ISS Vanguard: The Questions that Remain
As we continue the countdown until the Awaken Realms team finalizes ISS Vanguard the conversation turns to what questions still remain.
Whether you are an all-in backer or someone still considering a late pledge on Gamefound I hope this article can help you or at least interest you as this game has caught my imagination and I can’t wait to finally play it.
A quick reminder. “ISS Vanguard is an upcoming major board game from Awaken Realms. It will feature a 1–4 player co-operative gameplay that will immerse you in an amazing adventure among the stars, as you lead the first human galactic exploration effort.”
For 1–4 players with a playtime of 90 minutes for ages 14+
- Pledge now or wait for retail?
For starters, the core box for Gamefound backers will be almost twice as large as the one that will be sold at retail. Personally, I value the prospect of keeping as much of the game as possible in one box, even if that box will be quite large.
It’s going to be cheaper to back now (even considering shipping costs!) Awaken Realms has stated that backers will save a minimum of $150 on the Commander’s Pledge! Several past Awaken Realms games have been notoriously hard to get a hold of after their crowdfunding campaigns wrapped up, and even then, often at higher prices on the secondary market.
Another benefit to backers is that you will receive the game before others (as long as you select split shipping (more on that below).
All unlocked Stretch Goals are free to backers but who knows how much they will go for at a later date? Consider one example. The Medic character from the Nemesis campaign was a great addition for backers but later it could only be found on the secondary market for upwards of $30–40!! That’s not for a game, but for a tiny miniature, a small player board, and a few cards.
Free Scenarios including the Lone Wolf, Tartarus, Cryptobiosis, the Pilgrimage, and Deeper Horizons.
These are no minor freebies as you can imagine. Planetopiedia pages, logs, tons of new cards, standees, minis, and 10 new crewmembers and that’s all just in one scenario!
These are stand-alone adventures that don’t require players to engage in a long campaign.
The Lander Pack includes lander trays, new cards, standees, and sweet sweet spacecraft miniatures! I know the minis don’t add much to gameplay at all, but like many other games, they can combine to create a better and deeper experience for the playgroup.
The Character expansion adds 30 new crewmembers, each with their own unique cards and stories.
I’m really excited about the included Lost Fleet Campaign. This is an entire multisession quest similar to the core game. This adds so much more content to the game and I’m sure the Lost Fleet box won’t be cheap after the campaign ends.
Last, but certainly not least, a box to store all of the stretch goals is included at no additional cost. I think these reasons are compelling enough to gain my support.
2. Has Awaken Realms done the right thing with their Ship Phase Prototype 2.5?
One of the most heated discussions on Gamefound has been the debate over the recent sweeping changes to the Ship Phase of ISS Vanguard. It’s felt like 60/40 in favor of the new changes from the comments I’ve seen on Facebook and on the ISS V campaign page comments, but some of those dissatisfied have been angered by the changes.
In Update #26 the new Ship Book was announced. I’ll let them speak for the changes directly here. “In “Prototype 2.0” that some of you know from Blind Tests, we introduced Crew Assignments to the game. They gave players a way to use their Section members better when progressing through the Ship Book and turned out to be a great, highly rated addition. However, with Crew Assignments on board, we now had twelve different resources used in the Ship Book part of the game.”
The community blind testing groups have clearly indicated to AR that the length and complexity of the Ship Phase lagged far behind the enthusiasm and enjoyment of the story and the Planetary Phase. The ISS Vanguard Story and Planetary Phase continually rated highest and this was not what the designers had intended.
From the designer's point of view, “The Ship Book simply did not perform as intended.” Based on all of the data they had collected they have refined the Ship Phase so that it now operates more dynamically and plays in less time without losing any parts that the players love.
The Ship Phase rulebook has been revised by Paul Grogan. Ship Book 2.5 features a non-linear management phase, uses fewer types of resources (which may have been adding more fiddliness and bookkeeping than enjoyable gameplay), and many rules and wordings have been smoothed to be more understandable and gamer-friendly.
3) Split or Single Shipping?
AR has a 100% satisfaction guarantee on their products so you can feel at ease ordering from them. If you don’t like it return it to them for a refund. Split shipping will allow you to receive the Core Box, Stretch Goals, Personnel Files, etc. in Wave 1 and the remaining content in Wave 2 when single shipping folks get everything.
For the Commander’s Pledge, you are looking at about $15 more for U.S. backers to select split shipping. I made the mistake of selecting single shipping with Etherfields and am still a long way away from receiving anything even though split shipping customers received wave one more than a year ago.
If you absolutely know you don’t mind waiting forever then consider saving the $15 and go with single shipping, otherwise split shipping feels like a no-brainer.
4) What are we to think of the much “different” art in the latest update?
Ever since the beginning of the campaign, one thing I’ve marveled at is the amazing level of detail and skill on display in the art and graphic design of ISS Vanguard. The crewmembers are a big selling point for me in this game. I love the idea of the characters all having different stories and abilities.
Since they were first revealed, the art for the crewmembers has been top-notch but in Update #27 the crewmember art took an odd and slightly disturbing turn. I’ve linked the update so you can see for yourself but I don’t think the new character art stands up to the level of what we’ve been previously shown and there are even many irregularities like a spacesuit wearing scientist holding an alien creature in her bare hand and a super long-haired mechanic looking ready to work on machines without her hair tied back which would never happen as she’d get it tangled/caught in the machines and also have trouble seeing at times.
I admit beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I was very put off by the new art. To be fair, some have mentioned they like it. I’ll let you judge for yourself.
5) What’s the Deal with Sundrop?
For those who don’t know, most board game miniatures come in a gray color suitable to paint over. For those of us who can’t or won’t paint there is sometimes another option from AR called “Sundrop”. Basically, a colored wash that brings out more detail in the miniatures and adds some more striking color to their appearance.
ISS V had previously shown a coppery sundrop similar to what was used for the Etherfields sundrop miniatures, but they’ve recently mentioned they haven’t settled on the color(s) yet. I’m personally waiting on finalizing my pledge because there is a chance I would back a really nice-looking sundrop.
6) Do I Need these Add-ons?
Well, as far as the sleeves, P.E.T.S, section boxes, Galactic Almanac, playmats, dice, poster bundle, and dice tower are concerned, they don’t add to gameplay so it’s going to be up to how fancy you feel like being and how much money you are willing to spend. A lot of the cards end up spending their time in sleeve pages or in a stack anyway without much shuffling or shifting so I personally don’t think they all need to be sleeved. If any of these speak to you be my guest.
As for gameplay add-ons, if you anticipate having the time, playgroup, and funds to make it work I recommend adding the Personnel Files and the Deadly Frontier Campaign before all else. These things add lots of unique gameplay experiences.
What pledge did you back?
What most excites you about playing ISS Vanguard?
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-the BoardGameNerd
