The following is a guest post by Ghost Train Games. They have a Kickstarter going for a new game called Alternative Civil War with four days left to go. If you like what you see, please check out their website and campaign page.
Alternative Civil War is a 28mm scale miniature skirmish wargame set in an alternate world. Impossible science collides with ancient powers and mythical beings clash with courageous soldiers over the American Civil War battlegrounds in a conflict that has transcended its own frontiers.
Ponce de León arose from The Fountain of Youth in La Florida kindling the Spanish conquest of La Florida and the islands of the Gulf of Mexico and is fighting its way over the southern territories of North America. All over the continent natives are uprising against the colonists’ expansion all over the continent led by Tenskwatawa the Prophet and his sibling the Warlord Tecumseh- kept alive for over a century by his powerful medicine.
Their creators, Ghost Train Games, is currently undertaking a Kickstarter campaign to bring to the broad public this brand new take on alternate history with a solid, interesting background and awesome narrative opportunities. Gameplay is simple but with a huge tactical depth given by the interactions between models rather than with complexity in the rules. The miniatures are beautifully and credibly sculpted and cast in resin and metal for the finest quality.
Here are some takes of the miniatures this campaign intends to bring to life:
Future campaigns will also include miniatures based on black soldiers who fought in the American Civil War. See more of this project and let us know what you do think of it here.
My name is Andres Salazar. I’m a storyteller. I've been hunkered down working on the second graphic novel in the series, Pariah Missouri. Part Huckleberry Finn part Twin Peaks it’s a mash-up of some of my favorite stories and ideas all set in Antebellum 1857 Missouri. It’s steampunk without the punk, but a good dose of religion, folk magic, bounty-hunters, slaves and demons. It’s the A-team with Hiram Buchanan, an undercover Pinkerton, Nellie, a feisty courtesan, Jean Lafitte, a practitioner of voodoo from New Orleans, and Toro, a Mexican/Comanche bounty-hunter as they ferret out evil.
Book Two introduces two new characters, Elijah Harris and Jasper Whitmer, both preachers on different sides of the Great Awakening. Both there to save souls, or are they?
Book One was a Kickstarter last year. We did very well and I started hitting the convention circuit. I attended 14 comic book conventions in the last 12 months (That's a whole another post I can write about those experiences). I sold over 1,000 copies of Book One and it was selected as the Staff Pick for July's Preview in Diamond. Now we are at it again with a Kickstarter for Book Two. The book is already 96.3% done. I am putting some finishing touches on a couple of pages (out of the +100 page story) and re-working a few lines of dialog. It's interesting how I wrote the script back in September of 2013 and now re-reading it as I letter in InDesign, there's some things I want to change and add. The Kickstarter was selected as a Staff Pick by Kickstarter, so that must mean something, right?
I work with an amazing artist/penciler, JL Pescador, and I color every page of Pariah Missouri in watercolors. It’s something I’ve wanted to do since the beginning. I wanted that old-timey feel and keep the color palette down to a minimum. Even made a Deluxe Hardcover complete with writer-commentary throughout the story, on every page as well as extra pages with additional epilogue, behind-the-scenes art, production sketches and reference pictures. It’s the blu-ray of the book. Because of the costs to make the deluxe hardcover, I will not be selling them at stores or through Diamond, it will be strictly a Kickstarter thing (or face to face).
I just finished the rough script for Book Three. It should be ready for print in July 2015. The goal is to finish the story by Book Five, which will be the end for our little town of Pariah, and the beginning of the American Civil War.
I got some new Stretch Goals which will include a radio drama and a card game. It will be an exciting story for the next 30 days to see how we progress through the campaign. I will be posting videos and updates often so backers really get a sense of the behind the scenes of what it takes to make a comic book. Please become a part of our team!
Editor's Note
Good news everyone, the Double-Blind What If Writing Contest begins this week. The first submission will be published this Wednesday. We have some great entries for this one, but there is still time for you to join. Send you submissions to ahwupdate at gmail dot com. I look forward to reading them.
Another announcement, Once Upon a Clockwork Tale has finally been published. You can now read my short story "The Enchanted Bean". I can't really express how happy I am to finally cross out a major goal on my bucket list. It has been a great experience and I can't wait to see what the future holds.
And now the news...
The Confederation has a new Kickstarter
A couple of weeks ago I introduced you guys to a Kickstarter for the planned web series The Confederation. It is set during an alternate 1960's in a world where the South won the American Civil War. The story follows a squad of Confederate female snipers fighting in the Cuban War and a group of former slaves. You can check out the trailer here.
