Pledge: Get some things done and finish off projects. The ends justify the beginnings.
Much has been said I agree with. My own two cents is that the mini market is suffering the same way that the comic market is. Yes, there are “too many” options to settle on a single point. There is little time for people to slow and focus in a decentralized attention economy. Its a demonstrated phenomenon in marketing.
When GW throws out the new edition of 40k there will likely be a contraction of other games due to the FOMO of the massive IP. Shiny Syndrome will kick in and the hobby cash will be gobbled up. I think that the cost of starting into wargames has surpassed the casual gamer and this may be the breaking point when noobs just don’t come in unless solid sandbox games take root. Without literacy creativity is dead. Passive media intake isn’t the same neural activity as reading and generative imagination.
End of 2026? Who knows, I’ll try my best to keep hobbying.
Animated goodness for a thread started in 4chan long ago. Long live creepypasta!
I do agree that a game needs a consistent theme/style (or at least one where a mixture of themes & styles fits the lore).
But do we really need the officially licensed minis to play the officially licensed version of an officially licensed game for an officially licensed property ?
What’s wrong with using something like Xenos Rampant to play a Starwars themed battle using a bunch of starwars toys ?
Do we really need to become rules lawyers and keepers of lore just to have fun ?
Rogue Trader (aka 40k) was a lot more free form at the start.
Its only disadvantage was the simple fact that there were too few companies making miniatures that could be used.
These days ?
If you can dream it then chances are someone has made them or something similar.
The damage that GW did to this hobby is the same kind of damage that TSR/WoTC did when they put RPG’s in a straightjacket of officially licensed products and magazines that reinforced the message that you were having wrong fun when you didn’t buy the official products and played the officially licensed adventures.
I do understand that if you want to play against someone else then you need to find a common ground, but it feels like we aren’t even trying at times. And when we do it feels like it is more about establishing dominance by trying to prove that you know the setting ‘better’ than the other guy and less like an opportunity to simply enjoy a setting.
Part of that is simply a lack of time, so we need to make more effective use of our precious hobby time and pre-packaged goods help us with that.
There’s nothing wrong with that some of the time, but I’d also argue that by not training your imagination you will lose out on that aspect of this hobby (and life too imho) when that is all you’re doing.
/rant
SCP is a gloriously deep and dark rabbit hole to jump down into.
It is practically the gold standard for an open source community fiction project.
Think Lovecrafts’ universe, but bigger and set in a modern era that makes X-files look like childs’ play.
You should be able to play the official miniatures with a game much easier than having to proxy.
GW has gone out of their way to make this nearly impossible which is why I stopped playing the game and put it aside until such time as my friends who live in Australia can actually purchase the miniatures to create a cohesive army rather than being priced out from buying the much needed heavy artillery piece that never gets put into their so-called discounted battle forces.
I don’t think there is much issue with the one over lore knowledge. It is just a simple case of too many players in the hobby not painting enough miniatures and finding any excuse not to do the hard work. Harsh as that wide arcing statement is.
I am a huge fan of dragon and Knight rampart and using different miniatures for different games is fantastic but there needs to be a base line and easy inventory list for people to use. You may want to use every piece of heroquest furniture in your skirmish games but I would prefer to use something that people associate more for whatever I’m playing for the immersion and acknowledgment without words of fellow wargamers it’s X game.
I’m not convinced of the need for ‘official miniatures’ part myself, except for the convenience and time saving part.
Sure, if I want to have a ‘Darth Vader’ then I need something that looks like him.
But do I really need to have a Darth Vader if I play an Empire army for a game in the Starwars universe?
It’s a big galaxy … although the movies only every managed to visit 3 planets.
There is and should be plenty of space to ‘game in the gaps’ and put your own spin on things.
And speaking of Starwars … the only ones with an ‘official’ uniform is the Empire. The rebels didn’t have matching uniforms at all. Get your French resistance models,give them laserguns, add a few techy bits and you’re good to go. Heck, given that the movie props used WW2 weapons … you might not have to do a lot of converting.
Call me weird, but *not* having perfect knowledge about your opposing players’ forces is what I like.
As long as a tank looks like a tank instead of a wooly mammoth there should not be a problem.
