Obsidian Protocol: Kickstarter läuft

Der heiß erwartete Mech-Kickstarter aus China ist online und finanziert.

Obsidian Protocol is a squad-based, mecha-themed tactical miniature wargame set in the near future. Players assume the role of squad commanders, leading powerful mechs and drones into 1v1 battles and multiplayer skirmishes. All mech components are modular, granting players unparalleled flexibility in designing the perfect squad for the mission at hand. Thanks to an innovative initiative system, combat in Obsidian Protocol is fast-paced and brutal, and every turn offers new tactical choices on the path to victory.

1v1 battles take between 45 to 90 minutes to complete, depending on the battle size and mission type, while multiplayer engagements, which are still under development, will take about an hour to play.

STretch Goals:

Thanks to all the backers, with your support we have completed the funding goal for this project!

With gratitude, we are now unlocking the stretch goals!

First, to help differentiate between locked and unlocked content, all content rendered in pink color, such as these mechs, drone miniatures and components, are all stretch goal content. Backers with corresponding rank will receive these stretch goal content for free when they are unlocked.

Second, we have already had an earlier crowd funding run in China back in May this year and thanks to these early backers we have already unlocked part of the stretch goals, meaning they will be instantly available for this Kickstarter campaign.

Story

The story of Obsidian Protocol begins at the end of the 22nd century, when the first remnants of an ancient civilization – and the mysterious „Black Box“ artifacts within – were discovered deep beneath the far side of Earth’s moon. These alien treasures didn’t simply trigger a golden age of technological innovation; they shattered old alliances and nations, and the uneasy coalitions that emerged threw vast quantities of money, resources, and blood into the excavation and exploitation of alien relics. Yet for all the upheaval and competition of the Moonrise Era, an uneasy peace prevailed.

In the following twenty years, the noose that was intertwined with interests and threats became more and more sturdy in the necks of these great beasts, which led to a fifteen-year war, and nearly half of them were wiped from the world.After the war, the traditional countries and the former allies have existed in name only, replaced by several borderless community, allowing people to help each other across the chaotic era and embark on the road to reconstruction.

Taking lessons from the bitter rivalries that preceded the Last War, Earth’s three major factions committed themselves to peaceful reconstruction and cooperation across all fields of human endeavor. After nearly 50 years, humanity has nearly emerged from the ashes, and the worst memories of the conflict have begun to fade.

But the truth is that the war never ended. Hidden from the public eye on the far side of the moon, the true battle for humanity’s future has raged for nearly a century – from the first days of the Moonrise Era, through the near-apocalypse of the Final War, and into the modern Age of Factions. While peace reigns on Earth, the caverns beneath the lunar surface have become a testing ground for a new generation of military technologies, and any attempts to excavate Black Box technology are met with deadly force. The vanguard troops of this shadow conflict are the brave pilots of the M.A.P – the robotic Modular Armor Platform – and you will lead them into battle!

Das sind die Fraktionen des Spiels:

The Reconstruction and Development League is a cooperative faction whose members pursue efficiency above all else. Every facet of life in the League is guided by a massive AI called the MENTOR, which manages industrial priorities and citizens‘ daily routines to maximize economic development and public satisfaction. Tieling Heavy Industries manufactures the vast majority of League armaments. Although most of their arsenal offers mediocre performance at best, League units are highly Deployment Point-efficient and easy to deploy en masse. Their elite components, on the other hand, boast exceptional firepower and impenetrable defenses. Spend your Deployment Points wisely, and you’ll build a squad that combines deadly firepower with overwhelming numbers.

The United Network is an elite commercial consortium that exalts professionalism and diligence, and boasts humanity’s foremost xenotech R&D facilities. Most Network troops are battle-hardened mercenaries, with many elite pilots among them. They bring advanced weaponry and high-performance mechs into battle, executing every mission with surgical precision. Under the aegis of the United Network, a group of suppliers led by Redpoint Technologies manufacture the best components in the business. While their products are precise and versatile, they’re also fairly expensive, so you’ll need to assemble your squad carefully.

The Guardians of Freedom are a growing coalition of radical communities that advocate absolute free will. As their forces have grown in recent years, the Guardians‘ pursuit of free will has gradually evolved into worship of the human brain. Their members shun the use of consciousness-digitizing technology, and they remain the smallest faction fighting for control of the Black Boxes. Even their most seasoned pilots use an old-fashioned brain-computer interface. The predominant supplier of this faction is Wildfire Power, a relatively new company that emerged after the Last War. Specializing in advanced AI and drone technologies, Wildfire drones form the backbone of every Guardians of Freedom combat squad – supported, of course, by a few powerful and expensive MAPs.

