The forums moved on March 1, 2021. Please read this page for more information.

New game: Freedom Five

147 posts / 0 new
Last post
Rabit
Rabit's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011
New game: Freedom Five

You all saw this, right? :-o 
https://www.freedomfivegame.com/

(Christopher shared a "trailer" on Discord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BixbAt7-iE)


"See, this is another sign of your tragic space dementia, all paranoid and crotchety. Breaks the heart." - Mal

Unicode U+24BD gets us Ⓗ. (Thanks, Godai!)

Trajector
Trajector's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
Joined: Dec 13, 2014

:-O

Powerhound_2000
Powerhound_2000's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
PlaytesterExceeded Expectations
Joined: Sep 14, 2013

Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31

 
Yak Guardian
Yak Guardian's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 1 month ago
Playtester
Joined: Nov 29, 2012

*Setting count-down timer for September 8th*

Ok. Done and done.


Yak Guardian
(aka Michael)
R.I.P. Blake Washington

TakeWalker
TakeWalker's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Joined: Feb 26, 2016

Interesting! Anyone played this Defenders game before? I've never heard of it, but that's not too surprising.

Pydro
Pydro's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: May 19, 2012

I have not played it, but I have seen it being compared to Pandemic.


Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
-Robert E. Howard, "The Tower of the Elephant"

PlatinumWarlock
PlatinumWarlock's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 1 month ago
Joined: Feb 10, 2013

Pydro wrote:
I have not played it, but I have seen it being compared to Pandemic.

The original edition of Defenders of the Realm does have that feel to a significant degree, but it seems like time and reiteration have begun to make the game more thematic over time. Defenders of the Last Stand (the post-apocalyptic follow-up to DotR) definitely felt more on-theme, and bore much less resemblance to Pandemic than its predecessor. I'd be willing to bet that this moves the general template even further apace.

Does anyone know what relation this game might have to the enigmatic Arkham-Horror-looking prototype that was floating around a few years back? Given Richard Launius' past involvement with GtG, it wouldn't surprise me if that prototype evolved into this game.

Powerhound_2000
Powerhound_2000's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
PlaytesterExceeded Expectations
Joined: Sep 14, 2013

Richard Launius is involved in creation of this new iteration of it https://twitter.com/adambsadler/status/1270767230830206977?s=21


Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31

 
Rabit
Rabit's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

Lanius created the original Defenders, if I understand correctly, so his involvement is appropriate. :-)

PlatinumWarlock wrote:
Does anyone know what relation this game might have to the enigmatic Arkham-Horror-looking prototype that was floating around a few years back? Given Richard Launius' past involvement with GtG, it wouldn't surprise me if that prototype evolved into this game.

If I remember correctly, that was called "Mayhem in Megalopolis". Other than involving the Freedom Five, they aren't related to each other at all. (At least they don't appear to be related. I don't have any more information than having played the original prototype.)


"See, this is another sign of your tragic space dementia, all paranoid and crotchety. Breaks the heart." - Mal

Unicode U+24BD gets us Ⓗ. (Thanks, Godai!)

MindWanderer
MindWanderer's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Playtester
Joined: Oct 29, 2015

Defenders of the Realm is also getting a second edition later this year.  Not sure if it'll be before September, but if so it'll probably be a good showcase of what its developers have learned in the last few years.


Sentinels Statistics Project -- Statistics updated daily!

Submit your games here!

Rabit
Rabit's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

MindWanderer wrote:
Defenders of the Realm is also getting a second edition later this year.  Not sure if it'll be before September, but if so it'll probably be a good showcase of what its developers have learned in the last few years.

Have they said if it's going to be Kickstarted or how it's otherwise going to come around / be communicated? I'm looking forward to seeing how that looks. :-)


"See, this is another sign of your tragic space dementia, all paranoid and crotchety. Breaks the heart." - Mal

Unicode U+24BD gets us Ⓗ. (Thanks, Godai!)

MindWanderer
MindWanderer's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Playtester
Joined: Oct 29, 2015

Actually, I take it back:

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2183274

Apparently they announced the cancellation of the second edition just yesterday.  Probably not a coincidence?


Sentinels Statistics Project -- Statistics updated daily!

