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I'm excited for this game.

I like space combat games, but don't like the overly stylized nature of Firestorm Armada. The HALO IP is low-key enough to be interesting.

Hope it has a more 'modern' combat twist than current games, more of a focus on fighters and long range fires.

Also, I'd love to see a HALO 10m game, but that may be too much to ask for.

Crap Spartan doing the rules well that just sucks
They are one of the worst for rules and creating rule books and models wont be as cheap as you think.

10penceman wrote:
Crap Spartan doing the rules well that just sucks
They are one of the worst for rules and creating rule books and models wont be as cheap as you think.

Whats so bad about their rules?

As a naval gaming enthusiast and Spartan Games fan, I'm definitely interested. The fact that it is Halo is interesting to me not so much because of the license itself; though I enjoy Halo games, it's not one of my favorite franchises. Rather, the name-recognition and wide-spread appeal means that there will probably be a good-sized player base for these games. We shall see!

One problem that I can see arising is the lack of factions and ship types in the universe. X-wing gets away with this because, you know, Star Wars. I'm concerned that the Halo IP isn't strong enough to do the same.

The more I think about this, the more I'm warming up to it.

I'm not a huge Halo fan by any stretch, but I have many fond memories of the multiplayer from 1 through 3. The models will be in plastic, and frankly, look pretty cool.

But it also means that Spartan will be drawing a lot more attention. Its a great opportunity for them, and I'm curious how they'll handle it. I enjoy Firestorm, and will be buying into Planetfall soon, so I'm cautiously optimistic that this can help grow the company and attract more players to all their games, so that I can find more players to game with.

I'd also be super shocked if the new game didn't have exploding 6s. For better or for worse, its pretty much their thing.

I just want my Sorylian/Relthoza Storm Zone box though.

Never played Halo i amn a Sony boy, but those ships look interesting, having never seen Spartan space game on the table.
Are the Ship sizes comparable to the old Battlefleet Gothic or more like X-wing?

They're broadly comparable to Battlefleet Gothic in size I think.

But yeah, thinking about this some more. I mean, I might maybe want to buy the Pillar of Autumn, and maybe that awesome ship in Halo 4, plus a Covenant Cruiser, if, maybe, just if.

But would I want to play a *game* with it? Nah, not really.

Not a big fan of the Games but I do like some of Halo's fluff.

If they release ground war minis in 28mm-30mm there's no way I'll not be able to pick up some hard plastic elites and Brutes.

 JoeRugby wrote:
Not a big fan of the Games but I do like some of Halo's fluff.

If they release ground war minis in 28mm-30mm there's no way I'll not be able to pick up some hard plastic elites and Brutes.

Well their are some rumors that it may be in 15mm which is quite sensible as far as I can see and here is why:

1. The 15mm sci fi market will jump over this like you couldn't imagine they will get plenty of sales even at higher prices.

2. Their is already a market their with no real big one game in it so they could gain a strong position in the scale.

3. The Halo universe ( never was big into it , I was more a killzone guy PS player myself ) has a lot of vehicles and their later games a more push for larger scale battles. things you just cannot do well in 28mm but can do very well in 15mm and smaller.

4. They could also do a small scale skirmish game in 28mm and may end up doing something along the lines of planet fall 28mm close quarters game and a 15mm larger scale game.

my thoughts anyhow but rumors have been going around that they are looking to do 15mm ground scale combat first.

Much like the other games they do im pretty sure they will have:

a 15mm/10mm game

a fleet game

a 28mm skirmish game

Thats what I assume anyway. They definitely have a ground combat game in the works but nobody knows the scale.

This is one case where Spartan being able to push minis out is a good thing.

It is a bit sad that it's going to use the same tired SG rules, but most won't even care about rules in this case. A lot of people have been waiting for this.

I'll reserve judgement til I see rules. If its another exploding dice product then forget it.

At this point I'm reasonably convinced that Spartan has only continued to survive because its revolving door business model of pumping out rapidly made low quality product just fast enough to keep their customers from realizing how bad it all is.

chaos0xomega wrote:
I'll reserve judgement til I see rules. If its another exploding dice product then forget it.

At this point I'm reasonably convinced that Spartan has only continued to survive because its revolving door business model of pumping out rapidly made low quality product just fast enough to keep their customers from realizing how bad it all is.

I ask again, whats so bad about their rules?

Lor of people find there rules are kind of simplistic. Embodiment of beer and pretzels. Though it scratches that itch for something that is not overly complicated like Infinity but just want "dumb fun in a box" as BGG would. It is refreshing to play a spaceship combat without making a dozen rolls and looking at several charts after every attack. In addition lot of people complain their rules are basically the same across the board with minor changes.

Again, not for everyone. Some people like coke others like diet coke. Some like both.

I love firestorm armada, it's the game that got me back into wargaming and painting after a small hiatus. But Spartan's business model has been frustration, to me that irks me more than there rules.

 Vertrucio wrote:


It is a bit sad that it's going to use the same tired SG rules, but most won't even care about rules in this case. A lot of people have been waiting for this.

