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It might be a way of distributing the risk of making plastic warjacks amongst more than one line of products, particularly since Grind is much more of a mass-market product than Warmachine. Plus, as an introductory product for Warmachine, having plastic 'jacks around for Grind may encourage people to go deeper into the Privateer Press line of products.

Nurglitch wrote:Offhand the background for the game doesn't really suit Cryx or any of the Hordes factions, but Mercenaries, or even teams for the big cities seem to be a natural fit.

You must have missed the original Grind ruleset/article, then. Grind takes place in an alt history version of WM(like Bloodbowl) where disputes aren't settled with wars, they're settled with giant robots beating each other up in a Grind arena. There's teams(and 3/4 alt "uniforms" each) for each nation in WM, including Cryx and Mercs.

Nurglitch wrote:It might be a way of distributing the risk of making plastic warjacks amongst more than one line of products, particularly since Grind is much more of a mass-market product than Warmachine. Plus, as an introductory product for Warmachine, having plastic 'jacks around for Grind may encourage people to go deeper into the Privateer Press line of products.

Are there clear pictures of the arms anywhere?

efarrer wrote:

Nurglitch wrote:It might be a way of distributing the risk of making plastic warjacks amongst more than one line of products, particularly since Grind is much more of a mass-market product than Warmachine. Plus, as an introductory product for Warmachine, having plastic 'jacks around for Grind may encourage people to go deeper into the Privateer Press line of products.

Are there clear pictures of the arms anywhere?

The only pictures are here, but if you click on the image, it enlarges and you can see that the arms aren't really made for WM and the weapon arms are the same arms for both teams(Open Fists for either team are faction-y).

With a couple sets(and some appropriate weapons), you could probably mock up an Ironclad or Defender for Cygnar and a Juggernaught and Destroyer for Khador. I say a couple sets, as each set only comes with 1 right open fist for each color.

Looking at the set-up board, those plastic pieces don't appear all that big. Of course, there is nothing to give scale... but if those plastic 'jacks are about the same size as the WarMachine metals, that playing board is as big as a very big thing indeed.

I want to see pics of the GRIND 'jacks alongside WarMachine 'jacks. For scale comparison purposes only, of course.

fellblade wrote:Looking at the set-up board, those plastic pieces don't appear all that big. Of course, there is nothing to give scale... but if those plastic 'jacks are about the same size as the WarMachine metals, that playing board is as big as a very big thing indeed.

I want to see pics of the GRIND 'jacks alongside WarMachine 'jacks. For scale comparison purposes only, of course.

Matt Wilson wrote:As Kevin indicated, these 'jacks are on the same scale as the WARMACHINE figs. We considered making them smaller, but something in our hearts just wouldn't let us do it. We wanted to see these things have a presence on the tabletop. That said, these are not 'hobby miniatures'. They have been designed be put together without glue, and to be able to allow the arms to be swapped in and out of the shoulder sockets. They have not been designed to be compatible with WARMACHINE, nor do we recommend using the existing metal miniatures in Grind, as playing the game depends much on the customization ability of the figures. However, you should always remember that once you get the game in your hands, its yours to do with as you like. I know we're looking forward to seeing some of the more industrious players out there actually customizing their teams with paint jobs and conversions. We can't stop you, nor would we want to.

Platuan4th wrote:

Nurglitch wrote:Offhand the background for the game doesn't really suit Cryx or any of the Hordes factions, but Mercenaries, or even teams for the big cities seem to be a natural fit.

You must have missed the original Grind ruleset/article, then. Grind takes place in an alt history version of WM(like Bloodbowl) where disputes aren't settled with wars, they're settled with giant robots beating each other up in a Grind arena. There's teams(and 3/4 alt "uniforms" each) for each nation in WM, including Cryx and Mercs.

I did indeed miss the original Grind ruleset/article. You live and learn eh?

Nurglitch wrote:

Platuan4th wrote:

Nurglitch wrote:Offhand the background for the game doesn't really suit Cryx or any of the Hordes factions, but Mercenaries, or even teams for the big cities seem to be a natural fit.

You must have missed the original Grind ruleset/article, then. Grind takes place in an alt history version of WM(like Bloodbowl) where disputes aren't settled with wars, they're settled with giant robots beating each other up in a Grind arena. There's teams(and 3/4 alt "uniforms" each) for each nation in WM, including Cryx and Mercs.

