Have you noticed anything different on our website? It's only temporary, but it will be followed by a HUGE announcement coming next week!
Their temporary logo depicts a sci-fi helmet very reminiscent of a halo helmet. It could mean that they have secured the Halo license or they are branching out into another sci-fi game (ala 28mm Planetfall). This most likely ties in with their new terrain KS.
Honestly... look at the model aesthetics for half of the Planetfall stuff. Much of it already looked precariously close to Halo, be it infantry that look straight-up like Mjolnir armor, or the Sorylian flyers which look like Covenant drop-ships.
I'm not surprised... but I do think it means they'll spread themselves even thinner right when Planetfall needs (and deserves) full-time nurturing to get it established.
I do hope this is an officially liscenced Halo game, preferably 28mm scale. Halo is just one step behind Star Wars when it comes to franchises I'd love to see a tabletop adaptation of.
Paradigm wrote: I do hope this is an officially liscenced Halo game, preferably 28mm scale. Halo is just one step behind Star Wars when it comes to franchises I'd love to see a tabletop adaptation of.
I agree wholeheartedly, especially if it was 28mm scale. Even though I doubt I would have people with whom to play the game, just the idea of having some Halo miniatures that I could display alongside my 40k armies is too exciting to pass.
I'm a fan of Firestorm Armada, and generally Spartan this part year or so, but only because I think they've finally sorted themselves out in terms of focusing on the games they can support. Those being the Dystopian world (Wars and Legions), and the Firestorm world (Armada and Planetfall). The rules and models have come a long way and are only improving, but only because they've limited their scope and dropped all the games they were hardly supporting in the first place (Uncharted namely).
This announcement does leave me with mixed feelings, as I want to like what Spartan has done recently in improving themselves, but I'm doubtful they could support a 5th game/3rd universe already.
Time will tell. Maybe the partnership comes with a big cash infusion that they can expand their staff.
I am looking forward to Halo 2.0 (which will really be the 4th iteration of the same book and the 25th iteration of the same ruleset) in 18 months' time.
BrookM wrote: Maybe they'll have a special clause in the contract stating they should at least show some effort and give it a full year?
That should be enough time for them to come out with a second edition. It feels like everytime I see news about spartan it is either a new game or a new edition for the one released 2-3 years earlier.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Paradigm wrote: I do hope this is an officially liscenced Halo game, preferably 28mm scale. Halo is just one step behind Star Wars when it comes to franchises I'd love to see a tabletop adaptation of.
I hope so as well. It might give me a reason to use my scarab besides just as a tau "warlord" titan count as.
Paradigm wrote: I do hope this is an officially liscenced Halo game, preferably 28mm scale. Halo is just one step behind Star Wars when it comes to franchises I'd love to see a tabletop adaptation of.
I agree wholeheartedly, especially if it was 28mm scale. Even though I doubt I would have people with whom to play the game, just the idea of having some Halo miniatures that I could display alongside my 40k armies is too exciting to pass.
Actually, I think the fact it is based on an established video game (you know, those things that are like wargaming but 'cool' ) would actually make it easier to get even non-wargamers involved. I imagine most people are at least famillair with the name these days, so that may well help a lot (in the same way LotR did for GW a few years ago).
Of course, if we're right and this isn't all just a huge red herring
lord_blackfang wrote: I am looking forward to Halo 2.0 (which will really be the 4th iteration of the same book and the 25th iteration of the same ruleset) in 18 months' time.
Paradigm wrote: I do hope this is an officially liscenced Halo game, preferably 28mm scale. Halo is just one step behind Star Wars when it comes to franchises I'd love to see a tabletop adaptation of.
I agree wholeheartedly, especially if it was 28mm scale. Even though I doubt I would have people with whom to play the game, just the idea of having some Halo miniatures that I could display alongside my 40k armies is too exciting to pass.
Actually, I think the fact it is based on an established video game (you know, those things that are like wargaming but 'cool' ) would actually make it easier to get even non-wargamers involved. I imagine most people are at least famillair with the name these days, so that may well help a lot (in the same way LotR did for GW a few years ago).
Of course, if we're right and this isn't all just a huge red herring
True enough, and chances are that the price point will be much more accessible than 40k as well. I can't tell you the amount of times people I know have lost an initial interest in Warhammer simply due to the cost of building an army. If this truly is the announcement of a Halo tabletop game, then perhaps I could afford two armies on my own, allowing my friends/family to play with me without a large investment on their part.
Alas, we'll find out shortly enough. Maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up, but I'm finding that difficult to do...
Alas, we'll find out shortly enough. Maybe I shouldn't get my hopes up, but I'm finding that difficult to do...
Agreed. If this is true, it will a) be the most awesome release of the last few years, and b) probably bankrupt me for quite some time... So long as it's no scale below 20mm, and the models are good, I may be spending an absolute ton.
Can I ask why such a big deal is made of Spartan releasing Dystopian Wars & Firestorm Armada 2.0? Most of the comments you read share a similar sentiment, that it was a revision that was required and the new rules are much tighter. Think I paid £15 for the original Dystopian rulebook, it's not like I've shelled out hundreds and then forced to throw the books away?
This looks interesting in any case, it's a massive license so will be interesting if they can make a decent go of it.
Pacific wrote: Can I ask why such a big deal is made of Spartan releasing Dystopian Wars & Firestorm Armada 2.0? Most of the comments you read share a similar sentiment, that it was a revision that was required and the new rules are much tighter. Think I paid £15 for the original Dystopian rulebook, it's not like I've shelled out hundreds and then forced to throw the books away?
This looks interesting in any case, it's a massive license so will be interesting if they can make a decent go of it.
I believe the sentiment is more about Spartan's somewhat lack of attention span when it comes to their rules. Their first few years were a never ending cycle of revisions and half measures and starting up new games only to neglect them or other games. The new 2.0 rules mark a change where they've finally sorted out the problems and more or less established their 'core' products.
We'll see how this partnership affects that.
Either way, the 2.0 rules are a marked improvement over previous releases and are truly finished and quality products, both the new kits and the rules/books themselves.
lord_blackfang wrote: I am looking forward to Halo 2.0 (which will really be the 4th iteration of the same book and the 25th iteration of the same ruleset) in 18 months' time.
QFT
Im also looking forward to the various player made cheat sheets that are more understandable than the official ones. I look forward to flipping back and forth in the rulebook for a rule that, for example, should be in the movement section but is in the morale section.
Spartan Games has entered into a License Agreement with Microsoft Corporation to design and produce tabletop miniatures games for "Halo®", the global entertainment phenomenon. The first products will be on sale around the world through Spartan Games' sales and distribution channels in 2015.
The award winning "Halo" franchise was first seen on the Xbox in 2001, but has since transcended video games to build a worldwide fan base of millions and inspired best-selling novels, comic books, action figures, apparel and more. Now exciting tabletop miniatures games can be added to the list.
