Switch Theme:

Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit  [RSS] 

How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/05 22:19:59


Post by: durecellrabbit


It feels to me like Dakka is quieter about non-GW games these day. Since 40k seems to be undergoing a resurgence of popularity I was wondering how other games which I don't hear much about are doing? These games include WMH, KoW, Malifaux, Infinity, Gates of Antares and X-Wing.

To start us off, my club played a lot of FoW and BA.

FoW has had a new edition that has proved fairly divisive, although it is too early to see what impact that is having if at all. My club has for the most part ignored the new edition and are playing a lot of the older 3rd edition. They've started an EW desert campaign.

BA used to be played a lot at my club but after the 2nd edition came out they slowly lost interest and have been trying out other WW2 games like Rapid Fire and Iron Cross. I've not been following how BA is doing elsewhere but it still seems popular.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/05 22:54:12


Post by: Azreal13


It's fairly common that if a game has its own space to discuss online then the traffic on Dakka tends to be proportionately lower.

The exception to this would be WMH, which has seen its own forum close, and a drop in Dakka traffic if anything. That should be sounding a big awooga style alarm at PP if anyone is paying attention.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/05 23:37:53


Post by: lord_blackfang


Locals are mostly playing Guild Ball, X-wing and a bit of 9th age. I play KoW with two regular opponents.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/06 03:02:09


Post by: Rygnan


I guess this thread is pretty appropriate to detail my last 2 years of hobby, because it's when I've replaced GW games with other games, and my group are one of the few non-40k groups at my FLGS. When I moved away from the local GW to the FLGS in January/February last year, I did so with the sole intention of starting Warmachine with a few friends of mine. We had a good, if small, group (4-5 regulars with a few others that would appear every now and then), but after a few months we had slowed down due to various commitments and other games. At this time I was also feeling major burnout with the systems I played due to a combination of major depression and wanting to play other systems (August last year was the last time I played 40k, with Warmachine not long after).

By that point Infinity had grown a small group there, so I was playing that (still do occasionally, love the game) and the core of that group I still game with frequently. I had also started Malifaux as a side game, but around this time it had become my main game in a big way (I was playing 2-3 games a week on a slow week). The Malifaux group was most of the same people as the Infinity group, and so we flip flopped between the two for a while depending on how we felt at the time. Locally now we have seen a huge drop in Malifaux at the store for a variety of reasons (mainly a single toxic player ruining the experience and poor management of events/game days by the henchman), but we've kept up playing at one of the guys' house most weekends.

Another reason Malifaux has dropped off is because of the rise of the Batman Miniatures Game locally. My local store began stocking it in October of last year, and soon after that I was organising tournaments and events for it. We absorbed the group from slightly further north of us (turns out most of that group was closer to us than there, so it was more appealing overall) and it all sort of snowballed from there. We have weekly meets now, and regularly get upwards of 8 people attending. It seems to be one of the stronger groups for the game in general from what I can see, and we have lots of plans for expansion in the future. We all just enjoy playing the game, and we have a great group, so I'm expecting we only continue to grow


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/06 09:07:14


Post by: Herzlos


GW is likely to always be the big player, and a new 40K will take a lot of the interest away for a while.

That said, after a flurry of 40K purchases and games, it looks like my local group has gone back to Malifaux, Guild Ball, and now Bolt Action. I haven't had much chance to participate though.

So it looks a bit like the 40K honeymoon is wearing off already.

Lots of people getting excited over Shadespire and Necromunda though.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/06 09:58:37


Post by: Mr Morden


Our group (me included) tends to drift from one game to another every few months - I have so many skirmish games that have played once or never.....

Malifaux was popular, but that's pretty much dead, Dropzone is limping along. Bolt Action is still going

but we are a small group.

40k is about the only constant.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/06 11:36:35


Post by: Wayniac


8th Edition killed warmahordes at my flgs, which had been a warmahordes shop for years during 6th and 7th edition. Nothing else is known or cared for here. I am.in what is essentially GW country: either you play 40k, or you don't play at all. Even AOS is dead and buried

There's two guys who are trying to revitalize kings of war (doesn't seem to be working as I usually only see them playing
against each other) butother mantic stock for DeadZone/Warpath is languishing on the shelves. No other game is even seen or talked about here. I think there's some X-Wing going on still.

I find it really sad, honestly. So many interesting games that nobody wants to learn about because it's not GW.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/06 11:56:52


Post by: Osbad


At my club there are two sorts of people and its split roughly 50:50 out of the 30+ attendees. There are those that only play GeeDub (AoS with some 40k and some BB, but they only play one of them, not all 3) and those that will try anything and have quite wide collections of various games and on a club night will tend to play "anything but" those 3 games. I include LotR/the Hobbit in the "anything but" category.

It seems to be a personality thing as much as a financial thing. Some folks like to go deep into a game and enjoy the familiar, while others prefer breadth of experience and trying something different.

Of the non-big-3 the most popular games (i.e. games that I have seen played by people other than me and my 1 fellow gamer-magpie) are X-Wing, Frostgrave, Malifaux and Bolt Action.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/06 13:37:14


Post by: AaronWilson


Guildball is the biggest game that's now GW, but X-Wing & Imperial assault do well as well.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/06 16:42:52


Post by: supreme overlord


honestly, anything non-GW is really suffering at my FLGS. Infinity is like seeing a unicorn and once in a while you'll catch a glimpse of guildball or malifaux. I NEVER see warmahordes any more,it's like it dropped off the face of the earth here. xwing is played but not much in shop.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/06 17:07:40


Post by: Mugaaz


I see a lot of Infinity and decent amount of WMH. GW side I see a lot of 40k and very little AoS.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/06 18:52:28


Post by: daedalus


We're probably mostly done with 40k at this point. I watched a GMDK evaporate in a turn from a squad of dark reapers getting free shots at it because it deep struck somewhere on the table. Had a wound left. No recourse. Didn't even get a full turn before going to worst profile. Dude kinda lost his cool at that point. Later on that game, when we realized that GW brought invisibility back for Eldar, it kinda sucked the rest of the air out of the room, since that kind of shenanigans were largely why we quit 7th in the first place.

I want to start malifaux, but I don't have the time to properly get into it and no one else that I know plays it.. The guys mentioned above are trying to talk me into Infinity though. I'm not stoked about the minis and the rules look like it's a lot of micromanagement, but I'm trying to suspend judgement until I play it.

Other than that, we just finished up the Pathfinder game we had running for over a year, and I have an on-again off-again Shadowrun game that I'm trying to enjoy.



How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/06 18:53:12


Post by: Desubot


Maifaux is making a huge come back at my store.

should be interesting.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/06 22:21:58


Post by: Howard A Treesong


I buy a little GW for painting, but I play MtG, Imperial Assault, collect the Batman range with the intention of playing, and am getting into board games with A Feast for Odin most recently.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/06 22:53:07


Post by: -Loki-


 durecellrabbit wrote:
It feels to me like Dakka is quieter about non-GW games these day. Since 40k seems to be undergoing a resurgence of popularity I was wondering how other games which I don't hear much about are doing? These games include WMH, KoW, Malifaux, Infinity, Gates of Antares and X-Wing.


Dakka has always been quiet on non-GW games, because it's predominantly a GW game forum. Malifaux can barely squeek out a handful of posts in a month, Infinity is basically a dozen people talking amongst ourselves, and most games are relegated to some miscellaneous sub forum and if it's lucky a News and Rumours thread. All that changed lately was the staff took the sub forums that no one posted in and consolidated them into Miscellaneous sub forums.

So the current atmosphere os mostly GW talk isn't really new.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/06 22:56:20


Post by: Polonius


Also, Dakka fills a void, in that there is no single central channel for discussing GW games. Every other game has dedicated forums and official (or de facto) facebook groups.



How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/07 00:44:24


Post by: thekingofkings


huge amounts of warmahordes (CoI blew shadespire off the map here, granted it was about as eagerly awaited as a stomach ulcer) guild ball till you wanna barf, X-wing of course, some malifaux..about the only constant is no AoS at all and maybe 1 player left for 40k? he may have given up by now.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/07 01:11:06


Post by: TheAuldGrump


Playing in a Kings of War league, and running a Kings of War game for four nine year old players.

Last week's Kids of War game was... disappointing - no rules arguments or even questions - they just... played. I wasn't needed at all. I think that they have reached the point where all that I do is tell them the scenario and set up the terrain. (Typically, each kid gets three games - two one-on-one battles, and one doubles.)

Got in a few Vanguard games, using the Alpha rules, but we have not tried the campaign rules yet.

And Pathfinder... two games with grownups, and one with twelve(?!) nine year olds. (Practicing for when our little one is old enough to play - she turned one full year in September. : )

The Auld Grump


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/07 01:38:22


Post by: Thargrim


X wing, Magic the Gathering etc are doing well in my local clubs. But these get played off to the side in a comic store which is the only thing resembling a LGS around me. I used to be real into X wing but i've kind of fallen out of love with Star Wars lately. For me its all Shadespire and Necromunda for the near future. I'm putting regular 40k on ice, it's too large scale for me and the more games i've tried playing the more I realize I do better with shorter, smaller games that still have some level of hobby aspect.

I find that I have a ton of difficulty commiting to one faction (and in 40k/AoS that can become an expensive problem), so playing smaller games that allow me to collect multiple teams is better.

Back when chaos daemons got their first plastic release it semed warseer was a hot spot for GW stuff. But that site has more or less died off, I used to spend as much time there as I would over here.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/07 01:52:48


Post by: thekingofkings


 Thargrim wrote:
X wing, Magic the Gathering etc are doing well in my local clubs. But these get played off to the side in a comic store which is the only thing resembling a LGS around me. I used to be real into X wing but i've kind of fallen out of love with Star Wars lately. For me its all Shadespire and Necromunda for the near future. I'm putting regular 40k on ice, it's too large scale for me and the more games i've tried playing the more I realize I do better with shorter, smaller games that still have some level of hobby aspect.

I find that I have a ton of difficulty commiting to one faction (and in 40k/AoS that can become an expensive problem), so playing smaller games that allow me to collect multiple teams is better.

Back when chaos daemons got their first plastic release it semed warseer was a hot spot for GW stuff. But that site has more or less died off, I used to spend as much time there as I would over here.


Have you been able to give Malifaux a shot?


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/07 02:20:03


Post by: Thargrim


 thekingofkings wrote:
 Thargrim wrote:
X wing, Magic the Gathering etc are doing well in my local clubs. But these get played off to the side in a comic store which is the only thing resembling a LGS around me. I used to be real into X wing but i've kind of fallen out of love with Star Wars lately. For me its all Shadespire and Necromunda for the near future. I'm putting regular 40k on ice, it's too large scale for me and the more games i've tried playing the more I realize I do better with shorter, smaller games that still have some level of hobby aspect.

I find that I have a ton of difficulty commiting to one faction (and in 40k/AoS that can become an expensive problem), so playing smaller games that allow me to collect multiple teams is better.

Back when chaos daemons got their first plastic release it semed warseer was a hot spot for GW stuff. But that site has more or less died off, I used to spend as much time there as I would over here.


Have you been able to give Malifaux a shot?


I've seen the name around, but never really checked it out tbh.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/07 02:25:47


Post by: thekingofkings


 Thargrim wrote:
 thekingofkings wrote:
 Thargrim wrote:
X wing, Magic the Gathering etc are doing well in my local clubs. But these get played off to the side in a comic store which is the only thing resembling a LGS around me. I used to be real into X wing but i've kind of fallen out of love with Star Wars lately. For me its all Shadespire and Necromunda for the near future. I'm putting regular 40k on ice, it's too large scale for me and the more games i've tried playing the more I realize I do better with shorter, smaller games that still have some level of hobby aspect.

I find that I have a ton of difficulty commiting to one faction (and in 40k/AoS that can become an expensive problem), so playing smaller games that allow me to collect multiple teams is better.

Back when chaos daemons got their first plastic release it semed warseer was a hot spot for GW stuff. But that site has more or less died off, I used to spend as much time there as I would over here.


Have you been able to give Malifaux a shot?


I've seen the name around, but never really checked it out tbh.


It is a very very good skirmish game and really quite affordable, it has a "weird west horror" kind of feel. crews are small...https://www.wyrd-games.net/malifaux/

they have a free vassal on it as well. it is card based (no dice) and plays on 3x3.

you may like it, I would recommend it highly.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/07 02:30:00


Post by: daedalus


I played a demo game of it at gencon a couple years ago. Liked it enough to pick up a starter pack and the deck for it. Never been able to find anyone to really play with though, so it's sat around.

The randomness is handled with a card deck. It's a really neat concept.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/07 02:33:56


Post by: thekingofkings


 daedalus wrote:
I played a demo game of it at gencon a couple years ago. Liked it enough to pick up a starter pack and the deck for it. Never been able to find anyone to really play with though, so it's sat around.

The randomness is handled with a card deck. It's a really neat concept.


Its really big around here. the cards help some of the randomness be "planned" you can manage with your hand to do some things you really need to make work, I have really enjoyed the interaction of the game.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/07 02:35:24


Post by: Cothonian


I just wish I had people to play X-Wing with. T_T


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/07 02:53:00


Post by: thekingofkings


 Cothonian wrote:
I just wish I had people to play X-Wing with. T_T


Heh, I cant go to any FLGS here and not get hounded to play it, try it, have I heard of it, etc.... we should trade locations


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/07 03:18:19


Post by: amazingturtles


I've been trying to build a kings of war army and i've got a friend who is doing the same, but it's probably going to be a while before either of us manage a game. It's a fun process though!


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/07 03:28:57


Post by: Zid


I bolster a huge board game collection I still add too, even though I just restarted 40k. I quit Warmahordes because that game was riddled with WAAC gamers... to the point it drained any pleasure from the game.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/07 04:06:57


Post by: ZergSmasher


I pretty much only play 40k, but I get the occasional game of Magic: The Gathering in with my buddies (Commander/EDH format). My main FLGS (my hometown has two) mostly has GW stuff (40k, AoS, and Blood Bowl) as far as tabletop goes, but also has a lot of MtG and Pokemon TCG events for all age groups. The other FLGS in town has pretty much stopped caring about GW games. They continue to stock a token selection of AoS and a slightly better selection of 40k stuff, but as far as I know they host no events or tournaments for either. However, they have a pretty good scene for X-wing, Kings of War, Infinity, WarmaHordes, and Malifaux. They stock Guildball and Imperial Assault, but I've never seen either played much if ever (same goes for Dreadball).


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/07 12:47:34


Post by: leopard


FoW v4 has died on its feet and the staggering corpse collapsed at the feet of v3 which is still going nicely

Team Yankee is doing reasonably well

Otherwise a whole host of games are thriving, DBA, test of honour etc


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/07 23:55:54


Post by: durecellrabbit


 -Loki- wrote:
Dakka has always been quiet on non-GW games, because it's predominantly a GW game forum. Malifaux can barely squeek out a handful of posts in a month, Infinity is basically a dozen people talking amongst ourselves, and most games are relegated to some miscellaneous sub forum and if it's lucky a News and Rumours thread. All that changed lately was the staff took the sub forums that no one posted in and consolidated them into Miscellaneous sub forums.

So the current atmosphere os mostly GW talk isn't really new.


I guess it was just my imagination but it felt like there was more discussion about non-GW games back when I first joined around 2014-15.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/08 01:09:37


Post by: thekingofkings


 durecellrabbit wrote:
 -Loki- wrote:
Dakka has always been quiet on non-GW games, because it's predominantly a GW game forum. Malifaux can barely squeek out a handful of posts in a month, Infinity is basically a dozen people talking amongst ourselves, and most games are relegated to some miscellaneous sub forum and if it's lucky a News and Rumours thread. All that changed lately was the staff took the sub forums that no one posted in and consolidated them into Miscellaneous sub forums.

So the current atmosphere os mostly GW talk isn't really new.


I guess it was just my imagination but it felt like there was more discussion about non-GW games back when I first joined around 2014-15.


being "dakka" I am surprised there is any non gw talk at all.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/08 22:46:49


Post by: Mario


 thekingofkings wrote:
being "dakka" I am surprised there is any non gw talk at all.
If I remember correctly dakkadakka was initially a forum for a local store/community or something like that. It just slowly expanded over time and started including more than just GW games.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/09 01:09:59


Post by: Wayniac


Mario wrote:
 thekingofkings wrote:
being "dakka" I am surprised there is any non gw talk at all.
If I remember correctly dakkadakka was initially a forum for a local store/community or something like that. It just slowly expanded over time and started including more than just GW games.


