Topic of the week - A new game?

Got something to talk about? Be it video games, other tabletop or card games, even random stuff - this is the place to post!

Moderator: The Dread Knights

Post Reply
User avatar
Daeron
Malekith's Best Friend
Posts: 3973
Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2003 7:36 pm
Location: Belgium, Brussels
Contact:

Topic of the week - A new game?

Post by Daeron »

Greetings Tyrants!

Another week, another topic. This week we want to read what you are looking for in a new game, either as replacement of WFB or in addition to WFB.
Of course, feel free to mention any game that you intend to play, but for the sake of the discussion I'd like to ask you why this game, or what it is exactly you are looking for in a new game.
- Does it need a great fluff background? Or not at all?
- Will you be transposing your own army's fluff into the game, or are you going to use a new game for a change of scenery?
- How important is the support or popularity of the game within the (local) community?
- Is reuse of your current miniatures a requirement or a bonus? How strongly must your current miniature range be reflected within the new game?
- Do you need ranked units, mass battles?
- Are you looking for a simpler game, or something more complex?
- Do you aim for tournament, competitive gaming or something more casual?

Let us know the main characteristics that you are looking for in a new game.
User avatar
direweasel
Malekith's Personal Guard
Posts: 920
Joined: Mon Oct 07, 2013 9:58 pm
Location: Terre Haute, IN, USA

Re: Topic of the week - A new game?

Post by direweasel »

If it's a game that makes sense to me, is fun and re-playable, and lets me use most or all of my existing boys (and girls!) with little or no conversion, and doesn't require a huge new investment in books or modules or templates or whatever, then I'm going to give it a serious look.

As for my army's fluff, it's based on a pun from a pop-culture reference. I'm pretty sure that will port pretty much anywhere I want to go. I might have to change a few details here and there, but the basics won't change. It might not be a Black Ark named the Apocalypse, maybe that's the name of their fortress outpost or some such. Good enough. :)

Sorry - I keep editing to add stuff. I don't play Warhammer for tourneys, the only game I play on the tourney scene is Blood Bowl. So it's just for throw downs with my friends once every few months. Nothing serious. I used to have a FLGS where we played far more frequently, but nowadays it's just not very common that I have Warhammer Fantasy kind of time. Kids and family will do that to you. I still get plenty of gaming in, just different.
Chinese Relativity Axiom: No matter how glorious your triumphs, nor how miserable your failures, there will always be at least one billion people in China who don't give a damn.

Apocalypse Drow! Plog: http://druchii.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=75360
Ming
Black Guard
Posts: 286
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2006 10:26 pm
Location: Italy

Re: Topic of the week - A new game?

Post by Ming »

I agree wholeheartedly with direweasel words. (Ain't we long lost cousins after all??!! ;))
I just add that I could consider a new silly game, just for the fun of it. Something to play in relax while having beer and pretzels (or wine and pizza, since those are more common in my country).
Obviously, I'd consider games of that kind with a €. 50 budget or so.
Muntchkin and the like.
Spending more money on silly games is foolish.
... and Justice for all!!!

.... and enthusiast member of the league of extraordinary druchii gentlemen
User avatar
Amboadine
Miscast into the Warp
Miscast into the Warp
Posts: 3510
Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2007 11:07 am
Location: Investigating Mantica

Re: Topic of the week - A new game?

Post by Amboadine »

For the last month or so now I have almost entirely been playing Kings of War and finding I am really enjoying it. It is a very clean rule set. Quick to play, 2000 pts WFB games are complete in around 2 hours. Most of my current miniatures port straight across with no issue and the community seems to be pleasant and actively works balance issues and FAQ's. Oh and after paying GW prices is absolutely dirt cheap.

It also fills my urge to have massed ranked units marching around the battle field, and due to the way the system works, they stay as full blocks of troops for the entire game until they are removed.

Fluff wise, I am still reading and rereading. The depth is not there yet, but for a newer game I can't expect something to replace 30 years of writing. I realise that sentence could be used for AoS too, however it was a conscious choice to scrap the existing fluff by GW rather than a new company building up a world.

With a new race expansion book coming in November I am expecting some more background addition. What is currently there looks and feels okay. Nothing ground breaking conceptually and most of the ideas can be found across the fantasy genre, but there is plenty of scope to build your own fluff.

I am also taking this chance to think about building up a new army. Currently Druchii fit into either Twilight Kin or Elves depending on how you wish to build your army. Twilight Kin are being completely reworked next year, the concepts behind them may then change into something radically different, but you can fit a pretty much direct comparison in the base elf list to most of the Druchii units, plus it gives me a change to field full units of dragon riders, something I have missed since the 3ed High elves list.