Neil Fawcett, Creative Director, Spartan Games said "Our design team are huge fans of 'Halo' and this opportunity is the icing on the cake for them. After six years of successfully creating our own games and models, we can now work with Microsoft to bring epic 'Halo' spaceship battles to gaming tables around the world. And if that's not enough, we're making fast and furious ground combat games as well. Hard to tell what is more exciting: invading Reach with our Covenant Fleet or assaulting ground defences with Spartans and UNSC Marines?"
I'm vaguely interested now. - I probably won't be getting it because, well, Star Wars Armada...
Buuuuttttt....
The thing that has always had me just dismiss Spartan Games out of hand was that everything the company produced that I saw just looked so bland and, well, generic. There just seemed to be a lack of style to them all. Having a major license like Halo on the other hand, I'd now be interested.
I'd assume that the minis game takes place during halo 1-3 but that would be a bad time to play in that genre as the earth ships were completely outclassed during the war. Is that big earth ship the one from Halo 4 that you're stationed on or something else?
Spartan Games is to produce Halo tabletop miniatures games
Written by Spartan Games | Tags: Halo
Spartan Games has entered into a License Agreement with Microsoft Corporation to design and produce tabletop miniatures games for “Halo®”, the global entertainment phenomenon. The first products will be on sale around the world through Spartan Games’ sales and distribution channels in 2015.
The award winning “Halo” franchise was first seen on the Xbox in 2001, but has since transcended video games to build a worldwide fan base of millions and inspired best-selling novels, comic books, action figures, apparel and more. Now exciting tabletop miniatures games can be added to the list.
Neil Fawcett, Creative Director, Spartan Games said “Our design team are huge fans of ‘Halo’ and this opportunity is the icing on the cake for them. After six years of successfully creating our own games and models, we can now work with Microsoft to bring epic ‘Halo’ spaceship battles to gaming tables around the world. And if that’s not enough, we’re making fast and furious ground combat games as well. Hard to tell what is more exciting: invading Reach with our Covenant Fleet or assaulting ground defences with Spartans and UNSC Marines?”
For more information keep checking our website at www.spartangames.co.uk
I'm not sure about this, to be honest... it sounds like they're going to do a Halo version of Firestorm Armada and Planetfall (which they just released!) but will they still support their own IP? It's hard to feel confident about diving in to a Spartan Games product for me... but will be interesting to see what they do with this franchise, for sure.
I love Halo and I enjoy FSA, but this makes me nervous. Does Spartan have the team size and production capacity to keep up with at least two more games while fully supporting their core five? Do they risk cannibalizing certain portions of their own FSA player base?
Guessing this is going to be a rules extrapolation of FSA then. Although, that's not necessarily a bad thing, can see it being quite popular with people who already collect FSA and will no doubt pull in a hell of a lot more players just because of the license.
Will be interesting to see what else comes out of it further down the line also.
Oh my god yes, Will be picking up at least one of everything they release for this.
Now if someone could just make some stargate spaceships my sci-fi ship collection could be complete.
To be honest, I can't say that I was expecting a space combat game, but seeing as how they'll have both ground and space games, I'm definitely more interested than ever. I'll be keeping an eye on this, and most likely be buying at least a set of both UNSC and Covenant fleets.
Kind of annoyed they are doing space combat first (probably the bit I find least interesting), but at the very least, it's awesome to see someone actually has the rights and a ground combat game is in the works....
I'm hoping for plenty more spaceship designs at launch, I don't want to go back to the early days of box sets containing one large, 3 medium and 9 smalls. Or just dump it all as a self-contained specialist game (if Spartan still have that studio going).
I may not want my 6s to explode, but I'll enjoy the models.
I like Halo as a video game and I think this is a great development.
I can't say I'm overly excited about the space game.. I'm just not into that. The ground game that was mentioned is intriguing though. The prospect of more hard sci-fi vehicles and more well done aliens.. well, it's good times.
It will be interesting to see if Spartan will actually design an entirely new and different game for Halo or if the game will be more like a Halo themed expansion for Firestorm Armada and Planetfall. I would think it would be easiest to just fit the UNSC and Convenant lists into Firestorm Armada and that way it doesn't interfere with supporting the existing game and encourages gamers to do crossover games as well. Planetfall: Halo would pretty much just be tabletop Halo Wars but if the minis are nice I would probably be tempted to give it a try.
I thought I would answer a few questions on the forum to help us all acclimatise to the exciting news that we will be working with Microsoft to design tabletop games for the phenomenon that is Halo.
So, here goes:
1) The IP for Halo is owned by Microsoft. Spartan Games' role is to work with the Halo team to bring the stunning imagery of the Halo Universe to the tabletop.
2) Spartan Games owns the IP for Firestorm Armada, Firestorm Planetfall, Dystopian Wars, Dystopian Legions, Uncharted Seas and so on. These are game settings we are very proud of and this thrilling new development will not impact our existing plans for any of our games.
3) One of the questions raised, was that of manufacturing capacity. Halo is a game that is being realised in plastics, and we are proud to say that it will be manufactured in the United Kingdom. This external manufacturing process will ensure that our resin and pewter manufacturing will not be adversely affected.
4) As to whether our Halo games and other Spartan products can work together is not an issue. They are distinct gaming products that use their own rule set and mechanics - they are not designed to operate together because they exist in two completely different science fiction genres.
5) We have been working on the Halo project with Microsoft since early 2014 and have been careful to factor in its release schedule to complement the release schedules of our other games. Indeed, look out for many more announcements regarding existing and new products directly from Spartan Games.
Rest assured that we will be working on all of our games over the coming years, and we are hugely excited to be given the opportunity to work with Microsoft as bring such an exciting Universe to the gaming table.
Y'know having lived and worked in Beijing and breathed the 'air'...
3) One of the questions raised, was that of manufacturing capacity. Halo is a game that is being realised in plastics, and we are proud to say that it will be manufactured in the United Kingdom. This external manufacturing process will ensure that our resin and pewter manufacturing will not be adversely affected.
This makes me happy!
Never played the video game, can't say I'm interested in this, but mad props to them for getting the license.
Im not a fan of Halo, but I hope they benefit from this because I want more ships for my fleet and more Planetfall!
Looks like Microsoft or whoever is actually gonna be a helping hand in getting this sorted. It would probably explode interest if it was announced by Microsoft or something.
UNSC ships in plastic? Likely using a variation of the FSA rules? Yeah, I'm in to that. FSA is by far their best realized ruleset (and one of the best rulesets in the industry in general in terms polish and even balance) and UNSC ships are a beautiful variation of the engines-attached-to-guns theme. Getting them in hard plastic is just icing.
-Never got into FSA due to available players
-Am going in heavy on Star Wars Armada
-Isn't a huge fan of the Halo universe
That said I'm horribly tempted because of plastic ships, large IP (i.e. increased interest), and I do like Spartan Games mechanics. Hopefully the table top is 10mm and plastic as that would be fantastic!
