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28 Jan 2016

GGA: A Simple Budget Ancient Wargaming system


GGA is a wargaming rule set designed to let you re-enact the greatest ancient armies of history in 10mm.


Granny Grating Armies is the first in a series of affordable gaming rule-books from miniature commission painter and gaming enthusiast Arthur Hannan presented by the small entrepreneurial business EZPainter.

 EZPainter has long been a passion job, but now i wish to branch into my true passion writing simple wargames for everyone to enjoy. After The Kickstarter the rules will be available from this link

And hopefully wargames vault!

What is GGA

Granny Grating Armies is a wargames rule-set inspired by the game play of  tactical PC strategy games and aims to emulate them and their mechanics on the tabletop using any miniatures you like. 

The game incorporates instructions on how to build your own armies on a budget. Using unique and multi purpose plastic grating you can create any of your favorite ancient armies in hours and get playing faster than any system currently existing.

The pristine prototype of the awesome soft back

The main rule-book has all the rules you need to get gaming.

All you need to do is grab a sheet of Granny Grating and get crafting. Basic Army lists for the Romans, Egyptians, Spartans and Celts are all listed in the book as well as an extensive basic commands block and all the counters you need to play.

GGA aims to offer you a distinct "flavor" of ancient warfare without being fussy about 100% historical accuracy

Game play is strategy and tactics based. Granny Grating Armies aims to bring an element of realism into war-games with an unforgiving energy system and a unique reaction system. Both are designed to emulate the effectiveness and and endurance of a "real warrior".

A unit of pinned (under flame ammo fire) Roman cavalry fights a "shielding" unit of Celtic woad warriors.

Although the game aims to be realistic it strikes a special balance between the abstract and realism with beautiful tiny "make-it-yourself" peg miniatures that can be crafted in no time at all. For this we use Canvas Mesh (Or Granny Grating) and the correct size, quality and durability has been taken into account when picking the perfect supplier for the add-ons. As you can see the use of nut shells and leftover board game tokens was a big part of the budget side in the play-test period.

Just as in real life, the only way to re-gain your energy is to execute a "hold" action. A great example of the tactical side of the game

Because of this obvious nod to the abstract the game boasts a "flavor" of the ancient world instead of 100% historical accuracy, in favor of a more dynamic and enjoyable experience. In this way it can be a very unique way to introduce people to our history, and the battles that shaped us!

If you put a little time in, you can create epic armies with the GGA process

Despite introducing these home made armies to the gaming community, the game can be played with any of your existing collections more than easily.

 Below is a brief example of one turn in a small battle. Here you can see how the ruthless Celts charge in with full might, the comically named "head throwers" along with them. The Romans hold a strong front line and consequently push back and break the Celts! Although this is not a long example, it demonstrates well that the game can turn on the roll of a D6 in many instances and that "real" warfare was neither fair or straight forward.

The book is a sexy, sturdy and "game-play surface ready" card with beautiful pages inside made of durable paper.

We have a local/ small business and friendly (family friend in fact!) Printer who is going to get them done as fast as is physically possible so you can get yours asap after you pledge!

 Check out my 100% honest un-boxing below of the preview copy!


Why Homemade Minis

Two unpainted "Granny grating" armies

The game book includes instructions on how to build and create your own armies, with a sheet of plastic grating you can be gaming faster than ever before and you own 100% of your force, something that no other company in the world or gamer can boast but you! The force in the image below was created quickly in two hours, but some fans are already laboring over larger forces.

A regular 55Pt Roman Army (starter army) built and painted in just two hours

However you do not need to use the "Granny Grating" armies (canvas mesh) you are welcome to use any existing collection as long as you use the rules provided in the book, it will work!


Why Kickstarter

Taking GGA to conventions has been a key part of the play-testing period

At this point i have a game, a method and a passion but what i do not have is funds for printing, packaging and delivery of this product.

In this sense the Kickstarter campaign is simply a broad launching platform for the game and then i will sell the rest of my produced copies on the website here.

I want to offer the best product i can to the gaming public and to me that means offering reliable and sleek paperback copies of the game.

Following the first run of the Kickstarter campaign i now know that i ought to make more PDF's available, however i will still be running 100 copies of the book for those who want one. Many prefer a physical book and that's cool with me!

Pledges

As an honest oversight the delivery for pledge levels 14 and 17 where accidentally left out. If people could please add £3 for uk and £5 for worldwide postage on those pledge levels. £1 :Thankyou! Your support for GGA will help to make budget wargaming a thing. Because of your donation we will be one step closer to finally being able to play games we want, on a budget that suits! 

Estimated delivery: May 2016

£3: EARLY BIRD: One copy of the PDF asap at the end of the campaign.
£7 at retail 
- May take add ons 
Estimated delivery: May 2016

£5: One copy of the PDF asap at the end of the campaign. 
£7 at retail 
- May take add-ons. 
 Estimated delivery: May 2016

£6: One copy of the PDF asap at the end of the campaign. Your name will also be listed in the PDF as a supporter. + All stretch goals Over £14 at retail. 
 - May take add-ons. 
Estimated delivery: May 2016

£14: EARLY BIRD: A copy of the first pressing of the book plus all the PDF rewards above. + All stretch goals. 
Over £25 at retail 
- May take add-ons. 
 Estimated delivery: May 2016
PLEASE ADD £3 for uk and £5 for worldwide postage (see above pledges for info) 

£17: A copy of the first pressing of the book plus all the PDF rewards above. + All stretch goals. 
Over £25 at retail 
- May take add-ons. 
Estimated delivery: May 2016
PLEASE ADD £3 for uk and £5 for worldwide postage (see above pledges for info) 