Submit your games here!

Rabit
Rabit's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

Agreed -- probably not a coincidence! :-) 


"See, this is another sign of your tragic space dementia, all paranoid and crotchety. Breaks the heart." - Mal

Unicode U+24BD gets us Ⓗ. (Thanks, Godai!)

Trajector
Trajector's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
Joined: Dec 13, 2014

In other "probably not a coincidence" thoughts, I wonder if there was too much Freedom Five/Prime War overlap.

Powerhound_2000
Powerhound_2000's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
PlaytesterExceeded Expectations
Joined: Sep 14, 2013

While I can understand that assumption I know per discussion I have seen elsewhere that was not one of the reasons for cancelling Prime War. 


Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31

 
Cult of Gloom
Cult of Gloom's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Playtester
Joined: Jul 30, 2017

I suppose its gonna be a pre-OblivAeon setting


Remember, don't turn that frown upside down! Turn it into Eldritch Power to summon our Dark Master to Spite a world that has wronged you.

Powerhound_2000
Powerhound_2000's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
PlaytesterExceeded Expectations
Joined: Sep 14, 2013

Based off the outfits of the Freedom Five members and a pre burnt face Baron Blade with only a scar it seems like it.   However, seeing Proletariat does make it weird.  


Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31

 
Jimeni
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 1 month ago
Playtester
Joined: Aug 10, 2014

I so want to know more about this game! I can't wait for more details. I've never played Defenders of the Realm, but I'm a fan of Richard Launius' edition of Arkham Horror, and I can only imagine he's grown as a designer since then. And also my wife and I love co-op games in general and, of course, Sentinels! ... Is it Sept. 8 yet?

fenianb
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 8 months ago
Joined: Jan 16, 2012

I look forward to an official explanation on how this isn't a big 'ha ha!' to Prime War backers.

dprcooke
dprcooke's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 months ago
Playtester
Joined: Dec 17, 2013

I fail to see how it would even remotely be considered even a small 'ha ha' to PW backers.

GTG had a game (Prime War) in development.  It got cancelled because there wasn't a [big enough] market for it.

Unrelatedly, developers not on the GTG staff worked on a game, using their own game system, to be published by a company that is decidedly not GTG.  They appear to be licensing the Sentinels IP.  This new game doesn't seem to involve Prime Aspects fighting it out across multiple realities, so I'm not seeing a connection to PW story-wise.

I'm confused, is GTG simply not allowed to publish anything else Sentinels-related ever again?  Or did they fail to observe some sort of wierd mourning period during which nothing Sentinels can be announced?

Should they have told Arcane Wonders, "we're sorry, we want you to use our IP, but out of respect for our PW backers, we can't let you do anything with it until [insert some future date here]"?

I mean, Sentinels of Freedom got released recently... am I supposed to be insulted or something about that too?

fenianb
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 8 months ago
Joined: Jan 16, 2012

'Sorry, that Sentinels miniatures game you folks backed five years ago isn't working out. So sorry.'

A week and a half later...

'Hey, check our our new Sentinels miniatures game!'

ORLY? 

catDreaming
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Joined: Sep 25, 2017

feniab, that logic would possibly track if the new game was published by GtG. It's not being published by GtG, and the logic doesn't track.

I can understand how it could feel like a intentional slap in the face, but coincedences happen. Would it really have felt any better if they had pushed back the announcement? From what I can tell, it wouldn't reduce the resentment whatsoever.


A single man
Standing alone in a field of swords
Blades borne to the unmoving air
An unchanging world as their sheathe
Preserved for eternity
This is my Origin
- Avalon, The Living Sheathe

Jeysie
Jeysie's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Joined: Nov 11, 2016

dprcooke wrote:
I'm confused, is GTG simply not allowed to publish anything else Sentinels-related ever again?

Since I don't think I have ever seen fenianb make a post about anything Sentinels other than Prime War, I think this actually literally is their view on the subject.


"If life gives you lemons, make a lemon cannon."

Not always the best at social skills; I apologize in advance. I don't apologize for any corny and morbid jokes, though.

Resident Argent Adept and Biomancer fangirl, be forewarned.