This has not been confirmed...in fact, the post on this topic from the company's founder suggested just the opposite might be true. The Halo games are supposed to be completely independent systems with different mechanics...doesn't mean that we won't still see exploding D6's, granted. Of course, I rather enjoy that mechanic so Imwouldnt mind seeing it again .

I find the rules are great fun. Of course it sucks that V1 usually isnt as good as V2 but I dont see an issue with the rules.

However dont get me started on many of their buisness mistakes. But all wargaming companies have issues, warlord games and their bases always being less than needed, Spartan games and their odd method of releasing stuff, GW and well everything and Flames of War and their terrible website and the list goes on.

But of all the problems they have the rules arent bad. Not liking some rules doesnt make them bad. I think some people need to understand that. I dont like tomatoes, but I wouldnt say they are bad. Just not for me.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Ruckdog wrote:

 Vertrucio wrote:


It is a bit sad that it's going to use the same tired SG rules, but most won't even care about rules in this case. A lot of people have been waiting for this.

This has not been confirmed...in fact, the post on this topic from the company's founder suggested just the opposite might be true. The Halo games are supposed to be completely independent systems with different mechanics...doesn't mean that we won't still see exploding D6's, granted. Of course, I rather enjoy that mechanic so Imwouldnt mind seeing it again .

This is true, Firesstorm Armada and Halo will not be compatible.

I'm a huge Halo fan. Pretty much the reason I bought my (Halo 2 SE) 360. When Halo 5 hits, I'll hope for a Halo themed SE of the XBone.

And yet I have very little interest in this. I have X-Wing for my ship battle needs. Still, major congrats to Spartan games for snagging such a huge IP, and here's hoping there are other games down the line.

A new system is good news then. But we all know how bad SG can be when coming up with a new rules system, or editing a new book...

I'm okay with exploding D6s, I have played and still play many games that use the exploding mechanic. It's just that for a while, that's all that the system had was that exploding mechanic.

I also think that this Halo game will be positioned more honestly as a standalone, not long term game from the start, which will go over better with Spartan's usual revolving door miniature game policies.

I seriously do not get the issue some people have with Spartan Rulesets. Yes, the version 1s were pretty terrible.. but V2 of Firestorm is damned solid and very well balanced, one of the more well balanced of wargames i've played infact. The exploding dice mechanic can be abit of a marmite thing, I will grant, but just because you don't like a feature or mechanic doesn't make it any less solid really. Planetfall also has a decent ruleset currently and is very well balanced and a good ruleset too, it needed some FAQing for clarification of points but it is a decent game with well balanced factions.

Call it too simple for your liking, call it that you dislike the Exploding Dice mechanic, but that's personal taste, objectively they're good or at least as good as a lot of other wargames out there for balance and fun and I don't get all the hate they recieve. :/ And no i'm not a long time Spartan fan, only picked up into FSA in the September just gone by and love it and picked up into PF almost immediately and am loving it too.

Admittedly, I probably won't buy into this, since I don't like the Halo franchise if honest.. i'd rather they got a gig with Bioware for Mass Effect but peeps who are spekaing ill of Spartan rules wise I think sound like early rage quitters when maybe one time the 6s went bad for 'em.. :/

GenRifDrake wrote:
I seriously do not get the issue some people have with Spartan Rulesets. Yes, the version 1s were pretty terrible.. but V2 of Firestorm is damned solid and very well balanced, one of the more well balanced of wargames i've played infact. The exploding dice mechanic can be abit of a marmite thing, I will grant, but just because you don't like a feature or mechanic doesn't make it any less solid really. Planetfall also has a decent ruleset currently and is very well balanced and a good ruleset too, it needed some FAQing for clarification of points but it is a decent game with well balanced factions.

Call it too simple for your liking, call it that you dislike the Exploding Dice mechanic, but that's personal taste, objectively they're good or at least as good as a lot of other wargames out there for balance and fun and I don't get all the hate they recieve. :/ And no i'm not a long time Spartan fan, only picked up into FSA in the September just gone by and love it and picked up into PF almost immediately and am loving it too.

Admittedly, I probably won't buy into this, since I don't like the Halo franchise if honest.. i'd rather they got a gig with Bioware for Mass Effect but peeps who are spekaing ill of Spartan rules wise I think sound like early rage quitters when maybe one time the 6s went bad for 'em.. :/

I agree.

I think what people need to realize is how little exploding 6's actually effects the game in a negative way.

6's are great for getting a critical hit 99% of the time at best. Very rarely has it ever got anything more than bumping a normal hit to a critical.

The only other time 6's are relevant is in the case of small squadrons of ships trying to take on a capital. Sometimes those 6's means that those corvettes can harm a dreadnought.

So if you dont like 6's because on paper it sounds crazy (yes a 6 meaning 2 hits AND a reroll seems nuts) but if you have actually played the game it has little crazy impact. If a ship has a DR or 8 and a CR of 12, then the difference between getting 12 hits and 20 hits is nothing. Its still one crit only.

In my opinion V2 Spartan Rule sets are near perfect. Exploding 6's only rarely change the game in crazy ways, but when they do its actually awesome. At best they are usually your only hope at getting that critical hit.

