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Hey guys,

Been trying really hard deciding on what game system I want to move onto next.

I currently play Warmachine as my main game (200+ points of Khador), have at one point or another since MKI collected an army from most of the big factions.

I play Malifaux and X-Wing on the side, but have been moving to playing Malifaux more and more as my main game.

I guess the issue I am having is that I kind of feel bored with Warmachine, I essentially know what I am going to do each time I put my army on the table, adjusting tactics due to newer released models and dice rolls. It just doesn't really seem to excite me anymore.

So, I have begun looking into other game systems. I do have a few personal requirements for a new game system, some that people might find trivial, but it matters to me. What they are is:

-I want the models to be metal (I prefer to work with metal vs plastic or resin)
-I want it to have a unique setting, no not-space marines fighting other "not" things from the 40k universe
-Clear rules
-I know that perfect game balance between factions isn't possible, but a game that isn't heavily skewed in favor of a particular faction.
-I really like a game where both players are doing something in each turn, not just standing there watching the opposing force do it's thing.

Thanks games I have been looking at, and in all honesty don't have much experience with has been Infinity and MERCS. I am open to suggestions, so please, give me a hand.

Based on these criteria, Infinity is the perfect game for you. All the models are metal (and are beautiful), the rules are deep but reasonably clearly written and with (I believe) a fairly good FAQ to help, the setting is heavily influenced by anime but miles away from any GW stuff, and the ARO system means that both players are constantly activating.

I was thinking a skirmish game too but rather then modern and play Infinity, what about Frost Grave?

You can pretty much use many of your existing war machine/malifaux models. If you like Mordheim, its very similar: Warband of 10 guys goes into ruins for treasure and at end of skirmish you roll for loot, and injury results. Ive been playing some games with a friend using heroclix maps, and it works fine. Its a d20 system. Centers around a wizard and his warband.

Frost Grave just came out and is expanding. I think it has potential like Mordheim, and the company appears to want to support the game with new stuff.

My vote would be for Infinity It seems to fit your bill exactly.

The criteria of metal-only minis highly restricts the pool of available games. I don't think Frostgrave is metal. But I mean, Malifaux isn't either, and you like that...

One minor point -- a lot of infinity models have more metal pieces than a lot of metal privateer press models of the same size. So if the reason that you like metal PP models is that there isn't much to assemble, you may not find that with Infinity models.

Haha, well, I bought all roughly hundred Malifaux models when they were still metal in the first edition. I am leaving more towards skirmish games, because I like being able to have a collection of different factions and in faction options, and still be able to fit them all in my case.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Talys wrote:

One minor point -- a lot of infinity models have more metal pieces than a lot of metal privateer press models of the same size. So if the reason that you like metal PP models is that there isn't much to assemble, you may not find that with Infinity models.

I do not mind fiddly little bits and pinning models at all, I have had to pin a lot of my Malifaux metals. And my Circle army before I sold it I had to pin on every single Bloodtrackers and Wolfriders arms. I don't know what it is, I guess I just prefer a metal model vs other materials for wargaming. Board games though, I don't care one bit about what the figures are made of.

I that case, you should give Infinity a try! I really enjoyed the models out of Operation Ice Storm. You get a bunch of cardboard terrain with it too.

I have TONS of metal Malifaux models too It mostly comes from buying them at the discount bin though They are still nice models!

Nothing at all wrong with liking metal models; I still get all nostalgic and glossy eyed over metal =) It's only really the large models that have trouble staying together as gaming models that I object to metal.

I'd check out the infinity videos on YouTube. There are lots that go through the basics of the game.

Infinity checks all the boxes in terms of your requirements.

Yeah, Infinity is definitely for you. It is also hard to master, but very rewarding when you do...

...I've been told.

Hah, well, it looks like I will start dabbling in Infinity than. I have started reading the rulebook, and some of my gaming buddies back home have been telling me about their games of Infinity. I really like how no two games are the same, I love Malifaux for that because there are so many ways to win besides just killing each other.

Cool, well thank you guys. I had a feeling that the game I want to play was Infinity, just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing any other games that fit my goofy requirements.

How about the Batman minis game? Beautiful models that are only metal, and it's definitely its own monster. Rules may or may not be an issue; somebody else would have to chime in on them. I just know I love the models!

Dude, toss that Infinity stuff out the window, because I've got the game for you.

Guild Ball.

The main line of miniatures is all metal.

