Currently, Zeratul is available as a promo mini until the end of Spiel Essen (both in person and on the Archon webstore).
Sadly he's a bit pricy at $35, but identical fully opaque and transparent versions are included so you can build two of him or mix the parts together (to make a partial cloaked version)
Spoiler:
There are also some new photos from Spiel Essen
Terran Glamour Shots
Spoiler:
Zerg Glamour Shots
Spoiler:
There's a Wargamer.com interview with Archon Studios that also dropped today where they said the likely date for the Starter Box and Wave 1 will be around Jan/Feb They've already announced the starter will be Terran vs Zerg and based on playtest photos they posted from their Blizzard Office visit it seems likely to be:
The 3d sculpting on these let it down, no charm, bad fat proportions, no sharp edges, lack of interesting detail minis with no soul (start craft has SO MUCH of it).... I could go on and on. Its a new product but looks like something done decades ago... a Pass
Looking at those miniatures, especially the Terran, something about them just seems cheap. Static poses, strange proportions, lack of detail. Part of it might be how they're painted but they just have that feel of being cheap toys.
At risk of being accused of white knighting, I'm not really sure what you guys were expecting These are mass produced plastics not boutique hand-sculpted resins, and these are pretty faithful for the artstyle of Starcraft 2 which they are based on.
Spoiler:
Now, I wish they would have done the Brood War designs instead (Archon said in their initial QA livestream that they are considering them for a future wave), but I can live with the SC2 designs if it's that or nothing
Also hilarious to see people go from complaining 40k is to dynamic to now whining that these are too static...
Yeah, I'm eagerly awaiting the Zerg minis. Basically, I've been waiting for them for 20 years And while I admit they're a bit on the large side for my taste, especially the Hydralisks, I can live with that. I would've preferred smaller zerglings to actually see, say, 100 of them on the board, but the game seems to be aimed at a smaller army size for now. I'll still get them as support for my OPR Alien hives army.
Looking at those miniatures, especially the Terran, something about them just seems cheap. Static poses, strange proportions, lack of detail. Part of it might be how they're painted but they just have that feel of being cheap toys.
Yeah, something definitely seems off about them.
This seems like one of those thing where I'd buy a model just to put on my shelf if I wanted a big Zerg or siege tank or whatever. But the posing on the basic marines is what I expect from the late 90s/early 2000s '40k-killer' games that tried to usurp GW's position in the market.
Honestly this is the hit in the nostalgia I want and need. I'm happy with those sculpts and im not sure what more they could have done really to be accurate to the in-game models.
I've only not windmill slammed the purchase on zertaul because the postage is £10 which seems a bit mental.
IMHO they chose a totally wrong scale for this game. Miniatures are just too big and model count just too low for the battles of the SC universe.
But they had to stick to the GW trend of bigger bigger and bigger minis. And Archon stated they want to compete against WH40k. So sad. It could had been amazing.
In a comment to a YT video by a former GW games designer, Sam Pearson (A main designer on Warcry) discussing the merits of various turn activation systems seemingly one of the game designers for the game chimed in.
Great video! For the StarCraft tabletop miniatures game we're working on, we've decided to go with a system that we believe offers the best of both worlds. It's somewhat similar to the Lord of the Rings system: you have phases (movement, assault, close combat), but the game uses alternating activations. The first player to finish their activations in a phase becomes the first to start the next phase. Players can also choose to pass their activation at any point during a phase if they feel they need the initiative in the shooting or close combat phase. It helps balance the game nicely, and most importantly, this helps with learning or teaching the game through a simple 'I do, you repeat' approach
Dudeface wrote:Honestly this is the hit in the nostalgia I want and need. I'm happy with those sculpts and im not sure what more they could have done really to be accurate to the in-game models.
I've only not windmill slammed the purchase on zertaul because the postage is £10 which seems a bit mental.
Yeah, that's the biggest complaint I (and most people actually interested in the game) seem to have. Shipping to both the US and Japan is calculated at $30, and people in the Facebook are saying that even within the EU it's showing €13...
I've never ordered direct from Archon before (only participated in their US MoTU Kickstarter), so I have no idea if these shipping costs are normal for them.
SU-152 wrote:IMHO they chose a totally wrong scale for this game. Miniatures are just too big and model count just too low for the battles of the SC universe.
But they had to stick to the GW trend of bigger bigger and bigger minis. And Archon stated they want to compete against WH40k. So sad. It could had been amazing.
You're the second person I've seen say that, but I haven't talked to any Starcraft fans who want that. SC is already a mass battle PCRTS, so if you want that scale you can just open the game and launch a match.
The appeal of having 32mm miniatures that that finally I can customize and display my own little collection of Terrans/Zerg/Protoss and use them to play narrative games with my friends, which I've dreamt of since playing SC1 on a CRT monitor in elementary school.
Sure these could have been closer to 28mm, but most modern sci-fi games have slowly crept up to 32mm because of GW.
Plus having these in the same scale as 40k means we can settle this old score :
Spoiler:
Miguelsan wrote: I fancy some Hidralisks. Maybe they are bad compared to 40K nids, but they are SC bad
I like the vibe of the minis, they have a simplicity that I think 40K minis should have. If the price is considerably lower than GW they could do well. If...
But clear plastic bits on an otherwise painted mini?? GW have been trying that nonsense intermittently since the 90s and it always looks pants.
Edit: I've just seen the price of that promo model and the 32mm scale. Ah well.
I think the reason the Zerglings and some of the bigger Terran units look so bad because they are sticking to the Starcraft 2 game models much too strictly rather than inspiration from the cinematics (Particularly the ironically lower poly but implicitly more roughly detailed SC1 ones) and art and larger 3d models in the between mission segments. It reminds me of how almost all the Armorcast (The Gargant looks good actually) look much too low detailed and weirdly proportioned and shaped because they took the designs straight from the Epic miniatures without adding appropriate detail.
It reminds me of how GW these days takes the now more proportional models as too much of the basis for cinematics now. The cinematic for 9th in particular was bad with the Necrons looking like goofy Warcraft designs or the Cryx from Warmachine (Whose aesthetic was also heavily cribbed from the 3d Warcraft and Starcraft games) with the giant teeth (Exaggerated in size on the models due to a combination of limitations of detail size and readability of the detail) taken from the 28mm models rather than the art.
Thinking on it, perhaps the use of the RTS engine and assets from Warcraft 3 in WoW caused what we see as the weird cartoony aesthetic of Blizzard games since including that time they tried to introduce some of it into Diablo 3 after the main Blizzard studio took over development.
Some of the model crits might well also just be the painting style and different styles will change impressions.
There's also a bit of "make them work as game models". One thing people say about GW models today is there's a lot of super fine, super thin details and they cast well in plastic but by heck do you have to be careful at times. They look awesome but are also way more fragile than models from 20 years ago.
