Games I should probably stay away from (aka the pretty pictures post)
So this will probably be the last game related post for a while. At GenCon two of the games I got to play were miniatures games. I played Star Wars pod racing, which was a variant of another game.
Along with that I also played a game called Reich of the Dead, which was a WWII man to man combat game that included. . .Nazi Zombies.
Essentially, miniature games are playing with toys with rules. There is also the element of being able to create and build something that is kind of cool. For example, the Reich of the Dead game had a fairly sweet "map" that we played on.
And compared to some of the other constructions at GenCon, that was fairly mild. These pictures are from a fantasy game:
What is really impressive, is that in the town set-up, each and every one of those buildings have removable roofs, and detailed interiors. I have always liked model terrain. For example, Abigail's mom and step-dad make really impressive Christmas village displays that are cool. However, it would most awesome to put together something similar that could be used for a game, and that is what miniatures are all about. On top of that, miniatures have a customizable aspect to them which I am truly all about when it comes to games. I could really see myself getting into miniature gaming if I let myself, whether it be a WWII game, fantasy game, or even straight up Zombie game.
The problem is that the stuff is bloody expensive. For example, in the Reich of the dead game I played, each figure cost $5. So if you look at the overview picture above for that game, the Nazi army alone cost roughly $220 (now in fairness, that is a game that was intended to have four players control that army, but still). Plus, in a traditional miniature games the figures come unpainted. Being able to do custom painting is one of the pluses of these games, but that also has an expense has the metal paints and small brushes are not exactly cheap. On top of that, terrain also has its own cost. So playing with miniatures is a very expensive endeavor.
Of course there are some cheaper options, in that of pre-painted miniatures, and some of these look fairly awesome. A video game that I really like is Battlestations: Pacific. Which has some strategy while controlling WWII-era naval and air forces in skirmish battles. There is apparently a pre-painted miniatures game that does this as well.
Even more awesome is that there are Pre-Painted Star Wars miniatures, that exist in two forms. There are miniatures for individual unit battles
AND for Starship battles
Seriously, how awesome is that?
The problem with these games is that they are collectible, which means they come in starter sets, which really do not have enough units to play the game out of the box, or blind booster packs which is built on a principle of buying a lot to get the units necessary. I suppose it is possible to buy singles, but for specific units that are "rares" I am sure the price gets rather high. So while the individual miniatures are cheaper and they come pre-painted, the collectible aspect also drives up the cost. It would be "cheaper" in theory to play these games as opposed to traditional miniatures, but the constant expansions make these a potentially greater money pit.
There are a few other options. There is a game called Arcane Legions.
the "commander units" come in random boosters, but it is possible to buy the commons on their own. Plus they are not completly randomized, so it is possible for about $270 to get the complete set, which in terms of miniatures and collectible games is an absolute steal. Unfortunately, I demoed this game at GenCon and thought that it was merely ok.
There are some other possibilities as well. The cheapest option is to find my lost book.
The company that made the Star Wars RPG I played a lot in high school also published some miniatures rules. I used the Star Wars micro machines, which I already had has the miniatures. I even bought some extra stormtrooper/rebel trooper packs and a felt mat. I think I even got my brother to play once, but it was when I was trying to figure it out and I do not think it went that well. I already had the Star Wars CCG, which was one Star Wars game I mostly played by myself, so I kind of did not pursue the miniatures that much. I still have all the micro machine men, but despite my attempts to find it the rule book is MIA. I can not imagine I would have gotten rid of it, since it is Star Wars and I only in the past couple of months purged my boxed star wars stuff. This leads me to conclude that the book got lost in a move, or is buried in some wayward box in my parent's storage shed/garage.
The other option is actually a board game called Okko, Era of the Asagiri. This game is essentially a miniatures game in a box, and it is promoted as such. The game comes with multiple boards and multiple units so that "armies" can be customized. There are a couple of downsides in that it is really not an army game, in that the game really just simulates ninja squad versus ninja squad. The other initial downside is that the game is made of cardboard
The plus side is that since it is a miniatures game in a box, they do make actual miniatures of the cardboard characters that can be used instead. These miniatures still require painting, but they are cheaper then traditional miniatures. In my opinion the extra investment of the miniatures are buildinig terrain would be worth it, because it turns the above image into this
Of course, the whole problem with this whole thing is that the games are only fun if I have someone to play them with. I know from brief flirtations with Mech Warrior several years ago that Abigail is not a big fan of measuring stuff out. This is another reason why Okko would be a good pick, because it is played on a square grid, that eliminates all measuring with rulers. I should probably stay away from miniature games in general because I know that I will like them way to much. . .but we will see. . .
Along with that I also played a game called Reich of the Dead, which was a WWII man to man combat game that included. . .Nazi Zombies.
