Everything You Need To Know About The Icarus Project Kickstarter
In today’s blog we’re looking at everything you need to know for the Icarus Project Kickstarter!
The Icarus Project Kickstarter
This will be a fairly long post, but it has a lot of important information, so strap yourself in! It will also be a “living” post and updated with the most relevant information as and when things need explaining.
We’ll start with the more logistical questions:
When is it?
The Kickstarter will begin at 12.00 noon GMT on September 7th, and run until 23.59 on Sunday, October 4rd 2015.
What is the funding goal?
The initial goal is £30,000.
What will the goal fund?
The goal will be to fund two starter sets, Alliance and Nexus, each comprising of 6 individual models. The goal will also be funding the production of a hardback rulebook of the Icarus Project.
When will the project deliver?
If we meet our initial goal, I expect shipping to begin at the end of April, 2016. This will mean that some UK backers will receive their pledges in April. The time the dispatch of the pledges takes is totally dependent on how many people back the project and what we end up unlocking. If the project over-funds and unlocks a lot of stretch goals, the fulfillment may be delayed. The expected date does have a buffer built into it to account for delays, but it’s impossible to give a fixed date if we over-fund. Hopefully, getting the miniatures rules first and cheaper will make up for any wait.
How will shipping be charged?
Shipping will be charged via Paypal after the Kickstarter, close to the shipping date, based on actual costs.
Calculating shipping this way is fairer to all backers, as some pledges will be much heavier than others. By not including shipping in the pledge level, it also means we can give you more stretch goal rewards!
Will people be able to back via a Pledge Manager?
No. I will hopefully be able to offer people who backed the actual campaign the option to add to their pledges via a pledge manager. But people who didn’t pledge during the campaign itself will not be able to purchase the models until they hit retail.
The Miniatures
This section will discuss the technical aspects of the miniatures.
What are Icarus Project miniatures made from?
Our miniatures are made from high quality, hand cast, resin. This allows for the absolute best detail possible.
It is important to me that the miniatures be as detailed as possible, and resin is the best material to do this. From a production point of view, the set-up costs are far lower than hard plastic, and the models will be easier to convert than metal. The Chinese plastic hybrid material that has been on the market for the last few years will not be used at all. It might be cheaper, but the detail problems it has are not worth the trade off.
Below are some images of our first miniature, Gabriel Cross, who is available to buy now.
What Scale is the Icarus Project?
The Icarus Project is 35mm scale, with realistic proportions. The average human miniature is 35mm to eye, or 38mm to the top of the head. Alien races may be larger or smaller than this.
Below is a reference images showing Icarus Miniatures models next to some popular models. The rights to those miniatures belong to their respective owners.
What is included in the starter sets?
The following are the contents of the starter sets we are funding:
The Alliance starter set will contain the following:
1x Gunslinger
1x Female Outrider Scout with Sniper Rifle
1x Male Trooper with LMG
2x Male Troopers With Assault Rifles in two unique poses
1x Female Trooper with Assault Rifle.
Let’s take a look at some of the Alliance sculpts already completed:
The Gunslinger. As you can see, out sculpts are very faithful to their artwork.
The Nexus starter set will contain the following:
1x Nexus Assassin With Sniper Rifle.
2x Nexus Grunts with assault rifles in unique Poses.
2x Feral Nexus with pistol and knives in Unique Poses.
1x Nexus Brawler with axe and knives.
Let’s take a look at the Nexus miniatures that have already been sculpted:
You’ll get two Grunts in every starter set. There are two unique poses and the arms and heads can be mixed to give you even more variety.
The Nexus are a fair bit bigger than the humans too:
The Rulebook
But miniatures aren’t the only thing that are being funded during this Kickstarter. We are also funding the Icarus Project Rulebook
This 144 page Hardback book will contain everything you need to get to grips with the Icarus Project, including:
- A full background section, telling the story of this exciting universe. Learn about the second Nexus War, the devastating event that shaped the galaxy into what it is today.
- Full rules for you to wage war across the galaxy.
- 6 full army lists: The Alliance, the Nexus, the Praesidians, the Ji’tar, the Mercenaries, and the URC.
The rules are packed will of diagrams and examples to help you get up an playing as soon as possible.
The core system is intuitive and easy to learn, but the more advanced and special rules create a game that is easy to learn, but difficult to master.
The game has a strong narrative focus, and contains rules for playing out missions such as bomb disposals, assassinations, intelligence searches, and bitter last stands. Each army list includes a full background letting you immerse yourself in the story of your chosen faction.
You can download a copy of the Beta rules right now, for FREE.
Stretch Goals
So, once we meet our initial goal, what can you expect? We’ll begin by fleshing out the starting factions:
We’ll be including free Galactic Marine miniatures, the Alliance special forces, with relevant pledge levels as the first stretch goal.
And for the second stretch goal, Nexus players will get a free copy of General Varakos, the galaxy’s most dangerous individual, in applicable pledge levels.
And after we have fleshed out the first two factions we’ll move onto the other factions in the game, including;
The Praesidians
The Mercenaries
And the Ji’tar
So there you have it. There’s only 5 days to go until this exciting new sci-fi universe hits Kickstarter. I hope to see you there, and look forward to sharing 28 days of Icarus adventures with you.
If you have any questions that haven’t been covered above, ask away and I will add them.