As for scale - eh its a big eye grabbing scale so it will 100% work for shipping models. The problem with going for smaller and smaller models is yes you can have MUCH bigger battles and very epic situations; but the smaller you go the more niche the market becomes. Even GW has never managed to break that pattern. About the only market which has is historicals.
But who knows if this game does phenomenally well and (biggest if) Blizzard decide to keep the contract going - who knows perhaps mass-battle smaller models could be in the future.
Right now I'm trying to decide if I can justify £10 shipping for the limited edition model. It's a cool model but it takes the whole cost up to £35
Yeah, one of the problems I had with 2 is that aesthetically it was much more cartoony and toy like compared to the first game, which had a much grittier look overall.
Zerglings in SC2 look fat. In SC1 they were a lot leaner and more dangerous looking.
Personally I found the style of story writing more jarring than the animation style. But yes a good few things did shift around from the original which was a touch darker and felt a bit more "grounded".
But lets not forget its not just Warcraft 4; its decades of world of warcraft too. Which you can also feel in how they approached some aspects of campaign design as well.
Battlecruisers and Carriers were always bonkers wonky scale wise in Starcraft. I can't see them appearing.
Even a Wraith or siege tank would be a pretty huge model at this scale.
Who knows if it does well enough perhaps they'll do a space-game with carriers, battlecruisers, a bunch of uniquely designed things and a platformbulider
Overread wrote: Battlecruisers and Carriers were always bonkers wonky scale wise in Starcraft. I can't see them appearing.
Even a Wraith or siege tank would be a pretty huge model at this scale.
Who knows if it does well enough perhaps they'll do a space-game with carriers, battlecruisers, a bunch of uniquely designed things and a platformbulider
I always liked the look of the Wraiths.
My first thought on reading this thread was “I wonder if the Siege Tanks transform?” Or alt-build.
NightReconnaissance wrote: I think the reason the Zerglings and some of the bigger Terran units look so bad because they are sticking to the Starcraft 2 game models much too strictly rather than inspiration from the cinematics (Particularly the ironically lower poly but implicitly more roughly detailed SC1 ones) and art and larger 3d models in the between mission segments. It reminds me of how almost all the Armorcast (The Gargant looks good actually) look much too low detailed and weirdly proportioned and shaped because they took the designs straight from the Epic miniatures without adding appropriate detail.
Canonically the Marine armor in SC1 and SC2 are different though. The SC1's armor was the pattern issued by the Confederate, while SC2's was a redesigned version issued after the Dominion replaced them. There are similar lore explanations about the Zerg having undergone evolution between the two games and the Protoss re-evaluating their military post-Fall of Aiur.
I mainly point that out because Archon were asked about the old designs in their announcement livestream and they said they have full access to anything designed by Blizzard for the StarCraft IP, so it's entirely possible for them to release Brood War Era Marines or even vehicles from the cancelled SC:Ghost game, but it likely won't happen until the SC2 units are finished first.
NightReconnaissance wrote: It reminds me of how GW these days takes the now more proportional models as too much of the basis for cinematics now. The cinematic for 9th in particular was bad with the Necrons looking like goofy Warcraft designs or the Cryx from Warmachine (Whose aesthetic was also heavily cribbed from the 3d Warcraft and Starcraft games) with the giant teeth (Exaggerated in size on the models due to a combination of limitations of detail size and readability of the detail) taken from the 28mm models rather than the art.
Thinking on it, perhaps the use of the RTS engine and assets from Warcraft 3 in WoW caused what we see as the weird cartoony aesthetic of Blizzard games since including that time they tried to introduce some of it into Diablo 3 after the main Blizzard studio took over development.
I do think you're completely correct about this. The Marauder for example, was clearly made larger than a Marine so that you could tell the two apart at a glance in game. Rather than making it an abstraction for gameplay they instead made the size canon in the Starcraft Field Manual, which is also why the Marauder models are so massive.
Overread wrote: Battlecruisers and Carriers were always bonkers wonky scale wise in Starcraft. I can't see them appearing.
Even a Wraith or siege tank would be a pretty huge model at this scale.
Who knows if it does well enough perhaps they'll do a space-game with carriers, battlecruisers, a bunch of uniquely designed things and a platformbulider
Archon said in their announcement livestream that they plan to make everything up to an Ultralisk in "near-truescale", which is why they've done other large kits in the past like the Balor as practice. For reference, this is a relatively accurate canonical size chart for almost all of the ground units:
Spoiler:
Personally, I really want to see them do an Aeronautica/X-wing scale game using the fighter and frigate class air units from the game and I'm going to poke Archon about it every chance I get
I haven't played Starcraft in a quarter of a century, which also means I'm not familiar with Starcraft 2. So a lot of the designs look a bit unfamiliar to me.
I could be convinced to grab some Marines just to paint. I liked the look of the siege tank back then, too. No idea if it's realistic to expect a model of it, but that would be of interest to me as well.
I can't say I get the scale controversy. 32mm is hardly huge by modern standards and only has any impact on base sizes compared to 28mm models if the manufacturer consciously blows up base size for commercial reasons (say hi, GW). There's no real reason why it would limit game size.
It's the 32mm that puts me off most. I just have way too many 28mm models, and I really Iike mixing franchises up on the tabletop. As an old Protoss player, I'm most disappointed that Zealots will be way too large to pit against all my other forces. That said, the nonhuman Zerg won't look jarring next to 28mm humans, and Terran vehicles like Goliaths could fit in well with 28mm humans too. I'm also very interested in the kitbashing potential of these units; it'll be fun to see all the inevitable Zerg / Tyranid hybrids that people come up with. Of the three factions, I'd guess that Archon will end up selling more Zerg than anything else.
I dunno, maybe Archon should consider doing their Starcraft boardgame miniatures in 28mm?
As far as detail quality goes, I can't really tell if its particularly good or bad yet, especially with the expert paintjobs. Hydralisks look bizarrely huge compared to how I imagined them. The Terran poses look a little samey to me so far, with less variety than I'd expect, but it's not easy to tell from the photos so I'll suspend judgment until we see all the sprue pics.
"A sneak peak at a developer's CAD programme showed the massive Goliath walker being broken up into components for molding. Ewertowski tells me "it will be that big", holding out his arms like an angler boasting of an impressive catch - roughly the size of an Imperial Knight from Warhammer 40k."
Talking Banana wrote: It's the 32mm that puts me off most. I just have way too many 28mm models, and I really Iike mixing franchises up on the tabletop. As an old Protoss player, I'm most disappointed that Zealots will be way too large to pit against all my other forces. That said, the nonhuman Zerg won't look jarring next to 28mm humans, and Terran vehicles like Goliaths could fit in well with 28mm humans too. I'm also very interested in the kitbashing potential of these units; it'll be fun to see all the inevitable Zerg / Tyranid hybrids that people come up with. Of the three factions, I'd guess that Archon will end up selling more Zerg than anything else.
I dunno, maybe Archon should consider doing their Starcraft boardgame miniatures in 28mm?
