Freecompany are back with their second Kickstarter campaign, a brand new dungeon crawler set in the Eldfall Chronicles universe. Northern Wind is a stand alone expansion to the fantastic Eldfall Chronicles skirmish game and much of its content is cross-compatible, sharing certain mechanics such as combat, the awesome activation/reaction mechanic and even allowing you to use miniatures from either game in the other!

We were lucky enough to speak to Freecompany in a recent interview which you can watch below for lots of information and detail about this new game. In addition we’ve been able to spend a bit of time with an early preview of the rulebook, prototype miniatures and have even had a chance to try the game itself. Read on for our initial impressions of this exciting new miniatures game!

For those that do not know, Eldfall Chronicles is a miniature skirmish war game which sees players take command of a small party of warriors, mystics, mercenaries and even elemental contstructs in a multitude of quests that see them facing off against an opponent’s warband and even monsters controlled by the game’s own AI system.

The game features a really exciting ‘activation/reaction’ mechanic and offers multiple game modes such as traditional PVP, cooperative PVE and even solo! You can read our indepth review here but suffice to say if you are familiar with games such as Games Workshop’s Warcry and Necromunda or Corvus Belli’s Infinity you will find a lot there to your liking.

Northen Winds is a different kind of game though, a dungeon crawler adventure which looks to provide players with a deep narrative experience whilst borrowing and adapting many of the combat and magical mechanics from the core game. 1-4 players take control of a party of adventurers and lead them through a winding campaign as they attempt to navigate the treacherous slopes of a mystical mountain and do battle with the nefarious Oni and their malevolent allies.

The game is set in the northen reaches of the Eldfall world of Calad, in territory held by the Empire of Soga which has long been under assault from daemonic forces. Players will take control of four hereos drawn from the four main factions of the core game, each with their own playstyle and abilities. You’ll be able to play the game solo, cooperatively with friends and there even appears to be a mode which allows a player to take control of the enemy forces (ordinarily the enemy miniatures are controlled using an AI mechanic and reaction cards). We’re promised hours and hours of branching campaign where you’ll be able to level up your chosen heroes, find and make use of a variety of weapons and items and engage in combat with goblins, undead and supernatural Oni – all represented in the game with amazingly detailed miniatures handcast in Unicool resin. On paper this sounds like it should combine to make for an exciting gameplay experience and we certainly enjoyed our demo when we sat down with the Freecompany guys at UK Games Expo.

The main section of the game is played out on a game board made up of a number of wonderfully illustrated tiles of varying sizes and shapes. Each quest will instruct you on how to place the tiles in order to builld the ‘dungeon’ layout for that particular quest. You’ll also be instructred on where to place enemy models (although more may appear later in the quest as you progress) and other elements such as scenery, shrines or other quest specific objects. Each quest will have it’s own ‘win’ conditions and rewards and at the end of some you’ll be presented with different options on how to progress. The path you’ll take up the mountain during your campaign can be tracked on the illustrated campaign map which shows various locations and routes up the mountain.

Both during and between quests you’ll have chance to learn more about the story of Northern Winds and the wider Eldfall Chronicles setting via different Events and Instance cards that you’ll reveal at certain points in your gameplay. These cards will introduce additional story and gameplay elements for your heroes to contend with. Perhaps you’ll happen upon a supernatural spirit who will impose upon your party a challenge for the chance of a reward or you’ll stumble upon a haunted temple, a strange apparition or even an inviting hotspring. Most such encounters offer your party a choice of actions to take, do you fight the mysterious serpentine creature which now blocks your path or attempt to communicate with it? Most such choices will point the players towards a passage in supplementary Quest Log booklet where you’ll be presented with additional story and a chance to learn how the consequence of your decisions will impact your campaign.

What’s more the game will include rules and profiles for all of the included miniatures allowing you to use them in your games of Eldfall Chronicles, providing even more options for the four different factions, additional AI enemies to fight and even introducing the Oni as a 5th playable faction for the game. Not only that but you’ll be able to mix things up in the dungeon crawler itself by including characters from the skirmish game with new ‘Northern Wind’ profile cards for the original roster also included! This alone makes Northern Wind an especially exciting addition for owners of the original game!

On the Kickstarter front Freecompany currently have a variety of pledges for you to choose from (with the promise of additional stretch goals and rewards to unlock as the campaign progresses). What’s more, early backers will recieve the awesome limited edition Gladiatrix miniature for free and even a chance to pick up the original Gladiatrix model from the originial Eldfall Chronicles Kickstater campaign!

That’s not all! If you’re a returning backer or Newsletter Subscriber you’ll qualify for an additional special mini, the Guildsworn Knight!

There are three pledge levels on offer for those looking to back the game. The Core and Deluxe pledge look like great picks for returning backers, providing an option for the core Northern Wind game with or without the different expansion boxes. You can take a look at the contents of each pledge below (or head on over the to the Kickstarter campaign itself for more details).

For those new to Eldfall Chronicles you may want to check out the ‘All-in’ pledge which combines the Deluxe pledge with all the original Eldfall Chronicles content (including the recently released Wayfarers expansion).

Suffice to say, as a fan of the original Eldfall Chronicles game I’ll be a day one backer of Northern Wind and I’m super exicted to get my hands on the game! Head on over to the Kickstarter campaign page here and take a look at what’s on offer!