FrankinLondon
First Post
I purchased CastleWorks Ultimate (CWU) just over a year ago and have been using the PDFs ever since. What you get for your $15 are a staggering variety of PDFs, which when, printed, cut, scored, folded and glued, will give you a collection of modular 3D castle pieces that should enable you to build virtually any castle you can imagine.
The bits of castle you can build include walls (single and double height), towers, keep buildings, floor tiles, a gatehouse, moats etc, etc. There are different styles of walls, crenelations and tower tops to keep the variety high and whats more, it all links together using a smart and simple system called "paperlinx" that keeps all of the pieces bound together and gives your players a rock steady playing surface.
All of the buildings come with interiors, so you can lift the roofs off of your castle (tower and/or keep) and actually game inside the buildings. Also, the drawbridge and portcullis actually work ! If you build as per the instructions, everything will get mounted on super-light but super-strong foamboard, so you end up with some surprisingly sturdy and durable pieces.
For those of you who struggle getting started with a new craft form like this, the WorldWorks Games web site has a set of video tutorials that are free to access and demonstrate very well what is involved in a cardstock model. There are also some incredibly useful and friendly forums where a newbie can ask for help and be sure that he will get it rather than the scorn and/or abuse that some forums seem to pur upon newcomers.
Speaking of the instructions, these are a well worth a mention. The set comes with loads of written instructions bolstered by step by step photographs. There are crystal clear instructions for each individual peice and then a great guide for "bringing it all together". Each peice comes with a timing guide to tell you how long it should take. Whilst I usually took longer than the recommended time, it was a big help in working out what peices were relatively simple and what were complex.
Finally, it is worthwhile mentioning another WorldWorks Games set called InteriorWorks : Castles and Keeps. This set contains lots of interior props (beds, thrones, tables, chairs, chests, bookcases etc), which when combined with this set produce a truly stunning and complete build.
Basically, I cannot praise this product enough. It comes with 1.5" and 1" grids for different gamesystems and if you take the time to learn how to become a proficient cardstock modeller (easy peasy really, if I can do it, anyone can), you will be able to produce fantastic builds that will knock the socks off your gaming buddies). I myself ran an adventure using a 4.5' by 3.5' castle last weekend and my group were just blown away. We had a blast.
Do remember that you will need some simple tools (modelling knife, cutting mat, black marker pen) and some materials (110lb card, glue and printer ink) to be able to use the PDFs, which adds somewhat to the initial $15 expenditure. However, this expenditure is well worth it imho and compared to what you might have to pay for a set of resin and/or plastic models to have the same effect, the overall cost is a pittance. Go ahead and try it today. You won't be disappointed.
The bits of castle you can build include walls (single and double height), towers, keep buildings, floor tiles, a gatehouse, moats etc, etc. There are different styles of walls, crenelations and tower tops to keep the variety high and whats more, it all links together using a smart and simple system called "paperlinx" that keeps all of the pieces bound together and gives your players a rock steady playing surface.
All of the buildings come with interiors, so you can lift the roofs off of your castle (tower and/or keep) and actually game inside the buildings. Also, the drawbridge and portcullis actually work ! If you build as per the instructions, everything will get mounted on super-light but super-strong foamboard, so you end up with some surprisingly sturdy and durable pieces.
For those of you who struggle getting started with a new craft form like this, the WorldWorks Games web site has a set of video tutorials that are free to access and demonstrate very well what is involved in a cardstock model. There are also some incredibly useful and friendly forums where a newbie can ask for help and be sure that he will get it rather than the scorn and/or abuse that some forums seem to pur upon newcomers.
Speaking of the instructions, these are a well worth a mention. The set comes with loads of written instructions bolstered by step by step photographs. There are crystal clear instructions for each individual peice and then a great guide for "bringing it all together". Each peice comes with a timing guide to tell you how long it should take. Whilst I usually took longer than the recommended time, it was a big help in working out what peices were relatively simple and what were complex.
Finally, it is worthwhile mentioning another WorldWorks Games set called InteriorWorks : Castles and Keeps. This set contains lots of interior props (beds, thrones, tables, chairs, chests, bookcases etc), which when combined with this set produce a truly stunning and complete build.
Basically, I cannot praise this product enough. It comes with 1.5" and 1" grids for different gamesystems and if you take the time to learn how to become a proficient cardstock modeller (easy peasy really, if I can do it, anyone can), you will be able to produce fantastic builds that will knock the socks off your gaming buddies). I myself ran an adventure using a 4.5' by 3.5' castle last weekend and my group were just blown away. We had a blast.
Do remember that you will need some simple tools (modelling knife, cutting mat, black marker pen) and some materials (110lb card, glue and printer ink) to be able to use the PDFs, which adds somewhat to the initial $15 expenditure. However, this expenditure is well worth it imho and compared to what you might have to pay for a set of resin and/or plastic models to have the same effect, the overall cost is a pittance. Go ahead and try it today. You won't be disappointed.
