong and resolute I will not crumble... well at least not yet.

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    1. I can sympathise with you, mate. Sometimes it is hard to resist the new shiny product but I'm sure you can stay strong. Willpower, Clint, willpower!

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    2. Yes and "I can resist anything other than temptation!"

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  5. Great news on the health check Bryan, really pleased for you mate.
    Weird wild west seems to be increasingly popular, now if I can just find some time to make more scenery for it ...( wanders off to check behind the sofa, as it's the usual place for lost things)

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    1. Thanks, Dave. The results of my health checks really cheered me up no end! I felt like I had a smile on my face a mile wide that day!

      Weird Wild West is very popular. You should see the amount of stuff Flying Frog are producing for "Shadows of Brimstone". I'm struggling to keep up! Regarding your Wild West scenery I'll be placing an order with you for everything once I finish collecting your Death Match figures.

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    2. No problem at all Bryan, if there's any scenery pieces that you can think of that would be useful to add drop me a line mate

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    3. Many thanks, Dave. I can think of quite a few, actually. I'll send you an e-mail with my ideas on.

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  6. A great day buddy, I must admit to having missed the boat a bit with Dracula's America it looks cracking. I'm glad to hear you're making good progress with your health.

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    1. Much appreciated, Andy. Sorry you missed out on the Nickstarter but everything is available for sale from North Star apart from the chupacabra and the Jackalope.

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