PlatinumWarlock
PlatinumWarlock's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 1 month ago
Joined: Feb 10, 2013

fenianb wrote:
'Sorry, that Sentinels miniatures game you folks backed five years ago isn't working out. So sorry.'
A week and a half later...
'Hey, check our our new Sentinels miniatures game!'
ORLY? 

....Defenders of the Realm and Defenders of the Last Stand aren't miniatures games. They have a handful of minis used as player pawns. That's it.
They're decidedly board games, not tactical minis games.

dprcooke
dprcooke's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 months ago
Playtester
Joined: Dec 17, 2013

Either way, I'm optimistic about this game.  I'm not at all familiar Defenders of the Realm, but another coop game set in the Sentinels world certainly sounds fun.  And it'll be interesting to see someone else's take on the characters.

Jeysie
Jeysie's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Joined: Nov 11, 2016

FWIW, the Editor's Note coming up Tuesday the 23rd will have both more thoughts on Prime War and on this game. They very definitely have no connection to each other is the main takeaway.


"If life gives you lemons, make a lemon cannon."

Not always the best at social skills; I apologize in advance. I don't apologize for any corny and morbid jokes, though.

Resident Argent Adept and Biomancer fangirl, be forewarned.

dprcooke
dprcooke's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 months ago
Playtester
Joined: Dec 17, 2013

Oooh!  I've been hoping C&A would talk about PW on The Letters Page post-announcement, largely because I did find the overall story interesting and am wondering if they plan on using it elsewhere.  (Granted, I should have submitted a question to that effect, but I'm hoping others did).

I may have to check out the video on the patreon instead of waiting this week...

Edit:  When in the editors' note did they talk about it?  (Trying to save myself from having to scan through the full 2-hour episode for just one thing).

Powerhound_2000
Powerhound_2000's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
PlaytesterExceeded Expectations
Joined: Sep 14, 2013

I believe it should be around the 50 minute to hour mark.  


Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31

 
dprcooke
dprcooke's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 months ago
Playtester
Joined: Dec 17, 2013

Thanks Powerhound!  Was able to give it a listen yesterday evening.

Powerhound_2000
Powerhound_2000's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
PlaytesterExceeded Expectations
Joined: Sep 14, 2013

In the audio version of Editor's Note 43 it's around the 58 minute mark.  


Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31

 
Trajector
Trajector's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
Joined: Dec 13, 2014

Sounds very exciting! And what a funny story, that it started as a Sentinels game and came full circle.

MindWanderer
MindWanderer's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Playtester
Joined: Oct 29, 2015

An introduction to the project went out to their mailing list today, just introducing the developers.  Oddly, not mentioning Christopher or Adam by name, just Richard Launius and Adam & Brady Sadler.  And got one piece of preview art, which is the cutest version of Tachyon I've seen yet.


Sentinels Statistics Project -- Statistics updated daily!

Submit your games here!

Powerhound_2000
Powerhound_2000's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
PlaytesterExceeded Expectations
Joined: Sep 14, 2013

Christopher and Adam aren't working the game mechanics or art on this just final say so that makes sense to me.   There is one image that shows a prototype of the game and what looks like a Sentinel Tactics box rebranded for this game.  


Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31

 
Powerhound_2000
Powerhound_2000's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
PlaytesterExceeded Expectations
Joined: Sep 14, 2013

Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31

 
Trajector
Trajector's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
Joined: Dec 13, 2014

That Tachyon image is pretty funny. There's also a snippet of Wraith elbowing a Blade Battalion in the email header. She's in pre-OblivAeon costume.

MindWanderer
MindWanderer's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Playtester
Joined: Oct 29, 2015

Played Defenders of the Realm for the first time yesterday.  It's pretty good but it is a little rough around the edges.  The heroes seem pretty poorly balanced, and it's very hard.  We were close to losing 3 different ways at once, and I honestly don't know if it was even possible for us to have won.  We took out the Orc general in round 3 or so, but by then the Demon and Dragon generals were already right outside the city.  We took out the Dragon general almost right away and headed straight over to the Demon general, but even using several special cards to halt his advance, we couldn't stop him--and even if we had reached him, we probably didn't have enough red cards to win,

Also I'm not sure how much replay value there is.  There are different heroes, but not many of them, and there are only the same 4 armies/generals every game.  It's more replayable than Pandemic for sure, which I suppose makes it good enough.