Renedra for plastics could be interesting. I own a few of their scenic pieces and they are of good quality. I don't know that some fences and similar are any measure of what miniatures would be like though.
Spartan seems to have been quick to point out that there is distinction in the systems.. this may also indicate a distinction in scale. I'm going to wager (safely) that the future aspects of this are covered by various NDAs and other agreements.
-Never got into FSA due to available players
-Am going in heavy on Star Wars Armada
-Isn't a huge fan of the Halo universe
That said I'm horribly tempted because of plastic ships, large IP (i.e. increased interest), and I do like Spartan Games mechanics. Hopefully the table top is 10mm and plastic as that would be fantastic!
If their other games are anything to go by, I think eventually we will have 1 28mm, 1 10mm and one fleet game for it. Firestorm has the fleet, 10mm and the 28mm is coming out next year. Dystopian wars has that set up too.
These are spaceships with a (relatively) simple appearance so they could be working with somebody new as they'd be a lot easier to tool than 'human' minis
(plus if it was Renendra they might well specifically say so just because of it's positive reputation)
I am very excited for this. The new rules edition made this game not only playable, but incredibly fun. Now having Halo ships in plastic will only make this better, plus they are making 28mm? Well, here we go!
Crap Spartan doing the rules well that just sucks
They are one of the worst for rules and creating rule books and models wont be as cheap as you think.
10penceman wrote: Crap Spartan doing the rules well that just sucks
They are one of the worst for rules and creating rule books and models wont be as cheap as you think.
As a naval gaming enthusiast and Spartan Games fan, I'm definitely interested. The fact that it is Halo is interesting to me not so much because of the license itself; though I enjoy Halo games, it's not one of my favorite franchises. Rather, the name-recognition and wide-spread appeal means that there will probably be a good-sized player base for these games. We shall see!
One problem that I can see arising is the lack of factions and ship types in the universe. X-wing gets away with this because, you know, Star Wars. I'm concerned that the Halo IP isn't strong enough to do the same.
The more I think about this, the more I'm warming up to it.
I'm not a huge Halo fan by any stretch, but I have many fond memories of the multiplayer from 1 through 3. The models will be in plastic, and frankly, look pretty cool.
But it also means that Spartan will be drawing a lot more attention. Its a great opportunity for them, and I'm curious how they'll handle it. I enjoy Firestorm, and will be buying into Planetfall soon, so I'm cautiously optimistic that this can help grow the company and attract more players to all their games, so that I can find more players to game with.
I'd also be super shocked if the new game didn't have exploding 6s. For better or for worse, its pretty much their thing.
I just want my Sorylian/Relthoza Storm Zone box though.
Never played Halo i amn a Sony boy, but those ships look interesting, having never seen Spartan space game on the table.
Are the Ship sizes comparable to the old Battlefleet Gothic or more like X-wing?
They're broadly comparable to Battlefleet Gothic in size I think.
But yeah, thinking about this some more. I mean, I might maybe want to buy the Pillar of Autumn, and maybe that awesome ship in Halo 4, plus a Covenant Cruiser, if, maybe, just if.
But would I want to play a *game* with it? Nah, not really.
JoeRugby wrote: Not a big fan of the Games but I do like some of Halo's fluff.
If they release ground war minis in 28mm-30mm there's no way I'll not be able to pick up some hard plastic elites and Brutes.
Well their are some rumors that it may be in 15mm which is quite sensible as far as I can see and here is why:
1. The 15mm sci fi market will jump over this like you couldn't imagine they will get plenty of sales even at higher prices.
2. Their is already a market their with no real big one game in it so they could gain a strong position in the scale.
3. The Halo universe ( never was big into it , I was more a killzone guy PS player myself ) has a lot of vehicles and their later games a more push for larger scale battles. things you just cannot do well in 28mm but can do very well in 15mm and smaller.
4. They could also do a small scale skirmish game in 28mm and may end up doing something along the lines of planet fall 28mm close quarters game and a 15mm larger scale game.
my thoughts anyhow but rumors have been going around that they are looking to do 15mm ground scale combat first.
This is one case where Spartan being able to push minis out is a good thing.
It is a bit sad that it's going to use the same tired SG rules, but most won't even care about rules in this case. A lot of people have been waiting for this.
I'll reserve judgement til I see rules. If its another exploding dice product then forget it.
At this point I'm reasonably convinced that Spartan has only continued to survive because its revolving door business model of pumping out rapidly made low quality product just fast enough to keep their customers from realizing how bad it all is.
chaos0xomega wrote: I'll reserve judgement til I see rules. If its another exploding dice product then forget it.
At this point I'm reasonably convinced that Spartan has only continued to survive because its revolving door business model of pumping out rapidly made low quality product just fast enough to keep their customers from realizing how bad it all is.
Lor of people find there rules are kind of simplistic. Embodiment of beer and pretzels. Though it scratches that itch for something that is not overly complicated like Infinity but just want "dumb fun in a box" as BGG would. It is refreshing to play a spaceship combat without making a dozen rolls and looking at several charts after every attack. In addition lot of people complain their rules are basically the same across the board with minor changes.
Again, not for everyone. Some people like coke others like diet coke. Some like both.
I love firestorm armada, it's the game that got me back into wargaming and painting after a small hiatus. But Spartan's business model has been frustration, to me that irks me more than there rules.
It is a bit sad that it's going to use the same tired SG rules, but most won't even care about rules in this case. A lot of people have been waiting for this.
This has not been confirmed...in fact, the post on this topic from the company's founder suggested just the opposite might be true. The Halo games are supposed to be completely independent systems with different mechanics...doesn't mean that we won't still see exploding D6's, granted. Of course, I rather enjoy that mechanic so Imwouldnt mind seeing it again .
I find the rules are great fun. Of course it sucks that V1 usually isnt as good as V2 but I dont see an issue with the rules.
However dont get me started on many of their buisness mistakes. But all wargaming companies have issues, warlord games and their bases always being less than needed, Spartan games and their odd method of releasing stuff, GW and well everything and Flames of War and their terrible website and the list goes on.
But of all the problems they have the rules arent bad. Not liking some rules doesnt make them bad. I think some people need to understand that. I dont like tomatoes, but I wouldnt say they are bad. Just not for me.
It is a bit sad that it's going to use the same tired SG rules, but most won't even care about rules in this case. A lot of people have been waiting for this.
This has not been confirmed...in fact, the post on this topic from the company's founder suggested just the opposite might be true. The Halo games are supposed to be completely independent systems with different mechanics...doesn't mean that we won't still see exploding D6's, granted. Of course, I rather enjoy that mechanic so Imwouldnt mind seeing it again .
This is true, Firesstorm Armada and Halo will not be compatible.
I'm a huge Halo fan. Pretty much the reason I bought my (Halo 2 SE) 360. When Halo 5 hits, I'll hope for a Halo themed SE of the XBone.
