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1565: St. Elmo's Pay

Writer's picture: Lee WinderLee Winder

I turns out I love war games, or maybe it's just the historic epic battle system from Hall or Nothing Games' 1565 St. Elmo's Pay that makes them work for me.


Either way, when the opportunity to shoot 1565 came up, and I played a few games to understand how it works I was hooked. And the fact it comes with a solo mode variant made it all the more popular with my gaming group of one!


The Great Siege of Malta

St. Elmo's Pay is set in 1565 (unsurprisingly) during the Great Siege of Malta when the Ottoman Empire attempted to conquer the island of Malta, which at the time was held by the Knights Hospitaller. You play as either the Ottoman Empire lead by Mustafa Pasha, or the Knights of St John with Jean Parisot De Valette at the helm and you must either claim the three sites of battle or defeat your opponents leader.


Theme is everything in 1565 (and I'd say the same for Hall or Nothings other games) so I really wanted to lean into this heavily with some pack photography that really made it stand out.



These shots really pull a prospective player into the theme of the game, giving a clear indication of what's available, they types of cards and the beautiful artwork, while adding a strong narrative theme by using era appropriate gauntlets as if presenting it to the player.


Given the box and cards are on the darker side of the colour spectrum, and I really wanted the gauntlets to stand out we also went with a much lighter wood base to help the content really pop.


Playing The Game

I also wanted to push the theme into a few gameplay photos, and while playing any card game while wearing a pair of gauntlets is probably not the ideal way to play (it took a lot of blu-tac to get them to hold still!), it offered a fun double take picture that keeps with the theme of the shoot.



Leaders Grasped By War

The leader cards are the most important cards in the game. They start in play and if your leader perishes, then it's game over for you.


I really wanted to highlight these cards, and create a narrative of all out war that comes with a game like this. By showing them grasped in the hands of a gauntlet, basked in their armies colour (using a backdrop created from the card backs), it creates a visually stunning shot that really makes a potential player take notice.



I think these images in particular are gorgeous, highlighting the artwork of the cards and really driving home the narrative of being captured by war.


Behind the Scenes

I'm no expert when it comes to era appropriate armour so it was hard to know which gauntlets I'd need and how they would look in the photos. Did I need leather ones, bulky ones or more nimble ones?


When a crate turned up, I suspected I may have requested a few too many!



In the end I went with the smaller ones that had more leather hand pieces as they created enough of a theme without being overbearing on the photos and overshadowing the game components.


It also made it somewhat easier to hold a hand of card in play.


And getting gauntlets to stand up on their own accord is not easy!

The shot of the game box from behind being held up by a pair of gauntlets

The gauntlets were provided by Costume Company UK

The sword was provided by Events from History

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