from what I have read on their website some of this is either a total lie or bad misrepresentation.

Or a result of the interview and/or website being translated from French into English. w
Why assume some negative motive on the part of the company?

How exactly is this easier?

Have you tried it it? Without some direct experience it seems difficult to comment

Ooh Egyptian cat people, never seen that before. :P

If this is the sort of thing you want to post then I would suggest you go elsewhere to do so.

The site welcomes critique of games, miniatures and products but we expect a slightly higher standard of posters and this isn’t it.

If you don’t like the setting then you are free to say so but the fact is that there aren’t really a lot of truly original faction or racial designs out there so making this a particular critique isn’t anything that couldn’t be leveled at most games.

There are also ways for you to suggest this lack of originality without sounding so pejorative and negative.

Perhaps you might want to think of a way to make this same critique that is a bit more well-rounded and provides us, as readers, with something novel and interesting to read.

The comments aren’t just for you to sound off. We can read that sort of thing anywhere so if you want to comment make sure you take a little time and give us something we want to read.

Thanks

I also don’t care for the setting. I am not feeling any continuity of character here. Its like they took 2 wheels and put animals on one wheel and human races on the other and just spun the wheel to come up with their races. “Ok we got frogs here and American indians there. Great make some models.” “Up next we have camels and vikings”. I am just not buying it. If you are going to make a whole race of frog or bird people, go the distance and make up their heritage too. Don’t just rip off stuff that has been done before. Ooh Egyptian cat people, never seen that before. :P

On the real topic, I must say Alkemy does seem promising and I like the dice/card mechanics, also the Aurlorks are very appealing to me. Though I’ll probably hold off on buying into it until there is a US distro.

However! Everything else about this game is extremely curious. Top on my list is the plastic they are using for their miniatures. More detailed miniatures + cheaper production = why the heck hasn’t someone done this before?

Second, the game mechanics seem rather unique, which is great. He’s right about the Strength - Resilience - Armor + Dice roll, it’s a staple of several wargames.

Those two things have guaranteed that I will buy at least two starters for experimentation. Probably the Jade Triad and the Aurlochs. (Toad and Bird people I can accept.)

I have 2 reservations.

1/ Until the actual price in the UK is known, all bets are off.

2/ The 4 so-far released races seem VERY different from each other, and the game world seems a bit of a hodge podge, and to me that isn’t very attractive as a gaming proposition. I like the “Medieval English” Avalonians, but it seems strange to be gaming with them against “Pirate” bipedal cats “Amerindian” bird-monsters and “Chinese” …well… Chinese people. The cultures and look are SO different from each other they just don’t seem to gell well to my eyes. It feels like there are just four (and of course there will be more coming out later so this may change) completely random races that have been brought together for providing variety in a game, rather than it being a cohesive gaming world with its own internal laws of continuity.

However, I’m liking the concept of the customised dice and general attention to making the game streamlined in play. The simpler you can make the mechanics while still retaining a “realistic” feel and balance to the game the better, for me.

I’m also liking the sound of their plastics technology. I have seen lots of talk around the place about how GW’s plastics technology is now rather out of date, so it is good to hear of a company able to take advantage of recent advances for the benefit of the gaming world. Personally I like metal models, but ONLY because the detail is generally much better and I’m not a fan of sticking together fiddly little models. This new plastic process sounds like a step forward. Anything to keep the EE on their toes! :)

A definite possibility, but I want to see more before I commit.

Now, I am really interested in finding out what that production process is!
“There are many different plastics out there…” What kind of plastic does Kraken use? What kind does GW use? Anyone?

I think I’ll be diving in on the french version + downloads once I’ve got some money together (unless the English version comes out first).

I second the thanks to all involved with getting this little communication together.

It’s also good to hear that they plan to retain each army’s weaknesses as they develop the game. Too often games bland out as they mature with each army covering its former weak spots with new releases and all ending up doing a bit of everything. We’ll have to see if they can resist the temptation.

I’m very keen to get this and have a go. My only decision is whether to wait for an English version or plunge in now and get it in French. Decisions, decisions…