Relicblade: Storms of Kural starter

I recently picked up a copy of the Relicblade: Storms of Kural starter set from a local gamer. I have been interested in the game for some time but a local sale made it easy to pick up. There are many things about the game that are interesting but after a look through the books there were a few things that I thought were worth mentioning about the composition of the starter set and how it can provide a useful example for other game developers.

Miniatures

There are eight metal miniatures in the set and they are all single piece figures. No assembly required. For a set that is aimed at new gamers or as an introduction to the hobby it removes one barrier to the game. Assembly can be difficult. Experienced gamers may forget what it was like to put together their first figures. One of the more common questions that you see online is people asking about the correct type of glue or general questions about building figures. Single piece minis remove that issue.

Which miniatures

Often the type of figures in a starter set are informed by marketing factors or the availability of specific miniatures. If you are starting a new game system you may only have a few different factions available. If you are releasing a new faction you may release a new starter that focuses on them. Relicblade has three broad groups (Adversary, Neutral and Adversary) with there being four or five factions for the Adversary and Adversary groups (the Neutral have two). The Storms of Kural starter set has four Advocate and four Adversary models from each of the factions. These are all game-legal warbands and they allow players to experience each faction without having to buy a dedicated faction starter.

The Relicblade faction sets are typically built to 60 to 66 points meaning that you can buy a faction set and add the appropriate model from the Storms of Kural starter set to get a full 100 point force.

Campaign

A starter set is not very much use if there aren’t any scenarios for the players to use to learn the game and play with their new minis. These can be a set of scenarios that slowly introduce the rules or a narrative scenario to help show some of the game’s background. The Storms of Kural starter set contains a 45 campaign booklet. The first 20 pages are a brief background of Relicblade setting and then 18 pages of material discussing the eight factions represented by the set’s miniatures and some of the rules they use. Players can use the information there, along with their game-play experience, to help them pick a faction.

So if you like the Warden of Justice from the starter set then you can read up on the Temple of Justice faction to see if you would like to play them.

The campaign book then details the campaign system that players can use to work through the four included scenarios. Each player has magic items and equipment that they can gain during each scenario to help buff their units for the next game. The scenarios are small and it is conceivable that players could work through them all in a single night.

The campaign uses rules that are distinct from those presented in the Seeker’s Handbook rules but they make sense for a starter set since they are easier to use. The campaign system gives players a quick set of scenarios to play that help but the major focus of the campaign book is to help players decide on what new faction(s) they may want to play.

Summing up

Metal King Studios could have just created a Temple of Justice v. Battle Pigs starter set. Instead they took the time to create a set that is focused on easing new players into the setting as well as the game. Players can get a taste of the factions in the game through a campaign and have enough information to make an informed purchasing decision. Metal King Studios isn’t a large company so they need to maximise the information and marketing opportunities that the set contains. They also only get one shot at making future sales from the starter set and so they need to make sure that players can work through the campaign and then feel comfortable making future purchases.

For a company that hasn’t created a lot of starter sets, Metal King Studios has done an exceptional job with this product. Despite giving players a taste o0f eight different factions it is still a legal set of miniatures that can be used to help both players make informed choices about their next purchase and also help make that next purchase into a full 100 point warband.