Jetzt wird es Zeit für die Boxen. Die Core Box:

Die Deluxe Box:

Und dann gibt es noch kleinere Erweiterungen:

Obsidian Protocol miniatures are 1:56 scale, and MAP units stand about 80mm high – in the game world, that’s 4.5 meters, or about 14.7 feet.

Obsidian Protocol was designed from the ground up to be an expandablegaming system. Anchored by a rock-solid core experience, the new components, drones, and pilots from each expansion set will provide additional squad design options and tactical possibilities.

Terrain models are included in both the Core Set and Deluxe Core Set, and players are free to add terrain as desired.

As any additional purchase, all expansion packs are available as additional purchase. You can pledge at the Warlord reward tier to receive 6 expansion packs as they’re released, or purchase individual expansions on our Pledge Manager page after Kickstarter campaign.

Gameplay:

Obsidian Protocol is designed to be a compelling, fast-paced tactical experience, with core features that make every battle unique. Our step-based initiative system, where player actions take place during the same phase, avoids the frequent downtime of traditional „I-Go-You-Go“ games.

Here’s the Game Play Video:

Select a Mission: A number of pre-generated mission templates are included with the game, including suggested Deployment Point totals, objectives, and board set-up guidelines – but that’s only the beginning. As you get more comfortable with Obsidian Protocol’score mechanics, we encourage you to develop custom scenarios of your own.

Outfit Your Mechs: Assemble your MAP units from a wide selection of modular components, each with their own stats and combat abilities. Components are the lifeblood of every MAP –lose an arm, leg, or backpack and your tactical options will decrease, and you’ll take one step closer to oblivion.

Deploy Your Squad: Each player receives a Deployment Point budget to spend on their squad. Components and drones from the three major factions have their own strengths and weaknesses, giving players a chance to experiment with a wide range of play styles. Reconstruction and Development League commanders, for example, may swarm their opponents with low-cost cannon fodder units, or tear through the enemy with small squads of elite melee pilots.

Choose a Step and Take Action: While every component provides a unique set of combat, movement, and support abilities, each action can only be executed at a specific Step during the Main Action Phase. Every round, players secretly choose a Step on their Pilot Dials for each MAP pilot to act. Will you take aim at a menacing MAP during Step 2, hoping to disable their melee attack… or sprint behind cover in Step 6? All Steps occur in ascending order, minimizing player downtime.

Fight to Survive: Every turn of Obsidian Protocol provides new ways to engage the enemy. Players can fire pistols and rifles, get up close and personal to perform melee attacks, launch projectiles like missiles and beacons, and even disrupt opponents with advanced ECM. Since MAP abilities are determined by its components, the right build can mean the difference between victory and defeat. We designed the game to maximize player choice in every situation – for example, when facing an incoming missile, a player may choose to mislead it with a flare, destroy it by shooting it down, or even try to hack its guidance systems.

Challenge the Campaign: A dynamic 1v1 quest line will be included in the Core Set. It features a series of best-of-three missions where the outcome of each battle changes the objectives and terrain of the next, eventually leading to one of nine endings. We will release additional free narrative campaigns in the future, as well as feature articles that explore and illuminate the world of Obsidian Protocol.

Expand Your Arsenal: Obsidian Protocol is a long-term project, and being able to seamlessly extend the player experience through expansions has always been a core design goal. Early expansions will add new Elite Pilots and arms manufacturers to bring a wider range of tactical options to the battlefield. As time passes, the war for control of the Black Boxes will escalate, introducing new unit types; aerial support dropships, armored units, and even infantry squads will join the fray in larger engagements. Some factions will begin to field experimental units like FOS and NLC, which use different action mechanics from traditional MECs, but offer incredible power and maneuverability. We will also release additional game modes beyond versus and skirmish battles, including a fully-featured cooperative mode (planned for a 2020 release) where players take on the role of pilots confronting new and dangerous foes as a team.

Die Kampagne läuft noch 24 Tage und ist bereits finanziert. Einige Stretch Goals wurden bereits in einer früheren chinesischen Kampagne freigeschaltet, eine aktualisierte Grafik wurde zum Zeitpuntk der Erstellung dieses Artikels gerade gebaut.

Quelle: Obsidian Protocol Mecha Miniature Wargame