Essentially, miniature games are playing with toys with rules. There is also the element of being able to create and build something that is kind of cool. For example, the Reich of the Dead game had a fairly sweet "map" that we played on.
And compared to some of the other constructions at GenCon, that was fairly mild. These pictures are from a fantasy game:
What is really impressive, is that in the town set-up, each and every one of those buildings have removable roofs, and detailed interiors. I have always liked model terrain. For example, Abigail's mom and step-dad make really impressive Christmas village displays that are cool. However, it would most awesome to put together something similar that could be used for a game, and that is what miniatures are all about. On top of that, miniatures have a customizable aspect to them which I am truly all about when it comes to games. I could really see myself getting into miniature gaming if I let myself, whether it be a WWII game, fantasy game, or even straight up Zombie game.
The problem is that the stuff is bloody expensive. For example, in the Reich of the dead game I played, each figure cost $5. So if you look at the overview picture above for that game, the Nazi army alone cost roughly $220 (now in fairness, that is a game that was intended to have four players control that army, but still). Plus, in a traditional miniature games the figures come unpainted. Being able to do custom painting is one of the pluses of these games, but that also has an expense has the metal paints and small brushes are not exactly cheap. On top of that, terrain also has its own cost. So playing with miniatures is a very expensive endeavor.
Of course there are some cheaper options, in that of pre-painted miniatures, and some of these look fairly awesome. A video game that I really like is Battlestations: Pacific. Which has some strategy while controlling WWII-era naval and air forces in skirmish battles. There is apparently a pre-painted miniatures game that does this as well.
Even more awesome is that there are Pre-Painted Star Wars miniatures, that exist in two forms. There are miniatures for individual unit battles
AND for Starship battles
Seriously, how awesome is that?
The problem with these games is that they are collectible, which means they come in starter sets, which really do not have enough units to play the game out of the box, or blind booster packs which is built on a principle of buying a lot to get the units necessary. I suppose it is possible to buy singles, but for specific units that are "rares" I am sure the price gets rather high. So while the individual miniatures are cheaper and they come pre-painted, the collectible aspect also drives up the cost. It would be "cheaper" in theory to play these games as opposed to traditional miniatures, but the constant expansions make these a potentially greater money pit.
There are a few other options. There is a game called Arcane Legions.
the "commander units" come in random boosters, but it is possible to buy the commons on their own. Plus they are not completly randomized, so it is possible for about $270 to get the complete set, which in terms of miniatures and collectible games is an absolute steal. Unfortunately, I demoed this game at GenCon and thought that it was merely ok.
There are some other possibilities as well. The cheapest option is to find my lost book.
The company that made the Star Wars RPG I played a lot in high school also published some miniatures rules. I used the Star Wars micro machines, which I already had has the miniatures. I even bought some extra stormtrooper/rebel trooper packs and a felt mat. I think I even got my brother to play once, but it was when I was trying to figure it out and I do not think it went that well. I already had the Star Wars CCG, which was one Star Wars game I mostly played by myself, so I kind of did not pursue the miniatures that much. I still have all the micro machine men, but despite my attempts to find it the rule book is MIA. I can not imagine I would have gotten rid of it, since it is Star Wars and I only in the past couple of months purged my boxed star wars stuff. This leads me to conclude that the book got lost in a move, or is buried in some wayward box in my parent's storage shed/garage.
The other option is actually a board game called Okko, Era of the Asagiri. This game is essentially a miniatures game in a box, and it is promoted as such. The game comes with multiple boards and multiple units so that "armies" can be customized. There are a couple of downsides in that it is really not an army game, in that the game really just simulates ninja squad versus ninja squad. The other initial downside is that the game is made of cardboard
The plus side is that since it is a miniatures game in a box, they do make actual miniatures of the cardboard characters that can be used instead. These miniatures still require painting, but they are cheaper then traditional miniatures. In my opinion the extra investment of the miniatures are buildinig terrain would be worth it, because it turns the above image into this
Of course, the whole problem with this whole thing is that the games are only fun if I have someone to play them with. I know from brief flirtations with Mech Warrior several years ago that Abigail is not a big fan of measuring stuff out. This is another reason why Okko would be a good pick, because it is played on a square grid, that eliminates all measuring with rulers. I should probably stay away from miniature games in general because I know that I will like them way to much. . .but we will see. . .
posted by SeanXor at 7:10 PM
1 Comments:
I used to play a miniatures game called Mage Knight, made by Wizkids (I think that's who made it). They used the combat dial to make gameplay more accessible. I've still got all my pieces in tackleboxes in the garage...haha. I wonder how much I spent on that game on high school/college... too much, I'm sure.
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