And yet I have very little interest in this. I have X-Wing for my ship battle needs. Still, major congrats to Spartan games for snagging such a huge IP, and here's hoping there are other games down the line.
A new system is good news then. But we all know how bad SG can be when coming up with a new rules system, or editing a new book...
I'm okay with exploding D6s, I have played and still play many games that use the exploding mechanic. It's just that for a while, that's all that the system had was that exploding mechanic.
I also think that this Halo game will be positioned more honestly as a standalone, not long term game from the start, which will go over better with Spartan's usual revolving door miniature game policies.
I seriously do not get the issue some people have with Spartan Rulesets. Yes, the version 1s were pretty terrible.. but V2 of Firestorm is damned solid and very well balanced, one of the more well balanced of wargames i've played infact. The exploding dice mechanic can be abit of a marmite thing, I will grant, but just because you don't like a feature or mechanic doesn't make it any less solid really. Planetfall also has a decent ruleset currently and is very well balanced and a good ruleset too, it needed some FAQing for clarification of points but it is a decent game with well balanced factions.
Call it too simple for your liking, call it that you dislike the Exploding Dice mechanic, but that's personal taste, objectively they're good or at least as good as a lot of other wargames out there for balance and fun and I don't get all the hate they recieve. :/ And no i'm not a long time Spartan fan, only picked up into FSA in the September just gone by and love it and picked up into PF almost immediately and am loving it too.
Admittedly, I probably won't buy into this, since I don't like the Halo franchise if honest.. i'd rather they got a gig with Bioware for Mass Effect but peeps who are spekaing ill of Spartan rules wise I think sound like early rage quitters when maybe one time the 6s went bad for 'em.. :/
GenRifDrake wrote: I seriously do not get the issue some people have with Spartan Rulesets. Yes, the version 1s were pretty terrible.. but V2 of Firestorm is damned solid and very well balanced, one of the more well balanced of wargames i've played infact. The exploding dice mechanic can be abit of a marmite thing, I will grant, but just because you don't like a feature or mechanic doesn't make it any less solid really. Planetfall also has a decent ruleset currently and is very well balanced and a good ruleset too, it needed some FAQing for clarification of points but it is a decent game with well balanced factions.
Call it too simple for your liking, call it that you dislike the Exploding Dice mechanic, but that's personal taste, objectively they're good or at least as good as a lot of other wargames out there for balance and fun and I don't get all the hate they recieve. :/ And no i'm not a long time Spartan fan, only picked up into FSA in the September just gone by and love it and picked up into PF almost immediately and am loving it too.
Admittedly, I probably won't buy into this, since I don't like the Halo franchise if honest.. i'd rather they got a gig with Bioware for Mass Effect but peeps who are spekaing ill of Spartan rules wise I think sound like early rage quitters when maybe one time the 6s went bad for 'em.. :/
I agree.
I think what people need to realize is how little exploding 6's actually effects the game in a negative way.
6's are great for getting a critical hit 99% of the time at best. Very rarely has it ever got anything more than bumping a normal hit to a critical.
The only other time 6's are relevant is in the case of small squadrons of ships trying to take on a capital. Sometimes those 6's means that those corvettes can harm a dreadnought.
So if you dont like 6's because on paper it sounds crazy (yes a 6 meaning 2 hits AND a reroll seems nuts) but if you have actually played the game it has little crazy impact. If a ship has a DR or 8 and a CR of 12, then the difference between getting 12 hits and 20 hits is nothing. Its still one crit only.
In my opinion V2 Spartan Rule sets are near perfect. Exploding 6's only rarely change the game in crazy ways, but when they do its actually awesome. At best they are usually your only hope at getting that critical hit.
Major Points
- Gameplay designed to appeal to Wargamers and Non-Wargamers (no surprise)
- Most ships will be made in plastic, possibly Resin for super large ships
- Design is "more free flowing" for fleet battles, specifically stated that the game had less structure than Firestorm Armada
- Archetypes for the fleets are:
> Bear for Covenant, ponderous, slow, with heavy firepower. Covenant tactics revolve around directing fires.
> Pack for Humans, fast, weak, need to gang up to take down a Covenant ship. Human tactics revolve around arranging ships for the killing blow
Major News: Release expected in the first half of 2015(!)
As a huge Halo fanboy, I'm definitely excited for this. Its just strange to have two giant IP armada space combat games coming out roughly around the same time, both of which will really have to stretch if they want to get beyond 2 factions (Halo and Star Wars Armada).
Probably won't pick up both, but I'm not sure which will appeal to me more. Right now Armada has piqued my interest, but I haven't seen much of the rules, etc, for Halo, so maybe that will all change.
I just wonder if they're going to stick with only 2 factions, or if they're going to try to squeeze Flood, Human Rebels and/or Covenant sub-factions into the mix as well.
The one thing that sucks about the covenant as a space-faring force is that all the different variety they have in their multiple alien types are pretty much lost once you get up to the ship level of combat, so it will make things challenging to try to make different types of Covenant fleets, I'd imagine.
I got the eMail from Spartan yesterday and i think it's GREAT news.
Dystopian Wars was (and is) a game with design that is among the best i have seen in 25+ years of wargaming.
I liked BFG and Firestorm Armada seems to be better and the only real alternative. The models are good too.
And i love HALO (as long as Bungee did it) and Spartan design fits the style. It could easily fit into the FA background.
Spartan would be the first company i would think of to produce something new in a relatively short time, get good quality and keep it affordable at the same time.
I have/know all Spartan game systems and the only problem i see is the rules for a 28mm skirmish game.
Dystopian Legions is not a model based but unit based system (and i don't hate it, but somehow don't like it) so Spartan Games has to develop a model based skirmish system.
FA rules for HALO space combat is a no-brainer though.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And in regard to Spartan rulesets:
The old Uncharted seas and Firestorm Armada rulesets might not have been good. But Dystopian Wars, even version 1, was better than most wargames and the new versions of the game systems are better and more streamlined.
That is something i cannot say about most GW games (except Blood Bowl and maybe Epic), Flames of War and more game systems.
And exploding 6s is statistically not very different from using a bigger die (like a d100) and big charts, but for some players it feels different.
Automatically Appended Next Post: And another addition:
I play X-wing and Armada calls a bit too, but i must say that for this scale i will prefer a "real" space combat type game (100% free movement) above simplicity, so i will go for HALO.
with the humans (minus the Spartans) being so heavily outclassed in the lore
It shouldn't be too hard. Obviously they'll be cheaper per-model than everyone but Grunts, and in terms of vehicles I would actually put UNSC just a tad ahead! From the game itself (both the FPS and Halo Wars) I'd certainly call a Scorpion better than a Wrath, head-to-head. Similarly, the UNSC do well at putting heavy firepower on smaller/more fragile chassis; for example, Gauss guns on Warthogs, Infantry units carrying RPGs/Missiles.
The two factions would play very differently, of course, but that's part of the fun.
I wonder if they'll throw in Flood and Forerunners/Prometheans down the line? Could be very interesting if so.
OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote: I'd hate to be stuck with figuring out how to balance the units when they get to the 'ground' game
with the humans (minus the Spartans) being so heavily outclassed in the lore
This goes for the space warfare as well…the 'lore' of 40K regularly shows a single Marine fighting his way through dozens of Xenos, yet none of us blink an eye when that absolutely is not represented on the table.
As long as there is a clear nod to making a unit much tougher than a comparable enemy unit, we are willing to ignore these discrepancies as being something exaggerated to make the story/video game seem that much more epic.
Not sure how well this will do given there's only really 2 factions in the Human/Covenant War. Though I suppose they could do some Forerunner ships as well given that's where the franchise seems to be headed. Maybe some Flood infested ships too.
angelofvengeance wrote: Not sure how well this will do given there's only really 2 factions in the Human/Covenant War. Though I suppose they could do some Forerunner ships as well given that's where the franchise seems to be headed. Maybe some Flood infested ships too.
Pretty much my thoughts. It'd be interesting to see the big Promethean globe ship flying around.
I doubt I'll get into the ship half of the game, as I'd rather had a ground based game. This announcement has definitely cooled my interest in picking up DZC for the time being.
Looks good the Covenant capital ship cruiser needs to be a bit bigger but it's not that much of an issue. Think it would only need to be 75% bigger and they'd be in scale.
Would allow for some nice diversity in ship sizes if they are allowed to be a bit more creative with the license.
Duncan_Idaho wrote: The problem with Halo is: only two fully fleshed factions and Spartan-TT are not really suited for tournament play.
I don't see the issue with the latter, to be honest. As for the former, 2 factions hasn't stopped X-wing from taking off, and with Halo one could easily add the Flood as a thrid and different force, and Halo 5 will probably flesh out the Prometheans/Forerunners a bit more visually. There were also several insurgencies and colony wars before the Covenant War, so there's scope for that.
Duncan_Idaho wrote: The problem with Halo is: only two fully fleshed factions and Spartan-TT are not really suited for tournament play.
You could do 3 factions for ground combat, Covenant, UNSC and Flood. You really can't do the Flood in space but you could include them in a 15mm or a 28mm game.
And I could foresee a ruleset that allows mixing and matching of models in some armies. The Flood helped MC and the Arbiter kill the Prophet of Truth. From what we know about Halo 5, the Arbiter helps the UNSC hunt down MC.
EDIT:
Forgot about the Forerunners/Prometheans who have a complicated relationship to the Covies
Well, the reaction here definitely has me more interested - I did not realize what a draw this would be for people. So I'll be keeping an eye on it
As yak said, though, the space game market is suddenly looking quite crowded with this, Star Wars Armada, and Hawk Wargames upcoming space game based in the Dropzone Commander universe. I've already bought into Dropzone Commander so that would likely be my main choice, with Star Wars Armada easy to pick up and try since it comes prepainted.
Flood could work in space in terms of having commandeered ships.
Their tactic would be more likely to ram other ships or head for the closest planet though so i'm not sure how you'd represent that.
I'm unfamiliar with Armada rules but perhaps have a system where a commandeered ships weapons fire "randomly" at a much reduced rate of accuracy? Flood ships being more durable as a result of the infection growing within?
In the first Halo Keyes was being used as a form of flood that could integrate with the Covenant ship systems. They Covenant were attempting to preventing it from repairing and getting into orbit so I can definitely see the scope for a Flood fleet.
Medium of Death wrote: Looks good the Covenant capital ship cruiser needs to be a bit bigger but it's not that much of an issue. Think it would only need to be 75% bigger and they'd be in scale.
Would allow for some nice diversity in ship sizes if they are allowed to be a bit more creative with the license.
But the Covenant capital ship shown in the pictures there is the ORS-class heavy cruiser, while the ship that you're likely thinking of from the games is the CAS-class assault carrier. Two completely different designs. The ORS-class heavy cruiser, while being mentioned in the lore, has never been visually shown until now.
The UNSC Epoch-class heavy carrier that they showed is also an original design that was mentioned in the lore but never shown. There are plenty of other ships in the Haloverse that will surely follow suite, I'm curious to see how well Spartan games can stick to the pre-established Halo design philosophy.
Having played a fair bit of dystopian wars last year I hope we don't see another exploding 6's game.
I found that the game did often come down to who rolled the most 6's no matter what manoeuvers or tactics you employed.
Also the system is very biased towards big ships with high armour values.
A dreadnought can walk though a couple of squadrons of frigates worth the same amount of points, as they have a slim chance of hurting it while it can reliably kill a couple of frigates a turn. If it's picks 1 or 2 ships of each squadron early on they literally need to chain roll 6's to scratch the paintwork.
Take a different game system, such as BFG and frigates can kill battleships, by doing a point of damage or so each, each turn and slowly wearing it down, while the battleship can kill a couple of them each turn in the same way. A much more balanced contest between different ship types of equal cost.
So something new rules wish please Spartan. Or just rip of BFG or ACTA, that would do for me.
Tamereth wrote: Having played a fair bit of dystopian wars last year I hope we don't see another exploding 6's game.
I found that the game did often come down to who rolled the most 6's no matter what manoeuvers or tactics you employed.
Also the system is very biased towards big ships with high armour values.
A dreadnought can walk though a couple of squadrons of frigates worth the same amount of points, as they have a slim chance of hurting it while it can reliably kill a couple of frigates a turn. If it's picks 1 or 2 ships of each squadron early on they literally need to chain roll 6's to scratch the paintwork.
Take a different game system, such as BFG and frigates can kill battleships, by doing a point of damage or so each, each turn and slowly wearing it down, while the battleship can kill a couple of them each turn in the same way. A much more balanced contest between different ship types of equal cost.
So something new rules wish please Spartan. Or just rip of BFG or ACTA, that would do for me.
You need to play firestorm Armada then.
You will find your bigger ships fall prey to squadrons of smaller ships and fighters etc unless you use your brain.
Exploding 6's rarely does more then make your hit a critical or if you are defending rarely brings a critical down to a hit or a miss.
I love my corvettes, they combined with some long range support have crippled dreadnoughts. My cruisers have the highest kill count, next up is my Carrier. Big ships can take hits, but the more hits they take the less they can dish out. Big ships NEED support, a big target is what they are but at the same time with adequate protection they can pack a punch.
Its actually a pretty tactical game, One squadron of frigates wont get you far against a capital ship alone unless you are facing someone equally as new.
Also in Firestorm there is a lot to consider such as shielding, pd, fighter cover, escorts and sometimes terrain which all races have access to in varying amounts and they too create a system where 6's can sometimes provide a buff here and there, but most of the games outcomes are a result of maximizing offensive weaponry and overpowering their defense. Which is much harder to do than it sounds.
The rules are free, and the base sizes are all you need. I suggest people actually play a few games of it (it wont cost you a cent) and then decide how bad they are.