I like to describe its world as what happens when everyone in Game of Thrones stops fighting, and instead decides to settles their problems by playing medieval soccer/futboll with weapons.

The rules were written by ex-top Warmachine players, and it has a large, dedicated playtesting group that's six months ahead of the general meta. And the rules are available for free!

It's pretty well balanced - each Guild has its own theme and wants to play differently. Fishermen want to score goals, Butchers want to kill. Brewers want to get in the middle of the field and knock everyone down, Alchemists want to set everyone on fire and poison them. The only faction that was ahead of the curve (and only by the smallest of margins) was the Union - the mercenary faction that other guilds can borrow players from - and they're still amazing after they were errata'd.

It's an integrated turn, and to give you an idea of how involved each player has to be, each activation in Guild Ball is like activating a Warcaster/Warlock in Warmachine/Hordes. Even with only six players on each team, you're constantly having to adjust your overall turn strategy and individual tactics.

One more point of awesome, it's probably the fastest growing game on the market. Can you think of any other game that went from being a Kickstarter project to announcing six national tournaments worldwide and a final world champion tournament within a year of release?

Check out the website. Print out the demo set, or grab the rules and the (tournament legal!) paper dolls, and try a game out.

I suggest MERCS. Small units, fast play, metal figures.

MERCS would be a good choice and you can try it out pretty cheaply. You can download the starter rules and movement cards from their website, and have a trial game with 40K figures.

http://megacongames.com/downloads/

Infinity is also a good choice., has downloadable rules, and a good following on DakkaDakka for more advice.

There are several small skirmish rulesets now from Osprey,such as Ronin (samurai movie fights) and Fistful of King Fu (Hong Kong action movie fights) that are cheap to buy and can be played with whatever selection of figures you like.

Apart from the above, there is a massive choice of historical wargames rules and metal figures.

The historicals forum is the place to go for more info about that kind of thing. The Osprey rules also get talked about in there.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/forums/show/82.page

 timetowaste85 wrote:
How about the Batman minis game? Beautiful models that are only metal, and it's definitely its own monster. Rules may or may not be an issue; somebody else would have to chime in on them. I just know I love the models!

Beat me to it! But yeah, if you're at all a fan of Batman, and particularly the Arkham video games (although they now cover the Nolan films, various TV series including Arrow and plenty of characters straight from the comics) then the game comes highly recommended. I will say that some of the minis can be a right pain to assemble, and per-mini it's pretty expensive (though no more so than X-wing), but other than that, I've only good things to say about it. Painted up, the models are fantastic representations of the characters, the design work is spot on, the rules are tight and constantly engaging (and you can get the last edition free, if you're just playing with friends then you might as well just use that) and the price isn't horrific overall; you can get started with 2 full crews for about £65-ish.

They're also branching out into Marvel via Spiderman now, if that's more your speed.

Beyond the Gates of Antares would be another good choice. The Freeborn, Algoryn, Boromites and Concord are all available in metal (Concord have had plastics released but you can still get the metal versions) and the models are some of the crispest casts I've ever seen. It's also a D10 system, with two leadership style stats, with Bolt Action style activation that make it quite different and it will have an evolving storyline like WarmaHordes.

 NH Gunsmith wrote:

I guess the issue I am having is that I kind of feel bored with Warmachine, I essentially know what I am going to do each time I put my army on the table, adjusting tactics due to newer released models and dice rolls. It just doesn't really seem to excite me anymore.

http://bombshell-games.com/mayhem/

Keep your metal armies, keep the background, just change the rules and have big block battles in the Iron Kingdoms. Make units as weedy or tough as you like, give them traits and weapons. Constructs are a particular unit/model type controlled by a wizard's magic points. Sound familiar? But the game depends on judgement and canny use of overall command points (not just as simple as use one to activate a unit, move on to the next unit) and the polydice mechanics. (take the default result or risk rolling a better one? How can you best manipulate position, support, and available traits to multiply and/or improve your single poor die?)

Cost, ten dollars. And maybe a bit more for the polydice and movement trays.

Huh, dang, well shoot I guess I have some real thinking to do. Been browsing the Guild Ball website, I like what I see a lot. I used to (and still do) love playing Blood Bowl. And shoot, doesn't seem like it would take up too much room.

I have glanced at Beyond the Gates of Antares. I will have to take a closer look. Rick Priestly is generally a good guy to have when making miniatures games.

I am going to take a look at the Batman miniatures game. How has that game been doing in your areas?

