Unboxing: Godtear Borderlands starter box

 Alright, time to start this thing in earnest!

So what better way than an unboxing of a game that people actually care about?

I've been looking for something quick and easy to play with friends when this quarantine crap is done with, and Godtear had caught my attention a while back when Steamforged Games had initially launched the Kickstarter. I had figured it one of those "never actually hitting retail" type things because SFG had some issues (and still do, in my opinion). So I was kinda stoked when it actually came out, and I've got some buddies interested in it and figured for $40 even if I don't get deep into it at least it's not a huge investment on my part.

Now, there are two starters for Godtear: Borderlands and Eternal Glade. I went with Borderlands because I actually like both the champions in it.

Also apologies in advance for the pictures. I don't have a good place to do photography right now so I was just doing everything on my couch one night.

Front and back of the Borderlands box

What do you get?
Each of the starters comes with that same basic things: two champions, their followers and banner, ten dice, rulebook, double sided map, cards, player dashboards, and some tokens. I'm going to take a closer look at each of these, so strap in.

Rulebook
We'll start with the rulebook itself, since it's nice and easy to get out of the way. The rulebook is interesting in that, depending on which starter you buy, the examples used for actions and such are based on the models that come in that box. Pretty neat. I also like that it's in full color, as you'd be surprised how many gaming books I've run into that aren't.

Plenty of cool art, to boot!

It's only just over 20 pages total, and that includes a content page, a breakdown of the different champion types, rules and the scenarios. Nice and concise, which I appreciate for a game like this.

Maps
This is one place this game really surprised me. You get a double sided map, and I was blown away by the quality. These things are nice, thick, cardboard like most higher end board games. I was expecting something paper, more akin to what you get in the Battletech starter boxes.

What doesn't make as much sense to me is why the maps are double sided. I guess it keeps the visuals more varied, but since the terrain printed on them doesn't have any impact on gameplay it just seems like they could have saved a little money and maybe made the box a tiny bit cheaper (not that these are terribly expensive to start with, and even cheaper if you've got a local shop selling them at 20% off like I do). It's cool and all, but just seems a little superfluous.

Models
Alright, let's get into the part people actually care most about; the miniatures!

The champions in this box are Finvarr, an Elf ninja, and Titus who reminds me of a boss out of Dark Souls 2 (at least from what I've seen watching let's plays of it since I have no interest in those games). Each of these guys is around 45mm tall I believe, and they're quite well detailed. I'm pleased with the quality of the plastic used for them, too. Finvarr's sword is a little bent, but nothing horrific and I was expecting much flimsier plastic. Also not much clean-up required, which is nice. A couple of little bits of flash, nothing too bad.

FInvarr, elf bad-ass.

Titus, knightly ball-kicker.

It also comes with their followers: three Shadow Stalkers for Finvarr, and five Glory Seekers for Titus. The detail on these is solid as well, although a lot of the detail on the Glory Seekers gets drowned out by the garish yellow plastic they're cast in. I was also surprised that the Shadow Stalkers are slightly taller than the Glory Seekers, adding a nice touch of "elves are taller than men" thing.

Don't. Turn. Around.

The champions are also, obviously, taller than their followers. Not so much so as to look goofy, mind, but enough to give them a commanding presence.

Finvarr and a Shadow Stalker.

Cards
One thing I'm really glad about with this game is how few cards it has. This whole box comes with a whopping six: two for each champion, and one for each follower group.

The cards are free on SFG's website, so no I don't feel bad showing them here.

The champions have two cards each; one that outlines some special rules, and then their stat card. The followers just have a stat card. The start cards are all double sided, and you flip them depending on which phase of the turn you're in (either the plot phase or the clash phase). The other champion card is only flipped once you use their ultimate skill listed on there.

Finvarr's card is showing his clash phase, Titus' is on the plot phase side.

The cards are good quality, maybe a bit thinner than I was expecting but not to the point that I think they'll get destroyed. If you're the kind of person who worries about that then maybe some sleeves won't go amiss, but I don't think there's any major danger present here.

The rest of the components
As I mentioned, you get a few other things in the box. Some tokens, dice and player dashboards.

Token sheets

The tokens are nice, thick, card much like the map. Not a ton of them to keep track of, but I'll probably grab a small Plano to store them in at some point.

The custom dice

You also get ten of the dice required for the game. They're nothing special, minus the fact they're specific to the game. Pretty crisp print quality, which is more than I can say for some other games I own.

Play dashboard

Lastly you get three player dashboards per box. These are used for keeping track of your cards and the various tokens you'll need to mark health, boons and burdens on the various models. Your champion's skill card goes on the left, their stat card in the middle and the followers on the right. Pretty easy to keep track of, and I appreciate that you get three so when you go to play a full size game (three champions and their followers per side) you're set for dashboards.

Overall value?
Honestly, I think this is a pretty solid value. Especially if you can grab it at a discount like I did (always check your LGS first, but I know Miniature Market sells them at 20% off as well). Even if not, they retail at around $50 each, and for what you get I still think that's a pretty good deal. The models are good quality, nothing feels cheap or like they were cutting corners (something one must always be concerned with when dealing with most things funded via Kickstarter) and you get a good amount of stuff. The tray the models comes in is also specifically molded to fit those models, so that's nice until you can grab some foam for an expanding collection (I need to see if anyone sells pre-cut trays for this game).

That being said, however, I do have a couple of qualms.

Firstly, the champions and followers in these boxes are exclusive to these boxes. That sucks because I like one of the champions in the other box, but I'm not going to pay another $40 to then have some undead bitch I don't care about taking up space in my limited living space. Just sort of sucks if only one champion appeals to you in the box. I got lucky that both Titus and Finvarr appeal to me.

Secondly, all the components required to play the game only come in these boxes. That is to say that SFG doesn't sell the maps, dice, tokens or player dashboards separate. I can sort of see why, but it means that you'll always need someone in the group to have bought a starter, and that's just for two people to play. If you have a group you'll need multiple starters to cover each game, and that's provided one person per game doesn't mind not having dashboards. The dice I'm sure you could make with stickers and blank dice if you're so inclined, and maybe your own dashboards if you're artistically skilled enough to do so but you shouldn't have to to play the game.

Overall it's a good buy, and I don't regret it. The contents are good, good quality and the game looks like it should be a fun little romp without being as much crunch as some other games. I also like that SFG has put the rulebook and all the cards up as downloads on their website. It's nice to be able to check out the stuff I'm interested in before buying. Would suck to buy something I think looks awesome, only to find out it's garbage in game and I won't enjoy using it.

So I hope you've enjoyed this unboxing, and I'll get around to a review of the game once I can get around to actually playing it (all my local game shops are closed to gaming right now). Take care, y'all, and stay safe!