Their tactic would be more likely to ram other ships or head for the closest planet though so i'm not sure how you'd represent that.
I'm unfamiliar with Armada rules but perhaps have a system where a commandeered ships weapons fire "randomly" at a much reduced rate of accuracy? Flood ships being more durable as a result of the infection growing within?
In the first Halo Keyes was being used as a form of flood that could integrate with the Covenant ship systems. They Covenant were attempting to preventing it from repairing and getting into orbit so I can definitely see the scope for a Flood fleet.
While I don't play Firestorm Armada, there's a similar group. There's a "race" that is essentially a microorganism of some sort that infects enemy ships and takes them over. Unlike the Flood (which can only infect biologicals, and apparently can't infect Hunters), the race works more like the badguys in Homeworld: Cataclysm. i.e. it infects and modifies the ship itself, along with the unfortunate crew.
Their tactic would be more likely to ram other ships or head for the closest planet though so i'm not sure how you'd represent that.
I'm unfamiliar with Armada rules but perhaps have a system where a commandeered ships weapons fire "randomly" at a much reduced rate of accuracy? Flood ships being more durable as a result of the infection growing within?
In the first Halo Keyes was being used as a form of flood that could integrate with the Covenant ship systems. They Covenant were attempting to preventing it from repairing and getting into orbit so I can definitely see the scope for a Flood fleet.
While I don't play Firestorm Armada, there's a similar group. There's a "race" that is essentially a microorganism of some sort that infects enemy ships and takes them over. Unlike the Flood (which can only infect biologicals, and apparently can't infect Hunters), the race works more like the badguys in Homeworld: Cataclysm. i.e. it infects and modifies the ship itself, along with the unfortunate crew.
Hunters are biological. They're actually colonies of worms that form a single, larger system. No idea why they never had a flood form.
I like the sound of the general balance in the space game. They appear to be playing around with the tech level difference and with only a couple of factions balance should be easier to achieve with such a wide gulf.
The ground game will go a lot better since the Human/Covenant disparity was much less noticeable on the ground (and not just because of the various Spartan projects). The main thing was the Covvies had more manpower (so maybe they'll be the horde force on the ground?) and could afford atrocious losses. And if it ever proved to not even be slightly worth it? They glass the planet and move on. The reason so many of our planets got glassed is because we ended up being much better ground pounders than they had assumed (some background material from Halo 2 had elites questioning the war and wondering why such a competent warrior race wasn't being inducted in to the Covenant).
As for factions, I can't see it being a huge turn-off that there will only be a couple of sides. X-Wing is another big name property and it has done just peachy with two factions for quite a while. The ground game can easily expand out to include Flood and/or the forces of the Forerunner/Didact. And of course late war and post war you have various splinter factions of the Covenant. And humanity can easily have rebels and ONI as extra factions. But two factions to start is 100% fine for a big property like this.
As for factions, I can't see it being a huge turn-off that there will only be a couple of sides. X-Wing is another big name property and it has done just peachy with two factions for quite a while. The ground game can easily expand out to include Flood and/or the forces of the Forerunner/Didact. And of course late war and post war you have various splinter factions of the Covenant. And humanity can easily have rebels and ONI as extra factions. But two factions to start is 100% fine for a big property like this.
X-Wing is definitely the exception to the rule, which doesn't make it any more (or less likely) that Halo would be able to pull off a 2 faction game, except that Spartan could try to copy some of the things that FFG did to make the 2 faction issue not an issue.
Honestly, I still am not sure how well FFG is going to be able to pull it off with Armada, because at the X-Wing scale what makes it okay to only have 2 factions is because you can field such a wide variety of different types of fleets, and then once you add in the unique pilots to the mix, it helps to ensure that very few forces feel the same. With Armada and Halo, the challenge is going to be getting out enough different (and recognizable) types of ships that are well-balanced enough in the rules so that players feel comfortable taking all sorts of different configurations of fleets.
Instead, if every player is taking roughly the same mixture of ships, either because there isn't enough variety available or because the rules are broken with certain ships dominating, then the lack of factions will become a major Achilles heel.
And while you're 100% right about the number of splinter factions that can be incorporated for Halo (on both sides), the question still will be: How different can/will those splinter factions feel? Star Wars has the huge advantage of having several movies plus decades of video games and expanded canon to draw from. Halo does have a deep canon, but I don't think most people are as aware of it. FFG can (and did) put out ships from the old X-Wing/Tie-Fighter video game series, and those ships were instantly recognizable to any fan who had played those games back in the day. On the Halo side, while I've read about ONI and human rebels, I have no idea what makes their ships any different from the UNSC (if there are any differences)...and there certainly isn't the same level of 'named characters' to use as Halo pilots like there is for X-Wing either.
So while I am definitely interested/optimistic, there is a lot of room for failure here because of the limitation of the number of factions.
No one in the universe wants to field a Flood army. They are boring enough just pllinking away at them in game. And really, who is possibly going to want to play anything but the Master Chief side? I see lots of Red vs Blue matches.
I want a mini of the stupid giant talking plant from the end of Halo 2.
ArtIsGreat wrote: No one in the universe wants to field a Flood army. They are boring enough just pllinking away at them in game. And really, who is possibly going to want to play anything but the Master Chief side? I see lots of Red vs Blue matches.
I want a mini of the stupid giant talking plant from the end of Halo 2.
While I agree with you if you're talking about Flood in space (ramming speed!), but Flood on the ground in a 28mm game should be as fun to play as any faction in any miniature wargame. Every flood form would have its own characteristics and special rules based on the host it took over, so a Flood Brute would be different than a Flood Elite, etc. Flood also have the ability to man vehicles and shoot with some forms (humans mainly). Plus you'd be able to take over enemy troops and turn them into Flood on the tabletop, which is always cool.
I don't know how Microsoft handles the Halo license now that 343 is making their core games, but back when Bungie was making Halo and Microsoft had a different studio make Halo Wars (the RTS video game), they were allowed to create new units that had never existed before to fully flesh out the RTS experience. Perhaps Spartan will have a bit of that leeway as well (I kind of hope so)?
And as for everyone only wanting to play humans? No way. I played an Elite back in Halo 2's multiplayer, and the one thing that has always driven me nuts about Halo is that the competitive multiplayer has always been just boring Spartan vs. Spartan, instead of fully embracing their own universe and making some form of multiplayer where you have player-controlled Spartans vs. player-controlled Elites/Brutes and each side is backed up by AI Marines & lesser Covie units. That would be so amazing and it irks me every single Halo iteration that they don't do anything like that.
So yeah, I'd love to play the Covenant (Elite-focused, if there's splinter factions)...way more than the UNSC.
There's normal Covenant pre and post Halo 3. Then after Halo 3, there's Storm Covenant, and whatever groups that the former Covenant splintered in to. Also, the Forerunners, and Drone armies.
All in all, this is a great license to mine, and to be frank, I'm super surprised it took this long for it to be licensed this way.