As far as detail quality goes, I can't really tell if its particularly good or bad yet, especially with the expert paintjobs. Hydralisks look bizarrely huge compared to how I imagined them. The Terran poses look a little samey to me so far, with less variety than I'd expect, but it's not easy to tell from the photos so I'll suspend judgment until we see all the sprue pics.
Honestly the scale shouldn't be a problem to anyone. They're not making their game to fit in with 28mm games. They're making their game to stand alone.
I can understand that people maybe wanted 15mm or something to give thar isometric RTS feel of a 200 cap force or whatever, but I also aren't going to cry at a game that plays at a smaller headcount than 40k etc. Which I feel has vastly outgrown the scale of what it tries to represent.
Eh, I’m in the crowd that wishes, that it was a smaller scale, so that siege tanks, mutalisks and dragoons were a thing, and would stand out in comparison to regular troops.
Ideally for me, it should have tried to capture the brood war aesthetic and scale. And make character models in 2 scales- as a collectible and as a game piece.
Their chose approach makes me not really interested in the game in it of itself.
Goliath looks promising though! And that’s my favourite unit. Hydras are not bad as well. The rest.. meh
I need some side-by-sides with other minis, hopefully they're close enough to add to my scifi menagerie, hard to tell size from these pics and they look larger than 32mm, but that could just be the basing. No intention of playing the game, but I'll pick up a starter to have a squad of Marines and some zerglings for various mini agnostic
NewTruthNeomaxim wrote: 10-15mm and I would've gone crazy... At 32mm this game is entering the most oversaturated scale, dominated by 800lbs gorillas. This one is insta-DOA.
I partially agree. As above the 15mm would give that rts feeling, but its a franchise with enough independent brand awareness and I'd wager enough wargames/board game players in that bubble of awareness that it should be ok as long as they don’t aim for the stars with it.
For example shatterpoint etc. With star wars and MCP both exist in that similar sort of situation and have carved a niche in the market.
Even original Starcraft made a lot of use of iconic heroes. You're just not going toget the same reception at 10-15mm where most of the lead characters are tiny. Kerrigan is just not that far off regular human size; You just don't get the same character in models at that scale unless you're dealing with titan scale things.
Just look at GW's own offerings - no one is highlighting the hero commander of the Imperial Guard in AI - the big single iconic things are titans for the most part; or mega-tanks and such. The rest rely on swarming the table.
I think its very much the right scale for the game. Now if they've got a long number of years with the licence; if it sells really well as a franchise; if they've got a drive and public demand who knows perhaps in 5 years they'll do "Starcraft the Mass Battle System" with 10mm models.
Honestly part of me also wonders if this new licence means that SC as a franchise is getting some attention - maybe SC3 !
Overread wrote:Honestly part of me also wonders if this new licence means that SC as a franchise is getting some attention - maybe SC3 !
Coming from Blizzard in their current state... I feel like that's sadly unlikely. Nexon just acquired the license this year to create video game using the Starcraft IP but no one knows what that will be yet. Knowing Nexon though it'll probably be some mobile game stuffed with microtransactions though
privateer4hire wrote:And SC Ghost!
We can all dream At least Archon said that their license includes everything SC including Ghost, so maybe some of it's vehicles and weapons will live on in plastic form!
They've already shown off the Hellfire shotgun as an option for Marines:
The game will find a similar niche like SW Legion did, a strong IP, nice models, nice rules, but nothing that would be a danger for 40K.
At 32mm enough people will buy the minis just because they always wanted some SC models on the shelves without interest in the game, which is unlikely at 15mm. 28-32 mm makes it also compatible with all the miniature agnostic games that are currently quite popular.
Yes, I said before I would have liked 28 more than 32, but at 32 I can still put them on the table with all other 28mm minis without looking too strange, especially when it's Alien gribblys or robots .
NewTruthNeomaxim wrote: 10-15mm and I would've gone crazy... At 32mm this game is entering the most oversaturated scale, dominated by 800lbs gorillas. This one is insta-DOA.
from a pure game perspective, yes
but if you come up with a new model line based on a popular IP that you want to sell it is not just about the game itself but also about collectors and painters and there are a lot of out there who want to buy the models to paint them but never really play
yes the biggest competition here is GW, but this would also be the case with a 15mm game just that you would leave all the painters behind and compete with "free" Epic games.
You also don't have that many big iconic things to show off and really draw people in. In Starcraft all the really big focus is on the characters which are predominantly human sized for the most part.
Especially in SC2 where you don't have the Overmind or Cerebrates on the Zerg side
If you can throw out a 32mm Kerrigan, Raynor and Zeratul model you get a lot of fans for all 3 factions really fast. Painters, collectors, SC fans who will never play a wargame etc...
Those models at 10mm scale are basically super tiny, cool but too tiny to get attention.
Honestly if they can hold the licence for a long time who knows perhaps they'll hit a ceiling of models for this scale and start looking at others. They could easily do a 10 or 15mm or similar scale mass battle game or go into space - though the latter would likely require them to do a lot more original design work since for the most part space fleets are pretty basic with a literal handful of models per faction that would count.
I might get some of these minis. I am not familiar with any of the StarCraft games or lore, but they do look like decent proxies for 40k Votann Steeljacks.
I think anyone who is into the SC Universe will love seeing these figures coming out.
When it comes to the scale people will always complain it is not to thier liking and would prefer a different scale.
Like some have said this could be just the start of where to game could go. So just be happy to see it being made or do like Jarek and the others have and start your own company then go for the game types that you want.
I for one am looking forward to seeing how the game progresses and how the initial release goes.
Will most likely go in for a starter set and the Protoss box.
streetsamurai wrote: Haven't played sc since the first game, but isnt there only 3 factions (zerg, humans, protos)?
Seems like the game would get very redundant if that's the case
Depends if they do what the 2007 boardgame did and divide them into subfactions.
So Raynor, Dominion and UED for Terrans, Nezarim, Khalai and Tal'darim for Protoss, and Overmind and Kerrigan for Zerg.
But yeah, if they just kept it as pure Zerg, Terran and Protoss it'll probably get boring real fast.
Archon talked about this in the announcement stream.
The game is launching with basic SC2 Terran, Zerg, and Protoss using Raynor, Kerrigan, and Artanis as their commanders respectively.
Factions can get more commanders later, but they also plan to add further factions like the UED (which can take a mix of Zerg and Terran units), Tal'darim Protoss, Nerazhim Protoss, Infested Terran (as a faction), etc.
Basically anything that has been made by Blizzard (comics, novels, Co-op commanders, even unused concept art) is possible, though it's easiest to get approval for models based on content from StarCraft 2 because it's already viewable in 3D.
I mean, even with only three factions the PC game filled arenas in Korea 20 years later, it can't be that bad. Also any Star wars game with 3-5 factions works, too.
If the factions have a decent unit roaster and allow for different strategies, 3 factions can work.
Lets not forget with the scale there's a good many models for all 3 armies which would be on the expensive size - knight sized models aplenty if the goliath is knight sized.
