picked up that and swords and sorcery (costikiyan: Swords & Sorcery: Quest and Conquest in the Age of Magic | Board Game | BoardGameGeek) on ebay…there’s really nothing like those games…next up: azhanti high lightning!
I used to love Space Hulk. I actually still have my set somewhere (though I need new minuratures), to bad none of my friends are geeky enough to play it with me. :(
I remember back in middle school me and a few friends would set up these huge marine vs. marine vs. marine maps and spend all day manuvering our squads trying to gain the upper hand. Ahhh, nothing quite like being a dork. :)
Yeah, I can understand not wanting to undercut their miniatures market, -but-…I think such endeavours as Magic Online are evidence that it would likely be practical to get people to buy virtual miniatures at more or less the going price for the real thing. It’s not the system -I’d- prefer, because the thing that drives me away from all such games is the enormous cost of buying all that content piecemeal. But I have zero doubt that there are people who’d be willing to buy virtual minis simply for the myriad conveniences of a computerized format such as having the computer handle all the ruleswrangling and being able to play online against geographically disparate opponents. Also not having to hand paint every goddamn mini. (I know there are people who love doing the painting, but that is -so- not for me.)
It’s a far more elegant system than 40k, and it’s far cheaper, too. Really like the whole Warcaster mechanic and the fact that if you change one model you significantly change how the entire army plays.
Course, they’re bringing out Mk2 early next year and that’s even more elegant. The beta rules were excellent. Shame no-one seems to play it over here :(
Hrm, I thought it was elegant back when it was first released (before any of the expansions) but now we have 9 books (6 WM, 3 Horde) worth of units each with it’s own set of special rules (or exceptions to other peoples special rules). It seems like too many games boil down to who forgets whose special rule first.
rumor has it new version of space hulk coming possibly as soon as september, or in time for christmas. lots of speculation that there might be plastic floor tiles or even an electronic timer for the marine turn.
FWIW, MK2 is simplifying a lot of the clutter. As for cost of WM, it’s really only cheaper because games are played on a much smaller scale than 40k/Fantasy.
Armies of Arcana is a really nice 15mm based fantasy miniature system. I like it much better than, say, Warhammer Fantasy Battle. It scales to 25mm as well. Much cheaper to get into and the rules favor mass over might, meaning that while magic and monsters are potent you don’t have one uber-creature tearing up the battlefield.
Multi-Man claims to be reprinting Swords & Sorcery, but your investment is sound, because the new art direction is ass. I’m fond of the art in that old SPI edition. I remember that game being a bear to play, though.
What I’m really looking forward to is the print 'n play version of [I]Divine Right[/I] that’s been in the works forever now.
Hmm. An entirely new revision of Warmachines/Hordes coming out next year, eh?
Does that mean I should just wait to buy anything until then, or will my old stuff still be playable if I manage to convince some friends to jump in with me?
The new rules make the Warjacks (the big metal robots) much more viable and generally increase the ‘cost’ (in terms of how many you can fit into an army) of infantry. You can still use your old models, but your army composition will probably be different between the two editions.
Here’s what I’d do (in order from most to least desirable):
- Grab the beta release of the new rules and convince your friends to start playing with those. I think Privateer Press still has them up for dl. If you can’t find them then send me a pm with you email address and I’ll give you the .zips.
- Play the current rules but limit yourself to either the main book or the first 3 expansions. Depending on the experience level of your group you could end up hemorghing players once some of them feel like they need to memorize 6 books of rules to be effective.
- Play the current rules with no limitations on expansions.
Thanks a lot, Trashcan, that’s really helpful information. Great suggestions!
Looks like I might go shopping later this week.
Oh, one last thing: the new rules aren’t compatible with Hordes. They’ll eventually update Hordes to bring it in line with Warmachine MkII, but they’ve yet to set a date for it. So, if you’ve got some people who are set on playing with the beasties, that’s something to consider.
The beta for Hordes Mk2 is supposed to be the same time as the release of Warmachine Mk2, so you should be able to play them both.
I’ve gotten into and outof various minis games over the years. Mostly, like the rest of you, I just don’t have the time/desire to paint/mod etc. all of those minis. So I bought a crapload of HeroScape- its a hoot with the right group of people, but it really isn’t particularly deep.
On the flip side, I helped a friend of mine playtest the official campaign rules for Battleground:Fantasy Warfare last year (he was writing them for the company). The game is really a blast, takes minimal preparation and monetary investment (a whole army for less than $20!), and the rules have some pretty neat things going on. For example, most of your units are on a sort of autopilot you set at the beginning of the game, and then you have a limited number of Command Points to adjust those things on-the-fly as the game progresses. If you aren’t into the classic fantasy archetypes, they have a punic wars set coming out soon, too.
And Jason- I’ve been eying that Divine Right print 'n Play thing too. I’m sure I’ll hate the game once I do all the assembling, but it does look like its got some interesting things going on.
AFAIK, that is not going to be the case. Warmachine MK2 already went through it’s field test but Hordes has not. All signs point to a gap between the releases. :-(
Ah, that’s a shame then. I am way more interested in Hordes than Warmachine; the armies & theme appeal to me more. I know they’ve been cross-compatible in the past, so I hope they get on that ball again soon.
Suppose this is the thread to ask it in, too: Any other Bay Area folks play any of the Privateer Press games? GW just doesn’t float my boat, unless we’re talking about Necromunda or Mordheim.
The hordes MKII test should be around the same time as the release as warmachine MKII. there will be 6 month-1 year difference for the official release. Privateer is not going to cut half their player base.
besides you have 6 months left of warmachine MKI, there is no reason to wait. I just started a Skorne army a couple months ago.
I’ve got a couple Warmachine armies and a couple Hordes ones. I got burned out by all the special rules but my experiences with the MkII rules have been good so far. I’m very much looking forward to them coming out.
I also like 40K for entirely different reasons. I have a bunch of Chaos Space Marines stuff and some Eldar that I haven’t finished assembling/painting.
I also have started collecting Warhammer Fantasy, mostly orcs and goblins right now, though I have some Vampire Counts too.
Aside from those I have a ton of Clan War stuff, Wargods and Spinespur.
For the non-miniature stuff I’ve been picking up some hex and counter style wargames but haven’t had a chance to play anything besides Conflict of Heroes so far.
Warhammer Fantasy is pretty much my main “social” hobby (as opposed to videogames, which I play essentially solo). I have Dwarfs, High Elves, Dark Elves, and Khemri. Also have a shitload of Dark Angels for 40K, Flames of War Russians, and all the Warmachine starter boxes, but noone here wants to play those games.