I did indeed miss the original Grind ruleset/article. You live and learn eh?

The original article's a good fun read and I liked that the Team "uniforms" weren't just the normal WM schemes with a slightly different twist.

The Grinder ball has been available for a long time, but getting one in plastic has my attnetion. I know a few stompas and battlewagons that would love a few of those...

Grind looks fun, I'm gonna have to make myself a Skorne Titan team!

fellblade wrote:Looking at the set-up board, those plastic pieces don't appear all that big. Of course, there is nothing to give scale... but if those plastic 'jacks are about the same size as the WarMachine metals, that playing board is as big as a very big thing indeed.

The board is 22" x 31", very large. Also, those bases appear to be the standard PP rounded lip jack bases.

Chimera_Calvin wrote:OK, tongue was a little bit in cheek with that but it does strike me as an odd decision for PP to make to try and go head to head with blood bowl.

If they wanted to make a board game based on their IP, wouldn't it have been better to do something that their biggest rival doesn't do. Maybe a dungeon crawler/special forces type game where the models were compatible with normal WM/Hordes?



P.S. I know that Space Hiulk is rumoured to make a comeback but I was thinking more along the Warhammer Quest line...

For starters neither game is similar to the other except for the fact that they are fantasy-sports boardgames, and Last time I checked Bloodbowl was about as popualr as The Black Plague in most areas...

GW makes all there specialist games a pain in the ass to acquire, and supports them like a deadbeat dad skipping out on child support. It will be refreshing to be able to play a specialist game like this that i don't have to fight/beg the company to actually get a hold of and enjoy...

This sounds freaking amazing! I can't wait for steam-powered robot action! Woo!

This looks very cool - I've been missing a real miniatures based board game (where the figures have a true bearing on the game and are more than just 3-D card standups). With Blood Bowl sadly pretty much only existing as a computer game now, this will really fill the void. Kudos to PP for moving into this direction. Wonder if there will be a way to adapt Monsterpocalypse figs into it...

RogueMarket wrote:

sonofruss wrote:My poor wallet first gw now pp

Yet- PP will always be cheaper than GW

I'd like to know the drugs you've been taking cause they seem to be awesome.. lol

PP is not cheaper than GW (especially in a model per model comparisson) and that's comparing GW's tanks to pp's jacks..

However, I'm intrigued about the "Grind" Ilove me some combat football, regardless of which company made it.

Price was posted today. $69.99

American?

Yeah, sorry. Most prices are listed USD.

The only other way they tend to leak prices is through a japanese online
retailer, which I assume prices with the yen.

Oof. I'm very conflicted now.

I guess I should wait until GW reveals their beg mystery in a box thing before I get overly excited for Grind.

<groan>

I want both!

$70 isn't too shabby.

Should be able to pick it up for around $50-60 at an online retailer.

This will be the third fantasy/giant robot sports game I own

Are those figures repaintable? Because if not, what a stupid set. It looks like Hasbro made it. Only they don't charge $70 a game.

Repaintable?

That implies they're painted in the first place. I think it's pretty clear they're bare plastic in the pics.

So yeah, paint away!

Probably colored plastic to keep the teams clear.

Should be interesting. PP aren't infringing on any perceived god given right of GW to make a football game, and quite frankly GW haven't really DONE anything with bloodbowl except back shelf it and ride the coat tails of a dedicated community for several years.

BloodBowl is my favourite GW game.

To be honest it will be interesting to see if Grind has a better videogame implementation made for it than GW has done with Cyanides version. Given all the CGI stuff going on with animating their jacks I could guess a GRIND videogame could be created in the not too distant future.

Neither Grind nor Bloodbowl resemble American football more than real football resembles rugby, so I think they're safe.

But Lagduf has caught my attention: What other giant robot sports games do you own?!

Nurglitch wrote:

But Lagduf has caught my attention: What other giant robot sports games do you own?!

Very true. It'll most likely get me too.

It is not really "American football" it is more like the team games with a huge ball you push in to the other teams goal.

Scottywan82 wrote:Are those figures repaintable? Because if not, what a stupid set. It looks like Hasbro made it. Only they don't charge $70 a game.

Let me just say this right out:

You don't know what you are talking about.

