Behind the Kamas: Jeric

“You can’t know where you are going until you know where you have been” is an old adage that creates an appropriate topic for my first contribution to this blog.  This article will cover a little bit about my gaming history and what brought me into the world of Krosmaster.

I was in the 8^th grade when I had received a 1^st edition copy of the Mage Knight Starter kit by Wizkids. It was the gateway drug that got me into card, tabletop, and roleplaying games. Since that time, I’ve pretty much played every “Clix” incarnation at one point or another, ventured into the Iron Kingdoms for Warmachine/Hordes and their Roleplaying game, and I’ve played Every incarnation of Dungeons and Dragons from 3^rd edition to present with some dabbling in Pathfinder. Like most folks, I too play video games from the classic Final Fantasy Games to brand new MOBA’s and MMO’s.

 I first became aware of Krosmaster at Gencon 2013, when I saw a booth surrounded by people watching the cute little people move up and down on boxes and roll dice to take out the opposition. Tragically I didn’t have as much time in the exhibition hall since playing in a Nationals event for a different game can eat up much of your convention free time. Fast forward to Gencon 2014, while fighting our way up and down the crowded aisles, my wife and I end up finding the Japanime Games booth just as a demo is clearing up. Now every year at Gencon I make a solemn vow to demo new games and every year I fail miserably, ending up playing a game I already play for the entire convention, but this year was going to be different, I promise!

The demo area filled up quick, so we were only able to get my wife to take a seat, while I was one of the savages who clogs up the aisle. I watched them play the very basic demo game and I was sort of iffy on the game. While wandering through the merchandise section of the booth I was approached by Erica of Japanime games who greeted me and explained the different sales for the convention. It was then she sold me on the game.

 

 She casually picked up the first duel pack and said that it was a mini version of the base game and it was built for two players. I picked up the box and inside I saw my steampunk, Goggle Clad, Respectably bearded savior, Merkator. Way before I knew of his Meta deforming power, I knew him as the coolest looking miniature I’d seen a while. Next thing I know, I’ve got the base set, Frigost expansion, Duel Pack, four Season 02 blind boxes, tons of promo figures and a set of token animals in two massive green Krosmasters bags, without ever playing a single game.

 The next morning I woke up bright and early to sign up for the Introductory event and met Rich who helped me get my own Krosmaster membership card (which I was very impressed with by the way) and explained some of the rules interactions I wasn’t familiar with yet due to time constraints of the basic demo. Next thing I know I’m 1-1-1 and I’m back at the Japanime booth picking up a few more blind boxes and a promo from the event, and they let me know that a nationals qualifier had just started. I wandered back over and walked around watching people playing with teams that didn’t include the base set figures, some folks wearing tofu or gobball hats, even a guy with a massive rolling case plastered with artwork of all the characters. After casually watching a few games, I was hooked.

Since then it’s been a blur of window box purchasing, promo hunting, and playing various incarnations of the game.

So now that we’ve looked back at how we got here, it’s time to look forward to where I plan to go. I want to provide you with reports of my weekly games, discuss teams and strategy, review new releases, and maybe dabble in talking about the anime. I joined this blog because I felt there was a serious void of coverage of the game from a US perspective and I hope that my contributions encourage others to create content, join discussions, and help grow the game as a whole.

This concludes the first step towards that dream and it’s time to start working on the next.  

-Jeric

Jeric is an established miniatures player who provides tactical insight, event reports and a few odds and ends along the way.