Ish

GW’s decision to launch it with a $300 deluxe boxed set and then wait nearly two years before rolling out an “regular” boxed set (which still costs $150!) probably did not help it gain much traction... Yeah, yeah, I know that hobby gaming is a luxury good. I’m usually the first to shrug my shoulders and say “if they’ve got customers willing to pay that much it, then that price is fair.” But, well, when you set the price at wagyu steak levels, you won’t sell as many as if it were ground chuck price.

It's finally arrived! Time to assemble some Avengers.

In 2003, when Warmachine also launched after the release of a popular trilogy of D&D Third Edition modules in 2001 (practically the dawn of the “D20 Boom”), which helped generate some interest in the miniatures game from outside the wargaming hobby, rather than just try to pull people away from GW and other games. It also launched at a time when WH40k’s Third Edition was beginning to stagnate (Fourth Edition launched a year later). The various Star Wars games (especially X-Wing) and Marvel: Crisis Protocol seem much better positioned to capture the “Normies” than Warcaster, given the unprecedented levels popularity of those franchises both have. I don’t want to wish any ill on Privateer Press, but... I don’t know if they’ll be able to catch lightning in a bottle a second time around. (Having said all that, if they roll out a Warcaster roleplaying game... That might get me interested.)

I feel like they’re hitting the market about ten years too late with this. WarmaHordes just doesn’t seem to have the “fire” behind it that it once did... Star Wars X-Wing and Star Wars Legion seem to be the main competition to GW’s darling Spess Mahreens these days amongst the tournament-uber-alles crowd, with Bolt Action and GW’s own Necromunda being the bigger draw for the less competitive crowd. Then there’s Infinity, which appeals very strongly to both camps.

Monte Cook’s magnum opus of a campaign setting, Ptolus, is getting an updated re-release.

I’ve heard good things, but never played... I do love the idea though.

I'm available most days from about 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM and most nights after 10:30 PM. Tuesday nights being the exception, since it’s my one day off work and I’m either at W.O.W. or doing family stuff. Just tell me what works for you.

Well, I succumbed to the lure of shiny new plastic. Amazon should be delivering my copy of the core box tomorrow...

Sue Storm has joined the Sisters of Battle!

Oh my stars and garters... a fantasy city map that actually addresses the need of the populace to feed itself! Actual farmland! And the forest's treeline has been cleared well away from the city walls! Weill wonders never cease.

I’ve now watched several more YouTube videos of actual gameplay and read the free rulebook... I think a lot of my misgivings (in my post above) have all been properly addressed by the game designer’s focusing the gameplay on some very clever mission designs. This isn’t a wargame that is trying to represent a war or even a skirmish... it’s a “scuffle” game! The average game looks like it will perfectly replicate the sort of fight scene you might see in a single issue of a comic book. A duo or small team of heroes duking it out for 6-8 pages with a mastermind villain and one or two of his henchmen. It’s not The Infinity Gauntlet and it’s not trying to be, it’s Marvel Team-Up and it nails it. Players bring a collection of any ten models of their choosing. They also bring six Mission cards, of two different types (“Secure” and “Extraction”). You dice off for priority, winner picks one of his mission cards of one type, second player picks one of his mission cards of the opposite type... These mission cards all have a “Threat Value” on them and you assemble your team by picking from the ten miniatures you brought based on their point value. Pretty cool. It means you won’t have to buy a huge stockpile of miniatures if you really only like a handful of specific characters. It also means you won’t necessarily be stuck with characters that are lousy at a specific mission type. There’s also no restrictions on your team consisting solely of Heroes or Villains, so you can totally recreate that one issue where Captain America had to team up with Red Skull because of Reasons. On the other hand, they do have “Squad Affiliation” rules to incentivize taking certain combinations of heroes. Minor stuff like Captain America giving a morale boost to a team made up solely of his fellow Avengers. The model range is still kinda small, just the ones in the starter box, Venom, Hulk, the Black Panther, MODOK, and a couple of others. The biggest “missing” part of the line seems to be a complete dearth of any X-Men or their villains... I’d also like to see the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom, and more of Spidey’s rogues. We’ll probably see them in the near future. I’m officially upgrading myself from “dubiously skeptical” to “curiosity peaked.” Anyone own a copy yet? I’d love to play a demo scuffle or two.

In my defense, my comment was perfectly accurate to describe four of the five iterations of Apocalypse. I never bothered to read (or even glance at) the current one, since it’s not a gameplay format that I ever really play...

Thirty-five Space Marine Terminators. A mix of Dark Vengeance, Black Reach, and regular off-the-shelf unit box. Various weapons. All painted in my attempt at a Guardians of the Covenant paint job. Asking $80 OBO.

Okay, I stand corrected on the rules for Apocalypse. Still ain’t as cheap as 6mm though, you gotta give me that.

Yes, that would certainly make it easier to buy, transport, et cetera. But since the Apocalyse rules are still Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition, you'd still have the problem of needing to handle the movement, LOS, Wounds, and so forth of every individual trooper... Which is tough when they're mounted five men to a strip. Changing scales of figures and rules is easy enough, especially if you're willing to fudge things a bit. Going from 1" to 1 cm is close enough to half scale for most gaming purposes (rather than 1.27 cm). The problem is that WH40k still moves individual infantry models as individuals, the whole mechanics of the game are based on that. I should probably just give up on proper Epic ever making a come back and finally start playing Team Yankee for my micro-armor fix. But there aren't any giant stompy robots in that game...

I don’t want to play company- or battalion-level games where I need to account for every individual trooper in 32 mm scale. Not only can I not afford to collect, paint, and transport 150 Space Marines, I also lack access to a football pitch to use as a playing surface.

I’m tempted, but I’d prefer to see them bring back Epic 40,000 as a proper combined arms game. Infantry, tanks, artillery, and giant stompy robots.

I’m intrigued by the idea that they’re also introducing “Prospects,” a sort of even more inexperienced Juvie as I understand it... Which seems odd.

Tremors 4 has a punt gun in it. Anything with a punt gun in it is an automatic five stars.

Needs some tiki masks and a whole bunch of skulls.

In the Bengali calendar...