Hasbro is the largest publisher of board game in the entire world. They own Avalon Hill and Wizards of the Coast for crying out loud!

Comparing the price of a game put out by a company who only has relatively small niche appeal (PP in this case) to a company who by and large only puts out cheap mass market games is absurd!

Sure, Hasbro put out Heroscape - but the base game was $40 which is pricey, when compared to the rest of their games on shelves - but it also does show how massive of a company they are (that they could produce so many units of HS and for so cheap)

It's about economies of scale.

Hasbro rarely makes good games, they just thrive on the mass market druck that casual audiences will buy. Occasionally they have a hit that crosses over in to the niche board gaming realm.

Your comparison is simply not valid.

Nurglitch wrote:Neither Grind nor Bloodbowl resemble American football more than real football resembles rugby, so I think they're safe.

But Lagduf has caught my attention: What other giant robot sports games do you own?!

Battleball

This is an example of an actually decent game Hasbro put out in 2003, but sadly it didn't draw enough appeal to keep the game going. The starter box features two teams, each with some special abilities and it was clear the game was designed with the intent of adding more teams.

Blood Bowl is a highly tactical game IMO, this game is a little bit more action oriented with some "press your luck" features.

Basically every robot type has their own die, and when you want to move a robot you roll that particular die. They aren't standard die in anything other than size (d6, d12, d20, etc) as each die has a specific min and max, and I think those numbers may be repeated.

Haven't played in awhile, but it is a fairly simple ruleset. Definitely more beer and pretzels than Blood Bowl.

You can do all the usual stuff, run with the ball, pass the ball (again involves rolling the football shaped die), and fight. Your robots can blow up, and when they do they leave a wreck that becomes an impassable space.

Lagduf wrote:Hasbro rarely makes good games, they just thrive on the mass market druck that casual audiences will buy. Occasionally they have a hit that crosses over in to the niche board gaming realm.

I hope you're not claiming that niche board gaming is automatically better, because that would be a hubristic statement of ludicrous inaccuracy.

Agamemnon2 wrote:

Lagduf wrote:Hasbro rarely makes good games, they just thrive on the mass market druck that casual audiences will buy. Occasionally they have a hit that crosses over in to the niche board gaming realm.

I hope you're not claiming that niche board gaming is automatically better, because that would be a hubristic statement of ludicrous inaccuracy.

I'm stating that Hasbro, generally, puts out bad games or games I consider to be dull and boring.

Their subsidiaries like Avalon Hill (which is a mere shadow of the old AH) and Wizards of the Coast put out good to decent stuff, but the titles branded under the other companies they own generally aren't that great.

It's more an observation on what will sell at big box/mass market stores like K-Mart, Wal-Mart, and Target. I think there is a correlation on the complexity of a title and where you can sell it. That's not to say low complexity games are bad of course, I own several wonderful low complexity titles, it's just the mass-market stuff that Hasbro puts out (generally) is low complexity garbage with no real meaningful decisions going on. Have you ever played Candyland? You pull a card, and move your piece to that color on the board. That is only suitable for small children. I feel a lot of their stuff is, though they do own some classics.

Hasbro doesn't want to take risks and lose big time on stuff like this. It's a shame they axed Battleball.

And if you recall they even sent Heroscape to Wizards of the Coast (meaning the game was actually niche, and would then be sold as such, as it didn't have the mass market appeal they wanted)

And there are dozens of niche board game companies who put out terrible games each year [some genuinely horrible titles actually].

But hey, I don't hate Hasbro.

Sorry Sliders was one of my favorite games released last year. What a fun, family friendly gem that was.

It's just that when you talk board games Hasbro is as atypical of a company as you can get. They're a corporate conglomerate. The vast majority of all board game developers and publishers are small outfits, and really my point was that it's absurd to compare a game like GRIND to something Hasbro will put out, without taking in to effect the economic realities of the situation. It sounds as if the guy I quoted thinks all publishers are on an even playing field with Hasbro, with is grossly untrue.

I have to agree with Lagduf, you don't see games like Carcassonne, Settlers of Catan, Bohnanza, Apples to Apples, or whatnot being produced by Hasbro...

yeah,
Nurglitch that comic is awesome! & it perfectly decribes eveyone!!!

Panic...