Honestly rosters are not going to be that far off most other wargames.
I have a lot of nostalgia for both SC1 and SC2, although it was the first version that really hooked me. I find that SC units look fine as pixels, but don't really work as real 3-dimensional models. I would still be tempted to buy a couple of the models just for that - provided they are plastic miniatures (it looks as though they are). But Terrans need proper clear face shields, or they just look blobby and boring.
Overread wrote: Lets not forget with the scale there's a good many models for all 3 armies which would be on the expensive size - knight sized models aplenty if the goliath is knight sized.
Honestly rosters are not going to be that far off most other wargames.
I'm pretty sure the quote about the Goliath being "Knight sized" was meant to be Knight Armiger. The Terran Marines are supposed to stand about the same height as a Primaris Marine and judging by the one good photo of the Goliath we have, the Marine is about half it's height.
Which is canonically accurate. It makes me wonder how they plan to fit the Ultralisk on the table though. That thing is gonna be huge...
I have a lot of nostalgia for both SC1 and SC2, although it was the first version that really hooked me. I find that SC units look fine as pixels, but don't really work as real 3-dimensional models. I would still be tempted to buy a couple of the models just for that - provided they are plastic miniatures (it looks as though they are). But Terrans need proper clear face shields, or they just look blobby and boring.
Yeah it is sad that this is coming so long after StarCraft had its peak, I doubt even then that it would have made much of a difference though. SC has always been biggest in Korea which is not really known for its wargaming scene.
Also, all of the relevant Terrans have clear face shields. The Medics in clear green plastic and the Marines in clear orange. Not sure why the Medic's expression looks so strange though...
Spoiler:
And the Zerg will have clear purple and green details, with the Protoss having clear blue.
The face on that medic is way off, hopefully there are more than a couple options on the sprues. Other than that I think the minis look decent enough. I don't mind the minimalism, I don't think they will take ages to paint like a lot of warhammer stuff. I did hear they are aiming to make this 25-30% cheaper than GW products. I was hoping pre orders would open up later this year but it's looking like that won't be happening.
I mean LEGO announced Star Trek sets this year and teased them with a TNG style Picard... it seems you can't be too late with your nostalgia driven IP's. And if the game is nice and the models look good (like they do) and are fun to build (as they probably will as they're plastic) I don’t see how this one should fail immediately. It's far less obscure than Conquest or (a non-series licensed) ASOIAF, which became established wargames in the last couple of years because of good rules and models.
Jack Flask wrote: Also, all of the relevant Terrans have clear face shields. The Medics in clear green plastic and the Marines in clear orange.
Thanks for clarifying that - I hadn't seen the photos you provided. Interesting that they have in fact focused on clear plastic components, including weapon effects. The unpainted Terran Marine's visor looks as though it's full of air bubbles, which isn't great.
SU-152 wrote:IMHO they chose a totally wrong scale for this game. Miniatures are just too big and model count just too low for the battles of the SC universe.
But they had to stick to the GW trend of bigger bigger and bigger minis. And Archon stated they want to compete against WH40k. So sad. It could had been amazing.
You're the second person I've seen say that, but I haven't talked to any Starcraft fans who want that. SC is already a mass battle PCRTS, so if you want that scale you can just open the game and launch a match.
The appeal of having 32mm miniatures that that finally I can customize and display my own little collection of Terrans/Zerg/Protoss and use them to play narrative games with my friends, which I've dreamt of since playing SC1 on a CRT monitor in elementary school.
Sure these could have been closer to 28mm, but most modern sci-fi games have slowly crept up to 32mm because of GW.
Plus having these in the same scale as 40k means we can settle this old score :
Spoiler:
And you could also do that at 10mm? or 15mm?
So you mean fans do not want to recreate the battles of SC on the tabletop? then why not release for example a game of fleet combat in the SC universe instead?
Also, how do they plan to fit 3 or 4 siege tanks on the table at this scale? or Ultralisks?
Instead of the misleading marketing they did, they should have called this StarCraft: the skirmish game. And it would be totally fine because in each of the campaigns in SC 1& 2 there were a couple of missions where the player only has a character and a dozen or two of troops.
I fiigured ultralisks would be scaled down a bit. I coulda sworn I read an article saying this game has two modes, one on 3x3 and another larger 3x6 sized mode. I'm glad they are going for a combat patrol sized game as a standard though. Im tired of big armies. There likely won't be multiple siege tanks on the tabletop at once, you can probably spawn in one using the supply resource. If it gets destroyed spawn in another later in the match after more supply is generated, unless I'm misunderstanding how this game works.
They also might have just gone more all in on display models instead of game models at that stage too.
There's a whole slew of reasons why we never saw a game before; heck perhaps a few started and never came to anything and we just never heard of it.
Or maybe someone at Bliz just didn't like the idea and never allowed/pushed for it and now there's been changes.
SC as an IP still holds a lot of power and who knows this might be a start of a reboot of general interest in the run up to SC3
Jack Flask wrote: Also, all of the relevant Terrans have clear face shields. The Medics in clear green plastic and the Marines in clear orange.
Thanks for clarifying that - I hadn't seen the photos you provided. Interesting that they have in fact focused on clear plastic components, including weapon effects. The unpainted Terran Marine's visor looks as though it's full of air bubbles, which isn't great.
I did see bubbles in the clear resin pics of Zeratul but I don't think those are bubbles in the marine visor. They show up in the same spots on the visor in every clear picture of the Marines so I think its a molded in pattern to look like the hex grid that the SC2 marines have on their portrait in game.
If you look closely at the medics in the picture it looks like they also have a consistent pattern molded into the bottom edge of their visor, seemingly a HUD or something.
SU-152 wrote:IMHO they chose a totally wrong scale for this game. Miniatures are just too big and model count just too low for the battles of the SC universe.
But they had to stick to the GW trend of bigger bigger and bigger minis. And Archon stated they want to compete against WH40k. So sad. It could had been amazing.
You're the second person I've seen say that, but I haven't talked to any Starcraft fans who want that. SC is already a mass battle PCRTS, so if you want that scale you can just open the game and launch a match.
The appeal of having 32mm miniatures that that finally I can customize and display my own little collection of Terrans/Zerg/Protoss and use them to play narrative games with my friends, which I've dreamt of since playing SC1 on a CRT monitor in elementary school.
Sure these could have been closer to 28mm, but most modern sci-fi games have slowly crept up to 32mm because of GW.
Plus having these in the same scale as 40k means we can settle this old score :
And you could also do that at 10mm? or 15mm?
So you mean fans do not want to recreate the battles of SC on the tabletop? then why not release for example a game of fleet combat in the SC universe instead?
Also, how do they plan to fit 3 or 4 siege tanks on the table at this scale? or Ultralisks?
Instead of the misleading marketing they did, they should have called this StarCraft: the skirmish game. And it would be totally fine because in each of the campaigns in SC 1& 2 there were a couple of missions where the player only has a character and a dozen or two of troops.
No... I have multiple 10mm and 15mm miniatures. Trying to claim they are at all customizable outside of just painting them is not a serious suggestion.
Again, no... I already own SC. Why would I want to play a worse version of that on the tabletop? Because unless you're going to build hundreds of 3d boards and write mechanics for Fog of War, uphill miss chance, and resource accumulation then you've just made a slower, harder to play, more RNG dependent version of SC. None of the StarCraft fans I know want that, but they are very excited to put decals on the side of a 32mm Siege Tank
I also don't know how the marketing is misleading? It's a miniatures game based on the setting of StarCraft called... "StarCraft: The Miniatures Game". It's also objectively not a Skirmish Game by any commonly used definition, you're controlling multiple squads and vehicles.
Thargrim wrote: I fiigured ultralisks would be scaled down a bit. I coulda sworn I read an article saying this game has two modes, one on 3x3 and another larger 3x6 sized mode. I'm glad they are going for a combat patrol sized game as a standard though. Im tired of big armies. There likely won't be multiple siege tanks on the tabletop at once, you can probably spawn in one using the supply resource. If it gets destroyed spawn in another later in the match after more supply is generated, unless I'm misunderstanding how this game works.
We'll see, but Archon was asked that in their reveal stream and they said almost everything would be made at close to truescale with the Ultralisk likely being the largest model they make. The Colossus, a lot of the flyers, and buildings would show up as strategy cards instead.
No idea if they'll go back on their word about that because the Ultralisk is really massive.
I think you're understanding the rules correctly. They described it as playing like a very zoomed in version of a battle where as units get killed your reinforcements are moving from your base and joining mid-fight. No idea about a 3x3 vs 3x6 mode, but they are also making a separate StarCraft Board Game next year (or 2 years from no?), similar to how they used the Masters of the Universe license to make MoTU:Battlegrounds and the more boardgamey MoTU:Fields of Eternia
When it comes to massive models clearly sales are king. If the game really sells well and has an active playerbase and lots of money moving through and a sign that individual customers are willing to spend high values; then there's a chance that they might do really big stuff.
Same as any firm really, GW only does Titans and such because they've got the sales to back up those big investments.
They also, decades back, had the money to invest and not risk the business if it failed.
So yeah Archon if they see lots of sales might take a gamble on something bigger than the Ultralisk and see if it works - if it does boom we might see more; if it fails its only a blip not the end of the world.
Honestly the biggest risks would be Blizzard increasing the licencing costs or cancelling the agreement/not renewing at a point of renewal.
I'm gonna guess that the licensing fees were much more expensive then.
Hasbro / MB (?) had the license for an SC boardgame back in 2012.
Spoiler:
Jarek their CEO talked about it in one of there recent-ish streams. They only started focusing their production on plastic after separating from Prodos Miniatures around 2016-2017 and prior to that were doing basically everything in resin. They weren't confident in their ability to do StarCraft justice while still learning plastic production which was why they started doing larger models and transparent plastic sprues in their Dungeons & Lasers Kickstarters as a way to practice for large models like the Ultralisk.
Then Covid happened so it was hard to get a meeting with Blizzard, but finally they managed to work out a licensing contract in 2022... and then Microsoft put in their bid to buy out Activision Blizzard which got dragged into court by the FCC over trust charges until the end of 2023 which put everything on hold until last year.
Overread wrote: When it comes to massive models clearly sales are king. If the game really sells well and has an active playerbase and lots of money moving through and a sign that individual customers are willing to spend high values; then there's a chance that they might do really big stuff.
Same as any firm really, GW only does Titans and such because they've got the sales to back up those big investments.
They also, decades back, had the money to invest and not risk the business if it failed.
So yeah Archon if they see lots of sales might take a gamble on something bigger than the Ultralisk and see if it works - if it does boom we might see more; if it fails its only a blip not the end of the world.
Honestly the biggest risks would be Blizzard increasing the licencing costs or cancelling the agreement/not renewing at a point of renewal.
Maybe, but I'm more talking about Archon's claims that everything will be close to truescale. I quick Photoshopped up this comparison using the canon size chart made by the artist that worked with Blizzard on the official art in the StarCraft Field Manual.
Spoiler:
If a Marine model is roughly Primaris Intercessor size (38mm heel to head), then a SC2 Ultralisk miniature would be close 400mm tall and 580mm tail to Kaiser Blade tip, which is dwarfed by a Colossus. I'd have to ride to events in your backseat with a seatbelt on...
Sgt. Cortez wrote: I mean LEGO announced Star Trek sets this year and teased them with a TNG style Picard... it seems you can't be too late with your nostalgia driven IP's.
That has more to do with Mega/Mattel having held the Trek license in the building toys sector for 10+ years than that Lego is "too late".
Sgt. Cortez wrote: I mean LEGO announced Star Trek sets this year and teased them with a TNG style Picard... it seems you can't be too late with your nostalgia driven IP's.
That has more to do with Mega/Mattel having held the Trek license in the building toys sector for 10+ years than that Lego is "too late".
Bluebrixx, rather. They lost the license likely because of LEGO intervening. Still, I remember 20 years ago when LEGO started Star Wars I'd have been much more interested in Trek, today it seems more directed at parents than children. Or simply a dick move to kick out a competitor.
Bluebrixx had the license and already got it renewed a 2nd time but when they were ready to add mini figures to their sets, they lost it and now Lego makes the sets
and from what I have seen, worse but more expensive
I'm gonna guess that the licensing fees were much more expensive then.
Hasbro / MB (?) had the license for an SC boardgame back in 2012.
[spoiler]
Jarek their CEO talked about it in one of there recent-ish streams. They only started focusing their production on plastic after separating from Prodos Miniatures around 2016-2017 and prior to that were doing basically everything in resin. They weren't confident in their ability to do StarCraft justice while still learning plastic production which was why they started doing larger models and transparent plastic sprues in their Dungeons & Lasers Kickstarters as a way to practice for large models like the Ultralisk.
Then Covid happened so it was hard to get a meeting with Blizzard, but finally they managed to work out a licensing contract in 2022... and then Microsoft put in their bid to buy out Activision Blizzard which got dragged into court by the FCC over trust charges until the end of 2023 which put everything on hold until last year.
Overread wrote: When it comes to massive models clearly sales are king. If the game really sells well and has an active playerbase and lots of money moving through and a sign that individual customers are willing to spend high values; then there's a chance that they might do really big stuff.
Same as any firm really, GW only does Titans and such because they've got the sales to back up those big investments.
They also, decades back, had the money to invest and not risk the business if it failed.
So yeah Archon if they see lots of sales might take a gamble on something bigger than the Ultralisk and see if it works - if it does boom we might see more; if it fails its only a blip not the end of the world.
Honestly the biggest risks would be Blizzard increasing the licencing costs or cancelling the agreement/not renewing at a point of renewal.
Maybe, but I'm more talking about Archon's claims that everything will be close to truescale. I quick Photoshopped up this comparison using the canon size chart made by the artist that worked with Blizzard on the official art in the StarCraft Field Manual.
Spoiler:
If a Marine model is roughly Primaris Intercessor size (38mm heel to head), then a SC2 Ultralisk miniature would be close 400mm tall and 580mm tail to Kaiser Blade tip, which is dwarfed by a Colossus. I'd have to ride to events in your backseat with a seatbelt on...
Archon does have a plastic Tarrasque, which approaches the dimensions of a SC1 Ultralisk (roughly) at that scale I assume.
Sgt. Cortez wrote: I mean LEGO announced Star Trek sets this year and teased them with a TNG style Picard... it seems you can't be too late with your nostalgia driven IP's.
That has more to do with Mega/Mattel having held the Trek license in the building toys sector for 10+ years than that Lego is "too late".
Bluebrixx, rather. They lost the license likely because of LEGO intervening. Still, I remember 20 years ago when LEGO started Star Wars I'd have been much more interested in Trek, today it seems more directed at parents than children. Or simply a dick move to kick out a competitor.
In the EU, it was Bluebrixx, in NA, it was MegaBrands. LEGO required both to finish with their licenses.
But my point was that LEGO couldn't do them earlier because Mega held the Star Trek license from 2004 to 2018(then Bluebrixx from 2021 to this year), which meant it wasn't available to LEGO for 21 years between the two other companies.
Sgt. Cortez wrote: I mean LEGO announced Star Trek sets this year and teased them with a TNG style Picard... it seems you can't be too late with your nostalgia driven IP's.
That has more to do with Mega/Mattel having held the Trek license in the building toys sector for 10+ years than that Lego is "too late".
Bluebrixx, rather. They lost the license likely because of LEGO intervening. Still, I remember 20 years ago when LEGO started Star Wars I'd have been much more interested in Trek, today it seems more directed at parents than children. Or simply a dick move to kick out a competitor.
In the EU, it was Bluebrixx, in NA, it was MegaBrands. LEGO required both to finish with their licenses.
But my point was that LEGO couldn't do them earlier because Mega held the Star Trek license from 2004 to 2018(then Bluebrixx from 2021 to this year), which meant it wasn't available to LEGO for 21 years between the two other companies.
Interesting, don’t think megabloks ever really made it across the pond and they produced very few sets, no wonder I haven't heard of them yet.
Lathe Biosas wrote: Any idea of what the price point is going to be for rules + full army?
From Archons previous projects I'm going to assume the core set might follow the usual 150$ (American) for a starter set, Archon hasn't made a set like this before but everything they make is usually packed out with minis.
Lathe Biosas wrote: Any idea of what the price point is going to be for rules + full army?
From Archons previous projects I'm going to assume the core set might follow the usual 150$ (American) for a starter set, Archon hasn't made a set like this before but everything they make is usually packed out with minis.
That seems reasonable.
I'm not one to jump on the proverbial bandwagon before a game becomes established in my neighborhood... but I'd give this one a chance. Mainly as cheap Kill Team bad guy fodder, if no one ends up playing.
I have a friend who isn't really into tabletop, just borrowed my minis to play various games, but has repeatedly said if they ever made a Starcraft miniatures game he'd be onboard. I think there's a little bit of bias with this being a 40K-centric forum, because Starcraft is an IP with some pull; all it really needs is a competent ruleset and decent minis, and what I've seen so far looks fairly compelling.
It is great to hear that so many none wargamers would be into this game. I guess that some will just be after the miniatures to paint too and never get around to playing a game.
From what i have seen and read about the game and miniatures range it seems like an instant buy for me.
Some great pictures of Zeratul being posted online and i look forward to getting mine.
I for one am just happy to see another war game on the market. It's probably not going to beat GW, but more options is good.
And since it's based on a huge IP, it might gain some traction.
Lathe Biosas wrote: Any idea of what the price point is going to be for rules + full army?
From Archons previous projects I'm going to assume the core set might follow the usual 150$ (American) for a starter set, Archon hasn't made a set like this before but everything they make is usually packed out with minis.
The only thing I'd say about the number of minis is that this is looking to be a lot more focused than some of their boxes in the past.
Iirc they said in a previous stream that the game releases will be based around:
Faction Starters which will contain minis, their associated cards, and also a core deck of strategy cards for that faction
Commander Boxes which have single characters and their deck of associated commander cards
Unit Boxes which have any cards unique to that unit
The Starter Box is supposed to contain the Terran and Zerg Faction Starters along with some plastic terrain which, based on pictures of a test game they played at Blizzard's offices and the demo games from Spiel Essen, looks to be:
Terran - 2 Marauders, 3 Medics, 12 Marines
Zerg - 1 Queen, 2 Roaches, 24 Zerglings
Some plastic walls
Archon is doing a Live Q&A on their Youtube channel specifically about StarCraft in three and a half hours from this post. Hopefully there will be good questions and more confirmations.
CthuluIsSpy wrote: I for one am just happy to see another war game on the market. It's probably not going to beat GW, but more options is good.
And since it's based on a huge IP, it might gain some traction.
It won't beat GW; but its a new popular IP so we can hope it will be a fresh generation of gamers into wargaming as a hobby!
There are a lot of gen Z guys, including the friend I mentioned above, who grew up on either their dad's copy of Starcraft or their own copy of Starcraft II.
It has a lot better brand recognition than, say, Battletech.
Billicus wrote: Is Starcraft as an IP popular with anyone under about 30? I don't think it's gonna do much for bringing in fresh blood
Fresh blood doesn't have to be young blood.
I get that but I doubt there are many people in that demo that are gonna be attracted to wargaming who weren't before just because it now comes in Starcraft flavour.
Billicus wrote: Is Starcraft as an IP popular with anyone under about 30? I don't think it's gonna do much for bringing in fresh blood
Fresh blood doesn't have to be young blood.
I get that but I doubt there are many people in that demo that are gonna be attracted to wargaming who weren't before just because it now comes in Starcraft flavour.
You'd be surprised. Eg my sister never reads, but you get a book endorsed by some big named celebrity and she'll often at least buy it if not read it.
Now of course she hasn't become a reader from that; but she is exposed to something she'd otherwise avoid and there's then always a chance that some people exposed that way will pick up the new interest more seriously and discover more of the hobby.
So yeah for some they'll get the Starcraft wargame and that's as far as they will want to go. A portion of that population will discover (or rediscover) a new hobby to them and get more and more invested.
From that population a group will eventually branch out and try other things too!
So yes you'd get some new entering the market; unlikely to be a landslide of vast swarms; but there will be an uptick.
IT's exactly the same as how a bunch of people getting into the Old World tabletop were introduced to it via Warhammer Total War.
Oh hey, I actually got to Essen and picked the Zeratul promo mini up. I can post pics of the sprue and instructions.
The quality is as you'd expect, the plastic is durable, not quite GW level but close to it. I overheard one of the Archon lads saying they planned to have more 'fair' pricing as opposed to GW's. The pointier and more 'fragile' bits like the nerve cords and warp blade are a little less durable, but it's nowhere near the 'fragile' level of a lot of newer GW bits like spears and flagpoles and things.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Billicus wrote: Is Starcraft as an IP popular with anyone under about 30? I don't think it's gonna do much for bringing in fresh blood
In general, not as much, But as someone under 30, it's pretty awesome.
Automatically Appended Next Post: The pics as promised:
Spoiler:
Sprue:
Transparent sprue:
Instructions:
QR codes if you need 'em
Have yet to actually build the guy, but the quality is better in person than on the marketing photo.
He is, yes. I haven't gotten around to building him yet, but unless you count making a crystally version of him or swapping out transparent parts, he is strictly monopose.
The model doesn't come with a second base either, so if you want a second one you might have to make your own.
I tried snapping a bit of the sprue now, and the transparent parts aren't like GW's flying stands. I doubt making a fully crystalline Zeratul is a great idea, instead I would personally recommend mixing the parts in and out so you have more durability, but take that with a grain of salt.
Automatically Appended Next Post: More photos incoming. I didn't get a chance to try out the game, but it looks promising.
The quality in some isn't the best, and I sadly didn't think to get a photo of the Protoss or the full table, but here are some more photos from the event.
Spoiler:
some Terrans bringing the fight to a lone Zergling
Sadly, this one did not come out so well.
Please accept my sincerest apologies, as the Protoss aren't really properly captured in this photo.
View of the diorama.
Goliath, Marauders, Marines, and Medics
A more proper view of the Terran marines:
Spoiler:
You want a piece of me, boy?
A Terran having an extremely bad day: (also the only proper Hydralisk shot I got, but I can confirm that these girls are quite long in person)
Jarek their CEO talked about it in one of there recent-ish streams. They only started focusing their production on plastic after separating from Prodos Miniatures around 2016-2017 and prior to that were doing basically everything in resin.
Thats... a super creative way of describing what happened... impressive really. Not Tony Reidy level mind, but still...
Then again I think I might be getting a bit of deja vu with it. It seems to be getting pushed massively, based on the promo release it seems pricey, and ultimately it seems like there working in a closed box. Reminds me of another licensed game I seem to remember.
bullisariuscowl wrote: Oh hey, I actually got to Essen and picked the Zeratul promo mini up. I can post pics of the sprue and instructions.
The quality is as you'd expect, the plastic is durable, not quite GW level but close to it. I overheard one of the Archon lads saying they planned to have more 'fair' pricing as opposed to GW's. The pointier and more 'fragile' bits like the nerve cords and warp blade are a little less durable, but it's nowhere near the 'fragile' level of a lot of newer GW bits like spears and flagpoles and things.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Billicus wrote: Is Starcraft as an IP popular with anyone under about 30? I don't think it's gonna do much for bringing in fresh blood
In general, not as much, But as someone under 30, it's pretty awesome.
Automatically Appended Next Post: The pics as promised:
Spoiler:
Sprue:
Transparent sprue:
Instructions:
QR codes if you need 'em
Have yet to actually build the guy, but the quality is better in person than on the marketing photo.
Are those parts translucent? How do you paint those?
Jarek their CEO talked about it in one of there recent-ish streams. They only started focusing their production on plastic after separating from Prodos Miniatures around 2016-2017 and prior to that were doing basically everything in resin.
Thats... a super creative way of describing what happened... impressive really. Not Tony Reidy level mind, but still...
Then again I think I might be getting a bit of deja vu with it. It seems to be getting pushed massively, based on the promo release it seems pricey, and ultimately it seems like there working in a closed box. Reminds me of another licensed game I seem to remember.
I should have formatted my post better, but the "They only started focusing their production on plastic after separating from Prodos Miniatures around 2016-2017 and prior to that were doing basically everything in resin." was my words for contextualization, not his. He basically just said that they weren't in a position to get the license or have confidence they could do the models justice (size, transparent elements, etc) until right around when Covid started which delayed their discussion with Blizzard.
So Archon just finished there stream and answered a lot of questions. Biggest one:
Starter Box (current estimate ~$150 depending on if it includes a mat)
Terran - 12 Marines, 3 Medics, 2 Marauders
Zerg - 24 Zerglings, 2 Roaches, 1 Queen
A small board size (3'x3') worth of terrain
(possibly including) a high quality playing mat
Protoss Starter (between 60-80 $ depending on final contents, may include 1 or more Pylons)
Adepts
Zealots
Sentry
Individual Unit Boxes (around 25-30 $, price not finalized. Will always include the max squad size # of models)
No word on pricing for character models
Promo Zeratul was slightly higher priced because he was a promo model and there are two copies of him in the box
Edit: I should add, they said all of this is TBD/subject to change, so... uh... no one bayonet me if it changes...
I'm not sure. I assumed it was a gimmick, but my best guess is contrast paint. I'm sure plastic glue would work with them though, and I think if you primed them they'd look the same as the opaque pieces. It makes sense for the warp blade (the Assassins Creed/Lightsaber looking thing coming out of his arm) but why else, I'm not sure. I guess if you want a glowing Zeratul, you're free to make one.
Edit: I decided to try and glue offcuts of sprue together (to see how the plastic and translucent pieces work together), 1 Translucent+Normal, 1 Translucent x2, and 1 Normal x2. I'll update tomorrow on how it dries for each one.
I'm not sure. I assumed it was a gimmick, but my best guess is contrast paint. I'm sure plastic glue would work with them though, and I think if you primed them they'd look the same as the opaque pieces. It makes sense for the warp blade (the Assassins Creed/Lightsaber looking thing coming out of his arm) but why else, I'm not sure. I guess if you want a glowing Zeratul, you're free to make one.
Edit: I decided to try and glue offcuts of sprue together (to see how the plastic and translucent pieces work together), 1 Translucent+Normal, 1 Translucent x2, and 1 Normal x2. I'll update tomorrow on how it dries for each one.
Historically when GW include clear components, it needs to be pva as superglue will mist and polycement makes it go a bit... off.
I'm not sure. I assumed it was a gimmick, but my best guess is contrast paint. I'm sure plastic glue would work with them though, and I think if you primed them they'd look the same as the opaque pieces. It makes sense for the warp blade (the Assassins Creed/Lightsaber looking thing coming out of his arm) but why else, I'm not sure. I guess if you want a glowing Zeratul, you're free to make one.
Edit: I decided to try and glue offcuts of sprue together (to see how the plastic and translucent pieces work together), 1 Translucent+Normal, 1 Translucent x2, and 1 Normal x2. I'll update tomorrow on how it dries for each one.
Historically when GW include clear components, it needs to be pva as superglue will mist and polycement makes it go a bit... off.
If they put a high quality (assuming neoprene) mat in the starter box I sure hope it'll be rolled up instead of folded up. Getting the creases out of a neoprene mat is unpleasant.