I am starting to look into what else I could play army wise. Having already committed a pretty substantial amount of money into the Raging heroes kickstarter I want to keep any future options around this line. The Sisters of Mercy models will make a good option to run as a couple of different list in KoW, or I can stay in the elven line and go with lust elves to fit them into a chaosy type list.

Still however up in the air whilst I make some decisions. Who knows I may get the urge to buy and paint the troll slayers on badgers :)
User avatar
Darkprincess
Chosen Babe of Slaanesh
Posts: 2625
Joined: Fri Dec 19, 2003 10:20 pm
Location: Wales

Re: Topic of the week - A new game?

Post by Darkprincess »

I'm not so sure I want to see a new game (not as much as I want to see WFB come back anyway), but I do wish GW would still support some of the old specialist games range (Mordheim especially). OK I know there are plenty of Mordheim look-alikes out there (Frostgrave, Malifaux etc) which are all good in their own way, but I want something set against the old Warhammer world background.

Using my existing miniatures is something that would be important to me but not necessarily essential as long as I can proxy using my existing stuff. On the whole, I like WYSIWYG rather than proxies, but the cost of entry to a new system can be a major barrier without the ability to proxy to some extent. I play Mordheim using my existing stuff - OK, maybe that's a bad example since the setting is the same, but we did try a game of Frostgrave using our old minis so that's fine.

Personally I still think that Mordheim is a great game and needs to be supported (And I'm sure there are 40K players out there that would like to see Necromunda come back too)

Good fluff, on the other hand, is absolutely vital - for some players (myself included). If I can't get into the fluff, I can't get into the game. I know there are players who just like competitive gaming and for many of those, the fluff is less important than a properly balanced rule set. For me, it's the reverse - I don't expect all the armies to be perfectly balanced (as long as nothing is totally broken), as long as the fluff to back it up is solid. I have more ideas for new WFB armies than I will ever have time to build and develop...

I'm one of those people who plays the fluff more than the actual rules. I guess that classifies me as a casual gamer. Competitive and tournament players do the reverse. I guess the majority of players fall somewhere in between.

The old Warhammer World (not old to me - I still play in it - now that our group is back up and running once more - well, most of it anyway - we're trying to get at least one game in every couple of weeks and we're all happy to play 6th edition, adapting newer models and units to it as needed) still has enormous untapped potential for the creation of new races, armies and yes, even new games (I thought Dreadfleet was a cool idea - but then I liked Man O War too back in the day).

Maybe a mix of the old Warhammer Skirmish rules and Mordheim would be the way to go. That way you still get to play WFB of a sort, but using small warbands so the cost of getting started can be so much lower (or zero for those of us who already have a couple of grand invested in GW minis). Simple, quick gameplay but with plenty of scope to expand the concept to include larger armies if you wish. Write your own scenarios for extra fun, all backed up by 30 years worth of awesome fluff.

IMO that's the way GW should have gone - rather than throwing all the veteran players under the bus, they should have kept the old fluff (which hasn't gone away - it's just that GW are not supporting it anymore, but for those who already have the rules and armies, nothing has really changed) and built their new, simplified skirmish type game on top of the existing lore.

Without wishing to hate on AoS (honestly), the game would work just as well with the old fluff, so there was no reason to change it all. GW can have their simplified, kid-friendly game based in the old WFB world and it would have been just fine.
The Dark Princess
High Priestess of the Cult Of Pleasure


Give yourself over to absolute pleasure
Swim the warm waters of sins of the flesh
Erotic nighmares beyond any measure
And sensual daydreams to treasure forever
Ming
Black Guard
Posts: 286
Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2006 10:26 pm
Location: Italy

Re: Topic of the week - A new game?

Post by Ming »

I keep up the threadomancy started by DarkPrincess, in order to say that I'm a causal gamer too, and I favor fluff and background over rules.
If AOS had the old background, maybe I would be growing moustaches and screaming to my imaginary warhorse, to get bonuses, who knows.
GW thrashed the old background 'cause The Old World could not offer enough protection of their IP.
Wood elves, High elves, Chaos, etc. aren't their original creations. They got inspired by fantasy books such as The Lord of the Rings, Elric, Conan, and more.
Other companies could produce similar miniature ranges, call them "high elves", and GW couldn't do a thing about it.
That's why in WH40K they changed Space Marines in Adeptus Astartes, and Imperial Guard in Astra Militarum.
That's why in AOS We'll be getting Aelves....
The success of GW classic background, was due to its being vague enough that I could fit my ideas in, and play my favourite idea of Elf, or dwarf, or other Fantasy stereotype.
So far GW hasn't proven so inspired in writing its own background, without any strong foreign inspiration.....
They have written some sort of revised Ragnarok, smartly thinking that Bards and Aedes from the past could not protect their IP...
... and Justice for all!!!

.... and enthusiast member of the league of extraordinary druchii gentlemen
Post Reply