Correct, but as far back as I recall (I started coming here... around 1998 I think? Back when it was still on EZboard with the flash menu) it was a dedicated online forum community, just it had an attached legit store (also called DakkaDakka IIRC) with a real-life community as well.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/09 01:33:03


Post by: ScarletRose


I've only seen a few people playing GW games at my LGS, 40k or Shadow War (that Necromunda style one?).

The X-wing scene has been great up until fairly recently when the player who'd be doing most of the organizing and FB posts moved out of the area. Since then it's up and down as people just sporadically show up.

You never really know how important an organizer is, even if it's just for weekly stuff, than when you don't have one.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/09 02:06:39


Post by: thekingofkings


GW is a wasteland here, but alot of other games have people actively promoting them so that does have a lot to do with it.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/09 03:46:58


Post by: ScootyPuffJunior


I decided to finally jump into FoW with the release of V.4 and there's a pretty solid group of people that play mid-war in our store along with plenty of LW and EW players. There's a pretty big BA group that have a league going and I'm thinking about joining it. Also, I think Battlegroup has a nice stable of players in my area. I stopped playing X-Wing a year ago but it's still pretty popular at my store and so is Armada.

GW probably still has the largest player base in my store though.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/09 03:47:57


Post by: thekingofkings


Flames of War really looks like a damn good game, IF I was in to historicals I would certainly give it a go!


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/09 12:26:53


Post by: leopard


FoW is pretty good, V4 as a set of rules is "ok", not what was needed but there you go - the current lists are anaemic as hell though compared to the last version which is what has caused many of the issues.

Plus unless you want the war in the desert it basically doesn't work


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/09 16:13:57


Post by: Elbows


If you're doing historical WW2, skip FoW and go for the Battlefront series ---- absolutely heads and tails above FoW.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/09 19:52:40


Post by: Easy E


 Elbows wrote:
If you're doing historical WW2, skip FoW and go for the Battlefront series ---- absolutely heads and tails above FoW.


X2!

I would also strongly recommend Chain of Command too!


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/09 22:00:33


Post by: TheAuldGrump


Instead of the game for nine year old players, tonight, we are having a painting session.

Of those four players, only nine are showing up, with two skipping the session. (Yes, I know that the math doesn't work - some of these kids aren't in any of my games - Sam is bringing in players from her Pathfinder game.... Such a pushy young woman. )

The Auld Grump


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/10 21:31:53


Post by: LuciusAR


 Elbows wrote:
If you're doing historical WW2, skip FoW and go for the Battlefront series ---- absolutely heads and tails above FoW.


I've not heard of the Battlefront series. Do you mean Battlegroup? If so I agree they are superb rules.

Not played COC, but I can recommend Crossfire if you want to play an infantry based company level game. Might take some getting used to as it doesn't use a traditional turn based structure, rather one player has the initiative and gets to move and shoot to their hearts content untill they lose it by failing to do something when the initiative switches to the otherc player. Once wrap your head round it it's a great game.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/10 22:14:00


Post by: leopard


 Easy E wrote:
 Elbows wrote:
If you're doing historical WW2, skip FoW and go for the Battlefront series ---- absolutely heads and tails above FoW.


X2!

I would also strongly recommend Chain of Command too!


Own but have yet to play Chain of Command, the deployment system looks amazing, why don't more games have something like that in there?

Also heard good things about Battlegroup


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/11 00:01:27


Post by: ZenBadger


I nearly got a small group interested in FOW but the terrible plastic infantry killed it stone dead. Bolt Action is the WW2 game of choice right now with strong showings of Dan Mersey's rampant series at times. We are currently playing the early mediaeval period with Lion Rampant, Middle Earth with Dragon Rampant, ECW with Pikeman's Lament and Colonial imagi-nations with The Men Who Would Be King.

Yes sirree, 25mm round bases are de rigueur at the moment...


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/11 14:09:35


Post by: Modock


Infinity is the only game I play. I just started a 40k army because I made a deal with my friend. If he buys Infinity I'll buy 40k.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/13 01:56:00


Post by: oni


Other gaming = desperately fighting the temptation to start playing the new Legend of the Five Rings LCG.

Too many things competing for my time these days to play more than Warhammer 40,000.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/13 14:30:43


Post by: Mymearan


The only non-GW games played at my club are Infinity (~3-4 people, I have models but haven't played yet), Malifaux (the same people as Inifnity) and Dropfleet Commander (me and two others). The X-Wing guys have a club of their own. Other than that it's all 40k, Necromunda and AoS, all the time. AoS has been growing continually and I'd say we're almost up to 40k in terms of players. Currently a guy is running a very succesful Firestorm Campaign for AoS although I don't have time to participate myself :( Necromunda has been and will be huge. The only person I know who is interested in alternative rule sets and buys rule books from companies like Osprey and Mantic is me, although no one wants to play them with me I don't think anyone else has even heard of them. Rank and file died with WHFB, only a single person keeps trying to get someone to play 9th Age but no one is interested, even those with big WHFB armies. I've never heard anyone mention KoW. There is absolutely zero interest in historicals as well, we are all fantasy/sci-fi nerds.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/13 15:03:10


Post by: Stevefamine


Dropzone Commander, D&D, and so on is 100% me getting players together to game

Guildball, Infinity, and Warmachine is doing great at the local stores, MKIII damaged Warmahordes a bit - it's not as strong. Maybe 10-15 players vs 20+


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/13 17:12:51


Post by: nobody


The 8th edition being played at my LGS is mostly new people or older 40k players who picked up the game again after quitting, there didn't seem to be any overlap with other game systems.

DZC/DFC is mostly the same (2) people, the uncertainty of the future of the games in the US due to the recent purchase of the company makes it difficult to drum up interest.

WM/H still gets played on open nights, my understanding is that people who left it due to their feelings on the direction of the company mostly went to Guildball (which has a bit of a following here) on the official WM/H nights.

Armada/X-Wing tends to have a lot of people, though it's not consistent. I've seen nights where it was virtually every table and nights where there was no-one.

Infinity quietly disappeared a couple of years ago, there's allegedly FOW and Team Yankee but they don't show up on open gaming nights.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/13 19:43:15


Post by: TwilightSparkles


People blame GW for the decline in non-GW but rarely the involved companies.

Privateer since Mark iii is a textbook case of destroying your own fan base through indifference and boardroom echo chamber.

Mantic positioned themselves as a value alternative to GW but then proceeded to raise prices without raising quality and disincentivise retailers through using KS to launch everything.

Warlord turned Bolt Action into a game 40k 7th lite then also increased prices and release ranges supported for a few months.

Hawk killed themselves with KS.

FFG can't maintain a supply chain with reliability and somehow have failed to really capitalise on the resurgence in Star Wars, less said about Runewars the better.

Everyone else basically put prices up so much that GW now looks reasonable and has good support and a decent interaction with customers.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/13 19:53:03


Post by: Wayniac


A lot of it is also, often, the reluctance of people to try something new. A lot of these games are made by much lesser-known companies, and in the USA at least are harder to get stocked in a store, so you often find communities that would be interested in a game, but won't take the plunge to try it because they can't just walk down to the store and get it, and because there's not already support. It's a lot harder to build a community from the ground up when you can reasonably get like 40k people who used to play or are familiar with it at least to give it a shot; that's much harder with a game like Infinity or Malifaux or Bolt Action where it's a lot less well known.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/13 20:32:11


Post by: Battlesong


I don't get to the local shop here a lot, but when I do I have not seen a miniatures game other than 40k; there is a lot of MtG and Yu-Gi-Oh there, along with RPG groups. There's another shop a bit farther out and the people there seem to have a bit of X-Wing mixed in with the GW. Personally a friend of mine and I have split a couple of X-wing starter sets and purchased some other ships, but the power explosion in that game has completely turned me off to trying to keep up or play with anyone else, not to mention the fact that X-wings suck in a game called X-Wing. I do want to try Malifaux, but I don't know anyone else that has any interest at all.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/13 21:02:40


Post by: leopard


Seems to be a bit of a connection between Kickstarter and games floundering - seems a very easy way to make sure FLGS lose interest in supporting and promoting.

Can see the utility of it, but as with mantic its a great way to kill interest.

Seems also to kill the companies who end up with no actual sales.


Agree on Bolt Action, Warlord's historical games (black powder etc) have a very solid IMHO set of rules, Bolt Action could have done with more focus on command and control and less on being yahtzee WW2. Its "ok" but it suffers from 40k disease, trying to be a 10mm - 15mm game in 28mm.

two squads, a support unit and maybe a light vehicle or gun and its good, trying to be a tank v tank game?


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/16 09:08:26


Post by: Just Tony


I wish I had more to add to this. I finally am getting the budget to where I have a significant disposable surplus to spend on plastic. Every time this has happened, a new line of Transformers comes out. Same currently, but I was going to save enough to start into Star Trek: Attack Wing. Now I hear that the game has pretty much gone from company support to life support, and I'm terrified to sink money on what will essentially be a Startfleet ship collection instead of game pieces.

Past that, it's been Classichammer damn near once a month.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/16 09:47:55


Post by: Lovejoy


leopard wrote:
Seems to be a bit of a connection between Kickstarter and games floundering - seems a very easy way to make sure FLGS lose interest in supporting and promoting.

From the perspective of a small games company, a very difficult decision we face is whether to use retail at all... the FLGS seems important in the US, but less so in the UK. But selling through retail will require us to literally double our prices, and still make less profit. The question is, does the increased exposure offset the sales lost through high pricing? Or is selling direct only the better option?

Either way, I know a number of other small miniature companies that have seen drastically reduced sales over the last year, with regular customers stating that they were buying Bloodbowl / 8th and HH stuff instead, so the resurgent form of GW is definitely having an impact.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/16 14:28:27


Post by: Dynas


Kings of War has a pretty big following in my area. 9th age is basically non existent.

Flames of War was my main game, 4th edition divided it big. I am mixed, I like some of the changes to 4th, like arty, but the move orders, smoke, spec rules kinda suck. Probably need to play it a bit more, but I felt they could have just did a 3.5 for balance and it would have been better.

Sooo, that led me back into 40k, been away since 5th to 6th transition, everyone is saying 8th is really good, so back to 40k.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/17 00:27:17


Post by: TheAuldGrump


Kids of War going on right now, and once again, the kids don't really need me.

The scenario is a homebrew mess - meeting engagement, two armies meeting on the road - and deploying during their first turn - out from the road.

First turn, only half the army is deployed, the rest come in on turn two. Units with Vanguard are having fun.

Meeting engagements aren't planned - they just happen.

The outcome of this battle will have direct repercussions in a role playing game.

The Auld Grump


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/20 21:53:58


Post by: SeanDrake


Test of Honour and infinity with a touch of Gates of Antares.

I am lucky to live near the host of the biggest x wing scene that is not the national finals. Friday nite X-wing went from bi-weekly to weekly replacing magic and we get 70-80 people average can spike when nationals are coming up.

8th had a very brief revival and then died on its arse again. Still have a couple.of AoS players. Shade spire sadly did not sell well I think I was one of a handful who picked it up.

On the whole I can get a game of most things with a few days notice so a kinda golden age or it would be if I had any time.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/21 14:50:19


Post by: jtrowell


@TheAuldGrump , I am loving how you describe your "Kids of War" games, I laughted when you mentionned that of your 4 players "only" 9 showed for your painting session. ^_^

Myself I am currently more occupied by my ongoing D&D 4th edition campaign and I play a lots of boardgames that occupy my time, but I am still deeply involved in KoW and trying to recruit more of my friends (most of them stopped playing when they got kids (plus AoS), and I a hopping to convert them once the kids will be old enough that the parent are no longer as exhausted (or even better old enough for the kids to play themselves )


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/22 03:16:43


Post by: TheAuldGrump


jtrowell wrote:
@TheAuldGrump , I am loving how you describe your "Kids of War" games, I laughted when you mentionned that of your 4 players "only" 9 showed for your painting session. ^_^

Myself I am currently more occupied by my ongoing D&D 4th edition campaign and I play a lots of boardgames that occupy my time, but I am still deeply involved in KoW and trying to recruit more of my friends (most of them stopped playing when they got kids (plus AoS), and I a hopping to convert them once the kids will be old enough that the parent are no longer as exhausted (or even better old enough for the kids to play themselves )
Turns out that a bunch of those kids are using the miniatures we painted as an art project for school - and it is doing very well for them.

Sam (short for Samantha) is going to be a danger when she grows up.

She is the youngest of the players in my Tuesday night Pathfinder game - yet somehow it seems to always be her schemes that end up happening. (She is playing a Kitsune witch in what started as Skull & Shackles, but as of tonight has officially sailed off course.)

The Auld Grump


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/22 08:47:54


Post by: Thebiggesthat


A couple of games ticking along, but diminishing in popularity thanks to stupidity at their respective designers.

Kings of War : went from a few people really interested to zero. Turns out FLGS don't stock games where the company is actively trying to avoid you by Kickstarting everything.

Dropzone/Dropfleet: Was the game of choice at the store, we had a really good Talon. So good, he started to work for Hawk. TT Combat made him redundant along with a load of others, after lying to him not a day before. So the interest has dropped off for the time being.

Bolt action: Only thing that seems to be surviving, decent amount of play at both FLGS near me. It's scratching a historical itch that doesn't have a huge amount of competition.

WMH: Dead. Dead dead dead. Turns out messing up distribution, pissing off the user base, and then failing to address said supply issues to FLGS mean dead. On a personal note, good riddance, far too many bad people played it in my store, they can go stink up the atmosphere somewhere else


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/22 09:15:24


Post by: Baron Klatz


Oh wow, I didn't realise kickstarting did that. :/


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/22 09:29:08


Post by: Thebiggesthat


Baron Klatz wrote:
Oh wow, I didn't realise kickstarting did that. :/


If you have 10 interested people that want a shiny new KoW rulebook. Do you

a. Buy it from a retailer for x amount, then spend 5x on models for said system
b. Kickstarter back it, spending 2x on the book and more models.

The counter argument by Mantic is that they do retailer pledges for some projects. But why wait for a retailer when on the same page is a huge discount and loads of exclusive stuff.

The cult of Ronnie is a strange one, they seem more rabid than any other system supporters.

We have one retailer that has stopped bothering with them, and another that is thinking the same. I bought the rulebook from my FLGS, as I have no interest in feeding the greed of Mantic. But like with Dreadball, people lose trust in a company and leave.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/22 15:03:29


Post by: Stevefamine


Hawkwargames was bought out by another compay

They immediatly fired 80% of the team

"Doomtrain" is the correct term. Also another kickstarter/third game?


Considering ditching and selling my $1000~ of Dropzone stuff now


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/22 15:12:09


Post by: Thebiggesthat


 Stevefamine wrote:
Hawkwargames was bought out by another compay

They immediatly fired 80% of the team

"Doomtrain" is the correct term. Also another kickstarter/third game?


Considering ditching and selling my $1000~ of Dropzone stuff now


Don't forget they are ditching the fluff heavy concept that said 'we aren't doing rebs in dropfleet as from a fluff point, it's really stupid' to 'we like money (not to pay staff with)'

I have mine on sale now, from a moral standpoint I can't buy any more, which kills the game for me unfortunately. Hopefully this new Andy Chambers WW2 BoB game scratches the airborne itch


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/22 15:45:47


Post by: Stevefamine


Thebiggesthat wrote:
 Stevefamine wrote:
Hawkwargames was bought out by another compay

They immediatly fired 80% of the team

"Doomtrain" is the correct term. Also another kickstarter/third game?


Considering ditching and selling my $1000~ of Dropzone stuff now


Don't forget they are ditching the fluff heavy concept that said 'we aren't doing rebs in dropfleet as from a fluff point, it's really stupid' to 'we like money (not to pay staff with)'

I have mine on sale now, from a moral standpoint I can't buy any more, which kills the game for me unfortunately. Hopefully this new Andy Chambers WW2 BoB game scratches the airborne itch


Check my dakka gallery lol - I was extremely invested in the game. 3 armies, full table, two dropfleet lists and so on. RIP

It was a genuinely innovative and it scratched the itch that was Epic Armageddon. I always wanted to play as a young kid but by the time I was a teenager that game was OOP. I really liked the two years or so I played DZC


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/23 05:57:48


Post by: nobody


I'm being super cautious on my end RE: DZC/DFC, but I'm not dumping anything yet. I'm waiting to see where everything goes as I still love both game systems. My main concern has always been US distribution. When it was just Hawk, models were slowly getting out to us. They stopped during/after the Kickstarter and now we're in a holding pattern until TTCombat figures out how they're going to distribute in the States.