I have found that the Batman game, while it doesn't have a massive following, is something that's very easy to get people (even non-gamers) into; they come for Batman, they stay for the awesome mechanics and gameplay. In a wider sense, it definitely seems to have picked up popularity, on various forums I've seen a lot of new players.

Knight Models have also just announced a Marvel game with superheroes (rather than just one or two characters and some goons), might be worth looking into if you want to get in on something brand new.

There's a thread about the game down in Misc Minis, and a N&R thread for all the new stuff.

Dropzone Commander.

Pick the Resistance army, that's metal.

By the way, one thing that might help nudge the decision... do you have any friends that play one game or another, or want to try something out? Is there a gaming night where something is played?

It doesn't really help you to be happy with a game that you have no play partners for.

 Talys wrote:
By the way, one thing that might help nudge the decision... do you have any friends that play one game or another, or want to try something out? Is there a gaming night where something is played?

It doesn't really help you to be happy with a game that you have no play partners for.

Hah, very true. The main big games in my area are Warmachine and Hordes, X-Wing, and 40k (although that has been starting go die off). Infinity has been picking up steam, it is still a crap shoot whether or not you will have an opponent at the stores right now. I do have a friend who will be picking up Operation Icestorm in a few months.

 NH Gunsmith wrote:

 Talys wrote:
By the way, one thing that might help nudge the decision... do you have any friends that play one game or another, or want to try something out? Is there a gaming night where something is played?

It doesn't really help you to be happy with a game that you have no play partners for.

Hah, very true. The main big games in my area are Warmachine and Hordes, X-Wing, and 40k (although that has been starting go die off). Infinity has been picking up steam, it is still a crap shoot whether or not you will have an opponent at the stores right now. I do have a friend who will be picking up Operation Icestorm in a few months.

That's a good box set. You could just split it with your friend to try it out -- it's got 2 factions in it. I think you get 7 each of Nomads and PanOceania. The models are great. If you end up liking both factions, just buy a second box, and split it the other way

Haha, I think that we will just use that set to learn, but he wants to play Haqqislam, and Ireally want to play the Morat AAggression Force Sectorial.

Okay, so I have decided, I am going to start Guild Ball and Infinity.

I used to love Blood Bowl, and from what I have been reading about Guild Ball it will scratch my sports ball wargaming itch. While still giving me the alternating style game play I like, and having more than one way to win a game so that it doesn't get boring playing game after game, and forces you to try out different tactics. While fitting one of the things I prefer in miniatures games, metal models. And even though it doesn't matter to me, I like how they give people the option for resin models. My other gaming buddies who I will be conning into starting this with me (I have already planted the seed in somebody else's mind about the game muahahaha) will appreciate being able to choose what the material of their models is made from.

I don't currently play any sci-fi games and Infinity seems to fill that void quite nicely. Gorgeous metal models, rules that make quite a bit of sense, even to somebody who hasn't played a game and just read the rulebook. It is a game that seems to be very heavy in good tactics, using cover, providing covering fire/people covering each others advances. And I like that, I love the 40k universe, but it bugs me how guys shooting essentially rocket propelled warheads at each other that seem to bounce off end up in a big scrum with knives, hammer and chainsaws... Plus, the overall balance of Infinity seems to be quite nice. A definite lack of codex creep as far as I can tell.

Thank you guys for your suggestions! It has been a real help in deciding how I am going to be changing my hobby. I probably wouldn't have given Guild Ball much of a look without it being brought up here. My wallet and my wife may hate you all haha, but I still think you guys are great!

Those sound like good decisions. I was about to recommend them both myself

It's awesome to hear that you're going to try out Guildball and Infinity! Both are great games.

I'll warn you, though. They're both games in which you can find yourself jumping factions pretty easily, since the buy-in is so small.

But I guess as a Malifaux player (I'm ex-v1), you already know all about that!

Thanks for letting us know your choices.

Have fun with both games!

In the last six months guild ball has become by far my favourite game

Great choices. The lower figure count means there's time to paint both

Wow, it was a little eerie how closely you described Infinity with the all metal models, both players doing something during the turn, and the clear rules stipulations. They put a lot of work into the N3 rules to try and make them tournamentworthy, and even the intro box is all metal. IIRC you can try the rules out for free if you can find some proxies and a handfull of d20s. The only thing it might fall short on is the desire for a "unique" setting. It's certainly not a 40k clone, but the style is very typical of anime Sci-Fi. Think: Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Android Netrunner, etc, so expect lots of this...