Oh, wow. I’d completely forgotten about the kerfuffle from Age of Sigmar.
Not to step on @mtkafka’s post, but does anyone have any opinions on the state of the franchise now? I’ve only kept up on the Total War version, and it’s obviously not based on Age of Sigmar.
Hahahahhahaha. I honestly don’t know the answer, but the thought of ‘Games Workshop’ and ‘cheaper’ in the same sentence makes me laugh.
I watched some youtube videos, seems alot of people are pissed off about it even now. I might just get them some boardgame (plus its cheaper!)… like Runebound and/or Axis and Allies. Just something to get them off videogames once in awhile. my other nephews and nieces are ok with videogames, but my other brother/sister in law is worried etc… thats another whole debate anyway.
I have found there are a lot of board game options that work really well at giving a miniatures type game experience for cheaper and in a more closed purchasing loop. Some board games flat out mimic table top miniature games. However even a really expensive board game usually clocks at way less than a miniatures game (and the last I looked that was super true for GW products). Remember a “starter” for those games is the barest of tastes for the game and really only serve as a primer to let the spending gluttony commence.
You are totally right now that I think about it. I remember playing battlelore and that totally could fit well plus its seems better as a pure strategy game.
I’m going to be stronger in this - do not buy something like Warhammer if you are just trying to get them to drop the video games a little. Warmhammer (for miniatures) is much more of a lifestyle game. Buying a starter set for it would be like buying a kid a single golf club and a golf ball, to try to get him to stop videogaming for a bit by playing a little golf.
Yeah Warhammer doesnt seem to be a good game for them. It looks like it needs a bit more investment in time and money.
Thanks for the thoughts I’ll just get them a boardgame with fantasy and war in it.
If he’s into star wars, Star Wars Rebellion has awesome minis on top of a great game.
I’d say that unless the individual is interested in the hobby side of Warhammer that going with a boardgame is a better choice.
That said Sigmar seems to be gaining a much stronger following with the release of the Generals Handbook which smooths out a lot of the army creation stuff. It’s also a very synergistic game so those sorts seem to be enjoying it. In the end though GW is really a hobby first , game second company.
I’d suggest Battelore or even the new Runewars miniatures game if the want something fantasy wargame like that plays smoother and is less hobby focused.
Much to the disapproval of Rick Priestley, co-creator of Warhammer Fantasy and creator of Rogue Trader.
The role I had in the studio was with staff working on game development and design, and they’d pretty much decided that game development and design wasn’t of any interest to them. The current attitude in Games Workshop is that they’re not a games company, it’s that they’re a model company selling collectibles. That’s something I find wholly self-deceiving and couldn’t possibly agree with.
Just to put this out there, but in Q1 2017, FFG is putting out the Runebound Miniatures Game, which looks like kind of like a cross between Warhammer Fantasy Battle (NOT AoSigmar) and the template/dial-driven play of X-Wing miniatures. Could be a good match for the kids.
Is there a market for Warhammer Fantasy minis from the early 2000s? In some cases unopened (/shameface)? Hopefully AoS hasn’t killed that market as I’ve really got to sell off the stuff I’ll obviously never use (and some LotR and Mordheim as well).
I’ve generally been able to sell my unwanted minis, but at a substantial loss. Those little guys really don’t seem to hold much value. As a result I’ve become a good bit more careful about buying them in the first place now.
Yeah, I stopped cold once I realized my backlog was growing. Guess I’ll toss them on eBay and take what I can.
AoS and Games Workshop have actually come a long way in the past year. As mentioned, the General’s Handbook provides a way to build armies via points for those who like that. Many are also attributing GW’s new direction to the new CEO. They’re re-engaging with the community and even selling products at a substantial discount via Getting Started and Battle Forces boxes. Those combine multiple units into one product for a lower price than buying them separately; e.g. my Sylvaneth Battleforce, which is 1140 points, cost $140 for units that would normally be ~$280. I’ve been super impressed this year and am looking forward to what comes next!
Aanyway, if your goal is to “switch” their hobby time away from video gaming, I agree that AoS might be the deep end. I’m not sure Runewars is a good fit, either. Maybe check out one of the following tabletop games which use much lower model-count armies:
Guild Ball
Fantasy-themed, soccer-ish game with unit-by-unit alternating turns (i.e. I move one guy, then you move one, etc.)
Infinity
Scifi wargame that emphasizes terrain and also uses alternating unit activations.
Warmachine/Hordes
Fantasy/steampunk wargame that emphasizes synergies and combos between units.
If you decide to go for a tabletop game I would recommend first seeing what’s popular in your area. Sucks getting into a game and then realizing no one is playing it near you.
I would say that Warmachine and Infinity are both easily as far into the deep end as Age of Sigmar. Infinity is hugely complex a game and requires a massive amount of terrain to play. It is not for the feint of heart hobby wise. Warmachine really is set up as an army scale game these days as well, with a very picky set of rules and I would recommend it alongside AoS if it appealed more, but definitely not as a simpler alternative.
i can’t comment on Guildball, but my impression is that it is another full on hobby game.
There’s a word that opens you up to the world of affordable Forgeworld Titans because Chinese people own high quality plastic printers but much like a certain wizards name I wont mention it as it summons Games Workshop lawyers.
So I just bought a copy of Spire of Dawn, which apparently is a discounted old boxed set that has been converted to AoS. I am planning on building an army around the Skaven in the box, and I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to use them? As a next step, I plan on getting the Skaven starter box, though I don’t know what else I should get. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Curiously enough, I picked up a copy of Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower for $15, sans minis. I guess there are GW folk who need to get hold of all their product, or people are buying multiple sets of the game for extra minis in one set.
Either way, it’s not like I don’t have tons of other GW, D&D, Heroscape, etc, minis stuff to provide workable proxies. Bargain, I reckon!
More likely they wanted the minis for a Sigmar Army since those minis have stats for Sigmar.