I can't see any logical place for a third game in the Dropzone universe unless they're talking about a RPG. There's a lot of people hoping for a 28mm skirmish game (representing CQB I think), and I just don't see it because the market is oversaturated with that type of game and I really can't see what it'd bring that isn't already being done by 4 other games. While an RPG isn't exactly new either, it gives them a place for exposition on fluff and is much more open for players.

Not really happy with the firings either, but not really surprised. They only wanted Dave, Patrice, and the IPs.

The Resistance fleet fluff part is..meh. It honestly wouldn't have bothered me either way. There's a solid fluff explanation as to why one doesn't exist, but I'm sure they can add a good one in if they want to do it. Call it the "Too many years playing GW games" syndrome.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/23 08:26:11


Post by: BobtheInquisitor


Steve, your DZC table was amazing! A labor of love. What a terrible shame they put you off the game.

I'll wait to see how they handle the fluff, but I am not really prepared to quit buying their plastic spaceships. I may have a problem.


Thebiggesthat wrote:
Baron Klatz wrote:
Oh wow, I didn't realise kickstarting did that. :/


If you have 10 interested people that want a shiny new KoW rulebook. Do you

a. Buy it from a retailer for x amount, then spend 5x on models for said system
b. Kickstarter back it, spending 2x on the book and more models.

The counter argument by Mantic is that they do retailer pledges for some projects. But why wait for a retailer when on the same page is a huge discount and loads of exclusive stuff.

The cult of Ronnie is a strange one, they seem more rabid than any other system supporters.

We have one retailer that has stopped bothering with them, and another that is thinking the same. I bought the rulebook from my FLGS, as I have no interest in feeding the greed of Mantic. But like with Dreadball, people lose trust in a company and leave.


Every local game store I've been to has cleared out Mantic and avoided stocking KoW or Warpath. (The Walking Dead has some traction, though.) The thing is, I would buy certain Mantic minis at retail, such as the Basliean Paladins, elf palace guard, enforcer dropship, and many Dreadball teams I missed during the KSes--but nobody carries them! It's a vicious circle. I would love to support the FLGS, but they feel too burned to carry Mantic, so now I have to go to Mantic and burn the KS.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/23 09:02:17


Post by: KingmanHighborn


I love X-wing


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/23 10:49:33


Post by: jtrowell


@Bobtheinquisitor yeah I understand the problem, I too have some mantic kits that I would probably buy at retail (even at a slightly increased price) juste for the convenience, but most local stores just don't stock and wait for someone to ask them to order something.

The thing is that if I must order and wait for something, I could as well order directly from Mantic (and I often do), so the store lose the impulse buy potential and try to compete with internet in a way that they cannot win.

I think that in the end however it's maybe not the problem that we believe it to be : internet has been replacing many stores, but it's the fate off all disruptive technologies.

What I expect to see more and more in the future is the smaller companies using internet (including kickstarter) as a way to sell their product, and store specialising in specific ranges, eitheir for products that really gain to be seen before buying, convenient tools that you need now (paints and brush in our case), and things that have proven to have a local presence first (probably the hardest part, you have first for a product to be sucessful only with internet and mouth to mouth, and then the store take the risk of joining by stocking the product to ride the local popularity)


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/23 12:16:15


Post by: StraightSilver


My gaming group may be atypical - we are a small group of 40-somethings who don't get to play as often as we like - maybe 2-3 times a month at best.

This has seen us move away from wargames and into board games more often than not.

The 2 reasons for this are:

time constraints - not just playing time but list writing, painting, packing an army etc

Moving from one edition to another - might sound daft but we're still getting used to the new rules and this means that playing games take longer and are less fun so we have been sticking to board games.

The 2 games we have been playing a lot of have been Zombicide - Black Plague and Massive Darkness.

I haven't played a single full game of 8th yet and only played about 5 games of 7th - but have been board gaming regularly for about 2 years now.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/23 15:45:19


Post by: Strombones


leopard wrote:
 Easy E wrote:
 Elbows wrote:
If you're doing historical WW2, skip FoW and go for the Battlefront series ---- absolutely heads and tails above FoW.


X2!

I would also strongly recommend Chain of Command too!


Own but have yet to play Chain of Command, the deployment system looks amazing, why don't more games have something like that in there?

Also heard good things about Battlegroup


Our honeymoon with the new 40k edition has waned and we have comfortably settled back in my to Battlegroup, reinvigorated by the new Market Garden release. I love GW models, fluff, universe, ect...and I even believe the new edition is probably one of the best yet. But after playing in 15mm on larger spaces it's just difficult to return to large 28mm armies on a 6x4.

I think 40k is slowing down here but it will never die. I certainly hope it never does as I always enjoy following it even when I'm not playing.

So back to the tried and tested Battlegroup Series it is for me, though Necromunda is going to be a very difficult rabbit hole not to fall down....


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/24 14:28:10


Post by: Eilif


I'm not really sure about how my non-GW games are doing, but I'll guess based on my limited glimpse of the local market and my experinces on Dakka TMP and LEadAd.

Note that this is alot of speculation since I don't get to local FLGS's more than once every few weeks.

Frostrgrave. This game seems to be doing well they are keeping up a very consistent release schedule. We've only played a few times but we enjoy it and will continue to.

Konflikt '47. Very unsure. I hear almost no one talking about it even on the official forums. Still, A new army was just released and we are just about to get the expansion rulebook.

Runewars. I think folks are worried about it's future now that SW Legion is coming out. Still it did just get a new army and a 4th is on schedule for release. It is still played some at our FLGS.

Walking Dead: We are loving this game, but I haven't seen anyone else locally playing it. Still, Mantic keeps up a release schedule so who knows how it is really doing.

Other very small games we enjoy like Song of Blades, Dragon Rampant, Mech Attack we've almost never seen played locally outside our group, but those games continue to be available and their business model doesn't depend at all on mass-acceptance.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/24 15:23:56


Post by: AegisGrimm


I'm hoping to play some 'Warhammer' games this winter with the rules from One Page Rules. Hopefully I get a gaming renaissance starting this winter, as my family and I are moving to a new house next door to my parents. Dad was pretty instrumental in getting me into wargaming back in the day with Heroquest and Battlemasters, and I have already gotten him back into some gaming with Star Wars Armada and the boardgame Heroes of Normandie (an awesome WW2 boardgame that plays more like a minis game).

The One Page Rules material is great as I can enjoy the Warhammer and 40k universes, but with a light ruleset that I can teach in it's entirety in a single game, which is important as I have to host nearly any game I want to play, only having a gaming group of 2-3 other people. 40k and AoS have gotten too bloated for me to get my friends to play, with tons of rules minutia and page flipping/multiple book referencing that turns them off.

'Course my gaming dead zone can be a benefit sometimes, too, as I can basically do anything I want as long as I am willing to do the work to sell it. For example, one of my buddies is a huge fan of Legend of the 5 Rings, so I may try to play some games with him in that universe using either Song of Blades and Heroes or the One Page Rules Warhammer skirmish rules, with Samurai figures from the Test of Honor minis game, and some of my Skaven would make an excellent Nezumi force (ratmen in L5R).

Hell, I even just recently (re)discovered a ruleset (Rogue Planet) that might make it worthwhile to finally open my box of Sedition Wars after 5 years of regret and inability to see any recoup in what I spent on it.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/24 15:30:44


Post by: Mymearan


 AegisGrimm wrote:
I'm hoping to play some 'Warhammer' games this winter with the rules from One Page Rules. Hopefully I get a gaming renaissance starting this winter, as my family and I are moving to a new house next door to my parents. Dad was pretty instrumental in getting me into wargaming back in the day with Heroquest and Battlemasters, and I have already gotten him back into some gaming with Star Wars Armada and the boardgame Heroes of Normandie (an awesome WW2 game)..

The One Page Rules material is great as I can enjoy the Warhammer and 40k universes, but with a light ruleset that I can teach in it's entirety in a single game, which is important as I have to host nearly any game I want to play, only having a gaming group of 2-3 other people. 40k and AoS have gotten too bloated for me to get my friends to play, with tons of rules minutia and page flipping/multiple book referencing that turns them off.

'Course my gaming dead zone can be a benefit sometimes, too, as I can basically do anything I want as long as I am willing to do the work to sell it. For example, one of my buddies is a huge fan of Legend of the 5 Rings, so I may try to play some games with him in that universe using either Song of Blades and Heroes or the One Page Rules Warhammer skirmish rules, with Samurai figures from the Test of Honor minis game, and some of my Skaven would make an excellent Nezumi force (ratmen in L5R).

I also just recently (re)discovered a ruleset (Rogue Planet) that might make it worthwhile to finally open my box of Sedition Wars after 5 years of regret and inability to see any recoup in what I spent on it.


I would be curious to hear battle report and or impressions from Rogue Planet, I own it but haven’t played it (and from googling around, neither has anyone else).


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/24 15:41:13


Post by: AegisGrimm


I haven't played it yet either, but maybe this winter I'll give it a try, as the weapons profiles match up really nicely to the Vanguard in SedWars, even if the Strain will take just a little work, though they should work just fine too (the Groups mechanic will be great for the basic zombies). It's lack of measuring will be something new and different to get my head around. If it works out, I may get some of the Ghar Battlesuits from Gates of Antares for a third race of walking tanks.

Also may try to bust out all my AT-43 and Confrontation prepaints, as I loved those games when they came out and have 4 large armies for each game.

Too...many...games!


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/24 22:39:06


Post by: thekingofkings


 AegisGrimm wrote:
I haven't played it yet either, but maybe this winter I'll give it a try, as the weapons profiles match up really nicely to the Vanguard in SedWars, even if the Strain will take just a little work, though they should work just fine too (the Groups mechanic will be great for the basic zombies). It's lack of measuring will be something new and different to get my head around. If it works out, I may get some of the Ghar Battlesuits from Gates of Antares for a third race of walking tanks.

Also may try to bust out all my AT-43 and Confrontation prepaints, as I loved those games when they came out and have 4 large armies for each game.

Too...many...games!


Just finished a game of Confrontation yesterday still Love it! was curious, did you see the pre army books for the other factions? they seem pretty legit and compete fairly well against the rest, stags and minotaurs so far have played very well. I have had to build most of my rams army out of metals, and filled in some lion gaps with them as well (its rough to get pieces anymore)


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/25 16:59:06


Post by: EmberlordofFire8


I play bolt action and X-Wing, sometimes. In addition, I'm currently play testing my own wargame, Dark Borders.

If any of you are interested, I'll send you a copy of the WIP rules.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/25 22:54:17


Post by: AegisGrimm


 thekingofkings wrote:
 AegisGrimm wrote:
I haven't played it yet either, but maybe this winter I'll give it a try, as the weapons profiles match up really nicely to the Vanguard in SedWars, even if the Strain will take just a little work, though they should work just fine too (the Groups mechanic will be great for the basic zombies). It's lack of measuring will be something new and different to get my head around. If it works out, I may get some of the Ghar Battlesuits from Gates of Antares for a third race of walking tanks.

Also may try to bust out all my AT-43 and Confrontation prepaints, as I loved those games when they came out and have 4 large armies for each game.

Too...many...games!


Just finished a game of Confrontation yesterday still Love it! was curious, did you see the pre army books for the other factions? they seem pretty legit and compete fairly well against the rest, stags and minotaurs so far have played very well. I have had to build most of my rams army out of metals, and filled in some lion gaps with them as well (its rough to get pieces anymore)


Yeah, I never let the hatred for the prepaints stop me from having fun. Currently Im working on a converted 'Rat' army that uses GW Skaven and Ogres instead of Orcs, as the Stormvermin have a great samurai theme, and having the Rat as their patron is wonderfully pun filled, like the unit called 'samurats'.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/25 23:07:51


Post by: thekingofkings


 AegisGrimm wrote:
 thekingofkings wrote:
 AegisGrimm wrote:
I haven't played it yet either, but maybe this winter I'll give it a try, as the weapons profiles match up really nicely to the Vanguard in SedWars, even if the Strain will take just a little work, though they should work just fine too (the Groups mechanic will be great for the basic zombies). It's lack of measuring will be something new and different to get my head around. If it works out, I may get some of the Ghar Battlesuits from Gates of Antares for a third race of walking tanks.

Also may try to bust out all my AT-43 and Confrontation prepaints, as I loved those games when they came out and have 4 large armies for each game.

Too...many...games!


Just finished a game of Confrontation yesterday still Love it! was curious, did you see the pre army books for the other factions? they seem pretty legit and compete fairly well against the rest, stags and minotaurs so far have played very well. I have had to build most of my rams army out of metals, and filled in some lion gaps with them as well (its rough to get pieces anymore)


Yeah, I never let the hatred for the prepaints stop me from having fun. Currently Im working on a converted 'Rat' army that uses GW Skaven and Ogres instead of Orcs, as the Stormvermin have a great samurai theme, and having the Rat as their patron is wonderfully pun filled.


very punny...but seriously sounds interesting. I actually like the prepainted plastics (quicker to get on the tabletop for me) they are a pain in the arse to find, but patience on ebay has led me to quite a few, I use metals to fill in gaps in the army books. All my rats are the pirate gobelin faction.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/26 00:04:14


Post by: MrMoustaffa


Flames of War V4 seems to be an absolute train wreck. I moved away from my old group but according to them V4 and Team Yankee are a gakstorm of epic proportions.

Bolt Action V2 on the other hand is great. I've got several people interested in it among my 40k group and the game is a great deal of fun. I'm loving it and really looking forward to getting it going around here on a proper level.

X-Wing burned me out. It's still going strong but I feel like it's just become way too much work to keep up with all the releases and expansions. Many of my favorite ships took several expansions to get working again and some of the new rules like tractor beams really annoy me. Not really sure if I'll play it much again. That's mainly just personal preference though, nothing against the game.

Starship Troopers is ded, obviously


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/26 12:16:28


Post by: AegisGrimm


Frankly with X-Wing, I was a big fan of it back when it came out, but all the releases just left me behind. At this point, my buddy has tons of the traditional ships and the CR-90 from the first few waves. I may just get a couple of cool empire ships like a couple Starwings, a Gozanti and Raider (maybe even the big TIE bomber), and we'll have a nice enough combined set to play home games of 'X-Wing vs.TIE Fighter', and spice things up every once in a while with the Epic ships.

I just couldn't have any fun chasing all the necessary cards, especially the ones that are 'fix' cards, to have any fun as a casual-only player across all the releases with FFG's release model. Theres literally, what thousands to sort through now? Ugh.

I am finding Star Wars Armada to be much more accessible for my home games, as I always have to buy both sides anyway the card chasing is hurts much less with the smaller ship selection.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/26 22:05:55


Post by: thekingofkings


 AegisGrimm wrote:
Frankly with X-Wing, I was a big fan of it back when it came out, but all the releases just left me behind. At this point, my buddy has tons of the traditional ships and the CR-90 from the first few waves. I may just get a couple of cool empire ships like a couple Starwings, a Gozanti and Raider (maybe even the big TIE bomber), and we'll have a nice enough combined set to play home games of 'X-Wing vs.TIE Fighter', and spice things up every once in a while with the Epic ships.

I just couldn't have any fun chasing all the necessary cards, especially the ones that are 'fix' cards, to have any fun as a casual-only player across all the releases with FFG's release model. Theres literally, what thousands to sort through now? Ugh.

I am finding Star Wars Armada to be much more accessible for my home games, as I always have to buy both sides anyway the card chasing is hurts much less with the smaller ship selection.


how are you liking armada? have played a few games myself, kinda like it (I collect the ships for it and x-wing for the rpg use)


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/26 22:57:26


Post by: Pacific


 MrMoustaffa wrote:
Flames of War V4 seems to be an absolute train wreck. I moved away from my old group but according to them V4 and Team Yankee are a gakstorm of epic proportions.


With Team Yankee, I thought the added pace of the game and destructive power of the weaponry suited the theme of modern combat perfectly (you can imagine it being like that, compared to WW2). And I don't think it's a bad game at all, with a lovely miniature range.

Then I have read that Battlefront did the same with the rules with V4, and have to say that makes a whole lot less sense. It does smack of releasing new rules for the sake of new rules. GW can get away with it because only they do 40k, Battlefront less so as historical players can quite easily jump ship to Battlegroup or any other WW2 historical setting that you care to mention.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/28 00:27:55


Post by: TheAuldGrump


 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Steve, your DZC table was amazing! A labor of love. What a terrible shame they put you off the game.

I'll wait to see how they handle the fluff, but I am not really prepared to quit buying their plastic spaceships. I may have a problem.


Thebiggesthat wrote:
Baron Klatz wrote:
Oh wow, I didn't realise kickstarting did that. :/


If you have 10 interested people that want a shiny new KoW rulebook. Do you

a. Buy it from a retailer for x amount, then spend 5x on models for said system
b. Kickstarter back it, spending 2x on the book and more models.

The counter argument by Mantic is that they do retailer pledges for some projects. But why wait for a retailer when on the same page is a huge discount and loads of exclusive stuff.

The cult of Ronnie is a strange one, they seem more rabid than any other system supporters.

We have one retailer that has stopped bothering with them, and another that is thinking the same. I bought the rulebook from my FLGS, as I have no interest in feeding the greed of Mantic. But like with Dreadball, people lose trust in a company and leave.


Every local game store I've been to has cleared out Mantic and avoided stocking KoW or Warpath. (The Walking Dead has some traction, though.) The thing is, I would buy certain Mantic minis at retail, such as the Basliean Paladins, elf palace guard, enforcer dropship, and many Dreadball teams I missed during the KSes--but nobody carries them! It's a vicious circle. I would love to support the FLGS, but they feel too burned to carry Mantic, so now I have to go to Mantic and burn the KS.
I would ditch the local store, in this case.

But I prefer to play at home these days, so I may be biased. (And, to be fair - the store that I am most likely to go to does have KoW events. I just prefer playing at home.)

The math can be simple - if you do not carry a product because the company that makes it used Kickstarter, then you are guaranteed not to make money off of the game.

If the company cannot sell the game through your store, they are more likely to sell through Kickstarter.

Rinse and repeat until your store goes under. Simples!

Once upon a time, gaming companies could rely on distributors, you know, distributing.

In the US the number of distributors has pretty much dropped down to one - Alliance.

So, gaming companies had to find other means of selling product - which makes direct sales all the more attractive.

Which also means that folks rely less on the FLGS, which makes the stores more likely to go under.

Once upon a time, the standard method of financing was the banks - get a loan, print a product, and pay off the loan, rinse and repeat.

Then things started getting flaky with the banks, as the economy became more volatile - a lot of game companies went belly up as the rules changed.

The retail market is changing - Kickstarter is part of that change - pretending that the game companies do not need to finance is just plain willful ignorance. Kickstarter is a good way to get that financing - and after the Kickstarter is over, if the market is supported, then retailers can also benefit.

The Auld Grump - who really misses the days when Chessex was an independent distributor, not a part of Alliance.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Meanwhile, for the Kids of War game tomorrow - I have set up a scenario so that I get to play!

Each kid will get in two games, but this time the Doubles games will be a bit different - they are up to 1500 points each, and two combined forces will be facing my 2500 point Undead army.

Instead of one Doubles game, there will be two.

My mission is to take both ends of a bridge, so that a major (off screen) force can come through.

Their mission is to keep me from holding the bridge.

Units with Vanguard have the option of coming in on turn 2 at an alternate deployment zone - on the other side of the bridge. (Yes, I am starting the game with the possibility that my army is flanked. And is definitely out numbered.)

So, I will get in two games, and each of the players will get in two games.

The Auld Grump


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/28 00:50:22


Post by: nobody


Man just saw Stevefamine had put his table and armies up for sale in the trade forum :(

My LGS has a wall full of the Bones blisters. I'm guessing it mainly sells to at-home RPG crowds because I haven't seen any on tables there.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/28 01:00:48


Post by: thekingofkings


nobody wrote:
Man just saw Stevefamine had put his table and armies up for sale in the trade forum :(

My LGS has a wall full of the Bones blisters. I'm guessing it mainly sells to at-home RPG crowds because I haven't seen any on tables there.


Bones are meant for home (or store) RPGs. so makes sense to me.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/28 01:37:31


Post by: TheAuldGrump


 thekingofkings wrote:
nobody wrote:
Man just saw Stevefamine had put his table and armies up for sale in the trade forum :(

My LGS has a wall full of the Bones blisters. I'm guessing it mainly sells to at-home RPG crowds because I haven't seen any on tables there.


Bones are meant for home (or store) RPGs. so makes sense to me.
Though Sam's Kids of War army (Forces of Nature) is pretty much all Bones, at this point. (Her parents have been in all of the Bones Kickstarters - they have a lot of gnolls, lizardmen, and bugbears.)

The Auld Grump


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/28 01:45:19


Post by: thekingofkings


 TheAuldGrump wrote:
 thekingofkings wrote:
nobody wrote:
Man just saw Stevefamine had put his table and armies up for sale in the trade forum :(

My LGS has a wall full of the Bones blisters. I'm guessing it mainly sells to at-home RPG crowds because I haven't seen any on tables there.


Bones are meant for home (or store) RPGs. so makes sense to me.
Though Sam's Kids of War army (Forces of Nature) is pretty much all Bones, at this point. (Her parents have been in all of the Bones Kickstarters - they have a lot of gnolls, lizardmen, and bugbears.)

The Auld Grump


oh yeah you CAN very easily make armies out of them, the old game Dark Heaven Apocalypse is done with what are now all bones sculpts (used to be metals) especially the Anhur army.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/28 01:52:03


Post by: TheAuldGrump


 thekingofkings wrote:
 TheAuldGrump wrote:
 thekingofkings wrote:
nobody wrote:
Man just saw Stevefamine had put his table and armies up for sale in the trade forum :(

My LGS has a wall full of the Bones blisters. I'm guessing it mainly sells to at-home RPG crowds because I haven't seen any on tables there.


Bones are meant for home (or store) RPGs. so makes sense to me.
Though Sam's Kids of War army (Forces of Nature) is pretty much all Bones, at this point. (Her parents have been in all of the Bones Kickstarters - they have a lot of gnolls, lizardmen, and bugbears.)

The Auld Grump


oh yeah you CAN very easily make armies out of them, the old game Dark Heaven Apocalypse is done with what are now all bones sculpts (used to be metals) especially the Anhur army.
I think that Bones are an awesome way to get kids into tabletop gaming - regardless of the system.

I have been toying with the idea of a Mordheim kids game... the problem is that I only have so much time, and way too many games already. But Bones would make it easy for the kids....

The Auld Grump - I used to run Mordheim for a yearly summer program. The guy that used to run the program passed away last year - one of the best people that I have ever known.

*EDIT* It would be the Kids of War game that would go away - I have way too much fun with the kids in my Pathfinder game. Right now they are all pirates.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/28 02:01:15


Post by: thekingofkings


 TheAuldGrump wrote:
 thekingofkings wrote:
 TheAuldGrump wrote:
 thekingofkings wrote:
nobody wrote:
Man just saw Stevefamine had put his table and armies up for sale in the trade forum :(

My LGS has a wall full of the Bones blisters. I'm guessing it mainly sells to at-home RPG crowds because I haven't seen any on tables there.


Bones are meant for home (or store) RPGs. so makes sense to me.
Though Sam's Kids of War army (Forces of Nature) is pretty much all Bones, at this point. (Her parents have been in all of the Bones Kickstarters - they have a lot of gnolls, lizardmen, and bugbears.)

The Auld Grump


oh yeah you CAN very easily make armies out of them, the old game Dark Heaven Apocalypse is done with what are now all bones sculpts (used to be metals) especially the Anhur army.
I think that Bones are an awesome way to get kids into tabletop gaming - regardless of the system.

I have been toying with the idea of a Mordheim kids game... the problem is that I only have so much time, and way too many games already. But Bones would make it easy for the kids....

The Auld Grump - I used to run Mordheim for a yearly summer program. The guy that used to run the program passed away last year - one of the best people that I have ever known.

*EDIT* It would be the Kids of War game that would go away - I have way too much fun with the kids in my Pathfinder game. Right now they are all pirates.


sounds like a blast.. we ran AoS for some of the school kids here, they actually liked it (its pretty simple)


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/28 05:55:16


Post by: Baron Klatz


Yeah, there was several successful hobby school programs posted on Reddit that had a lot of success with getting kids into the hobby with AoS and the basic ruleset.

Always a good sight to see kids getting away from videogames and their phones and do something constructive like painting up Skaven and Spearmen.

There's also Mordheim gamers that use basic AoS rules for streamlined skirmish games as well.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/28 08:56:20


Post by: AndrewGPaul


 AegisGrimm wrote:
Frankly with X-Wing, I was a big fan of it back when it came out, but all the releases just left me behind. At this point, my buddy has tons of the traditional ships and the CR-90 from the first few waves. I may just get a couple of cool empire ships like a couple Starwings, a Gozanti and Raider (maybe even the big TIE bomber), and we'll have a nice enough combined set to play home games of 'X-Wing vs.TIE Fighter', and spice things up every once in a while with the Epic ships.

I just couldn't have any fun chasing all the necessary cards, especially the ones that are 'fix' cards, to have any fun as a casual-only player across all the releases with FFG's release model. Theres literally, what thousands to sort through now? Ugh.

I am finding Star Wars Armada to be much more accessible for my home games, as I always have to buy both sides anyway the card chasing is hurts much less with the smaller ship selection.


I can't be bothered keeping up with all the guddling about with upgrades. The last few games I've played have been multi-player games; "pre-designed" flight groups (Luke, Biggs and Wedge, Darth Vader and his two wingmen, that sort of thing. Or flight groups of two or three generic Y-Wings, TIE Interceptors, etc), with no upgrades other than droids or ordnance. Seems to work well enough. We also threw in a quick game as part of our Age of Rebellion RPG campaign. Every so often, I think about trying to write up some of the old TIE Fighter missions, but I'm too lazy at the moment, and no-one else is interested. :(


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/28 15:23:15


Post by: OrlandotheTechnicoloured


Based on the prices in the Cyber Monday sale I worry that CMONs Wrath of Kings is not going to be around much longer especially since whatever supply issues they had at the beginning of the year pretty much killed the 2nd edition relaunch (Edit: and don't even think of being able to get stuff in the UK unless you want to pay crazy well above suggested retail prices)

(I wonder if the designers who were pushing it are still around as CMON seems to have a fairly rapid turnover)

their Dark Age rules/minis didn't get the same discount so I think that will hang around


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/28 21:55:20


Post by: mdauben


I was a big time player of 40K from 3rd edition, through 4th and 5th and even into 6th. At that point, I just started to lose interest. I kept up with WFB a little longer, but I dropped out entirely with the release of the last edition of that game. I though about picking up AoS once the Generals Handbook came out, but there just wasn't enough interest locally to make it worthwhile to me.

A while ago I became interested in Flames of War and managed to get a fair size gaming group together for that. After moving I didn't play for a while until I hooked up with a new group who were into FOW. I've been mostly playing mostly that, and the Team Yankee game by the same publisher for the last several years.

I've also been dabbling with several other systems, including Saga, Wings of War, Frostgrave, and Star Fleet Battles.

I just got the new starter box for Necromunda (my first GW purchase aside from paint in years) and I'm hoping there will be enough local interest to support some campaign play.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/28 22:28:39


Post by: MrMoustaffa


 Pacific wrote:
 MrMoustaffa wrote:
Flames of War V4 seems to be an absolute train wreck. I moved away from my old group but according to them V4 and Team Yankee are a gakstorm of epic proportions.


With Team Yankee, I thought the added pace of the game and destructive power of the weaponry suited the theme of modern combat perfectly (you can imagine it being like that, compared to WW2). And I don't think it's a bad game at all, with a lovely miniature range.

Then I have read that Battlefront did the same with the rules with V4, and have to say that makes a whole lot less sense. It does smack of releasing new rules for the sake of new rules. GW can get away with it because only they do 40k, Battlefront less so as historical players can quite easily jump ship to Battlegroup or any other WW2 historical setting that you care to mention.

The issues I've heard have less to do with the pace of the game, aka how fast units are destroyed and kill, and more to do with massive parking lots of BMP's and cheap tanks, an overall emphasis on numbers over quality, and some really bizarre nigh unkillable infantry unit.

Essentially the game appears to reward absolutely bizarre army builds and most of the places that I used to follow Flames of War on certain forums seem to have died off dramatically, with a lot of talk of it being a dying game and that Battlefront has shot itself in the foot. I've even heard Plastic Soldier Company's sales have fallen off a cliff, which is not a good sign, as his 15mm line was a main source of models for people building Flames of War armies.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/29 13:40:48


Post by: jim30


My little bit of South London I would say Xwing is popular, but my sense is it is dropping off as 'Wave fatigue' hits - the game is simply too complicated now with too many mechanics hitting and people starting to get fed up. As a mate who gave up on the game put it 'why would I play a game called xwing when the Xwing cannot win'?

Bolt Action - reasonably popular.

FOW - dead dead dead. BF screwed up with 4th edition - I sold my stuff of ages ago and won't be going back. Its now 50% off in my FLGS to clear it out.

WMH - not seen in ages.

Saga - I love it, few others do.

Mantic - never seen played. Their reputation precedes them and I've spoken to FLGS owners who have strong views on their approach - they see no point in stocking a line which will be undercut by kickstarter.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/29 15:35:48


Post by: Turnip Jedi


jim30 wrote:
My little bit of South London I would say Xwing is popular, but my sense is it is dropping off as 'Wave fatigue' hits - the game is simply too complicated now with too many mechanics hitting and people starting to get fed up. As a mate who gave up on the game put it 'why would I play a game called xwing when the Xwing cannot win'?


that pretty much my clubs reaction to X-Wing, I had a fun game this week but both of the lists were at least 3 waves 'behind'

Locally GB is catching on a bit, WMH has its handful of acolytes, MTG seems to have a bit of play (EDH mostly), assorted boardgames, and virtually no GW


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/29 22:16:38


Post by: chromedog


My local infinity scene is doing quite well. It's growing at a steady rate, rather than the fits and starts that the big-boy-in-the-yard has (People play, rules change, then they stop, then they go back 2 editions later, then stop, rinse and repeat). A slow but steady rate. The fact that most of the players HAVE enough suitable terrain after being in the hobby for years helps.

It's not as popular as the local variety of 40k where GI-Joe toys battle it out on planet bowling-ball, but that's fine by me.
The game I play doesn't have to be "all things to all people".



How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/29 23:37:55


Post by: We


I went over to board games and never looked back. For the price of a GW unit I can buy an entire game. Or not spend a dime. It is a hobby where others buy a game and I just play their copy with no need to buy anything of my own. Plenty of board games have miniatures I can paint too.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/30 01:00:09


Post by: ingtaer


It is interesting reading other peoples thoughts on X-Wing (its my main game), thankfully the local gaming scene is very chilled out and if you want to proxy stuff no one cares (so no card chasing) although I do play in all the tournaments where actual cards are required but have yet to find it an issue borrowing or buying single cards. I don't know if its because I stick to a single faction or not but I haven't felt any hardship in getting two to three ships a year.

Next month though I am playing in a campaign for Babylon 5 A Call to Arms which ceased to be supported in 09(?) and am really looking forward to it, between 4 and 6 players are joining in so it should be a blast.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/30 08:50:48


Post by: AndrewGPaul


It's not about owning all the cards, for me (they're all on the internet, after all). It's about understanding them. There's too many different cards and combinations available for me to get a grip on what's good.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/30 09:49:02


Post by: Turnip Jedi


 AndrewGPaul wrote:
It's not about owning all the cards, for me (they're all on the internet, after all). It's about understanding them. There's too many different cards and combinations available for me to get a grip on what's good.


yep, I think this is the feeling at my club, X-Wing is a good game and I've had a lot of fun playing it, heck I've even travelled for events which for a homebody hobbit like me is very much an exception, I'm sure I'll carry on getting the odd game in but I'm done with keeping up and competitive play (well till 2.0 )


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/30 10:01:38


Post by: Mr Morden


 ingtaer wrote:
Next month though I am playing in a campaign for Babylon 5 A Call to Arms which ceased to be supported in 09(?) and am really looking forward to it, between 4 and 6 players are joining in so it should be a blast.


A Call to Arms is a fun game - what are you playing -2nd edition? There are some bad match ups - Earth Alliance against Minbari for example but we have had many great games.....


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/30 10:46:34


Post by: AndrewGPaul


EA vs Minbari is supposed to be a bad matchup - the series is based on that fact. Mind you, I still fondly remember the time I managed to slot my Omega nicely between two Sharlin warcruisers and got to fire the fore and aft heavy lasers simultaneously.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 AndrewGPaul wrote:
EA vs Minbari is supposed to be a bad matchup - the series is based on that fact. Mind you, I still fondly remember the time I managed to slot my Omega nicely between two Sharlin warcruisers and got to fire the fore and aft heavy lasers simultaneously.


I'll be playing Infinity 3rd edition for the first time since the first Beasts of War campaign event ended this Saturday. I expect to get thrashed, as I've not kept up with the rules changes and additions since then (I own Human Sphere N3, but the hacking rules are still a mystery to me, since my hacker models aren't painted so I've never had reason to read those rules).