Podcast with interview of the game developers: http://element270.libsyn.com/e270-022-halo-and-kickstarter

Major Points
- Gameplay designed to appeal to Wargamers and Non-Wargamers (no surprise)
- Most ships will be made in plastic, possibly Resin for super large ships
- Design is "more free flowing" for fleet battles, specifically stated that the game had less structure than Firestorm Armada
- Archetypes for the fleets are:
> Bear for Covenant, ponderous, slow, with heavy firepower. Covenant tactics revolve around directing fires.
> Pack for Humans, fast, weak, need to gang up to take down a Covenant ship. Human tactics revolve around arranging ships for the killing blow

Major News: Release expected in the first half of 2015(!)

As a huge Halo fanboy, I'm definitely excited for this. Its just strange to have two giant IP armada space combat games coming out roughly around the same time, both of which will really have to stretch if they want to get beyond 2 factions (Halo and Star Wars Armada).

Probably won't pick up both, but I'm not sure which will appeal to me more. Right now Armada has piqued my interest, but I haven't seen much of the rules, etc, for Halo, so maybe that will all change.

I just wonder if they're going to stick with only 2 factions, or if they're going to try to squeeze Flood, Human Rebels and/or Covenant sub-factions into the mix as well.

The one thing that sucks about the covenant as a space-faring force is that all the different variety they have in their multiple alien types are pretty much lost once you get up to the ship level of combat, so it will make things challenging to try to make different types of Covenant fleets, I'd imagine.

I got the eMail from Spartan yesterday and i think it's GREAT news.

Dystopian Wars was (and is) a game with design that is among the best i have seen in 25+ years of wargaming.

I liked BFG and Firestorm Armada seems to be better and the only real alternative. The models are good too.

And i love HALO (as long as Bungee did it) and Spartan design fits the style. It could easily fit into the FA background.

Spartan would be the first company i would think of to produce something new in a relatively short time, get good quality and keep it affordable at the same time.

I have/know all Spartan game systems and the only problem i see is the rules for a 28mm skirmish game.
Dystopian Legions is not a model based but unit based system (and i don't hate it, but somehow don't like it) so Spartan Games has to develop a model based skirmish system.

FA rules for HALO space combat is a no-brainer though.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
And in regard to Spartan rulesets:
The old Uncharted seas and Firestorm Armada rulesets might not have been good. But Dystopian Wars, even version 1, was better than most wargames and the new versions of the game systems are better and more streamlined.
That is something i cannot say about most GW games (except Blood Bowl and maybe Epic), Flames of War and more game systems.

And exploding 6s is statistically not very different from using a bigger die (like a d100) and big charts, but for some players it feels different.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
And another addition:

I play X-wing and Armada calls a bit too, but i must say that for this scale i will prefer a "real" space combat type game (100% free movement) above simplicity, so i will go for HALO.

Holy Giant Miniature Space Hampsters!


I'm in, if not only to make some avesome display pieces of the Halo-ships!

I'd hate to be stuck with figuring out how to balance the units when they get to the 'ground' game

with the humans (minus the Spartans) being so heavily outclassed in the lore

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:

with the humans (minus the Spartans) being so heavily outclassed in the lore

It shouldn't be too hard. Obviously they'll be cheaper per-model than everyone but Grunts, and in terms of vehicles I would actually put UNSC just a tad ahead! From the game itself (both the FPS and Halo Wars) I'd certainly call a Scorpion better than a Wrath, head-to-head. Similarly, the UNSC do well at putting heavy firepower on smaller/more fragile chassis; for example, Gauss guns on Warthogs, Infantry units carrying RPGs/Missiles.

The two factions would play very differently, of course, but that's part of the fun.

I wonder if they'll throw in Flood and Forerunners/Prometheans down the line? Could be very interesting if so.

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
I'd hate to be stuck with figuring out how to balance the units when they get to the 'ground' game

with the humans (minus the Spartans) being so heavily outclassed in the lore

This goes for the space warfare as well…the 'lore' of 40K regularly shows a single Marine fighting his way through dozens of Xenos, yet none of us blink an eye when that absolutely is not represented on the table.

As long as there is a clear nod to making a unit much tougher than a comparable enemy unit, we are willing to ignore these discrepancies as being something exaggerated to make the story/video game seem that much more epic.

Not sure how well this will do given there's only really 2 factions in the Human/Covenant War. Though I suppose they could do some Forerunner ships as well given that's where the franchise seems to be headed. Maybe some Flood infested ships too.

 angelofvengeance wrote:
Not sure how well this will do given there's only really 2 factions in the Human/Covenant War. Though I suppose they could do some Forerunner ships as well given that's where the franchise seems to be headed. Maybe some Flood infested ships too.

Pretty much my thoughts. It'd be interesting to see the big Promethean globe ship flying around.

I doubt I'll get into the ship half of the game, as I'd rather had a ground based game. This announcement has definitely cooled my interest in picking up DZC for the time being.

Looks good the Covenant capital ship cruiser needs to be a bit bigger but it's not that much of an issue. Think it would only need to be 75% bigger and they'd be in scale.

Would allow for some nice diversity in ship sizes if they are allowed to be a bit more creative with the license.