£20: A copy of the first pressing of GGA along with everything in the All the pdf’s pledges. + Two sheets of Grating + Two sheets of basing card. Enough to build eight starter armies! + All stretch Goals Over £35 at retail. 
- May take add-ons. 
Estimated delivery: Jun 2016 Ships anywhere in the world

£35: A signed copy of the first pressing of GGA along with everything in the All the pdf’s pledges. + + Two sheets of Grating + Two sheets of basing card. Enough to build eight starter armies! + All stretch Goals 
Over £35 at retail. 
(signed copies will not be available after the KS) 
- May take add-ons.
Estimated delivery: Jun 2016 Ships anywhere in the world

£65: A signed copy of the first pressing of GGA along with everything in the All the pdf’s pledges. + Two sheets of Grating + Two sheets of basing card. Enough to build eight starter armies! . + a Piece of signed and framed art from the source book (One of a kind, First come first pick system) + All stretch Goals 
Over £35 at retail. 
(signed copies and original art pieces will not be available after the KS) 
- May take add ons 
Estimated delivery: Jun 2016 Ships anywhere in the world

£100: The "personal army" reward. For this reward you will receive one "homemade starter set" by creator of the game Arthur Hannan. it will include 2 x 55 Point (starter) army of either Romans, Celts, Spartans or Egyptians. 
 You will be offered three army layouts for the army you choose and the preferred will be built, painted and based and then sent to you to play from the day you open the box. 
 You will also receive - 2 Books, 2 PDF's, All stretch goals and two sheets of Grating + Two sheets of basing card. Enough to build eight starter armies! . 
This offer will not be available at retail and is over £55 at retail! The remainder of the money from this pledge will be contributed towards the second run of the books. 
  - May take add ons 
Estimated delivery: Jun 2016 Ships anywhere in the world

A mass battle in play

Add ons

Granny Grating - A4 - £3 (£4 at retail)
ADD £3 + £2 postage (worldwide) = 1 X A4 Sheet of Granny Grating.
You will need one sheet to make roughly 3-4 Armies.
Delivery June

Basing Card - A4 - £2 - (£3 at retail) (compact tough thin card)
ADD £2 + £1 postage = 1 X A4 Basing Card.
You will need one sheet of basing card to base roughly 3-4 armies.
Delivery June

One A4 sheet of both add-on materials is enough to build four starter armies!

Quick Play sheet PDF - £2 - (KS EXCLUSIVE VERSION) 
ADD £2 = 1 X Quick Play sheet PDF.
Delivery May

EXTRA BOOKS: Extra books can only be made available after we reach £500. The demand must be high enough for extra books to be added to the KS. 

The current state of the nifty hand illustrated Quick Play sheet exclusive to the KS

All pledge levels except Entry Level are eligible for add-Ons

Stretch Goals

 UNLOCKED AT £500  - GREECE 

 The Greek expansion for GGA is the first big source book for the system. Having spent a lot of time researching and finessing the historical information in the book it is larger and more detailed than the very "stat" based rule book. You must own a copy of the original to utilize the rules and new armies, but this book is a must have for all ancient gamers wishing to expand their GGA experience. 

With tons of beautiful historically accurate pictures the Source book is a historical resource in it's own rite!

Covering four expanded army lists (including the ancient Spartans in detail!) introducing named characters, historically themed battle campaigns and more new rules and tutorials this is the book to have for expanding your GGA experience.

This book is thicker than the original core rule-book with lots of original art and beautiful hand drawn maps as well as a plethora of amazing public domain art works. Once we unlock this one we can look towards the other great historical nations!

PLEASE COMMENT WHICH ANCIENT NATION IS YOUR FAVORITE!

A Printed PDF of the whopping source book

Add-On Cost = £5 for one PDF  (£7 at retail)

Other Rewards

The beautiful acrylic front cover painting

There is seven unique and hand-made pieces of GGA art that include the front cover painting and six beautiful hand drawn maps from the Greece Sourcebook.
 Each will be provided framed and signed, these are original pieces, not prints, so once they're gone, they're gone!

 As you pledge to the £65 tier you will be messaged asking which map/ picture you would like, the remaining pieces will be listed here.

 The Beach landing of Agamemnon's forces at Troy (A4) (available) 
 The battle of Troy (A4) (available)
 The Trojan horse (A4)  (available)
 The battle for Thermopylae (A4) (UNAVAILABLE) 
 The Phocians at the pass (A4)  (available)
 The final breath of Leonidas and company (A4) (available)
 The front cover GGA image (acrylic painting) (A5) (available)

The beach landing of Agamemnon

The beach landing of Agamemnon

The battle of Troy

The battle of Troy

The Trojan Horse

The Trojan Horse

The battle for Thermopylae

The battle for Thermopylae

The Phocians at the pass

The Phocians at the pass

The last stand of Leonidas

The last stand of Leonidas

OUR PRINTERS

Beacon Printers

We are using Beacon Printers from Penarth which is a local business. It is the prerogative of GGA as a "small business venture" to try and keep as much of our funding flowing through the veins of other small business', for this reason we will not be using a giant manufacturer but instead the friendly and kindly services of Beacon.
 Pete who owns the business is a really lovely fella and we can all thank his great work for our beautiful books once they arrive!

Risks and challenges

GGA's Biggest potential risk would be printing however I have a stockist for the Grating and basing card so that is not an issue and I have sourced a local printing business that have a great reputation.

Even though it is the only possible problem there should be no issues whatsoever getting the prints out on time.

Another potential risk is perhaps that we might way oversell, and in that regard i have allowed an extra two weeks for delivery time.

The book is completely ready to print and the licenses and rights are all mine. I have no general issues to expect and i am ready to distribute this book. 
The sourcebook is also complete and ready to release at this time.

Kickstarter

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