What would you like to see in a Miniature Wargame?

CreganTur

Gawd
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Jan 15, 2004
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The idea for this thread was spawned from a previous thread I posted here:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1030044482#post1030044482
which was asking for help in finding an online copy of the Warhammer 40k rules.

In this thread, I'd like to to know, for those of you who play (or have played) miniature wargames, What do you want to see in one?

What one thing did you always want to do? What would have made those games better?

Any thoughts at all would be great!
 
cheap, cheap, oh and cheap.

Games Workshop stuff is friggin' expensive, and the whole "painting" aspect is totally unncessary. You should able to buy plain plastic minis that already have some color/detail in them. Not a lot, but more than just dull gray so you identify them while playing.
 
I played Warhammer 40K for a while, and i tried warhammer fantasy, i also got into the side games, namely: Epic 40k, Titan Legions, Battlefleet gothic, Necromunda, Man o' War.

Prices are a sticking point, because they keep going up and what you get for it keeps going down it seems. thats why i dont play GW games anymore. it just got too expencive. or maby i came to my sences with age :)

I DO play Warmachine. Privateer Press basically covered what i wanted in a miniatures game. fast pace, 3-dimentional (ish) combat (you can throw Warjacks and characters arround), Intuitive and easy-to-follow rules.

GW games have a flaw in that the rules are so extencive and convoluted. the rules also change all the time. the price and sheer ammount of minis you have to buy is a stubling block.

With warmachine the cost of the game is much lower. (so far in my experiance)

but to summarize:

1) lower cost
2) quicker pace to the games
3) "3d combat" ie throwing, flying, missile arcs etc.

i dunno it sems to me that wh40K is a linear, defencive game. Warmachine is a mobile, assaulting game, but there needs to be a balance between the two.

edit: D'oh, MORE PLASTIC MINIS! im am really tired of pewter/metal/etc minis. cant we just have injection moulded minis now? maby some prepainted stuff (atleat basic colors...)
 
A complete set of unchanging rules, and units.

With most games there's always a new rulebook, expansion pack, or magazine that changes rules and adds units on an almost a monthly basis.
 
Whats the point of pre-painted miniatures? If you dont enjoy the painting and modeling aspect of Warhammer or Warhammer: 40K, then you just need to look elsewhere... its just as much a hobby as it is a game...maybe moreso.
I do agree that the prices could definitely be lower though...like $10 bucks lower at least. As far as the rules go...some of it is kind of arbitrary, but it makes sense for the most part... As far as updating the rules goes...its no different than an RTS strategy game in that its about balance...good for them for trying to make the game better with updates. People would bitch if they didnt make any changes too.
 
The perfect tabletop has already existed: Battletech :D
rip FASA.

I think a critically important aspect of any tabletop that would be fun to play would be balanced "sides". Most tabletops have lot of loopholes and poorly balanced forces, making abuse rather easy. I sometimes wondered whether GW playtested their games at all, or whether they had some monkeys on typewriters coming up with the codexes.

I think that for long-term appeal new additions would be important (and we know that companies want to make money), but a static set of rules is important too. Also, the new forces should fit in with the game balance. I suspected that GW had the general idea to make newer races more powerful in order to coax people into switching, i.e. buying more stuff.

As I had mentioned in a GM thread, I was a huge bloodbowl fan and would love to play again :)
 
Cousin Patty said:
As far as updating the rules goes...its no different than an RTS strategy game in that its about balance...good for them for trying to make the game better with updates. People would bitch if they didnt make any changes too.

It's usually not about balance. It's about selling more rulebooks. Short term gain.

Games like Chess, Axis and Allies, and Risk have had the same rules for a long time. It's given them long term appeal and made them classics. Same for Avalon Hill games, at least until they were bought out. Keeping rules the same keeps people playing a game even after they're adults.
 
I agree with everyone else that the prices need to be at least within the atmosphere. As far as pre-painted miniatures it really depends on if you are making a casual game or a hobby game. As far as rules, my only advice is to get rid of the whole IGO/UGO mentallity that has been the norm for way too long.
 
Slartibartfast said:
cheap, cheap, oh and cheap.

Games Workshop stuff is friggin' expensive, and the whole "painting" aspect is totally unncessary. You should able to buy plain plastic minis that already have some color/detail in them. Not a lot, but more than just dull gray so you identify them while playing.

half the fun is painting them and making your own unique army in my opinion

edit: id say its just as much fun making your army as it is using it
 
I used to play 40k alot but I have no time now that im in university. Whenever I do, you have to pack up all your guys and go somewhere, then spend up to an hour setting up and building armies before the game can start. Also, most games consist of setting up on opposite sides of a board and then moving forward and shooting. There is basically 0 strategy and you really notice the luck factor when shooting rocketlaunchers and really big tanks.

However, the game isnt really meant to be completely balanced and ready for competitive matches. Most people even frown on building armies that are only designed to win. Half the game IS painting and building your own custom army. I HATE playing people who use unpainted models or crappy painted ones. It's really fun coming up with your army colors and/or theme and making everyone look awesome.
 
Calis said:
half the fun is painting them and making your own unique army in my opinion

edit: id say its just as much fun making your army as it is using it
I agree with that. I cannot wait until I get some time again to paint more miniatures.. it's been years.
 
Calis said:
half the fun is painting them and making your own unique army in my opinion

edit: id say its just as much fun making your army as it is using it

I know it's a big part of it, I always just wished you had the option to get some cheapies. Blood Bowl is a game that would really benefit from plastic, pre-colored minis. I think that the whole painting thing is a very high barrier to entry. I would love to play more blood bowl but I don't have the time or money to spend painting teams.
 
I don't play tabletop games, but I think a lot more people would play if they didn't have to paint units. Personally, if I played I would just leave the units as whatever standard, boring grey color they came as and not worry about it. I hate painting.
 
Any good looking prepainted miniatures would probably cost too much to buy a whole army.
I did pick up a pack of the prepainted D&D ones, and thought they looked like crap, or at best kid toys.
 
dotK said:
I don't play tabletop games, but I think a lot more people would play if they didn't have to paint units. Personally, if I played I would just leave the units as whatever standard, boring grey color they came as and not worry about it. I hate painting.
nobody says that you have to paint the units. The place that I played at had a house rule that "painted units can always be used"... of course it wasn't really enforced, just to encourage people o paint.
 
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