Aetherium Skirmish Game - Unboxing and Review - Part 1

This was one of those 'Impulse Buys' as I was only pointed at the Kickstarter when it was nearly completed I didn't have long to make a decision. Usually with Kickstarters I'm aware of them well in advance and so have already seen a significant amount of preview pictures, am aware of the producing companies previous products or am acting on a recommendation of some kind.

Unfortunately none of these things applied in this particular case and to be honest I can't even remember how I ended up on the page, lol. However on the basis of a look at the Kickstarter video, a game play video and some awesome models I jumped in at the 'Sub-routine' level which was basically just the boxed game and a couple of 'Kickstarter Exclusives'. To be fair it was probably the Riot Grlz that really sold it to me...more on those later...

It's hard to briefly describe the background without making it sound derivative (which it's not I can assure you) but I suppose if I was forced to sum it up quickly I'd say "What if the Matrix happened but we did it to ourselves on purpose?..."

Editors Note - This article is very picture heavy. You can get larger versions of the smaller pics by clicking on them...

Box Cover

As is traditional with such features here's a picture of the box. There's slightly greater variety of models in the box than on the rear picture though the quantities are the same. The 'Picketers' for example are all individual models rather than duplicated like pictured.

The Rulebook

The rulebook is well laid out with a decent amount of background material, logical rules placement and plenty of diagrams to show you how the rules work. There's some pretty artwork spread throughout as well.

 Here's some sample pages so you can get the idea.

Play Area and Tiles

The game 'board' is a 30' x 30' grid which represents the area of the 'Aetherium' which you are contesting over and the board sections represent playable areas in it. You can go anywhere on the grid but the mat areas without tiles represent 'Quantum Noise' and cause significant damage should you take a stroll through them...or get pushed into them...

The tiles (referred to Schema in game) are double-sided and squares that count as obstructions, or impassable and the like are marked on the tile sections for ease. Some scenarios have specific locations for them and others have the players place them alternately. There are obviously rules for their placement but I wont go into them here...

 They're double sided so I'll show you both sides...

Tokens and Game Aids

There are two 'consoles' for each player to put their cards on and track variables, damage cards (when models die they also generate a negative effect of some kind) and a number of tokens for the various in game effects. I haven't taken pictures of every single card but I have shown some as samples...

It's worth mentioning that all the bits and pieces come in those little resealable bags. Now that might seem like a trivial point but you'd be amazed how many products I've had where I've had parts that needed pressing out and then had nowhere in the box to keep them and it's become one of those little things that I now always notice, lol.

 The tokens are double sided so I've done pictures of both sides...

The Factions

You get access to two factions in the core box which are the Axiom and the Nanomei. Each model (or group of models in some cases) gets a stat card and a card for allocating activation order. You put your cards in whichever order you want at the start of each turn and that controls the order your models activate in...

You also get bases in case you don't know what bases look like here's a pic...and some pieces that represent the Nodes...

The Axiom

They're a giant corporation and a religion whether that makes them the good guys or the bad guys is a matter of perspective...

Both sides of the stat cards...

The Models - Unassembled

As usual I've taken pictures of both sides so you don't miss any detail. From top to bottom these are Lady Aemelia Mastrona, Adept, Grenadier, Hounds : Alpha and Omega, Praetorians and faction specific Pylons.

The Nanomei

Terrorists or Freedom Fighters...depending on which side of the protest you're on...

Both sides of the stat cards...

The Models - Unassembled

As usual I've taken pictures of both sides so you don't miss any detail. From top to bottom these are The Masque, Tinder, Tov, Picketers, Riot Grlz and faction specific Pylons.

There are many other models available in the range as well as a couple of Kickstarter exclusives...

...and I'm beginning to wish I bought more models at the time of the Kickstarter. But there's always time for that in the future. As you can see from the unassembled versions the models have a lot of detail on them and I'd hate for them to get lost amongst this already quite substantial review so they'll get their own article later. I'd also like to cover assembly tips, clean-up and the like separately so I'm afraid you'll just have to be patient...

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome.