Friday 8 January 2021

Stargrave: Preparing the Pirates

Is it really less than four months until the release of Stargrave? I guess I should really start talking about it a bit! For today, let’s talk about ‘pirates’.

Stargrave is set in the aftermath of an apocalyptic war between two great empires that resulted in mutual destruction. Into this power vacuum came the pirate fleets. With no organization big enough to challenge their power, these fleets of ruthless cutthroats roam through the Ravaged Galaxy, taking what they want and crushing anyone that dares to challenge their power. How, exactly, the Independent Crews run by the heroes feel about this situation is up to them, but, regardless, they must move quietly if they want to survive.

These pirates not only form an important part of the background of the game, but also contribute to the mechanics. When I created the rules, I wanted to put some kind of ‘clock’ on the games, something that would drive the players to complete their tasks as quick as possible. Eventually, this became the ‘Unwanted Attention’ rule that generally replaces the Random Encounter table for many scenarios, especially those set in a more urban environment.

Essentially, the longer a scenario goes on, the greater chance all of that gunfire is going to attract attention. At first, this might be low-level law-enforcement, or gangs, or the like, but eventually, its going to be the pirates. And once the pirates are committed, they won’t stop coming…

So, players are going to want to have some miniatures available for this unwanted attention. Here’s the different types you’ll need.

Ruffians (low level grunts in light armour carrying pistols)

Pirate Troopers (Standard baddies in heavy armour with carbines)

Pirate Shock Troopers (Elite baddies in combat armour with carbines)

Bounty Hunters (Bad News in combat armour with carbines)

You’ll want a good handful of ruffians and pirate troopers, a couple of shock troopers, and maybe a bounty hunter or two. Generally, they only show up in small numbers, but potentially they can keep coming forever…

What all of these guys look like is up to you, so feel free to fit them to your favourite science-fiction setting. Alternatively, I happen to know that Osprey Games & North Star are working on a couple of plastic box sets for the game that are going to give some amazing options for constructing these guys… and so much more.

29 comments:

  1. I have my copy already. . .just waiting for the release! Must have a look at what Nick has on North Star's site. No one ever said recruiting a new crew was cheap!

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  2. Very exciting news.
    Miniature wise my first thought was the plastic irregulars for Maelstrom’s Edge but Star Wars stormtroopers, with wild paint jobs to show they are not soldiers anymore would be a nice choice as well.
    I am really excited about the plastics from North Star but see this as a great excuse to dig out all the nice SF figures bought over the years and buy new ones as well! I am sure a lot of the historical plastic figures from other companies will be press ganged into service, after all Star Wars itself set a precedent for your blaster looking like a Stirling SMG or a Lewis gun!

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  3. Im really looking forward to see/feel the atmosphere! Im planning to use my Necromunda minis and terrain (if they ever will be ready...), but dont know yet, if they will fit.

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  4. Great! I can recycle a number of agnostic space figs! Thanks for the little clip of upcoming stuff!

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  5. Oh! Joy! North Star boxes of sf figures. My Traveller DM alter ego just had an evilgasm

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  6. Joe, any chance you could ask Osprey to develop a few graphics for us to use to create some events at our local gaming stores? Maybe a fan-legal logo variant and a few images for use in advertising?

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  7. Im super excited for this. I only wish I could find decent stls for the cast of Gokaiger to use as my crew.

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  8. Anyone know where I could find Blake's Seven or Red Dwarf minis or STLs?

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    1. Beast in the Brock has all the future freedom fighter miniatures now: https://www.beastinthebroch.com/shop?page=2

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  9. I think Crooked Dice do Blake's Seven?

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  10. A really good preview... I'm already digging in the lead'n'plastic pile 😀

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  11. Oh, this is exactly the kind of information I needed to start prepping! Could you go a tiny bit more into what the differences between light, heavy, and combat armor might look like?

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  12. Really love the sound of this and am excited to get some solid sci fi pirates in a miniature format. kit bashing has been great for my needs but REALLY stoked to see a full line of them official.

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  13. maybe multi-part space pirate box, you know, like frostgrave? tell me what I gotta do Joe!

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  14. Thanks for sharing Joe, this is really interesting. It's a nice chance to create lots of different unwanted attention minis... there could be a set for for the Ice Planet, or some for the Jungle Planet, or event an alien civilisation, etc.etc. So much potential.

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  15. And so it begins......again! Good thing I've snagged those Rogue Stars figures. Now to find some space ruffians. Will be a good use for all those Mantic SCI-Figs I have too!

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    1. That's a good idea. I've got some of the Mantic Space Elf Robots that could work well for random baddies; also, Corespace has a bunch of minis that might prove useful.

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  16. Thanks for letting us know in advance and start planning the buying/painting!

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  17. Really excited for this game!

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  18. Looking forward to this! Joe, can you give us an example of combat armor? Is it fully enclosed, like Bobbie Draper's suit in The Expanse TV show? Is it powered, like in the book Starship Troopers?

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  19. It's full enclosed and contains built-in weapon systems. Whether or not it is powered is up to you.

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  20. Plastic Sci-fi minis from North Star sound great. I'm hoping for a lot of "civilian" bits rather than the more normal uniform military combatants.

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    1. That piece of artwork of the guys guarding the bridge is very cool. It is atmospheric and unusually placid for sci-fi artwork.

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  21. Hmm...good thing I planned on time in the basement tomorrow....looks like I need to go through ALL of the WarMaHordes stuff down there....😁 Armor is no problem with WarMaHordes....armor AND carbines? Hmmm...

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  22. this game fills me up with good expectation! i loved frostgrave and i want to go with this since i have really A LOT of miniatures from sci fi and post a apocaliptic

    let´s try it in venezuela! where #WEDOPLAY cheers!

    PD; i love the UNWANTED ATTENTION mechanic, want to see how it does implement.

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  23. Service chuyen phat nhanh quoc te safe, convenient and quick time from 3 to 5 days

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  24. Replies
    1. I'd like to know this as well. Gotta start printing, hoping ignis quadrant and novus landing have everything I need for this game.

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