The thing I really love about Turnip 28 is the creativity it brings out in people. For the uninitiated, Turnip 28 is Max Fitzgerald’s bizarre postapocalytic/napoleonic/root vegetatable-based miniature skirmish game. If that sounds strange, then that’s just fine. It should sound strange. It revels in its strangeness.
The rules, along with the creator’s own description of the game and some STL files can be found for free on Fitzgerald’s Patreon. That these resources are available for free is, I believe, a big part of the game’s appeal. It’s accessible, as well as being fun and strange.
What initially made me aware of this game was the interesting and creative community around it. Loads of people were sharing their Turnip 28 projects on Instagram and other social media sites. Here are handful of people’s completed miniatures from Instagram:
Delightfully weird, aren’t they?
I just find that so many member of the Turnip 28 communty take real pride in putting their own stuff together. This can involve conversions, 3D printing, or combination of both. The incorporation of root vegetables into the aesthetic is unique, adding to the stangeness and slightly tempering the otherwise grimdark feel with a small dose of whimsy.
Now, having worked on the game for some time, and after making some STLs available for free, Fitzgerald is running a Kickstarter campaign for a new set of 3D-printable miniatures. This is The Forlorn Hope:
The campaign is for a set of modular, 3D-printable miniatures. There are a couple of things that makes me really excited for these. First is the fact that they are, to quote the creator, “designed explicitly to be kitbashed and converted”. This is Turnip 28 really playing into its strength of being non-prescriptive with their miniatures. The other thing that really excites me is that the campaign makes clear that this is the beginning of an official Turnip 28 miniatures range. That’s great. I can’t wait to see it grow and develop as the game matures.
In terms of what you actually get from the campaign, the modular miniatures in this set consist of the following parts:
The modular parts all look great and are incredibly characterful, combining those different visual elements that so define this game. They exude the weird Napoleonic/Plague Doctor vibe, and they come with root vegetables! As anexample, here are some of the heads:
Gorgeous.
The parts of these miniatures are, as stated, intended to be used alongside other minis to create unique conversions and kitbashes. They don’t have to be used this way, though. This is a good level of flexibility, and the campaign caters to people who just want a single, self-contained set of miniatures. Here are some examples from the campaign page, showing the completed, painted minis:
It’s obvious that I’m really into this campaign. I love what Fitgerald is doing with Turnip 28 and I love this campaign not only for what it promises to deliver, but also what it represents for the growth of the game. That said, and taking a step back from that sort of bigger picture thinking, does the campaign represent good value for money?
I think it does.
There are four tiers in play. The first of these is the tier that gets you the STLs. These are the files you need to print up your own miniatures on your 3D printer. This is priced at £25. Being a digital purchase, there won’t be any shipping costs either, so that’s that. For what you’re getting, considering both the utility of these files, and specificity, I think this is a pretty good deal. Oh, and there are some digital stretch goals as well.
For £40, you can get yourself a physical printout of these miniatures. You will get 20 miniatures. At £2 per miniature, this isn’t too bad. Shipping is estimated at £4 for a single set of minis, so that’s also pretty reasonable. A further tier is the £120 Horde tier, through which you will get 4 sets of miniatures ofr a total of 80 minis, all for the price of 3 sets. Neither of these physical bundles includes the digital files, not the digital stretchgoals which are unlocked.
Finally, there’s a hybrid tier. At £60, you can get the digital files, including the stretchgoals, and the set of 20 printed miniatures.
I’m genuinely concered that this campaign is going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and gets me to buy a resin printer. Oh, dear…
You can click here to visit the Turnip 28: Forlorn Hope project page at Kickstarter.
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