Heck, lots of weapons in fictional settings don’t have an easy analog to real world, but with a competent set of rules you can still resolve their effects. Never mind any magical or super powers that tend to be invisible and/or impossible to represent on a model.
We have the opportunity to do all sorts of things *because* there’s dozens of companies and creators making all sorts of crazy (and not so crazy) bits. We should embrace that aspect a bit more.
Did you really care that the green army men and kniggets looked realistic when you were a kid?
of course not. You rolled with it.
So why are we making such a fuss about things needing to be perfect in a fictional scenario as adults ?
I say we should try to rekindle that passion instead of breaking out the spreadsheets …
Fyi I’ve not said anything about spreadsheets or rules for games.
I am simply stating providing an inventory that is accessible to the audience marketed. Such as stormtroopers for the Empire should be priced properly so that people can break the ice with the game.
If it’s miniature agnostic it still suggests what to use which is totally fine also.
You are thinking like an experienced hobbist who knows about alternative proxies which is something people learn in time.
As everyone knows, there is only one company that has pushed for it’s own line of exclusive use of miniatures for what you are talking about. I don’t think I’ve ever come across anyone upset about proxies anyway so I’m not sure what other point there is to make.
@kingthrall which is why I said “official” miniatures for convenience …
I also think that especially beginners should learn from the very start that they can use anything they want to play the games.
It’s the companies that have zero incentive to teach this, because one way or another they want your cash (and you can’t run a business if there is no reason for folk to buy more stuff once they got the rules … ).
That’s why I think ‘proxy’ is a bad word, because it implies you are using the ‘wrong’ figure.
It’s as if they are not as good as the ‘official’ version.
I bought X-Wing long ago and enjoyed it, but my adversary became more elusive soon after and although I continued to build my fleets ready for a rematch… it never happened.
When X-Wing 2.0 arrived I didn’t bother upgrading and now my fleets sit in KR Multicases next to my Warmachine/Hordes Mk 2/3 armies.
AMG seem to have shfted focus on Legion which is unexpected as it felt like Shatterpoint was their objective.
Perhaps it’s because the more recent Star Wars movies and TV shows have not gone down well and so it’s only grognards from the Original Trilogy and Clone Wars that are buying.
Surprised MCP still a focus really, given the lukewarm reception of everything after Endgame.
But enjoy the good news @sundancer… your game of choice lives on.
MCP still has a gigantic back catalog of comics, which may be the one thing that allows people to forget about the movies.
I definitely don’t know half the characters that have been released and/or announced for MCP, but that’s because I’m not into the comics at all.
Starwars only has the Original Trilogy and the Prequels to harvest for content that may sell.
It will be interesting to see if the Mandalorion movie will change any of this …
*blergh* I thought I could work yesterday, but that was a big mistake. I felt like a zombie operating at half brain capacity.
I shall be focussing on getting better before I try to use my brain again.
I’ve not bought into any AMG systems so I’m only an interested observer. If there is a fire sale of Star Wars Crisis Protocol I doubt any of it will get cheap enough to tempt me, it seems sooooo expensive to someone who usually buys historical miniatures and is not a regular GW purchaser.
Changing times on my painting desk today. The fluorescent bulb in my magnifier light finally went and you can’t get them any more which is a good thing for the planet. It also means I’m not going to be getting very small radioactive doses every time I paint from now on.
Farewell and thank you for your service old painting light. I think I’ve had it at least 15 years.
Here’s the shiny new setup with double LED angle lights:
@zoidpinhead I managed to get it and a couple of squad boxes for less than the price of the core box itself last year.
I think the stand that was selling them had some kind of insider knowledge of this upcoming fire sale.
Possibly a matter of simply seeing the planned release schedule and experience within the industry and/or Asmodee/AMG.
@zoidpinhead I have one of those magnifier lamps too. Top angle bracket broke ages ago and it went limp. I did a crude repair and it still works.
However, I recently bought one of the head magnifier/lamps with multiple lenses which is working ok and I don’t need to sit at my desk to benefit from it.
sundancer.
horati0nosebl0wer
limburger
kingthrall
danlee
pagan8th
zoidpinhead
