The Roost of Turkadactyl

In October or November 2013 I participated in the Games and Gears Battle Boards kickstarter.  After months and months of patiently waiting the Hawk Urban set arrived in late July.  Here is my review.

Here’s some information that I didn’t touch on in the video.  When the battle boards were in production there was a big flood that occurred in China.  There was a large amount of battle boards that were wrecked as a result of the flood.  Games and Gears let the backers know and there were lots of well wishes sent out.  This set the project back a bit, which was understandable.  Backers were supportive of this and appreciated the communication.

The project went south from there and it was mostly the communication.  Promises of deadlines were not being met as well as the quality of the product that was promised.  Lots of backers pulled out and received their money back minus the 10% due to kickstarter fees.  I played the patient route because I was saving a lot of money going through kickstarter.  More and more people were reporting their boards coming in.  Then there was fifteen of us still waiting and we all happened to be in Canada.  Then I was one of four.  My boards were in a warehouse ready to be shipped but months of asking for a tracking number was met with a we’ll try find it for you and get back to you next week.  The communication from Games and Gears was terrible and a thumbs down for customer service.

I am disappointed with the Hawk Urban.  I was excited about this kickstarter because the Hawk Urban was supposed to be painted, or at least that was my impression.  The only thing that was painted was the roads.  It is another painting project but at the end of the day it’s a first world problem.  Another issue I have is the quality of the product.  On the kickstarter there is an overhang with model cases put on the overhang to demonstrate the weight that can be supported.  I do not think my board was built with the same as the prototype.  In the video I have a twelve-inch overhang and there is some decent flex, enough that I will not use the boards with that much of an overhang.

What are the pros for me?  The price I paid for the hawk Urban was 62 Pound Stirling with free shipping.  With exchange that was roughly $110 Canadian.  I could buy two sets for less than one Games Workshop Realm of Battle with a double bonus of no hills (I hate those hills in the RoB boards).  Now Games and Gears advertise the boards for 140 Pound Stirling.  I think they are worth the 62 Pound Stirling with a Canadian exchange rate around 1.75.  If you have 140 Pound saved up wait for another product to come along because the Hawk Urban is not worth that price tag.

I did play a game after the video and it was visually pleasing to play on the board.  In the end a mixed review.  There was bad customer service, over-promising and under-performing, too expensive for MRSP and quality of product was not up to expectations.  Once painted the product will be visually appealing and for kickstarter backers the price was a good deal.  Now I have to get the board and all that terrain painted up.