Pros

• Campaign
• Miniatures
• Price
• 3 Game Modes
• Aesthetic

Cons

• PvP
• 3 Game Modes
• Shipping
• Change in Miniature Size
• Add-Ons

The Page

The page navigates really well. Some of this is that Lazy Squire Games has previously crowdfunded two games. This is their first time on Gamefound though. And some of why this page is really so easy to navigate and find information on is because of how Gamefound is built. Lazy Squire Games, though, uses it to the best of their ability.

Honestly, the more stuff is on Gamefound the fewer negatives I’ll have with pages, because I don’t have to go searching for the game play section, that is linked on the side. So to give more props to Lazy Squire Games, though, they gives you a lot of game play information. They don’t shy away from it and just show you minis, which are amazing. And they do a good job of showing all three game modes.

The thing that I will ding them on most is the add-ons. They do have a few add-ons, but they could really leverage how Gamefound works to make it a whole lot more ala carte. They have a pledge for the base game, Lavon Rising is an expansion, and that’s great, but any sort of big box add-on should be an add-on as well as maybe a slightly discount if you pledge for a lot of it. ISS Vanguard and some others have done a great job of splitting stuff into add-ons, this doesn’t.

The Game

The game itself looks like a lot of fun. And the three game modes looks like they are well thought out. I like two of them a lot. The Hunt mode is like a mini campaign for the players, and then there is an expansion that adds a fully immersive campaign. Then, there is player versus player. Which I have no interest in that mode. I have my skirmish game, Super Fantasy Brawl, and while I’d likely try it, I wouldn’t back Wild Assent for the skirmish mode.

I also like in the Hunt mode how it talks about supporters. This idea that you have people you can recruit to your camp who give you static abilities. It’s a cool and thematic way that I feel like you can improve a character uniquely. A lot of games give you ways to boost your character and they can be really unique, but to give more of a common pool to do that is very cool.

Back or Brick

But, let’s get down to it, is this game a Back or a Brick for me? It is going to be a Brick. Now, Wild Assent has a lot of great reviews. That is one of the advantages of backing it now, but there are a few things that throw me off.

Firstly, the minis have changed sizes, so people who bought the original will now have different sized minis or get a discount. Secondly, I’d want the base game and campaign expansion only, and that’s probably just under $300. That is too steep with game and shipping. I get that the campaign is a lot of work, but I would imagine they can leverage a lot of what is already in the base box.

Now, if you have the money to throw at this, like I said, it has a lot of very good reviews. And if you want that smaller style campaign from The Hunt, which is tempting to me, you can get just the base box for about $165 to be shipped to the US. Even that seems a little bit steep to me, but for a proven game, not too bad and there are stretch goals so the value should end up being there.

But, is this game a Back or a Brick for you?

Email us at nerdologists@gmail.com
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.
Support us on Patreon here.

Back for another Back or Brick on this Wednesday. We’re looking at a big Kickstarter, in terms of content that just launched yesterday. It’s going to fund (already has), but is it one for me? Let’s dive into the pros and cons.

Pros

• RPG Like Game
• Campaign Game
• Character Leveling
• Deck Building

Cons

• Haven’t Fulfilled First Game
• 300+ Hours of Campaign
• Board looks muddied, contrast isn’t high enough
• Doubt their timeline

Thoughts on the Campaign

They’ve done a really good job of laying it out, but there are some things that concern me. I’m not actually all that concerned about it being fulfilled, even with them not having fulfilled their first because they are in contact and giving good updates there. But, because they haven’t delivered the first, I doubt that their 2021 timeline is going to be right, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s pushed back by 6-12 months. Then wave two, push that back for itself another 6 to 12 months, so you could be getting the last stuff in 2023/2024.

With that, though, let’s look at the actual game. I like campaign games, I like character leveling that gives you choices, and I think that deck building is an interesting way to level up a character, so I like that aspect of it. However, the campaign is 300+ hours, now that might be the full campaign with every expansion and add-on, but that’s way to much. Gloomhaven has taken me 200 hours, could have been less, Frosthaven is coming out, I have Oathsworn, Tainted Grail, Etherfields, and more games that I want to play as well, I’m fine with a few games having long play times to get through all of it, but 300 hours is too much. If it’s split into shorter chapters, so like Midarra or Tainted Grail where you have multiple separate stories, that’s better, but it isn’t clearly laid out on the page. Tainted Grail is 3 50 hour campaigns. Midarra is three acts, each probably 60-100 hours. So Midarra might be the same length, but there are clear stopping spots. I don’t know if that’s going to be the case with Stormsunder.

Back or Brick?

This is a brick for me. I love campaign games, but this is too much. Like I said, I have too many campaign style games, and more on the way. Stormsunder looks interesting and I really like the idea of a deck building, dungeon crawling, campaign game, but not with 300 hours. If I could get a core box with 50 hours of play for $75, where I get an intro story, I’d be interested in it, but with this, it’s just too much. Plus, I don’t know how delayed this might be, because their first one hasn’t even come out yet.

Would you back this?

Share questions, ideas for articles, or comments with us!

Email us at nerdologists@gmail.com
Message me directly on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here.