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/30 11:06:03


Post by: jim30


 AndrewGPaul wrote:
It's not about owning all the cards, for me (they're all on the internet, after all). It's about understanding them. There's too many different cards and combinations available for me to get a grip on what's good.


Very much my feeling too - there are just too many cards now, and too many complex timing interactions to keep on top of. There is also a relentless power creep, with each new wave dialling it up to 11, so when you see things like Harpoon missiles, which seem to be causing a lot of confusion and damage, I'm personally at the point of going 'thanks, but no thanks'.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/30 12:07:52


Post by: ingtaer


X-Wing - Ah, that I get. Yeah its pretty impossible to keep on top of everything card and combination wise but I have found if you keep on top of your own stuff its enough to enable you to compete. Generally I just have a look at the oppos stuff before the game and try to adapt, have been thrown some nasty curve balls, especially with rebel stuff, but given a couple of minutes to figure stuff out (or get hit on the head with) I haven't found it too bad. Power creep wise, yeah definitely in tourneys it can be rough but people tend to be a little sheep like...

ACTA- We are playing 2.0 with Burgers beams and the ship balances from P&P but cutting out the extra ships R&R. I am torn on the fleet the other players are playing Narn, Centauri, EA Third and I am thinking of ISA or Vorlon (the two maybe players are Shadows and Gaim). I prefer ISA because I love Whitestars and have twenty available along with 2 Tara'lins and requisite fighters but Vorlons really put the fear in the enemy.
There are some nasty match ups either way but thinking that ISA is just too much fun, for a 10pt Battle campaign thinking of two Tara'lin, eight whitestar 1 and four whitestar two. Thankfully every fleet is pretty fluffy however the thought of facing a few full squadrons of Demos/Vorchan/Maximus is pretty scary.

Edited so the numbers actually add up...


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/30 13:02:13


Post by: AndrewGPaul


My collections is basically one of everything that was on the telly (that I managed to get, anyway - missing some freighters, LoNAW ships and the other Narn cruiser); that basically means the only fleet I can field is EA (Warlock, Omega, Hyperion and Nova and lots of fighters) or Vorlons (because one ship is a fleet).

I enjoyed the game, but the only other people interested in Babylon 5 gaming were fans of the Babylon 5 Wars game, which I can't stand.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/30 17:42:40


Post by: Captain Brown


Since 8th our gaming group has played more 40k and reduced the number of other games we play.

Cheers,

CB


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/30 18:14:45


Post by: feeder


The only GW game that get any regular play at my club is Blood Bowl. Otherwise it's KoW, Chain of Command, Flames, and various Ancient rule systems (SAGA, Swordpoint, Nap's Battles). There's also board games like the new Conan or older games like Civilisations and Robo Rally.

I think I saw 40k get played once this year.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/11/30 21:22:39


Post by: Mr Morden


 ingtaer wrote:
ACTA- We are playing 2.0 with Burgers beams and the ship balances from P&P but cutting out the extra ships R&R. I am torn on the fleet the other players are playing Narn, Centauri, EA Third and I am thinking of ISA or Vorlon (the two maybe players are Shadows and Gaim). I prefer ISA because I love Whitestars and have twenty available along with 2 Tara'lins and requisite fighters but Vorlons really put the fear in the enemy.
There are some nasty match ups either way but thinking that ISA is just too much fun, for a 10pt Battle campaign thinking of two Tara'lin, four whitestar 1 and Two whitestar two. Thankfully every fleet is pretty fluffy however the thought of facing a few full squadrons of Demos/Vorchan/Maximus is pretty scary.


Ah cool - brings back good memories. Twenty White Stars is impressive - although I do have 3 Victories! - alhough one is converted to shadowtech for my "mirror universe" stuff. Centauri/Shadows player by preference

Demos is a mighty ship - although I loved my 1st ed Maximus


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/01 02:38:08


Post by: ingtaer


I am stunned, simply stunned that someone whos handle is Mr Morden and has the cover of Darkness Rising as his avatar would be a Shadows player...

Have you played recently? Three Vics is a lot of Vics! Would love to see your converted one if you have pics.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/01 03:08:04


Post by: BobtheInquisitor


Munchkin seems to be gaining ground here while X-Wing is stagnating.


 AndrewGPaul wrote:
Mind you, I still fondly remember the time I managed to slot my Omega nicely between two Sharlin warcruisers and got to fire the fore and aft heavy lasers simultaneously.



I'll thank you to remember this is a family-friendly forum, mister!


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/01 04:23:02


Post by: TangoTwoBravo


I play FOW and 40K. Team Yankee is doing OK, but FOW 4th Ed has not gone over well. Some of it may have just been fatigue at reaching the end of the war, so to speak, but I think that the re-launch was fumbled from a design perspective. Their MW re-launch seemed focused around what plastics they could produce and avoiding PSC eating their lunch. The result was very thin lists that turned people off. I enjoy V4, but it is struggling. Sad.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/01 22:24:39


Post by: TheAuldGrump


jim30 wrote:
Mantic - never seen played. Their reputation precedes them and I've spoken to FLGS owners who have strong views on their approach - they see no point in stocking a line which will be undercut by kickstarter.
A bit of a self fulfilling prophecy there - if they do not stock the games, they cannot sell the games, which makes the game company rely more on Kickstarter... rinse and repeat as the local game stores continue to go out of business.

Not just Mantic - we used to have a LGS that would not stock any company that had used Kickstarter. (Mantic, Reaper, CMoN, and a few others.)

The companies are still around, the store has been gone for four years. (The banning of Kickstarter products was a symptom, not the disease. There were several reasons why the store went belly up.)

The best way to guarantee that a game or line will make no money for your store is not to sell it. Whether it is Zombicide, Walking Dead, or Bones. (The less than local game store does stock CMoN, Mantic, and Reaper - and is thinking about opening a second store - turns out that the Friendly part of FLGS is important.)

Kickstarter is part of the retail and financing landscape now - stores need to learn to deal with it, or they will go out of business. Direct order is likewise a part of the landscape - refusing to carry product is a Pyrrhic victory at best, and a suicide pact more often than they think.

****

Ran my Kids of War last night - and did the scenario I mentioned above - cutting it down to 1,000 points for each of the two kids (for a total of 2,000) vs.my 1,750 of undead...

My mission was to hold both ends of a bridge - and the kids units with Vanguard could deploy on the second turn - on my side of the river.

I... got clobbered! The kids did a much better job of coordinating against me than they had ever done against each other!

Technically, the second game was a draw - but only my sole remaining unit was parked right on the bridge when the game ended....

Goblins and Orcs - heavy hitting Chariots and some nasty wolf mounted archers.

They managed to get behind my line, leaving my sole survivor on their end of the bridge.

Game ended with Turn 6 - but I suspect that the Revenants could have held on for another turn - being on the bridge meant no flankers could reach them.

The first game left me with a classic problem of cavalry - my Revenant Cavalry had gone far past the enemy line, so had to waste two turns getting back into the fray. (Their accompanying Necromancer became a pin cussion, and was then charged by a pegasus riding hero. *Splat!* )

I did manage to wipe out Sam's Forces of Nature - but it cost me too much doing so.

Brotherhood did a very good job of recovering, after their ally was routed. Got some small cav units in place to prevent my Revenants from getting back to the front, and used Pathfinder to good effect when they charged my big block of Revenant infantry. (Thunderous charge, on a flank... Ow.) Which also prevented the big unit of Zombies from getting to the bridge. (Too big to fit on the bridge - a Horde of zeds eats up a lot of space!)

So, I had more units left, and did more damage - but was nowhere near the objectives that I needed to win - and held neither end of the bridge when Turn 7 came up.

So, I am calling both games losses.

The Auld Grump


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/02 17:44:02


Post by: Pacific


TangoTwoBravo wrote:
I play FOW and 40K. Team Yankee is doing OK, but FOW 4th Ed has not gone over well. Some of it may have just been fatigue at reaching the end of the war, so to speak, but I think that the re-launch was fumbled from a design perspective. Their MW re-launch seemed focused around what plastics they could produce and avoiding PSC eating their lunch. The result was very thin lists that turned people off. I enjoy V4, but it is struggling. Sad.


It does smack of a poor business decision with 4th edition doesn't it. Change for the sake of change and selling new books and kits, rather than because a genuine change was needed.

What was notable about FoW when it first launched was that they managed to touch the pulse of what a lot of casual or GW only wargames wanted at that time. Straightforward rules, all of the miniatures you needed in the box, it was all so accessible and I think they got hold of a lot of older teenage GW players that were after something a bit more 'adult', and historical fans too.

So I wonder why they didn't think of doing something similar with a different period of history? Roman Punic Wars, the hundred year war, ACW. Sets of quality plastic minis, a solid rulesets with campaign books etc. There is so much opportunity there, and it could have been launched with their full marketing and company weight behind it. I'm sure something like that would have had a great opportunity for success


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/02 20:33:15


Post by: durecellrabbit


 Pacific wrote:
It does smack of a poor business decision with 4th edition doesn't it. Change for the sake of change and selling new books and kits, rather than because a genuine change was needed.

What was notable about FoW when it first launched was that they managed to touch the pulse of what a lot of casual or GW only wargames wanted at that time. Straightforward rules, all of the miniatures you needed in the box, it was all so accessible and I think they got hold of a lot of older teenage GW players that were after something a bit more 'adult', and historical fans too.

So I wonder why they didn't think of doing something similar with a different period of history? Roman Punic Wars, the hundred year war, ACW. Sets of quality plastic minis, a solid rulesets with campaign books etc. There is so much opportunity there, and it could have been launched with their full marketing and company weight behind it. I'm sure something like that would have had a great opportunity for success


I don't think they were wrong that the time was right for a new edition and I do think that some of the FoW rules needed to overhauled. They just went about it in the wrong way, the MW reboot in particular I can't see how they couldn't have known it would upset players.

As for moving into another period, there is a lot amount of competition in some of those periods. All of them have plastics in 28mm, all of them have lots of 15mm metal manufacturers and all of them have a variety of good rules. For example ancients has the following good rulesets that I can recall offhand: Hail Caesar, Too the Strongest, DBA3.0, L'Art de la Guerre, Swordpoint, Mortem et Gloriam, DBMM, Fields of Glory, Impetus. There doesn't seem to be the gap that existed in WW2 back when they started and that existed for WW3 when TY came out.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/02 20:51:18


Post by: Mr Morden


 ingtaer wrote:
I am stunned, simply stunned that someone whos handle is Mr Morden and has the cover of Darkness Rising as his avatar would be a Shadows player...

Have you played recently? Three Vics is a lot of Vics! Would love to see your converted one if you have pics.


One of them is in Darkness Rising

Spoiler:


Sadly not had a game for a year of more - i did try and start up a 3rd ed group at our local club but no one was that interested - too few people and too many games to play. I did do some conversion rules for Dropfleet

Spoiler:


but that game died pretty quickly here as well.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/02 23:08:09


Post by: Pacific


 durecellrabbit wrote:
 Pacific wrote:


What was notable about FoW when it first launched was that they managed to touch the pulse of what a lot of casual or GW only wargames wanted at that time. Straightforward rules, all of the miniatures you needed in the box, it was all so accessible and I think they got hold of a lot of older teenage GW players that were after something a bit more 'adult', and historical fans too.

So I wonder why they didn't think of doing something similar with a different period of history? Roman Punic Wars, the hundred year war, ACW. Sets of quality plastic minis, a solid rulesets with campaign books etc. There is so much opportunity there, and it could have been launched with their full marketing and company weight behind it. I'm sure something like that would have had a great opportunity for success


As for moving into another period, there is a lot amount of competition in some of those periods. All of them have plastics in 28mm, all of them have lots of 15mm metal manufacturers and all of them have a variety of good rules. For example ancients has the following good rulesets that I can recall offhand: Hail Caesar, Too the Strongest, DBA3.0, L'Art de la Guerre, Swordpoint, Mortem et Gloriam, DBMM, Fields of Glory, Impetus. There doesn't seem to be the gap that existed in WW2 back when they started and that existed for WW3 when TY came out.


There was a hell of a lot of WW2 stuff about when FoW appeared. What FoW did was bring in a well marketed product, with well defined parameters, and game that was designed to appeal to GW gamers - not something where you have to provide your own bases or print off a rule supplement that had been published in Wargames Miniature monthly back in 1996 (to be a bit extreme )

I've mentioned the army boxes, the set campaign books, that tell you exactly what to buy, even themed paint sets so you don't need to do research outside of the rulebook. There aren't many historical games (apart from perhaps SAGA, maybe Hail Caesar and Warlord equivalents?) that offer the kind of 'package' to the inexperienced wargamer, who doesn't want to go outside of the all in one sets that the Battlefront (and GW games) provides.

I think there was plenty of room for some quality Roman-era plastics at 15mm ( you wouldnt even need to expand to other ancients periods), backed by Battlefronts marketing muscle and the fact it would get a couple of metres of display space at the FLGS. I certainly don't think it would have done any more harm than v4 of FoW, which seems to have gone down like a lead balloon.

But I guess this is all conjecture (although Battlefront isn't entirely risk averse as they went ahead with Team Yankee.. So who knows in future?)


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/03 13:58:09


Post by: Gimgamgoo


 Pacific wrote:

It does smack of a poor business decision with 4th edition doesn't it. Change for the sake of change and selling new books and kits, rather than because a genuine change was needed.


Maybe they realised the market leader, GW, has used this as a method of operation for over a decade and a half. It seems to work for GW. It doesn't matter how poor the rules were, or how obvious the changes for the sake of changes to sell more models was. The GW fans kept buying into it. Why not copy them?

On the otherhand, FFG seemed to have leapt above GW with X-wing, so now GW brings out games using the FFG way of selling sets (card collecting).

Although we live in an age of way more games and figure manufacturers than ever before, I worry they'll all end up making such similar games. In the same way the MMO market seems to use WoW as the way things should work.



How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/04 17:31:30


Post by: Stevefamine


Bolt Action is surprisingly doing well. I'm amazed at that - I thought the game was a FLOP

Theyre having the same turnout as the Hordes/Warmachine crowd right now.

I'm a complete noodle and I've been playing BA in 10mm with Pendraken minis for a few games with an old roommate. It's a fun game. it's quick. I'm glad to see it do unexpectedly well


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/04 21:00:12


Post by: LuciusAR


Bolt Action is doing very well round my way as well. It's my main game ATM and there are no shortage of opponent's.

It's not even close to being my favorite set of rules, but it's just great to see a historical ruleset being a regular feature on the scene.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/05 03:23:54


Post by: TangoTwoBravo


 Pacific wrote:
 durecellrabbit wrote:
 Pacific wrote:


What was notable about FoW when it first launched was that they managed to touch the pulse of what a lot of casual or GW only wargames wanted at that time. Straightforward rules, all of the miniatures you needed in the box, it was all so accessible and I think they got hold of a lot of older teenage GW players that were after something a bit more 'adult', and historical fans too.

So I wonder why they didn't think of doing something similar with a different period of history? Roman Punic Wars, the hundred year war, ACW. Sets of quality plastic minis, a solid rulesets with campaign books etc. There is so much opportunity there, and it could have been launched with their full marketing and company weight behind it. I'm sure something like that would have had a great opportunity for success


As for moving into another period, there is a lot amount of competition in some of those periods. All of them have plastics in 28mm, all of them have lots of 15mm metal manufacturers and all of them have a variety of good rules. For example ancients has the following good rulesets that I can recall offhand: Hail Caesar, Too the Strongest, DBA3.0, L'Art de la Guerre, Swordpoint, Mortem et Gloriam, DBMM, Fields of Glory, Impetus. There doesn't seem to be the gap that existed in WW2 back when they started and that existed for WW3 when TY came out.


There was a hell of a lot of WW2 stuff about when FoW appeared. What FoW did was bring in a well marketed product, with well defined parameters, and game that was designed to appeal to GW gamers - not something where you have to provide your own bases or print off a rule supplement that had been published in Wargames Miniature monthly back in 1996 (to be a bit extreme )

I've mentioned the army boxes, the set campaign books, that tell you exactly what to buy, even themed paint sets so you don't need to do research outside of the rulebook. There aren't many historical games (apart from perhaps SAGA, maybe Hail Caesar and Warlord equivalents?) that offer the kind of 'package' to the inexperienced wargamer, who doesn't want to go outside of the all in one sets that the Battlefront (and GW games) provides.

I think there was plenty of room for some quality Roman-era plastics at 15mm ( you wouldnt even need to expand to other ancients periods), backed by Battlefronts marketing muscle and the fact it would get a couple of metres of display space at the FLGS. I certainly don't think it would have done any more harm than v4 of FoW, which seems to have gone down like a lead balloon.

But I guess this is all conjecture (although Battlefront isn't entirely risk averse as they went ahead with Team Yankee.. So who knows in future?)


Good post! Although I considered myself a grognard WW2 miniatures player at the time, I really appreciated the ease of getting set up in FOW when I started in 2005. You could grab a book, a paint set and a couple of boxes and off you go!

I hope that BF can salvage V4 - I liked V3 but they needed to change some things. The US lists were out of control. I also I think that cheaper plastic competitors came along and started eating their sales. With no IP on a Sherman, they had to try other methods. I think that there is some of that in the MW release with a limited run of lists that cover BF plastics without direct competitors combined with the cards. I think that it turned folks off. Its a shame, as there might not be a 15mm replacement system with the same wide appeal.

One thing that would keep BF out of other periods is the rather flat WW1 and Pacific theatre receptions. Folks talked those things up on the forums, but then stayed away.

Team Yankee is probably keeping them afloat for now, and I hope that V4 catches on.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/05 18:59:46


Post by: Ruin


 Gimgamgoo wrote:
 Pacific wrote:

It does smack of a poor business decision with 4th edition doesn't it. Change for the sake of change and selling new books and kits, rather than because a genuine change was needed.


Maybe they realised the market leader, GW, has used this as a method of operation for over a decade and a half. It seems to work for GW. It doesn't matter how poor the rules were, or how obvious the changes for the sake of changes to sell more models was. The GW fans kept buying into it. Why not copy them?


Not too much a stretch. Some of Battlefront's top guys are ex-GW staff.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/06 09:59:01


Post by: AndrewGPaul


When Flames of War came out, 15mm wasn't really a popular scale for World War 2 games. I remember a few years previously, when Gear Krieg (a pulp sci-fi WW2 game) came out in 15mm, everyone was surprised at the odd choice of scale. At the time, there was QRF and Peter Pig and this tiny company in New Zealand that had a small range of resin tanks, and that was about it, IIRC.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/06 18:42:56


Post by: Rainbow Dash


Where I live it seems like each store has a game it enjoys with some overlapping.
There's a 9th age one, a warmahordes one, there's relic knights even!
So if you want to play infinity or bolt action you beat like a particular store because that's where the people go lol


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/07 23:18:14


Post by: TheAuldGrump


Painting Night with nine year old gamers.

Not as many as last time - but still outnumbering the Kids of War game.

Sam has a Fire Giant Gaoler.

Another has a small horde of skelingtons and zombies.

The rest have player character type minis.

The AUld Grump


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/21 21:58:39


Post by: TheAuldGrump


Last painting session of the year with the kids coming up tonight - and Sam asked a question that shows that she is beginning to understand the complexities of Dungeon Mastering: Do you ever put something in the game just because you have the miniature?

My reply: Yep! And sometimes I buy a miniature just so I can put it in the game.

Her parents gave her the fire giant gaolor - I wrote it into the adventure they are giving her for Christmas.

She started running her first campaign about two months ago - nine years old, and I am so proud of her! The first scenario is the classic Keep on the Borderlands, updated to Pathfinder. The scenario that they hired me to write picks up from there - to the north and east.

The Auld Grump


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/22 16:36:49


Post by: TheAuldGrump


Sam brought me miniatures for Christmas - ogres wearing face paint as clowns! :lol:

When she sent the question if I ever put something in the game just because I had the miniatures my initial assumption was that she had started realizing the same thing - sometimes the mini is why an encounter/NPC/hero/villain happens.

Now... not so sure - it could be that she is now going to be expecting ogre clowns....

The Auld Grump




How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/28 23:54:19


Post by: TheAuldGrump


How is my non-GW game going at the moment?

Noisily....

Instead of the Kings of War game, tonight I am running a Hack & Slash - simplified D20/D&D rules, that I have been running every now and again since 1977.

Some (most?) of these kids have parents that had not been born in 1977.

It is going... loudly.

I swear, Sam is hitting a pitch in her happy squeals when she 'accidentally' fireballs one of her allies that has the dog hiding under the chair. (So far, she has inflicted three incidents of 'friendly fireball'... two against the same player.)

We are using jellybeans as hit points....

The Auld Grump - each player controlling one character, or two weak characters. (The weak characters are halflings and goblins - identical, except the gobbos are green and the halflings aren't.)


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/29 01:45:25


Post by: amazingturtles


I tried a kings of war game!

I lost. Flying guys are not my friends.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/29 15:54:24


Post by: Wagguy80


Everything is dead but 40k in my area. Flames and Bolt Action were doing good for several years and then just fell off the face of the earth.

Warmahordes has a following but has never really caught on. With the death of Warhammer Fantasy there seems to be a growing interest in Kings of War.

However it's 99% 40K.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/29 17:44:06


Post by: judgedoug


Bolt Action has exploded. 6 new players in the last couple of weeks. Our local FB group has 80 people, about 20-25 are active players.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/29 20:59:50


Post by: bigern314


Found a local wargaming club that plays at a local store that is into Bolt Action so I finally found people to play with. Played a 500 or so point intro game and looking forward to filling out my 1k list of late war American Army. Will probably also be playing Rules With No Name for Wild West gaming as well.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/29 21:07:29


Post by: leopard


Bolt Action is "ok" around here, Antares fell flat on its backside though, despite being basically a better version.

meh.

gamers are fickle


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2017/12/30 16:09:00


Post by: Chamberlain


Variety going on here. Healthy 40k, AoS, Warmachine/Hordes, Infinity, Bolt Action, Hail Caeser et al. Loads of historical games get played at clubs and in people's houses.

What has happened though is its not store based. It used to be totally reliant on the stores but it has moved to clubs and people's houses and whatnot. The events and even weekly gaming are now organized by people who find space elsewhere. Social media seems to work better for people finding games than the networking of local stores.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/10 20:19:35


Post by: MrMoustaffa


leopard wrote:
Bolt Action is "ok" around here, Antares fell flat on its backside though, despite being basically a better version.

meh.

gamers are fickle

I'm sure the rules are good since I love bolt action, but the minis really don't do it for me and I suspect others are in the same boat. Add in most are metal and I have a feeling it's the aesthetics and models that kill the game.

They all look like mass effect knockoffs or cheesy early start trek. I get for some it's right up their alley but as a guy who prefers more gritty sci fi like 40k or things like the 80's Aliens stuff Antares really doesn't do it for me.

Shame too, I was excited to try the game until I saw the models.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/10 22:38:57


Post by: Pacific


I don't know, I think some of the Antares miniatures have a lot more hard sci-fi look to them and look pretty cool. And I love the background for the Isorian faction, where they basically end up fighting a race of evil space spiders and end up becoming like them in the course of beating them (which does seem pretty grim-dark to me! )







How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/11 01:59:36


Post by: auticus


The aesthetics killed antares for me as well. The game is awesome. The models? Not so much.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/11 02:13:40


Post by: thekingofkings


 auticus wrote:
The aesthetics killed antares for me as well. The game is awesome. The models? Not so much.


that is a common problem for games. IMO most of the non gw games out there are vastly better games than what gw can make, but their models are......iffy at times. the old mutant chronicles game had great rules that played amazingly well but some of the models were...yuck, and Chronopia was IMO vastly superior to warhammer and light years ahead of AoS, but it had the same issues with models.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/11 21:25:41


Post by: TheAuldGrump


 TheAuldGrump wrote:
How is my non-GW game going at the moment?

Noisily....

Instead of the Kings of War game, tonight I am running a Hack & Slash - simplified D20/D&D rules, that I have been running every now and again since 1977.

Some (most?) of these kids have parents that had not been born in 1977.

It is going... loudly.

I swear, Sam is hitting a pitch in her happy squeals when she 'accidentally' fireballs one of her allies that has the dog hiding under the chair. (So far, she has inflicted three incidents of 'friendly fireball'... two against the same player.)

We are using jellybeans as hit points....

The Auld Grump - each player controlling one character, or two weak characters. (The weak characters are halflings and goblins - identical, except the gobbos are green and the halflings aren't.)

I asked Sam what was up between her and Dain - the way she has been 'accidentally' fireballing him in games, and then the way he kind of... enjoys talking about it.

Her answer?

'We're going to be married.'
'Uhm... Does Dain know this?'
'Yep! We've already agreed!'

In a completely calm, happy voice

Bear in mind, these kids are nine years old.
I swear, Dain was still in the 'Gurls! Yuck!' stage just a few months ago.... Now, they are not just talking at the games, they are hanging out together.

My wife gives them a bit less than 50/50. (Married or not, they have a relationship.)

The Auld Grump


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/11 22:35:58


Post by: mdauben


 durecellrabbit wrote:
It feels to me like Dakka is quieter about non-GW games these day. Since 40k seems to be undergoing a resurgence of popularity I was wondering how other games which I don't hear much about are doing? These games include WMH, KoW, Malifaux, Infinity, Gates of Antares and X-Wing.


Our local group was big into FOW v3 when I started with them a 2-3 years ago. We played lots of one-off games, leagues and mega-scenarios. Everyone was excited when Battlefront announced a new edition and new MW books, and we had started planning to do a desert campaign in the store. Then v4 actually hit and people were appalled. At first it was the rules people balked at, but even after they began to reluctantly accept them, the army books and cards continued to turn people off. Battlefront's totally botched release of the new edition didn't help.

There's been a little LW experimentation with v4 but there are lots of short-comings in the slap-dash way BF adapted the old lists to the new rules that people haven't gotten that excited about it. Some of us have been trying to drum up some interest in doing a MW escalation campaign (now that there are almost four forces to chose from), but I'm not sure if there is enough interest to make it worthwhile.

Team Yankee has been modestly successful locally. I think it some ways its been successful in spite of the rules, rather than because of them. People are interested in gaming the cold war because for a lot of them its more relatable than WWII. Many players are old enough to have served during that period, or at least remember it. WWII on the other hand is often their grandfather's war.

There's a few people playing BA locally, but it hasn't taken off like FOW once did and remains a niche game in our FLGS.

There was a fair amount of interest in X-Wing for a while, but it seems like that interest had been crushed under the relentless waves of new releases, and the need to keep up with those releases to stay competitive.

There was a flash of interest in Kings of War when WFB imploded, but that seems to have died off. Playing of WMH has also dropped way off, too. There's nothing else going on in the store often enough to really be considered a regularly played miniatures game.

These days our FLGS seems dominated by RPGs and card games. :(


 AndrewGPaul wrote:
When Flames of War came out, 15mm wasn't really a popular scale for World War 2 games.

Huh. I remember 15mm be the most popular scale for WWII gaming long before FOW (I was a WWII gamer long before FOW). There were multiple companies selling extensive ranges of 15mm tanks and infantry. There was a big historical gaming store in Chicago I used to visit, that had probably 50 feet of aisle space devoted to 15mm WWII.

GHQ's 6mm stuff was probably a distant second in popularity back then, and any other scales were a tiny fraction of sales. AFAIK, widespread use of 20mm and 28mm are relatively recent for WWII gaming.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/17 01:20:16


Post by: TheAuldGrump


Last week at my Kids of War game, the battle was Cheliax (Kingdoms of Men with Abyssal allies) vs. Pirates (Kingdoms of Men) - and the Cheliaxians won.

At tonight's Pathfinder game, the PCs are pirates trying to retake an island that has been stormed by Cheliax....

Three of the players are also in my Kids of War game, and groaned when they realized that two of them had run the armty that took the island from the Pirates....

Hey, I warned them that the wargame was going to affect the RPG....

The Auld Grump

*EDIT* The kids game for Pathfinder is a modified Skull & Shackles - the kids are tenth level now. I took out the more adult portions of the scenarios, and this scenario is to make up for some of the XP they might otherwise have lost out on.... They were homing in on the island when they noticed that the flag had changed to that of Cheliax, not the Freebooters of the Shackles..


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/17 02:35:25


Post by: Polonius


I was at a gaming store's black friday sale, and they have Fow stuff for 60% off!


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/17 06:43:04


Post by: MrMoustaffa


 Pacific wrote:
I don't know, I think some of the Antares miniatures have a lot more hard sci-fi look to them and look pretty cool. And I love the background for the Isorian faction, where they basically end up fighting a race of evil space spiders and end up becoming like them in the course of beating them (which does seem pretty grim-dark to me! )






That's the funny thing about taste and opinion. These pictures pretty much sum up everything I dislike about Antares models. To me they all have that generic mass effect look like a lot of sci find stuff this decade seems to prefer. I always preferred a more "dirty" and lived in universe, something like Star Craft's Terran backwater aesthetic, the clunky analog look of technology in movies like Aliens, or 40k's ancient and almost magical technology. When I see Antares models, they look alien and staged, like a prop designer got bored and had too much fiberglass and free time. Some I can't even tell are human, and their technology and gear is so pristine it looks like it's never been used. Ironically this is probably far more realistic of what the future will be than most sci fi I enjoy, but there you go.

This is doubly ironic because I play PHR in Dropzone and Dropfleet Although to be fair that's because PHR has giant friggin scorpion mechs and no other fleet in dropfleet let me say "FIRE BROADSIDES" like PHR did, so I didn't really care about their aesthetic as much.

So yeah, gamers are fickle, news at 11.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/17 16:21:39


Post by: Pacific


Well - at least we can agree on one thing. I would LOVE to see a miniature range for Starcraft!


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/17 16:47:38


Post by: Red Harvest


You know where you can find a Kerrigan though... or something fairly close.

 MrMoustaffa wrote:
That's the funny thing about taste and opinion. These pictures pretty much sum up everything I dislike about Antares models. To me they all have that generic mass effect look like a lot of sci find stuff this decade seems to prefer. I always preferred a more "dirty" and lived in universe, something like Star Craft's Terran backwater aesthetic, the clunky analog look of technology in movies like Aliens, or 40k's ancient and almost magical technology. When I see Antares models, they look alien and staged, like a prop designer got bored and had too much fiberglass and free time. Some I can't even tell are human, and their technology and gear is so pristine it looks like it's never been used. Ironically this is probably far more realistic of what the future will be than most sci fi I enjoy, but there you go.
Never let realism get in the way of enjoying space elf-games. I dislike the look of the Gates of Antares minis too. But I do like their low profile non-slant sided bases.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/17 20:10:25


Post by: bigern314


Those Antares models look pretty sweet to me. I'm not sure anyone plays that in my area though. The only sci-fi game I see is 40k, which has cool fluff but it seems like its more about minimal rules used to push very expensive plastic around the table. Antares using a take on the IMO great Bolt Action rule set sounds awesome if anyone played it here.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/18 08:27:03


Post by: MrMoustaffa


bigern314 wrote:
Those Antares models look pretty sweet to me. I'm not sure anyone plays that in my area though. The only sci-fi game I see is 40k, which has cool fluff but it seems like its more about minimal rules used to push very expensive plastic around the table. Antares using a take on the IMO great Bolt Action rule set sounds awesome if anyone played it here.

If it's like bolt action it should be loads of fun. It's not perfect, but it definitely leads to exciting games. If you like the models absolutely give it a shot. It looks pretty good to me at least.

That's why I'm bugged about not liking the models so much If there was a faction I liked, or heck even a faction that had rules that let me use something akin to what I prefer to build (guardsmen or at most fancy something like admech) I'd have already bought the book and be running demo games, like I do with every system I enjoy. It's just nothing I have built or would like to build would remotely fit in with Antares, and it feels in poor form to try and shoehorn it in.


It also doesn't hurt that I've kind of hit critical mass on the amount of games I can keep straight in my head. I play actively 40k, Bolt Action, Dropfleet, Shadow War, and whatever version of kill team is in vogue that week. On top of that I on and off play Flames V3, X-Wing, Dropzone, and even have starship troopers minis laying around. I don't know if I've got enough room left in my brain for another game I also need time to grieve the death of Halo ground combat in 15mm, especially since I never got a chance to even try it. I mean, I knew it was doomed from the start with Spartan behind the wheel, but Halo was one of my first sci find universes I fell in love with and I was excited to try it. RIP, Im sure one day I'll come across some cheap on a clearance sale and pic them up for a painting project someday but the goal this year is no new projects, only clear out old ones.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/18 09:53:08


Post by: Chamberlain


Antares and Bolt Action are both great gaming experiences. Loads of fun. There's one store in town that sells Antares stuff and one club in town has it going on twice a month. It's not really spreading into the larger community though.