It got a lot a buzz around the AH blogger sphere, but everyone was in agreement that there asking price of $50,000 was a bit steep. Well the folks behind The Confederation have a new Kickstarter and they are now asking for more reasonable $2500. Go and back it before it is too late.
Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods Released
The expansion Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods was released last week. This is the fourth expansion to Crusader Kings II, the critically praised strategy/RPG, which enables you to play as a Pagan, with particular focus on the Vikings, and features a delicious blend of war and pillaging with a dash of ruthless brutality thrown in for good measure. See the trailer below:
In The Old Gods, the medieval soap opera now extends the timeline by 200 years, all the way back to 867 AD, allowing bearded heathens to storm the fine cities of Europe. Gamers will soon have most of Europe out for their blood after they have stormed ashore with gigantic axes in their hands.
Three additional DLC packs have also been released;
• Norse Unit Pack DLC
• Norse Portraits DLC
• Hymns to The Old Gods DLC
LoneStarCon Rates Announced
LoneStarCon 3 recently confirmed its Day Admission rates. Day Admissions will be available for purchase by postal mail and at various conventions from Saturday, June 1, 2013, and online via the LoneStarCon 3 website from mid-June, 2013.
Day Admissions are priced according to the day being purchased and the age and status of the purchaser. Quoted figures are for the five days of the convention, from Thursday, August 29, through Monday, September 2, 2013.
Day Admissions give access to all aspects of the convention including programming, exhibits, and special events. This includes the featured Masquerade, scheduled for the evening of Saturday, August 31, and the prestigious Hugo Awards Ceremony, scheduled for the evening of Sunday, September 1, 2013. The current membership rates are good through Wednesday, July 31, 2013.
Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update and a blogger on Amazing Stories. His new story "The Enchanted Bean" can be found in Once Upon a Clockwork Tale from Echelon Press. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.
An intriguing new Kickstarter called The Confederationhas caught my attention. It is a proposed web series set during the 1960's in a world where the South won the American Civil War. The story follows a squad of Confederate female snipers fighting in the Cuban War and a group of former slaves. You can check out the trailer here.
The point of divergence for this timeline is the Battle of Puebla in Mexico, May 5th 1862. In our timeline, the Mexicans win the battle, but in The Confederation timeline, the French win the battle, setting off a chain reaction that unintentionally alters the course of the American Civil War. The producers picked Puebla because it had, at least on the face of it, no influential role in the outcome of the American Civil War. They are firm believers in the butterfly effect, which is refreshing.
The producers hope to raise funds in order to produce the first season of the series and they are asking for $50k, which will be used to cover costs involved with creating and distributing the series, including travel and lodging expenses, paying the cast and crew, location fees, advertisements and equipment.
They plan to create at least eight episodes that will be distributed on Blip.tv, which is home to shows like Red vs Blue. Each episode will be between 10 to 15 minutes long. The series will be in black and white, but will have some items (ex. flags) in color, similar to the style of Robert Rodriguez's Sin City or Gary Ross' Pleasantville.
$50k certainly sounds like an ambitious goal, but I am curious to see this web series get made. With so much alternate history television being made in the UK, it would be nice to watch a show that us Yanks can access. Good luck to the producers and as for the rest of you, go check out their Kickstarter.
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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger on Amazing Stories and a volunteer editor for Alt Hist magazine. His fiction can be found at Echelon Press, Jake's Monthly andThe Were-Traveler. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter.
Found an interesting indie/alternate history comic book you guys should check out. It is called 13 Legends and it is written by Jon Eastman and Stuart Thomas, pencils by Gian Fernando, colors by David Ocampo and published by Frosty Ogre.
Here is the plot summary from Frosty Ogre's website:
A World Unlike Our Own
It's the late 1770s, but in this world, the industrial revolution has come hundreds of years early, and with it, war on a massive scale. Against a backdrop of secret societies, powerful cross-border industrialists, constantly shifting political alliances, and rediscovered supernatural realities, fully armed super-states carve up the globe, monarchs rule as despots, and the masses are powerless to forge their own destinies. But things are about to change...
A Story of Fate
Two young men have just completed their training at a state-sponsored military academy. Due to their superior intellects and uncanny skills, they've been selected for the honor of serving in one of the most prestigious elite units in the English Empire. They don't know it, but on the eve of their departure to fight for King and Country on the battlefields of the New World, they stand on the edge of destiny...
Their names are Arthur and Lancelot.
Currently Frosty Ogre is running a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for the comic and all supporters will get a hardback edition complete with various extras. Those wishing to receive updates about 13 Legends can check out Frosty Ogre's Facebook page.
