Tabletop gaming product company Gaddis Gaming recently launched its Empires Fall Kickstarter to fund a set of wargaming miniatures of the U.S. Army’s 761st Tank Battalion, the all African-American armor unit known as the “Black Panthers”, who helped defeat Nazi Germany as part of Lt. Gen. S. George Patton’s Third Army during World War Two. The Kickstarter has just 16 days remaining as of this article, and is just over $5,000 into its $7,610 goal.
The Empires Fall project is funding the creation of miniatures and accessories for a base two-player game set, including an M4 Sherman Tank mini, five U.S. “Black Panthers” tank crew minis and ten German Infantry minis, dice, tokens, and cards, along with uniquely-designed game packaging. Once funded, the products are currently scheduled to begin shipping in early 2021.
Although the minis here are meant for use with the Empires Fall alternate-World War Two tabletop wargame created by Gaddis Gaming, the minis can of course be used with many other 28mm World War Two tabletop wargames. The Empires Fall wargame features an alt-reality take on military history created by Gaddis Gaming for the Shattered Crown platform, where the German Army heads the Holy Roman Empire during World War Two. Included with the Kickstarter is the starter scenario which places the 761st “Black Panthers” in charge of defending “the besieged Belgian city of Bastogne against the imperial invaders”. The wargame uses the specially-designed Gaddis Universal Assembly of Rules Data System (G.U.A.R.D.S.) system as its engine.
A total of 15 reward tiers are available to support the project with, ranging from $1 to $1,000. The tiers feature the two-player starter set, custom Empires Fall dice with the logo and motto of the 761st Tank Battalion (a snarling black panther head profile over the phrase “Come Out Fighting”), PDF and hardcover copies of the rule book, a 1/56 scale mini of an M4 Sherman tank, an Empires Fall art poster, and up to the Empires Fall Deluxe Edition Box Set. Pledges of $300 or more will earn you the entire set of minis completely and authentically painted.
Pledges of $220 or more net you the Empires Fall / Shattered Crown bundle. This set contains the two-player Empires Fall starter set, as well as a 10-piece 28mm mini set of the World War One 369th Infantry Regiment (formerly the 15th New York National Guard Regiment), also known as the “Harlem Hellfighters”. This unit was predominantly African-American, and is recorded to have “spent 191 days in frontline trenches, more than any other American unit.”
Click over to the Empires Fall Kickstarter page for a closer look at the project’s full details. Read more about the renowned “Black Panthers” military history here and here, and learn more about the “Harlem Hellfighters” here and here.
Source: Empires Fall Kickstarter