Going Yell for Leather...

If there's one thing we know about the Frontier it was that they loved their leather... Coats, hats, boots, tools... The average Frontier homestead had more leather accoutrements than a Conservative politician's secret playroom.

Up until now our own fiddling with leather has been just a bit here and there but now it's time to get serious.

We're going to build ourselves something no self-respecting Frontier town would be without, a Leatherworks. In doing so we'll get the chance to create a few little leather items of our own and in return, get some boosts that I KNOW a lot of people have been crying out for.

To start we'll see the usual popup (one with a slightly over-excited Bess...)

From there we'll be prompted to place the Leatherworks, a four stage build (all details HERE) and start the leatherworks missions (all details HERE)

Onto the best part of the Leatherworks, what we're going to get out of it.

The leatherworks will let us craft a whole raft of new boosts. Speed increases, animal readys aaaand the piece de resistance... Bullwhips and Rawhide gloves.

The Bullwhips let us move Varmints on the homestead for an hour (sick of that Groundhog in the middle of your crops but don't want to clobber him? Hide him!) and the Rawhide gloves that let you move FULLY GROWN TREES!

Yes, you've asked for it, they've done it, you can now craft Rawhide gloves to spend an hour lofting large lumber round your homestead! (See, told you you'd be excited.)

You can see a full round up of boosts in our boosts guide post HERE.

We'll see one new crop that will drop an item for crafting the leather, Hide stations...

So what are you waiting for? Get crafting!

New Expansion On The Way

One other thing entering the game soon is this, a second HS-Expansion.

For now this and the 51x51 expansion will be a premium purchase, we've got no news on when (or if) they'll be available for missions but history would suggest it'll be some time yet.

Pampered Pooches

Marco and Polo are back in town and Marco is determined to show just how special Polo is by letting him take part in the Frontier Dog Show, along with a special dog of your very own...

So, it's time to team up with neighbours and breed the best canine buddy you can for the homestead and for a chance to win big prizes.

As can be expected by now it'll kick off with a popup...

...and the familiarity doesn't stop there as that kicks off a four mission thread (all details HERE - admittedly with a touch of deja vu) and a three step building (all details HERE).

We'll be getting four new dog breeds to grow...

...each with three different styles...

...and all of whom need feeding Champs Chow, a new feed item made from Puppy Nutrient (drops from the new crop and Blue Corn) and Beefy Bits that are requested.

Shall we do the rest together? We team up with a neighbour (or go it alone) and try to feed the dog as much as we can up to 32 feeds before the time limit is over and it's scored in...

...and you get to see how you stack up against some homesteaders and their furry friends.

Then, once you complete all the missions your dogs will go in your Show Pen!

The new crop mentioned earlier will be a free gift or HS purchase...

And we'll be seeing a new collection.

So, it's time to pop the pigs... sheep... bulls... and horses to one side and get growing dogs!

Animal Lovin'

We've trapped, healed and rescued... now it's time to put the cap on this little loveathon and get the kids together!

This is the final set of missions in the Bess/Ted threads when they finally work out they're perfect for each other (for now...) and it's our job to help.

Once those are done we'll have a new building, with a nice little bonus, and a new NPC... with a VERY nice bonus! More on that soon but trust me, you'll like it.

As usual, we'll see a popup...

That will prompt us placing the Animal Habitat, a four step build (all details HERE) and a five mission thread (all details HERE).

The missions all involve building the Animal Habitat that'll be Ted's workplace for the future where he and Bess can look after all their rescued animals.

Once fully built it'll have a daily bonus of dropping rare animals, rare crops and mystery crates! It IS a craftable though, so we will need to make some binoculars each time...

They'll be the same as the previous Bess and Ted missions with a diary page guiding you through the missions...

Like the previous set we'll also get enough Devotion from just the five missions, we won't have to repeat or redo any, and as we get those levels of devotion we'll get a number of extra rewards up to another rideable bear...

There's also three new animals, one of each type... and yes, we'll need them!

Also, when the missions completed we get Ted on our homestead... and I know how folks can feel about the characters but trust me, THIS one is actually useful!

Ted will be a character with a bonus, a 12 hour refreshing Aged Salmon boost! That means twice a DAY you can use Ted to instantly grow an animal to adulthood, even from baby! And there's no catch, no craft item, no delay... All you have to do is complete the building and BAM, two free Aged Salmons a day!

We will, of course, have a collection to pick up...

So lets get out there and get that romance done and dusted!

Underground Geezer

It's time to get down that mine and rescue Jack!

We're going to finally find our way down into the caverns to rescue the grizzly old geezer in a fun set of missions, well, that's if we can find him!

See Jack, being Jack, has decided it would be far too easy to be waiting where you last left him sending out canaries, and he's gone walkabout...

As usual we'll be seeing a popup...

That'll kick off the missions which are slightly more complicated than usual, but no build!

What we do find though, is a letter from Jack...

Yes, he's gone wandering, and it's time for us to go spelunking after him through the mine... but in one of two ways because from here we'll be following Jack's Map, which is pretty cloudy at the start...

We all kick off with the entry mission to get us started, then the thread splits into two series of missions, the North Path and the South Path, that are done simultaneously.

Don't worry, it's not as complicated as it sounds ;) We've got a FULL guide HERE... a guide to the North Path HERE and the South Path HERE.

We'll see one new animal as a mission and collection reward, and one new free gift crop, the Fiddlehead Fern.

And the aforementioned collection is here...

So, helmets on, ropes ready and lets get spelunking...

Private Parcels

There's nothing like a few home goodies to make you feel better when you're away, and although words from the Frontier are nice for our Pen Pal soldiers it's time to send them something nicer.

Yep, we're going to be building up some special packages of homestead goodies to send to our boys on parade from the kids.

As usual we'll be seeing a popup to introduce the new feature...

That will kick off a 5 mission thread (all details HERE) and prompt the placement of the Parcel Wagon, a small mule and cart combo with a good reward (all build details HERE).

The wagon, which will be the mission "build" will be used to send the soldiers parcels but also has a daily bonus attached. That bonus, when collected will give out RARE Collection items, helping you complete those tricky or downright impossible collections.

As well as the wagon, we'll see one new tree,  a free gift and HS purchase, and one new animal, Captain Mary. She'll be a mission reward or HS purchase.

Finally we'll see two collections.

The first comes from the Daily Bonus of the Fort Courage Banner, a mission reward...

The second comes from Captain Mary.

So let's get packing....