I wonder about the license though, is this another case of a long chain of sub licenses, similar to how Prodos got AVP?
yakface wrote: And as for everyone only wanting to play humans? No way. I played an Elite back in Halo 2's multiplayer, and the one thing that has always driven me nuts about Halo is that the competitive multiplayer has always been just boring Spartan vs. Spartan, instead of fully embracing their own universe and making some form of multiplayer where you have player-controlled Spartans vs. player-controlled Elites/Brutes and each side is backed up by AI Marines & lesser Covie units. That would be so amazing and it irks me every single Halo iteration that they don't do anything like that.
So yeah, I'd love to play the Covenant (Elite-focused, if there's splinter factions)...way more than the UNSC.
I too played an Elite in multi-player and was very pissed that Halo 4 removed that ability. Yak, you ever play Reach's Horde Mode? If you played an Elite in it, you actually played on the Computer's side alongside the AI rather than with the Spartans. I kinda wish they had included some Marines/ODST to back up the Spartans, but half of what you're talking about is better than it not existing at all, right?
I'm definitely going Covie on all fronts when these are released.
ArtIsGreat wrote: No one in the universe wants to field a Flood army. They are boring enough just pllinking away at them in game. And really, who is possibly going to want to play anything but the Master Chief side? I see lots of Red vs Blue matches.
I want a mini of the stupid giant talking plant from the end of Halo 2.
While I agree with you if you're talking about Flood in space (ramming speed!), but Flood on the ground in a 28mm game should be as fun to play as any faction in any miniature wargame. Every flood form would have its own characteristics and special rules based on the host it took over, so a Flood Brute would be different than a Flood Elite, etc. Flood also have the ability to man vehicles and shoot with some forms (humans mainly). Plus you'd be able to take over enemy troops and turn them into Flood on the tabletop, which is always cool.
"Ramming speed" made me laugh and yeah, that might be a bit boring. For a ground game though, I agree, they could be a great third faction.
Hoyt wrote: I loved Halo's depiction of space combat since the Fall of Reach novel. This release has me so excited , It's what I've always wanted
I'm definitely picking up some ships as soon as they are released, regardless of whether or not anyone near me will play it.
The space battle for reach as described in the novel is truly epic. If I can re-create it with this game then Spartan win the contents of my wallet several times over. (between this and the terminator game this year could get expensive, so much for painting more than I buy)
The story as told in the novel is better than the game in nearly every way in fact.
Even if there were only two factions (hey there could be more), there are a number of franchises with only 2, and I would happily be on board. Heck even 40k has 2 factions.. Spesh Murheens and Not-SpeshMurheens. I say bring it on!
Hoyt wrote: I loved Halo's depiction of space combat since the Fall of Reach novel. This release has me so excited , It's what I've always wanted
I'm definitely picking up some ships as soon as they are released, regardless of whether or not anyone near me will play it.
The space battle for reach as described in the novel is truly epic. If I can re-create it with this game then Spartan win the contents of my wallet several times over. (between this and the terminator game this year could get expensive, so much for painting more than I buy)
The story as told in the novel is better than the game in nearly every way in fact.
I agree, Reach butchered the great last stand in the novel and made it feel no where as epic.
Still didn't the novel's battle have around 150 UNCS ships versus like 500 Covenant vessels? Recreating that would not be cheap at all . But if those pics look as good as the finished product, it would look amazing.
I wonder if there will be a mechanic for AI like Cortana? She wasn't the only one, but she was pretty unique in her abilities.
Covenant AI being typically less advanced. Flood could have "Rampant" AI that they had corrupted or versions of the Keyes "proto-gravemind" that could interface with captured ships.
Cortana, Pillar of Autumn wrote:A dozen Covenant superior battleships against a single Halcyon-class light cruiser. Given those odds, I'm content with three ... make that four kills.
Cortana, Cairo Station wrote:Registering all hostile vessels inside the kill-zone. Thirteen cruisers, two Assault carriers. I'm going loud!
I'm also assuming there might be some kind of boarding action mechanic given how prolific it was throughout the series.
I think flood could work in space as a slightly less accurate but more durable version of the Covenant and Human ships. Must have to have the ability to ram!
Medium of Death wrote: I wonder if there will be a mechanic for AI like Cortana? She wasn't the only one, but she was pretty unique in her abilities.
Covenant AI being typically less advanced. Flood could have "Rampant" AI that they had corrupted or versions of the Keyes "proto-gravemind" that could interface with captured ships.
Cortana, Pillar of Autumn wrote:A dozen Covenant superior battleships against a single Halcyon-class light cruiser. Given those odds, I'm content with three ... make that four kills.
Cortana, Cairo Station wrote:Registering all hostile vessels inside the kill-zone. Thirteen cruisers, two Assault carriers. I'm going loud!
I'm also assuming there might be some kind of boarding action mechanic given how prolific it was throughout the series.
I think flood could work in space as a slightly less accurate but more durable version of the Covenant and Human ships. Must have to have the ability to ram!
Oh yeah, I remember in one novel where there was some space combat and Cortana was simultaneously hacking into the enemy AI and eventually disabled their ship. Having different A.I.s that you can pick to upgrade your ships to that give them each unique abilities the way X-Wing has different pilots, would be awesome!
And yeah, if Microsoft gives Spartan some leeway to bend what has been depicted before about Flood space combat, they could potentially give the Flood a bit of variety.
Considering it's been stated in an interview with Neil and Derek from Spartan Games on the Element 270 podcast that so far Microsoft has given them no IP qualms and even let them design several new ship models for the game, I can imagine they'll get some leeway to make it actually work as a game diversity wise by sounds of it!
On the forums, a designer said that they would be limited at Assault Carriers, which are approximately Infinity in length.
If you want to play scale games, the Covenant Supercarrier would be 57 inches long. (approx. 30km in game)
So expect both Assault Carriers and the UNSC Infinity.
To add to GenRifDrake, the Spartan games people said that Microsoft let them invent ships to fill in gaps in respective nation's line-ups. For example, the two large ships in the fleet picture, the Covenant Heavy Cruiser and the UNSC Heavy Carrier were created by Spartan Games.
As for the Flood: I'd like to see them as a possibly Solitaire opponent, give them some basic logic and massive numbers. That fleet could be about a few high capability ships covering for a wave of boarding craft, not very interesting to play but possibly a ton of fun to play against.
Another reason to root for the flood: they could be stand-ins for Tyranids in BFG.
After playing BFG for years, I'm totally okay with the ships not being in scale. Otherwise small craft would be pin head size, and huge ships would be cumbersome.
All they need to make me happy if afordable plastic spartans and covenant in 28mm.
I already have 10 copies of the Halo Tabletop Game, and a complete collection of Halo Action Clix. I mostly just need more Covenant and vehicles
I just hope that they don't apply their current shipping practices to Halo. Tons of box sets and no single purchases, forcing people to buy ships and even whole squadrons they might not need for that one single model, unless you go through their own expensive website.