One small change--different scenarios that change the difficulty level and also add variety--would make this a pretty darn good game.  I'll have to check out the other Defenders games to see what Richard Launius has learned about it in the meantime.

(Also the FAQ is not good--I had to Google a bunch of rules questions during the game, and found Richard's answers on BGG, but he never updated the FAQ with them.)

Edit: I looked into reviews of Defenders of the Last Stand.  Apparently the general engine is very good, and it does have the scenarios I suggested above, but there are some concerning issues.  Proofreading and playtesting were obviously lacking and, once again, the FAQ is terrible.  Richard apparently made several comments on BGG saying "this will be added to the FAQ" and then they never were.  I'm hoping Richard has taken these criticisms to heart.


Sentinels Statistics Project -- Statistics updated daily!

Submit your games here!

Powerhound_2000
Powerhound_2000's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
PlaytesterExceeded Expectations
Joined: Sep 14, 2013

It's not solely on Launius for the FAQ.  Arcane Wonders, the Sandler Brothers, and GtG all have a role to play in putting out understandable rules and FAQ as needed.   At least what I've read is that it has gotten better play wise with the second iteration and I suspect this should be even more polished.  


Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31

 
XtremeGuardian
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 1 month ago
Joined: Jun 25, 2014

Very excited for this. I am a huge fan of the games worked on by the Sadler brothers, from Descent to Street Masters. Their modular deck mentality also creates a game engine very reminiscent to Sentinels but with a board and added challenge of positioning. Very excited to see where this goes as my friends and I love SotM but have really played it to exhaustion. We are excited to jump back into the world with a fresh game.

Rabit
Rabit's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
ModeratorPlaytester
Joined: Aug 08, 2011

Powerhound_2000 wrote:
Arcane Wonders, the Sandler Brothers, and GtG all have a role to play in putting out understandable rules and FAQ as needed.    

The way they've described the situation to date, doesn't seem like GtG's role is much more than, "Hey, Arcane Wonders, do the thing?" :-\ (But I suppose that _is_ a role... ;-)


"See, this is another sign of your tragic space dementia, all paranoid and crotchety. Breaks the heart." - Mal

Unicode U+24BD gets us Ⓗ. (Thanks, Godai!)

Powerhound_2000
Powerhound_2000's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
PlaytesterExceeded Expectations
Joined: Sep 14, 2013

They've mentioned veto powers and it will have the Sentinel Comics/GtG brand on it so I can't imagine they are that hands off.   They aren't doing development but I would be surprised to find out they don't have much say on the Rulebook/FAQ. 


Crush your enemies, drive them before you, and laminate their women! - Guise, Prime Wardens #31

 
Jeysie
Jeysie's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Joined: Nov 11, 2016

Most recent newsletter! https://mailchi.mp/2cb30b1d3abd/freedom-five-a-sentinels-comics-board-game-pre-kickstarter-newsletter-issue-3884921

The good: Lots of great new arts of the Freedom Five.

The bad: Launch date for the KS has been pushed back to October 21st.


"If life gives you lemons, make a lemon cannon."

Not always the best at social skills; I apologize in advance. I don't apologize for any corny and morbid jokes, though.

Resident Argent Adept and Biomancer fangirl, be forewarned.

PlatinumWarlock
PlatinumWarlock's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 1 month ago
Joined: Feb 10, 2013

I very much like the art of Absolute Zero assuming the half-lotus position.  That screams 90s-era comic cover to me. :D

TakeWalker
TakeWalker's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Joined: Feb 26, 2016

This art's brilliant. :D It's like getting a preview of the RPG book, seeing familiar characters in a whole new style.

Jeysie
Jeysie's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Joined: Nov 11, 2016

PlatinumWarlock wrote:
I very much like the art of Absolute Zero assuming the half-lotus position.  That screams 90s-era comic cover to me. :D

Me too. Kinda wish it was him in his cryo chamber instead of his suit, but I love the Zen pose thing going on. Shows a side to AZ I hadn't expected but makes sense now that I see it.

