Blackstone Fortress: Escalation Expansion - Unboxing & Review Part 1

[@janttu]

A cup of coffee and this video. You made my day mate!!!

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thanks. I really appreciate the kind words. This was definitely a video to have with a cup of coffee (or maybe two).

[@Spekd]

Nice I look forward to exploring.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

This looks like a really fun expansion.

[@johnmiddleton4291]

It's called Escalation due to the price. The next expansion is tentatively titled Rampant Inflation.

[@listrahtes]

The "permission to photocopy" sentence at 36min, because they are too cheap to include some sheets themselves, perfectly describes GW these days. I think I would love the game but have a hard time supporting such a greedy company with all other things they are doing like not giving credit to the artists anymore...etc. I am constantly thinking about buying but that is the point right now I always stop.

[@popburnsy3207]

2 things make me hopeful that we'll see these chaos cultists in a separate kit eventually. 1. Standard gray plastic. 2. Leader/special character is on a separate sprue

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thanks for watching. I agree the formatting of the frames does seem to suggest they will make them available separately (and it only makes sense to capitalise on the miniatures by selling more of them). However, I don't think the colour is relevant. I have space marine scouts in standard grey, blue, and red, depending on the product they came with, and all of the Underworlds teams were originally coloured plastic before being released in standard grey as easy-build kits.

[@TheFewzz]

I got this game for solo play awhile back, i really need to get it on the table, just got to learn how to play it solo first lol

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

It's a great game solo (it's the only way I play it). Have you checked out my "deep dive" video? It goes through pretty much every rule of the game.

[@waynez78]

I managed to snag this from a wh40k player for ard 50sgd [ard 30pounds] for everything except the hero miniatures

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

That's a great deal. If you're able to get Combat Arena at some point, you can get all the hero miniatures too (and Combat Arena is a reskin of Gorechosen, which is a really good game, so that's a bonus).

[@waynez78]

@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring ooo i didnt know that.. Heard of the game but didnt really take note of the models included. too bad thats a USA exclusive game =(

[@sethdunavant1831]

I'd say the 1st retinue characters I remember was from Mordheim

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Seth Dunavant GW were using the idea of henchmen way back in Heroquest and Advanced Heroquest , which predate Mordheim. However, the retinue characters in Blackstone Fortress work in mainly the same way as they did in Shadows Over Hammerhal (base game and White Dwarf content), so that’s where this specific type of retinue characters originates.

[@TheDungeonDive]

The price on this one is making a purchase really, really hard. It's almost the same price that I paid for the base game. Yikes! Looks neat, though.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Yeah. It's pretty steep. But it seems like there's a lot more game in the box. I haven't played this expansion yet but I reckon it offers more than Dreaded Ambull and Traitor command combined. Also, expansions for everything just seem to be getting stupidly expensive. I mean, a Zombicide hero pack with four new characters has a retail price of around £28, I believe, and I don't think Zombicide characters bring as much to the game as Blackstone Fortress characters do (as they also come with new ships and resource decks). And as I got a 20% discount online, I'm certainly not feeling bad about my purchase.

[@janttu]

Get well!

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Thank you. I'm doing my best. But maybe I shouldn't speak for almost 40 minutes at a time!

[@janttu]

@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring it was a great 40minutes 🙌

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@fumarc4501]

Praise Tzeentch!

[@Jezza_One]

I am not colour blind and I could barely see the red outline against the red background.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

It can be a struggle at times.

[@michaelwardle7633]

Pious in the base game is a woman with a shaved head/scarred face.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

Michael Wardle That’s correct. When I made this video it was actually Amallyn I forgot about. But yes, there are two female heroes in the base set.

[@Alittlefruitgoesalongway]

I was also thinking that, in terms of hostiles, one of the Negavolt Cultist sculpts may be female. The one has a slighly more slender frame and the bands that they wear covers this model's chest, wheras the other sculpt has exposed pecks. Not super important, and the cultists are so warped/modified it's hard to tell anyway, but just an interesting note.

[@1981troyboy]

110 dollars in america...

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

At full retail price, yes. I know a lot of people have been able to find it online with discounts up to 20 percent so it's worth shopping around. Still not cheap, though. But in the UK at least there are a few popping up on eBay without the miniatures for pretty reasonable sums. That might be another option if you don't mind proxying the new heroes and enemies.

[@nraketh]

Price is a killer on this one. Insufficient content to justify it. Lots of other products out there.

[@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring]

The price is steep, but if someone wants to expand Blackstone Fortress, this is the best expansion to do it. It expands the story, gives the most new heroes and enemies, adds more items and ships, and gives you a whole new way to play the game. It's really excellent. Of course, the price will be a sticking point for some people and that's understandable. Thanks for watching.