I'm not sure. I assumed it was a gimmick, but my best guess is contrast paint. I'm sure plastic glue would work with them though, and I think if you primed them they'd look the same as the opaque pieces. It makes sense for the warp blade (the Assassins Creed/Lightsaber looking thing coming out of his arm) but why else, I'm not sure. I guess if you want a glowing Zeratul, you're free to make one.
Edit: I decided to try and glue offcuts of sprue together (to see how the plastic and translucent pieces work together), 1 Translucent+Normal, 1 Translucent x2, and 1 Normal x2. I'll update tomorrow on how it dries for each one.
Historically when GW include clear components, it needs to be pva as superglue will mist and polycement makes it go a bit... off.
Is PVA strong enough?
From my experience with 3rd ed Necrons...no. I am missing a lot of green tubes.
I'm not sure. I assumed it was a gimmick, but my best guess is contrast paint. I'm sure plastic glue would work with them though, and I think if you primed them they'd look the same as the opaque pieces. It makes sense for the warp blade (the Assassins Creed/Lightsaber looking thing coming out of his arm) but why else, I'm not sure. I guess if you want a glowing Zeratul, you're free to make one.
Edit: I decided to try and glue offcuts of sprue together (to see how the plastic and translucent pieces work together), 1 Translucent+Normal, 1 Translucent x2, and 1 Normal x2. I'll update tomorrow on how it dries for each one.
Historically when GW include clear components, it needs to be pva as superglue will mist and polycement makes it go a bit... off.
From what Archon have said, their transparent plastic is the same as their opaque plastic, just starting from clear plastic pellets and using different color additives which if true means plastic cement should be fine.
I guess we'll know for sure after bullisariuscowl finishes their experiment
No. It's fine for model kits that are just going to sit on a shelf (provided they aren't going to be exposed to high humidity) but does not provide a strong bond on plastic to plastic joints at all. Generally, you would use superglue or plastic cement, and just be really sparing with them.
I'm not sure. I assumed it was a gimmick, but my best guess is contrast paint. I'm sure plastic glue would work with them though, and I think if you primed them they'd look the same as the opaque pieces. It makes sense for the warp blade (the Assassins Creed/Lightsaber looking thing coming out of his arm) but why else, I'm not sure. I guess if you want a glowing Zeratul, you're free to make one.
Edit: I decided to try and glue offcuts of sprue together (to see how the plastic and translucent pieces work together), 1 Translucent+Normal, 1 Translucent x2, and 1 Normal x2. I'll update tomorrow on how it dries for each one.
Historically when GW include clear components, it needs to be pva as superglue will mist and polycement makes it go a bit... off.
From what Archon have said, their transparent plastic is the same as their opaque plastic, just starting from clear plastic pellets and using different color additives which if true means plastic cement should be fine.
I guess we'll know for sure after bullisariuscowl finishes their experiment
Oh it will 100% glue it in place, but you have to remember that polycemement melts the 2 items together. If tou have a crispy detailed transparent item that's melted into another component, you will see it in some capacity unless done incredibly sparingly as noted above.
Are those parts translucent? How do you paint those?
Washes or Contrast style paints work well on translucent parts. You can use clear coat as a primer or just rely on sealing it after as long as you don't use dullcoat on it.
A day later, I can say that the plastic-on-plastic bond is very strong, as with the translucent-on-plastic bits. The translucent-on-translucent bitz are quite secure, and plastic glue seems fit to use on them. I used a little too much and it started to look a little misty where the excess glue covered. Thus, I would recommend using plastic glue sparingly when building the translucent parts. Nothing revolutionary to report here, plastic glue seems like the best idea.
I mean, even with only three factions the PC game filled arenas in Korea 20 years later, it can't be that bad. Also any Star wars game with 3-5 factions works, too.
If the factions have a decent unit roaster and allow for different strategies, 3 factions can work.
It wouldn't be too hard to make a bunch more sub factions too, I mean look at SC2's co-op commander system and you can see a lot of potential there for various sub factions and unique models/rules. For a super basic idea, there is:
Terran:
- Jim Raynor (Basic Terran)
- Rory Swan (Mechs)
- Tychus (Hero Hammer)
- Matt & Mira (Mercenary Infantry & Elite Aircraft)
- Nova Terra (Spec Ops)
- Arcturus Mengsk (Cannon Fodder Infantry with Specialist Support)
Zerg:
- Kerragin (Basic Zerg)
- Abathur (Evolution Based Mechanics)
- Dehakha (Primal Zerg)
- Alexi Stukov (Infested Terran)
- Zagara (Swarm Tactics)
- Stetman? (Mecha Zerg, IDK, I always though this one was weird, but maybe it has it's fans)
There, 18ish potential sub factions for the game. Some of which with that could even had sub faction specific units like Swans War Bots, Abathur's Brutalisk, and Vorazun's Shadow Guard.
I mean, even with only three factions the PC game filled arenas in Korea 20 years later, it can't be that bad. Also any Star wars game with 3-5 factions works, too.
If the factions have a decent unit roaster and allow for different strategies, 3 factions can work.
It wouldn't be too hard to make a bunch more sub factions too, I mean look at SC2's co-op commander system and you can see a lot of potential there for various sub factions and unique models/rules. For a super basic idea, there is:
Spoiler:
Terran:
- Jim Raynor (Basic Terran)
- Rory Swan (Mechs)
- Tychus (Hero Hammer)
- Matt & Mira (Mercenary Infantry & Elite Aircraft)
- Nova Terra (Spec Ops)
- Arcturus Mengsk (Cannon Fodder Infantry with Specialist Support)
Zerg:
- Kerragin (Basic Zerg)
- Abathur (Evolution Based Mechanics)
- Dehakha (Primal Zerg)
- Alexi Stukov (Infested Terran)
- Zagara (Swarm Tactics)
- Stetman? (Mecha Zerg, IDK, I always though this one was weird, but maybe it has it's fans)
There, 18ish potential sub factions for the game. Some of which with that could even had sub faction specific units like Swans War Bots, Abathur's Brutalisk, and Vorazun's Shadow Guard.
Yeah Archon have explicitly said that this is the plan. SC2 content is the easiest to get approved and the miniatures game is detached from the IP narrative canon, so alternate universe content like the Co-op Commanders is not a problem. They also floated ideas like having a UED subfaction when they get to Brood War eventually, where you can mix Terran with Psi Disruptor controlled Zerg units.
I'm sure they could find unique rules for the Umojans, Kel-Morians, Confederacy, and Mobius Corps, the Overmind and/or Cerebrates, as well as the Judicators and Tassadar.
As you said as well Hybrid factions like the UED with controlled Zerg, or the Fenix/Raynor team up from Brood War, or Razshagal mind controlled to work with Kerrigan.
Essentially, even with 3 factions, you can do a lot with that setup. I think it's success is really going to depend on how malleable the Core Rules are and if they can make each of these feel like their own thing and provide that connection to the sub factions identity.
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