Love their rules, love their models, but their sale models are utter crap.
BRB wrote: I just hope that they don't apply their current shipping practices to Halo. Tons of box sets and no single purchases, forcing people to buy ships and even whole squadrons they might not need for that one single model, unless you go through their own expensive website.
Love their rules, love their models, but their sale models are utter crap.
All ships individually purchasable. Been that way for a while. They did this because people wanted to buy bits, so they got a guy onto it and he managed to sort it out. Thats the cool thing about spartan.
I must admit, I am hoping these will be cheaper (by dint of being plastic) than the Firestorm stuff. Several times I have looked at that game and the resin/pewter prices have put me off. Ideally, I'd buy these Halo ones at no more than £15 for the largest ships, before discount.
BRB wrote: I just hope that they don't apply their current shipping practices to Halo. Tons of box sets and no single purchases, forcing people to buy ships and even whole squadrons they might not need for that one single model, unless you go through their own expensive website.
Love their rules, love their models, but their sale models are utter crap.
All ships individually purchasable. Been that way for a while. They did this because people wanted to buy bits, so they got a guy onto it and he managed to sort it out. Thats the cool thing about spartan.
May wanna read what BRB said more carefully, cause he actually mentioned the exact route you just linked to:
BRB wrote: unless you go through their own expensive website.
Well, fortunately, as has been pointed out, you can buy singles from their webstore.
It may not be at a 30% discount from some website, but its there if you desperately require only 1 ship and not a single one more. I can only imagine this trend continuing with their Halo game.
Perhaps in the future online webstores will also offer singles, but until then, its a small price to pay for a company that is really one of the smaller fish and needs to maximize their product to shelf space ratio in order to be competitive for B&M stores.
Cause they changed the size of units and early-adaptors are forced to buy additional units to get proper-sized units
Yeah, I find myself in that position. Though, It depends on what you mean by proper-sized....maxing out a squadron size is not always desired or required . And there are other ways to fill out squadrons than via the Spartan website...there is eBay, old stock at stores, and even community trade forums like the one here on DakkaDakka. The website is just the most convenient method. By and by, the shift to box sets directly alleviates the old "hot dogs in packs of 8, buns in packs of 10" problem Spartan had with its blisters, since the boxes now come with enough ships to max out a squadron if desired. So, I would call that a definite improvement.
To try and steer this back towards the topic, this whole thing might be a non-issue, as Spartan Neil has said in interviews that the Halo ship game will have no fleet-building rules. Not sure what that means exactly, but it sounds possible that there won't even be squadrons in the game in the way that we know them in US/FA/DW.
One thing they mentioned was a very 'free' game which took a significant stylistic guide from the video games.
That would argue against most of the game design conventions which, while making sense for someone who is used to miniature games, doesn't make sense to a non-miniature gamer.
I listened to the podcast. One thing mentioned is that they do have the ability to create new ships and have already done so. I will probably stick with FSA for my ship game, but I am very interested in a skirmish game.
Blacksails wrote: Well, fortunately, as has been pointed out, you can buy singles from their webstore.
It may not be at a 30% discount from some website, but its there if you desperately require only 1 ship and not a single one more. I can only imagine this trend continuing with their Halo game.
Perhaps in the future online webstores will also offer singles, but until then, its a small price to pay for a company that is really one of the smaller fish and needs to maximize their product to shelf space ratio in order to be competitive for B&M stores.
In most cases, it just doesn't afford to buy the single over the box set. Take the Terran Carrier for example:
Carriers and Escorts used to be available seperately and only seperately. A Carrier was priced @11,50€, without shipping since I was able to pick it up at my local store. Now they pulled the carrer blister and the escort blister and packed them together in a box set @€23,00. If I want a second carrier for my fleet, I'd either have to buy the €23 box set and throw away the escorts that are included, since as a loyal veteran customer I already have all the escorts I can field from the old escort blister and it simply isn't worthwhile selling them on the secondary market, OR go through the spartan web store and pay ~€30 (incl. shipping) for the single carrier without the escorts.
So I'm buying and throwing/giving away ships that I don't need, because it's cheaper than just buying the single ship I do need at more than twice the price than before. I don't know if it's because their distributers bullied them into pulling the blisters or if it was by their own choice, but it's very customer unfriendly.
I'm really excited about this game. I don't have a space combat game to play, primarily because no one around me seems to play space combat games! Hopefully the Halo license will entice people into it!
Although I should honestly just breakdown and buy some BFG fleets...
I am both incredibly excited and deeply saddened. I have spent so much time, effort and money on putting together a 28mm UNSC ground force that the idea of them suddenly being released as actual models (and likely better than my conversions!) is somewhat gargantuanly disheartening, especially as I am just finishing up the last touches of paint on my Marine. Still, can't wait for space combat! I'm purely excited for that part!
Oh man, those ships look beautiful. I know nothing about Halo, but I want those ships, especially the covenant ones. Hopefully they will be similarly sized with the Dropfleet Commander plastics coming out.
I've wanted 28mm ODSTs for the longest time, along with MA5Bs. I'll probably buy into the space game but I'd be super excited if they did the Firestorm 10mm mass combat and 28mm spec op thing.
caylentor wrote: I've wanted 28mm ODSTs for the longest time, along with MA5Bs. I'll probably buy into the space game but I'd be super excited if they did the Firestorm 10mm mass combat and 28mm spec op thing.
Same here 10mm-15mm doesn't matter for me as long as huge battles.
Most iconic stuff I think is ground vehicles, tons of that in multiplayer Halo games. A 10-15mm game with warthogs, mongoose, banshees, prowler, chopper, ghost, pelican, phantom, wraith, scorpion, that sounds cool. The massive ship stuff, I could recognize like one design for each side. Still interested because its in the Halo universe and it could be cool, just much more interested in the ground stuff.
Yeah, I did have a thought of, 'I might buy the pillar of autumn if they do one' only to not realise that... It was the same class of ship in the fleet already. - so I guess for me at least the halo ships aren't that recognisable after all.
After hearing Warren on BOW it sounds like 15mm is the best scale for a Halo ground game. But maybe they'll do some other collector type pieces at other scales like Dropzone do.
It could work fine in 10mm too or whatever scale Planetfall is, I mean just look at what they've managed to produce for Planetfall, that scale would do fine imo. Made me sorta abit sad that they mention dystopia wars a lot when discussing scale would it be 6mm or 15mm etc and not ONCE did Planetfall get mentioned, at all, just wow... D: How under or over the radar is that game to most people? It looks GORGEOUS.
Can't even talk about scale? Hmm, wonder if they're toying with going larger than expected, most Halo vehicles are pretty small. Just the scorpion and bad guy scorpion are tank sized. The elephant is an ugly boring box,I'll put a shoebox on the table and no one will know the difference.
) has a lot of vehicles and their later games a more push for larger scale battles. things you just cannot do well in 28mm but can do very well in 15mm and smaller.