And everyone I've asked why says the same thing-- that some combination of the miniatures and the fictional universe doesn't do it for them. And it's not that it doesn't do it for them at all. In order to not pick it up it just has to do it for them less than what they're already involved in.



How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/18 17:02:13


Post by: xraytango


In my group it's more that we don't play Antares because the rulebook is a disorganized mess. It needs better editing and a more fluid layout. Other than that the game would be fine, it's got pretty decent mechanics, if you're used to a Priestley/Cavatore game you'll pick it up pretty quick.

We've been playing a good bit of Bolt Action at my club, as well as a home-brew Command and Colors we call Fantasy Banners.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/18 17:19:15


Post by: Nurglitch


I'm working on an off-brand Adeptus Titanicus I'm calling Titanomachia. Currently I'm working on getting manufacturing and fulfilment lined up before going cap in hand to Kickstarter.

You may have seen the thread I started about it in the News & Rumours forum.

Here's the link to my development blog:

www.titanomachina.blogspot.ca


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/18 21:52:33


Post by: TheAuldGrump


Somewhere along the line, the Kids of War game has gotten into a pattern of 1st week - Kids of War, 2nd week - painting. Rinse and Repeat.

Which is fine - but somehow, only two or three of the painting kids are also in the Kids of War game...

The whole point of painting night was that the kids could get their armies painted.

What we have instead is a passel of young RPG kids.

The Auld Grump - most of the armies are unpainted, even now....


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/19 02:58:34


Post by: niall78


 TheAuldGrump wrote:
Somewhere along the line, the Kids of War game has gotten into a pattern of 1st week - Kids of War, 2nd week - painting. Rinse and Repeat.

Which is fine - but somehow, only two or three of the painting kids are also in the Kids of War game...

The whole point of painting night was that the kids could get their armies painted.

What we have instead is a passel of young RPG kids.

The Auld Grump - most of the armies are unpainted, even now....


Get them to throw a quick coloured wash on them if they are going to stay unpainted. That helps a lot and takes very little time.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/20 00:45:54


Post by: TheAuldGrump


niall78 wrote:
 TheAuldGrump wrote:
Somewhere along the line, the Kids of War game has gotten into a pattern of 1st week - Kids of War, 2nd week - painting. Rinse and Repeat.

Which is fine - but somehow, only two or three of the painting kids are also in the Kids of War game...

The whole point of painting night was that the kids could get their armies painted.

What we have instead is a passel of young RPG kids.

The Auld Grump - most of the armies are unpainted, even now....


Get them to throw a quick coloured wash on them if they are going to stay unpainted. That helps a lot and takes very little time.
Most of the minis actually being painted are done with the Block Colors and Dip method - Sam painted up an entire box of the old plastic Chaos Dwarfs that way. (Being used for Duergar in her Pathfinder game - Duergar and Fire Giants are the background bad guys for the campaign she is running.)

She brought in a dragon yesterday - and has started suffering from that dread disease so common to dungeon masters - MUST TALK ABOUT GAME!

It's adorable.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/21 06:15:02


Post by: dosiere


There seems to be a decent mix of games in my area, Atlanta GA.

One game that always seems to stick around under the radar is bolt action; which is fortunate as I enjoy playing it. It has a few quirks but it’s a fun system, and many players of it seem much more willing to play alternate scenarios, use interesting terrain, and use themed lists.

The one game I don’t see but wish I did is Runewars.

I have high hopes for the forthcoming Legion game from FFG. I’m trying to decide if it’s worth dropping several other games for it, as I just don’t have the time or money to add another full-blown tabletop game to my life without stopping x-wing, Armada, or 40k. If it picks up enough steam where I can get pick up games easily I just might.



How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/26 18:36:48


Post by: edbradders


My local club has players for all the mainstream, non-historical games going. Much to my dismay, no one is interested in anything that isn't fantasy or sci-fi related. I play 40k, 30k and terminator genysis but I'm very much into Bolt Action and Chain of Command at the moment and the nearest club with a player base for it is 30-40 mins drive but I don't have a car so the only way I can get a game is if one of them can pick me up or come to my local club which isn't very often.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/26 22:27:16


Post by: TheAuldGrump


When the kids were playing last night, my wife commented about how quiet they are when they are playing.

As soon as those words escaped her lips one of them shouted 'Boom! Boom! Baby!' at the top of his lungs.

He just added a Steel Behemoth to his dwarf army - not the official Mantic model, but some cheap plastic toy that looks a lot like the old ork Battle Wagon from way back when.

I need to ask him where he got it - it would be wicked easy to convert for steampunk gaming....

The Auld Grump


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/26 23:09:22


Post by: AegisGrimm


Just got my father to sit down at my new house while the kids were asleep and play a game of Age of Fantasy Skirmish which is a great free ruleset from One Page Games, which makes rules-light rulesets that cover both 40k and Warhammer, with both army and skirmish-scale settings. Models only have two stats (and weapon profiles).

It was a fun game of forces at each extreme, with me fielding 4 Stormcast against his Orc force of about 13 models, but still pretty balanced, as big models like Stormcast and Ogres get 3 wounds and several attacks, but all the weaker forces get units of 3 (or sometimes 5 in the case of pansy things like Gnoblars or Skaven Slaves) single-wound models.

It was a great time, although my Stormcast crushed his Orcs due to his absolute inability to roll anything higher than a 3 on any of his dice, or in the case of his Shaman, 2's, resulting in a spellcaster who ironically never cast a spell successfully in the entire game.

Highly recommend others give this little gem a try, though my situation is a bit of grey area for this thread, as I am using 100% GW models, with free indie rules, to play games set in a GW setting, lol.



How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/31 20:22:27


Post by: bigern314


Our Bolt Action group is growing it seems, we picked up a new member. Guild Ball seems to be a thing at the store. I was hoping someone up there played Frostgrave but apparently that is not a big game. Bought the rules anyway. They are trying to get a Blood Bowl league going but it doesn't look good.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/31 21:17:54


Post by: ServiceGames


Pardon my ignorance on this subject (and if I'm bringing it up in the wrong thread), but isn't WMH kinda going through a rough time at the moment? I had heard somewhere (I believe on YouTube, and I know you can't trust everything you hear there) that their Mk 3 rules just weren't very popular.

I know they have recently come out with their own Skirmish game called Company of Iron, but it just seems to be a rehash of Shadow War: Armageddon from GW with more models on the board.

SG



How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/31 21:31:05


Post by: Deadnight


 ServiceGames wrote:
Pardon my ignorance on this subject (and if I'm bringing it up in the wrong thread), but isn't WMH kinda going through a rough time at the moment? I had heard somewhere (I believe on YouTube, and I know you can't trust everything you hear there) that their Mk 3 rules just weren't very popular.

I know they have recently come out with their own Skirmish game called Company of Iron, but it just seems to be a rehash of Shadow War: Armageddon from GW with more models on the board.

SG



Depends where, really. Anecdotally I've heard of folks getting back into the game now that mk3 has been around for a bit.

And company of iron is essentially skirmish-machine, without theheavy jacks and casters. It's pretty decent actually.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/01/31 22:14:24


Post by: Elemental


 ServiceGames wrote:
Pardon my ignorance on this subject (and if I'm bringing it up in the wrong thread), but isn't WMH kinda going through a rough time at the moment? I had heard somewhere (I believe on YouTube, and I know you can't trust everything you hear there) that their Mk 3 rules just weren't very popular.


Eh, there's always a few loud voices who'll claim they represent everyone. My perception is that the transition into Mk3 has been rough--it seems that it was released before it was entirely playtested. Some factions (Cryx, Skorne) were severely disadvantaged, and several game-breakers shook out in the early months. Theme forces were apparently pivotal to how the game was meant to be balanced, but were uneven in release frequency and quality.

But to give PP credit, they've done a lot of work to fix things, and I'd say now the game's in a better mechanical state than it ever was in 2e. Most of the NPE's, game-breakers and one-time dud choices such as battle engines have been fixed, entire factions have been reworked, and the current pattern of community-assisted development for new stuff is working out well.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/02/01 00:06:51


Post by: thekingofkings


Warmachine/Hordes has done extremely well in my area, and with CoI and its support (really its PP's continuous support to the FLGS) it has pretty much blown GW away. I gave up shadow war because i was the last person left willing to play (I like it alot better than 8th 40k) but with so much more support to other games, there just is no real reason to pay GW prices for what are only subjectively "better" models/rules/etc...


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/02/01 00:16:21


Post by: Adeptus Doritos


My non-GW game, Infinity, is doing okay, as far as people playing it. During the summer, it picks up a bit. But the local shops don't stock the models any more. When they DID, they had like 10 of the same starter box. All the places were under management from cantankerous old-timers that didn't understand 'variety' of stock. Now they're all under new management and they're still not willing to stock anything.

On the subject of other games in my area (keep in mind we have quite a few tabletop gamers here, it's always a full house on the weekends and even the recreation centers are full)

-I haven't seen anyone playing X-Wing in over a year. The one guy I know that was big on it is selling his stuff and can't find anyone who wants it.

-A group of weird hipsters comes in to play Guild-Ball sometimes, and thanks to their attitude... no one wanted to play Guild-Ball, so the stores don't stock it.

-One guy brought in some Warmahorde stuff once. Had two armies. Couldn't find someone to play, never came back.

-The World War 2 games (I don't know the difference between them) are popular with some older dudes that come in on Sunday Mornings. The shops will order stuff for them. One of the shops had a meltdown over the German Army, and refuses to allow it in their store- so the old dudes come to our store and we don't care as long as they're not goose-stepping and doing Roman Salutes.

-A cute chick came in one time to paint some Malifaux stuff, she was really nice. Now she's a Tyranid player and I don't like her so much.





How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/02/01 00:58:42


Post by: Rygnan


 ServiceGames wrote:
Pardon my ignorance on this subject (and if I'm bringing it up in the wrong thread), but isn't WMH kinda going through a rough time at the moment? I had heard somewhere (I believe on YouTube, and I know you can't trust everything you hear there) that their Mk 3 rules just weren't very popular.



Anecdotal, but the Warmachine scene in Sydney has all but died from what I know. The events we used to have with a large amount of players (40-50) just don't get run, and even the big conventions seem to have a much smaller amount of people playing. I've noticed a lot of the previous Warmahordes group move on to Judgment and Guild Ball, while my own local group have moved to a variety of things, with some going to historicals, some to Malifaux and some to Batman.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/02/01 04:22:46


Post by: Chamberlain


The local player base for WMH went from 20ish regulars at events to 8 or so. I think it's still big in the USA, so I'm planning on eBaying my armies sooner rather than later. I could totally see Star Wars Legion eating Warmachine's player base up pretty quickly.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/02/01 06:18:12


Post by: Stormonu


Local WMH community died, remaining (starter) product is on the discount aisle (and about 3 boxes at that) at one the two local FLGS's (it's disappeared completely at the other, with no restock). I think Mk3's initial release AND their pricing policy changes hit them real hard.

I think our X-Wing community is going through a negative shift ATM, player interest is pretty low and participation has noticeably dropped.

Having recently started back up playing D&D, I've been shocked to find a robust 5E (& Pathfinder) community at the local FLGS - I'd last been involved back in 3E, and the community had imploded during 4E, at one point with much tension between the 4E community and the Pathfinder community. Now, about half the community plays in both a 5E AND a Pathfinder campaign of some sort.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/02/04 19:01:44


Post by: Mymearan


I think our local Xwing players mostly went to that Star Wars dice game, it seems very popular.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/03/04 22:08:33


Post by: TheAuldGrump


My wife and co-conspirator was sick last week, so no painting circle.

Getting ready for the next Pathfinder game for the kids, when they finish with the modified Skull & Shackles game - 6-4 in favor of Reign of Fire over Kingmaker....

And I noticed that most of the kids in favor of Kingmaker are also in the Kids of War campaign.... Purely a coincidence, I'm sure....

The grownups game is going to see my wife GMing and me playing, for the first time ever.

Eberron, I am going to be playing a loud, boisterous, warforged GENTLEMAN ADVENTURER!

HOT CHOCOLATE AND SCHNAPPS ALL AROUND!

The Auld Grump


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/03/04 22:47:59


Post by: stroller


WW2 is in this week. Lots of 15mm tanks built (Early British, German and Russian) for Flames of War / Tanks / Other


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/03/06 22:20:50


Post by: bigern314


Had a tournament down at Ft. Leonard Wood last weekend. Was 46 spots and I"m guessing at least 40 players there for Bolt Action. BA kept taking tables from FoW, which had 4 players total. Warlord and other vendors sent a lot of stuff which was great, I finished way in the back and still got a sprue of Blitz Germans, a copy of Duel In the Sun for BA, a set of pin markers, and a Viking mini from some company I can't recall offhand.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/03/16 02:50:25


Post by: TheAuldGrump


Started the Kids of War game with a meeting engagement - and after that the kids started doing their own version of the scenario - they honestly do not need me anymore, being fully capable of creating their own scenarios.

The Auld Grump - we never got to the second scenario I had planned - they were too busy playing their own scenario.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/03/16 06:51:24


Post by: Stormonu


Well, Strahd claimed another party in our 5E game, so they're all playing MtG for now until I convince the players (my eldest son and his friends) to make up a new party.

Tales of Equestria game is on hold - that group (Wife, sister-in-law, my sons) thinks they've beat the villain. I hate to break their hearts, as the trouble is just starting.

I've assembled quite a German Panzergrenadier army, just waiting to find someone to play (my eldest has no interest in WW2 :( )

Right now, of late, Magic has been the game going on around the house. I've hated the game for so long because it "destroyed" my RPGs, but I've found myself getting a few prebuilt decks to train my son how to play it. As long as I stay away from the competitive scene, I'll be happy with an occasional game - it only takes up about 20 minutes or so. Less as my son gets better at killing me.



How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/03/16 17:58:33


Post by: steve2112


My buddy and i just played a game of Chosen Men by Osprey. Napoleonic skirmish at 28mm. Super fast and easy rules reminds me of older fantasy/40k. We have a group of 8 meeting at historicon this summer to play. Besides that i live on long island and it seems to only be 40k at the few stores that are left. Used to have infinity but cant find any solid groups by me anymore.

- steve


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/03/16 18:15:31


Post by: djones520


I just got into Team Yankee, and it seems to be growing in my area.

Seems to be a lot of fun, and doesn't take long at all to play.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/03/16 21:55:25


Post by: thekingofkings


Wrath of Kings going gangbusters here


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/03/20 14:51:37


Post by: Eilif


Well, Runewars, just died in Chicago...

...because the store supporting it went out of business.

Other shops appear to stock some but there doesn't appear to be any other shops in Chicago actively supporting it so I guess it's dead.I hadn't played in a couple of months because my gigging schedule had picked up but I had always planned on getting back into it. I always assume the game would die but until recently it looked like it would be because FFG stopped supporting it.

Oh well, there are 3 silver linings to the whole situation.

1) I have friend who has the game and plenty of undead so we can play if we want.

2)I like the figs and had always planned on using my "Daqan" (Human faction) figs in KoW anyway. I scopped up a couple boxes of the crossbowmen in closeout, so now I've got a mostly painted "Good Guy" army with:
-LOTS of Spearmen
-Some troops with hand weapons
-Fair number of crossbowmen
-LOTS of Cavalry
-Mounted and Unmounted leader
-A couple of Charachter types
-Wizard
-6 Stone Golems
That seems like a pretty complete army for KoW or virtually any other fantasy mass battle game.

3) I also got off pretty cheap. After getting the box set for free at adepticon, trading my undead for another set of Daqan, scooping up another 2 sets of Daqan for about half the price of the box, and buying the rest at near retail, I've not got alot invested in this army.

So I've got an army of figures I like and no feeling that I've got to keep buying new units just to keep up with upgrade cards and power creep. Not an entirely bad result.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/03/20 16:32:59


Post by: Stevefamine


Bolt Action is on a steady climb up. Local players are bailing on Team Yankee (including me)

Warmachine is going strong after the dip from MK2 to MK3

Antares? huh?

New star wars 28mm game has a demo table at the local store and a ton of copies. Doesn't seem to be moving. They have a demo night too with 2-3. The guys that play XWing have no interest in painting.

X-Wing is a solid 6-8 players.... MTG is 50-60. Run on the same days.

Infinity is strong across the board and you can get pick up games on the 40k night. The stores have the terrain to back it up.

