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I was looking at Tabletop Gaming News and decided to have a look at the new post apocalyptic weapons from MaxMini, and lo and behold, do these look even a little familiar? Can we start taking bets on how long it is before GW squashes them?

Weeell, a weapon is just a barrel, a handle and a clip, so it's hard to say if those would go down as plagiarism in the courts. The trick is, GW can afford to find out, Maxmini cannot, so if GW wants them gone, all they have to do is C&D them and threaten to sue.

Why did they bother? Copying shootas so blatantly won't make them any friends.

Manufacturers need to give us originality, not plagiarism.

I can only suppose they did these upon request or because there was room on the mould or something. It's not even like shootas are a high-demand conversion item.

Yeah, I can't see myself buying resin shootas anytime soon.

I was particularly disappointed because I was expecting more realistic post-apocalyptic weapons, AK-47's held together with duct tape, cannibalized machine guns, that sort of thing.

It seems, as usual, you guys are making a mountain out of a mole-hill.

GW wouldn't have a leg to stand on, unless they can prove these rifles are 1:1 direct copies they haven't got a hope in hell of taking anyone to court.

I know its easy to think that GW has the monopoly on the wargaming industry, but let me tell you....they haven't. They have pretty well fed portfolio of copyrights and trade-marks, but they don't have everything.

So the next time a company produces a gun, or a flag, or someone wearing armour of some description, don't panick and feel that Big Bad GW is gonna somehow squash them.....they're just not as big as you might think.

I was particularly disappointed because I was expecting more realistic post-apocalyptic weapons, AK-47's held together with duct tape, cannibalized machine guns, that sort of thing

I thought the same thing when I saw them too! Who cares about shoota ripoffs? I have about 90 of these things still on the sprue, if anyone wants them I'd sell them at half of what maxmini is selling them.

My biggest problem is:

What makes them post-apocalyptic?

BYE

I think the idea is to make them look kinda cobbled-together, something in a Mad Max kind of way. . .

Problem is, they look a little manufactured to me.

H.B.M.C. wrote:My biggest problem is:

What makes them post-apocalyptic?

BYE

I agree, very ordinary!

... as I think that delving much into this discussion would be a tad pointless (no offense) I`d just like to post this before things go a tad too far :

White parts are from plasticard, green from green stuff and green stuff / miliput mix, grey from procreate, ring from copper wire .

I don't think anyone here thought you're recasting actual GW shootas. But they're so similar you might get in trouble. And so similar there's really no point in buying them instead of GW's shootas.

yeah, big deal? If you want shootas buy some orks, they are cheap as chips.

if anyone is in need of shootas i have 200 or so lol

JD21290 wrote:if anyone is in need of shootas i have 200 or so lol

Ditto, why do they bother with a legal headache to cast shootas??

H.B.M.C. wrote:My biggest problem is:

What makes them post-apocalyptic?

BYE

Not enough skull, sadly.

They look a bit primitive but still too machined and precise to be labelled as something post-apocalyptic.

I don't necessarily agree with that. Even after a significant apocalyptic event, it's still possible that small machine shops or factories could keep working. After a couple of years, certainly, with survivors rigging up things like hydroelectric plants and what have you. In such conditions one could expect to see crude firearms very much like those.

In such conditions one could expect to see crude firearms very much like those.

But would you expect to see one's that look exactly like shootas?

I actually don't think they would be machining guns to any amount of qualtiy for some time after an apocalypse event.

I think there would be a lot of garage jobs for quite a long time. Here's some examples:




if someone where to make minis of guns that look like these i'd be all over them like white on rice!

Daggermaw, that's exactly what I was thinking of. Actually, it would be an improvement if Ork shootas looked more like those.

I'd love to see a Rock-it launcher, Railway rifle or .223 Pistol done in 28mm scale

^ Then you would have a lawsuit.

why is everyone so lawsuit crazy around here? every mention of anything that remotely looks like something else it's "lawsuit this, lawsuit that" "your gonna get sued" it's starting to sound like your momma jokes. It's getting really old.

When was the last time GW or anyone actually sued someone for IP infringement?

I don't think BrookM actually wants a rip-off of a Rock-It launcher, I think he/she(?) just wants something that looks similiar to it.

I dunno man I think GW own copyright to triangles and squares nowadays, you can't beat dem odds!

They look more like badly sculpted versions of some of the guns in Fallout 3...

The drum clipped one looks just like the Combat Shotgun there.

Daggermaw wrote:why is everyone so lawsuit crazy around here? every mention of anything that remotely looks like something else it's "lawsuit this, lawsuit that" "your gonna get sued" it's starting to sound like your momma jokes. It's getting really old.

When was the last time GW or anyone actually sued someone for IP infringement?

I don't think BrookM actually wants a rip-off of a Rock-It launcher, I think he/she(?) just wants something that looks similiar to it.

Yeah, something along those lines, a crudely thrown together weapon from parts lying about the wasteland, that would fit the bill better than oversized machineguns with large rings on the side.

Kanluwen wrote:They look more like badly sculpted versions of some of the guns in Fallout 3...

The drum clipped one looks just like the Combat Shotgun there.

<_<

Firstly, I'm not sure what crazed ripped off copy of Fallout you've been playing, possibly while stoned, but they don't look anything like Fallout guns. If I put a drum mag on a Lasgun (obviously before I got immolated down by GW's psychic Atomic-Lazer-Awesome Law Team), is that a Combat Shotgun?

That's like saying "God, it fires bullets, therefore this MUST ==== A Bolter! TOTAL RIP."

~sA

I can't wait to put together my "Looted Copyrighted Material" Ork Army.

Daggermaw wrote:why is everyone so lawsuit crazy around here? every mention of anything that remotely looks like something else it's "lawsuit this, lawsuit that" "your gonna get sued" it's starting to sound like your momma jokes. It's getting really old.

When was the last time GW or anyone actually sued someone for IP infringement?

I don't think BrookM actually wants a rip-off of a Rock-It launcher, I think he/she(?) just wants something that looks similiar to it.

Oh, Damnatus wasn't that long ago. And BTW I'm sure you know that the threat of a suit, a C&D letter, is damaging enough.

I can't wait to put together my "Looted Copyrighted Material" Ork Army.

Cool. I used to have a "Renegade Starcraft Terran" Space Marine army myself.