I also like the pic of Tyler for, ah shall we say, much less lofty reasons. There was a fair bit of drooling over that one on the Letters Page server. XD


"If life gives you lemons, make a lemon cannon."

Not always the best at social skills; I apologize in advance. I don't apologize for any corny and morbid jokes, though.

Resident Argent Adept and Biomancer fangirl, be forewarned.

MindWanderer
MindWanderer's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Playtester
Joined: Oct 29, 2015

That AZ suit must be a lot thinner and more flexible than I had imagined.


Sentinels Statistics Project -- Statistics updated daily!

Submit your games here!

Jeysie
Jeysie's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Joined: Nov 11, 2016

It's mostly just an insulation suit when you think about it. He doesn't need an oxygen supply and it doesn't need to be a full on powered suit. I suspect the bulk of what lets him vent ice is in the torso and the the arms and legs are more wetsuit-like.

(I mean I agree there's probably still a level of artistic license involved but I'm not especially surprised the suit is mostly flexible considering what it's designed for.)


"If life gives you lemons, make a lemon cannon."

Not always the best at social skills; I apologize in advance. I don't apologize for any corny and morbid jokes, though.

Resident Argent Adept and Biomancer fangirl, be forewarned.

liarliar
liarliar's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 1 month ago
Joined: Oct 10, 2016

Jeysie wrote:
I also like the pic of Tyler for, ah shall we say, much less lofty reasons.

Between this picture and the Day In The Life cover art, I’m developing a new appreciation for Bunker’s extreme hotness!

Jeysie
Jeysie's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Joined: Nov 11, 2016

liarliar wrote:
Jeysie wrote:

I also like the pic of Tyler for, ah shall we say, much less lofty reasons.

Between this picture and the Day In The Life cover art, I’m developing a new appreciation for Bunker’s extreme hotness!

Bunker's hotness has turned into a running gag on the Letters Page Discord server because when we originally were judging all the guys for hotness (...it's a really long story but I swear it makes sense in context...) everyone rated him as merely kind of OK and I was like "...really? You people are missing out" so now every time a new pic of him comes out people are like "You know Tyler is actually pretty hot" and I'm like "I told you!"


"If life gives you lemons, make a lemon cannon."

Not always the best at social skills; I apologize in advance. I don't apologize for any corny and morbid jokes, though.

Resident Argent Adept and Biomancer fangirl, be forewarned.

TakeWalker
TakeWalker's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Joined: Feb 26, 2016

At least it's not just Adam who draws all the characters hot. XD

Trajector
Trajector's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 4 weeks ago
Joined: Dec 13, 2014

Isn't Adam mostly responsible for that effect on Baron Blade and Chrono-Ranger?

Even suits made out of flexible materials can be really stiff and hard to bend. Space suits are notoriously stiff, for example, mostly because they are pressurized and the interior pressure forces all their limbs to splay out. (Search YouTube for "astronauts falling down on the Moon" for dramatic demonstrations!) I don't know if AZ's suit ends up pressurized, but I'd still expect something pretty stiff because it's hard to design thin materials that can insulate across a huge temperature difference.

But Dr. Stinson designed it, so... ;)

Jeysie
Jeysie's picture
Offline
Last seen: 3 years 3 weeks ago
Joined: Nov 11, 2016

Yeah that's the thing, I think. Most of what we think of as isolating suits IRL need to supply oxygen/remove CO2 from any circulating air and often are designed for situations where they need to be pressurized, none of which AZ needs. And wetsuits which mostly just insulate are reasonably flexible, as someone who had a bestie who owned a few of them because he liked SCUBA diving.

And so yeah I don't put it past Tachyon to successfully design a materal that is basically mega-insulating but still has the general properties of wetsuit material. Especially since considering how often the guy has to be in it and has to be able to fight in it, it needs to be at least halfway flexible and comfortable.

Granted, if I had my druthers, I still would have preferred a similar pose but just with AZ as himself in his cryo chamber.


"If life gives you lemons, make a lemon cannon."

Not always the best at social skills; I apologize in advance. I don't apologize for any corny and morbid jokes, though.

Resident Argent Adept and Biomancer fangirl, be forewarned.

Pages