Frostgrave is a strong group but they meet over at a buddies house. Same crowd does D&D. D&D seems to be almost always college kids that go to the uni library instead of the local store except for the one store. Easily 10-20~ casual to serious players

Without me running DZC, the scene is dead. Dropfleet is a monthly meet up

Runewars on 50% off

Guild Ball has grown to the same size as Xwing and Warmachine. Good showing and weekly leagues at multiple stores

Necromunda is big enough to warrent a 4x4 table at two stores has regular games. Not sure the player size

Kings of War has stock in store that's astonishingly not on sale. Only at one store, the other two dropped them. 6-8 players that I've stumbled upon on a few game nights with the 40k crowd.


 djones520 wrote:
I just got into Team Yankee, and it seems to be growing in my area.

Seems to be a lot of fun, and doesn't take long at all to play.



It's quicker than the last edition of Flames of War. tl;dr things die faster


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/03/22 22:00:50


Post by: TheAuldGrump


The pitter-patter of little feet (STOMP, STOMP, STOMP! Thump, thump, thump *BANG!* Ow! Thump, thump, thump!) marks the return of small people armed with paint brushes and miniatures....

The Auld Grump - the cats have already learned to hide when they hear the sound. The dog is still holding out hope that food will be involved.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/03/29 14:54:25


Post by: TheAuldGrump


Megan, my good lady wife, is amazed that kids make more noise while painting than they do while actually playing the games....

This week is game week.

The Auld Grump


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/04/12 22:36:48


Post by: We


So I popped in here after after almost 2 years of non-GW gaming and my response is.....GW is still around? I switched and haven't looked back. I have so many other opportunities to game with other systems I am really happy I dropped GW.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/04/13 01:17:51


Post by: Vertrucio


GW 8th edition lost basically all the steam with my group (hey guys!). They've taken shelter under the wing of Battletech to have something to play that's basically 40k focusing on big robots without the fantasy.

Which is good, because Battletech is still great, just extremely dated.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/04/13 15:47:01


Post by: EmberlordofFire8


Well, today marked my first step into 6mm (or possibly 3mm) wargaming! Gonna play through Caesar's civil war...


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/04/13 16:22:35


Post by: Nurglitch


I'm working on a game that I'm hoping of pushing to KS sometime soon.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/04/18 17:05:05


Post by: lord_blackfang


My group has fallen in love with Gaslands the past few weeks, we had 3 games with up to 4 players each last demo day.

It plays a lot like X-wing flight path but with a more intricate speed and initiative system, and once you buy the book and templates, the forces are practically free.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/04/19 22:14:52


Post by: AegisGrimm


If you like Gaslands also maybe try out Outrider. It also plays alot like Xwing/Wings of war with a Path system, and is made for Matchbox/Hotwheels cars loaded with guns.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/04/19 23:47:03


Post by: Desubot


My group is about to jump balls deep into konflict 47

anyone have any experiences with it?


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/04/19 23:57:03


Post by: infinite_array


 Desubot wrote:
My group is about to jump balls deep into konflict 47

anyone have any experiences with it?


My group's been getting into it. I've got Germans, and we've got people playing Germans, British, Americans, and Soviets.

It's a pretty fun ruleset with plenty of tactical options. Even if you can't manage to remove enemy models from the table, you can at least put a bunch of pin markers on them and make it harder for the other player to activate them.

It's also heavily infantry-focused if you're not playing Tank War - you get one Armored Car and one Tank slot per platoon, and if you want to take another platoon you've got the take the minimum infantry options.

Oh, and try to keep your non Rift Tech units in cover, because anything not in power armor is going to get shredded in the open.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/04/20 00:58:03


Post by: Valander


 lord_blackfang wrote:
My group has fallen in love with Gaslands the past few weeks, we had 3 games with up to 4 players each last demo day.

It plays a lot like X-wing flight path but with a more intricate speed and initiative system, and once you buy the book and templates, the forces are practically free.
Gaslands is freaking awesome! We've been playing that and having a rad time.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/04/20 01:07:35


Post by: TheAuldGrump


Tonight I discovered that the kids (Ages 9 - 11) are a lot more cautious with the individuals in Vanguard than they are with the big units in Kings of War.

Except for Su who was playing Goblins - she was treating her gobbos as disposable, and racking up the largest number of wins in the process....

Pepper with bow fire, charge in with her troll, then pop in a bunch of gobbos with spears.

She is kind of a brutal player.

The Auld Grump


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/04/20 17:52:17


Post by: thekingofkings


Wrath of Kings still going good, we added 3 more players to the regular group.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/04/20 19:16:47


Post by: judgedoug


We wrote:
So I popped in here after after almost 2 years of non-GW gaming and my response is.....GW is still around? I switched and haven't looked back. I have so many other opportunities to game with other systems I am really happy I dropped GW.


Yes, they are still around, and are larger and more successful than all other miniatures gaming companies combined, no matter how edgy cool internet guys like to think


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/04/21 00:19:55


Post by: Mathieu Raymond


W40K is still pretty much the dominant game most nights, but for the past few weeks, it has slowly been losing ground to Star Wars: Legion. That DoA game everyone loves to diss.

X-Wing is still going strong, very strong, we get 1-2 newbies every week.

Malifaux, sadly, seems to have completely fallen off the face of the Earth in the city. The only FLGS which stocked it went belly up about 12 months ago and that's been it, pretty much. Infinity has a good community, but they seem to meet at odd hours on weird days, but hey, they're still kicking.

We had a lot of Guildball over the winter, but it seems even hot restic on restic football action can't survive frigid temperatures forever.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/04/21 20:28:00


Post by: amazingturtles


I've been planning out warbands for frostgrave, hopefully i'll be able to actually get another game in some time.

Though I think I often enjoy the planning stages more than the games, so there's a conundrum. I think i want something with a bit more roleplaying, something that allows for some fun personality building, because wizards should be wild and odd characters, to me.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/04/22 01:31:10


Post by: AegisGrimm


 Valander wrote:
 lord_blackfang wrote:
My group has fallen in love with Gaslands the past few weeks, we had 3 games with up to 4 players each last demo day.

It plays a lot like X-wing flight path but with a more intricate speed and initiative system, and once you buy the book and templates, the forces are practically free.
Gaslands is freaking awesome! We've been playing that and having a rad time.


I actually just found out about Gaslands myself! I never really was interested in Car Wars-esque games, but I love the flightpath portion of Xwing, and so Gaslands has me really intrigued. Bonus points for the rulebook being 12 bucks on Amazon.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/04/22 01:56:08


Post by: master of ordinance


Barring my friends birthday I have not played a GW game in about 2 years now, although the 40K/AoS movement is still strong at my FLGS.
Many of us moved on to other games like BA or Infinity,which cost less to play and are quite frankly far better.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/04/27 03:32:03


Post by: TheAuldGrump


Not my game, per se - but I had the incredible pleasure of listening to two young girls talking about stupid players in the RPG games they are running,

I feel so proud!

Both are in my Tuesday night Pathfinder game - one is ten, the other nine, and both are now GMs, complete with war stories!

One had a PC that charged a fire giant while at third level, while the other had a PC that decided that the convenient tray of smoked glasses with a sign reading 'Wear These' was a trick - so got to look a medusa in the face.

The Auld Grump - she stole the medusa encounter from my game - but when she was a player in the encounter, nobody was silly enough not to wear the goggles.

*EDIT* Tonight was the painting session - both of the young women brought monsters to paint for their games - the circle continues for another generation.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/04 21:30:47


Post by: TheAuldGrump


Kids of War last night - they liked Vanguard, but prefer pushing armies around.

As for me - I have my character sheet, I have my dice, I have my mini - I'm gonna play Pathfinder!

The Auld Grump - first time playing instead of running a game in over three years.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/24 23:08:39


Post by: TheAuldGrump


Painting night.... It looks like Sam's gypsy dancer/summoner for Pathfinder has red hair. (As has her previous three characters, and Sam herself....)

The kids Pathfinder game on Tuesday was a whole lot of fun - one of the kids insisted on roof surfing on a fast moving Gypsy vardo in a mounted combat - and pulled it off, killing the gnoll leader mounted on Hyaenadon with three shots. (I only gave him a -2 to hit, plus he is a ranger with hatred for gnolls and a composite longbow built for STR 16.) *EDIT* To be clear - I heartily approve of this action!

The Auld Grump - the youngest player (Sam) hijacked the party when she saw my mini for a gypsy wagon, telling the other kids that 'gypsies are land pirates!' Suddenly they went from a raggle taggle band of adventures to a raggle taggle band of Gypsies. (There are three leaders for the group - and she is one of them.)



How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/25 16:04:59


Post by: Captain Brown


I have become an expert at losing Candy Land so that the 3 year old Ms. Captain Brown can enjoy winning board games.

Cheers,

CB


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/25 16:56:42


Post by: infinite_array


Slow grow league for Konflikt 47 will begin its two week 750 point section this Sunday. I'm looking forward to the addition of armored cars/light mechs.

Gangs of Rome continues to be a fun, quick little skirmish game. Of course, being friends with the store owner is convinient when I'm hunting for certain coins in the fighter packs.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/26 04:33:00


Post by: AegisGrimm


Hoping to get a couple of friends into playing Gaslands. Really slick car combat game from Osprey.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/27 10:43:36


Post by: Sarigar


Had 9 players participate in FLGS Star Wars Legion tourney.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/27 11:14:12


Post by: jbeil


Stirring up a lot of interest in Battletech at my local.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/27 11:37:30


Post by: Turnip Jedi


My gaming club is suffering from the sunny weather slump a bit but few games soldiering on;

Guildball doing okay but real life seems to meddling with players so getting consistent games can be a pain

MtG, almost flatlined, product overload seems to be the culprit

X-Wing, in cyro-freeze awaiting 2nd Ed

A few people are working on stuff for Gaslands and Drowned Earth but no games played as yet

And whilst its slightly OT a more GW centric club has sprung up in town and is pulling in about similar numbers to us



How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/28 16:46:17


Post by: edbradders


My local gaming club in predominantly sci-if and fantasy games which is annoying because I’m really getting into historical games like Bolt Action and chain of command but very few people play these games, if any, so I have to travel to the next town on the train to reliably get games. I would like to start a black powder era game but there’s no chance of that as the nearest group is 2 hours away by train.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/29 11:06:15


Post by: Pacific


Have you tried contacts in your local club (especially a few of the more seasoned members) to see if they know of any groups? Another good one is if there are any local wargaming, model building or even model railway events which might have some of those members attend.

The reason I say this is that I've found clubs before that have very little online presence - facebook groups or twitter etc. (but might have some anachronistic yahoo bulletin board group or something). Seems remarkable in this day and age but quite often you have to know exactly where to look to find them..


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/29 15:38:31


Post by: durecellrabbit


I think a lot of the historical clubs are mostly older gamers who are not too clued up on the whole internet thing. I'm by far the youngest in my club and I'm not young anymore. Some of our neighbour clubs could be mistaken for retirement homes.

Pretty much the most reliable way to find out about my club is at a local wargames show. Otherwise another club might know about us and refer you. I also know of other clubs that have even less presence.

Pacific's advice is good.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/30 00:26:43


Post by: chromedog


Doing pretty well.

My club just held its annual 2-day 2-system tourney (infiniy and 9th age fantasy). 32 for infinity, 40 for 9th age (which was also a TEAMS event - 8 teams of 5 players - and a practice for ETC, since we had 2 ETC teams represent).


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/30 09:55:48


Post by: Osbad


Gaslands is taking off big time in my club. Initially it did well in the usual group of post-GW players who like to try new things, but it has started to include other 40k players who like the idea of slapping a few bitz on a hotwheels and having a laugh. I think the general amount of laughter coming from the Gaslands tables has actually been a real draw!


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/30 12:02:33


Post by: lord_blackfang


This is how well Gaslands is doing locally



How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/30 16:06:42


Post by: Stevefamine


X Wing's player base dropped from 20 to maybe 6-8 at the last few events. Not sure if it was a meta shift or what. They just don't use nearly as many tables.

Guildball is stronger and more organized than AoS. Seems to be extremely popular - even moreso than Blood Bowl at 3 different stores (10-15mi area)

Warmachine is doing better than the MKIII release. Players are dusting off their armies and one local store started stocking it again (previously they were always out of most solos and non-core boxes).

Kings of War has dried up - player's are currently using a mash of rune wars, mantic, and 3rd party models for OLDHAMMER instead. Beer and pretzels crowd all around.

I havent seen the Star Wars 28mm game yet. We had a demo day and a release day. Someone built up a table for it! So it might take a few weeks to gain traction.
How's the tournament scene looking in your area Dakkaites for Star Wars?



How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/30 17:20:37


Post by: Valander


 Osbad wrote:
Gaslands is taking off big time in my club. Initially it did well in the usual group of post-GW players who like to try new things, but it has started to include other 40k players who like the idea of slapping a few bitz on a hotwheels and having a laugh. I think the general amount of laughter coming from the Gaslands tables has actually been a real draw!
Gaslands is kinda gathering a following at our shop, too, after me and my buddies have played a few games in there. The store manager was making noise a couple of weeks ago about starting a league or something.

Other than that, I haven't seen much Warmahordes (which used to be the big thing), still some Infinity though it seems to be slowing down, haven't seen any Malifaux and X-Wing seems in a holding pattern most likely awaiting 2.0. Batman is also kinda picking up with a few regular players (almost inspiring me to actually get my crap for that assembled and painted...)


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/30 22:39:59


Post by: TheAuldGrump


 lord_blackfang wrote:
This is how well Gaslands is doing locally


Huh, I see lots of beer... but where are the pretzels?!

(I wonder if there is a Guinness truck out there somewhere....)

The Auld Grump, oh, ye gods... and now I am picturing a truck being driven by Bob and Doug MacKenzie....





How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/31 07:50:45


Post by: Pacific


Reading a lot about Gaslands - any chance one of you guys doing a thread or write-up down in the Misc Games section (I assume, or is it Sci-Fi Misc Games) down the board?

Is it very similar to the Devil's Highway 666 boardgame? (a kind of Dark Future or Mad Max type setting?)


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/05/31 20:58:12


Post by: TheAuldGrump


Tonight, for the first time, my wife is running the Kids of War game.

Looking at the table... looks like the kids are in for some Abyssal troubles.

The Auld Grump


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/06/01 14:52:34


Post by: Osbad


 Pacific wrote:
Reading a lot about Gaslands - any chance one of you guys doing a thread or write-up down in the Misc Games section (I assume, or is it Sci-Fi Misc Games) down the board?

Is it very similar to the Devil's Highway 666 boardgame? (a kind of Dark Future or Mad Max type setting?)


Lots of videos on the 'tube about it: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=gaslands

Its a post-apocalyptic car wars type game. It is modern in play style (i.e. quick, concise but gives the "feel" of the setting without being overly complex), but is the modern successor to Car Wars.

Being Osprey rules it is fluff-lite as they only have a limited word count and need them to explain the rules in such a short book (available on Amazon for <£10/$13, and an even cheaper electronic version is available). It's one of those games that is so easy to get into its a case of "why not?". There is some fluff - i.e. half a page of justification for the world (Everyone rich has gone to Mars, the plebs left back on Earth fight in cars on TV for the scraps to earn enough dosh to buy passage to Mars. Which may be a lie. The End.) and there are some factions which can give your teams some differing flavour. If you want to do lots of modelling of your Hotwheels to make them like something out of Mad Max you can do that. If you can't be arsed and just want to plonk down stock Hotwheels straight out of your kid's toy car collection, you can totally just do that too. You can spend megabucks on acrylic templates, tokens and dice, or you can do a quick photocopy out the back of the book. Either works. In the end its up to you how you enjoy your hobby.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Couple of photos of last night's game:

1. My Monster Truck being all monstrous:


2. My Mustang crossing the winning line in style baby!


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/06/04 22:22:57


Post by: Easy E


 Pacific wrote:
Reading a lot about Gaslands - any chance one of you guys doing a thread or write-up down in the Misc Games section (I assume, or is it Sci-Fi Misc Games) down the board?

Is it very similar to the Devil's Highway 666 boardgame? (a kind of Dark Future or Mad Max type setting?)


Here is a write-up.

https://bloodandspectacles.blogspot.com/2017/12/review-gaslands-osprey-games.html

I would say it is more X-wing without upgrade cards than anything else.


How is your non-GW game doing? @ 2018/06/05 01:44:38


Post by: AegisGrimm


There's an equivalent in Gaslands for upgrade cards, just not in the form of actual cards.

If you are using the rules for Perks, you pick a faction to be your sponsor, and each faction has a pair of Perk lists that you can buy from for your cars, each list having about 6 perks. So each car can be given a selection of weapons, upgrades (armor, extra crew, nitro, etc) and perks.

Each chosen Sponsor also has a couple of special abilities that belong to all cars on your team.

I would maybe say that Gaslands is to Car Wars like X-Wing is to Full Thrust.