Gentleman, I have recently discovered this game through a few friends from an LGS. Just bought the two player set online, should be getting it soon and I'll begin to introduce my regular gaming group to it.
So, why isn't this game more popular? It's the cheapest and most well balanced game I've seen in awhile and the models are damn impressive. So why is there no community for it here or elsewhere? Anyone have experience with it?
Dunping a few pics.
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>why isn't this game more popular?
It isn't 40k, and the models are an acquired taste. I for one, have not acquired that taste.
>It's the cheapest and most well balanced game I've seen in awhile and the models are damn impressive.
Some parts are balanced, and some are not, from what I understand. As is often the case, the mobility faction is playing a different game than the rest, who can play for attrition.
The models are impressive from a technical standpoint. I just don't like 'em.
>So why is there no community for it here or elsewhere?
Here? It isn't 40k.
Elsewhere? No idea.
>So, why isn't this game more popular?
I've had the book for a few years now and the simple answer is: because I can't proxy anything. Neither me nor my friends want to dumb a bunch of money on a system we can't test using coins or whatever for bases and that's before you get into the fact that it's intended as an urban warfare game so now I have to put effort into making an appropriate battlefield. The rules also seem to rely heavily on "command cards" which again I don't want to buy until I have some sense that I'll like the game.
the models are unappealing and ugly as fucking hell, and pretty expensive for a game in that scale. But its a decent and balanced game.
>because I can't proxy anything
Why not?
Love these guys. Game has some very sexy models and no mistake.
I play and love DZC but it definitely requires you mess with the models to get a real enjoyment out of their look. I personally leave the vaguely art deco style but its not for everyone.
It's a fantastic game. I suspect one weakness is that the game's quality and depth doesn't take off at the starter box level, but rather at 2x that size.
Models are incredibly detailed, but the aesthetic designs are take-it-or-leave-it for various parts.
The Command Cards are a mechanic, but not really an important one.
>can't proxy
I literally just did. What the hell are you smoking?
Yeah, I actually agree. I personally love quite a few of the designs, but I understand why it's not for everyone.
As for hitting depth at twice the starter box stuff, I agree. I've played a couple of games, but frankly, with 150 bucks, you could easily hit that for two armies. It's a fucking cheap game.
What's fluff for the different factions?
You want in depth or down and dirty?
So, humanity finally starts pushing out into the stars in a few centuries from now. The jump system they use is inefficient and inaccurate and progress is slow. Not every system they go to has anything remotely habitable, but humanity pushes out anyway. After establishing several colonies, an alien race called the Shaltari notice them and approach one of their ships. The Shaltari can speak English just fine and are hyper advaned, even cracking how to transfer their consciousness to other cloned bodies to essentially keep them immortal. They also look like greys, kinda. Their ships and equipment are covered in crystals and highly stylized. At first, the Shaltari guide them to worlds perfect for humanity and rich in resources. Humanity, obviously, is extremely grateful and excited for first contact with an alien race. Then Humanity discovers why the Shaltari are doing this. Shaltari society is built around tribes and a warrior culture. Their tribes are constantly fighting and the one that made contact with humanity wanted to use them as cannon fodder for their wars. Humanity declines any future help from them and relations cool.
Then a sphere descends on Earth. It's small, and crashes hard near South America. When they recover it and start to analyze this small baseball shaped thing, it basically hijacks the computers of the lab, follows the internet connection out, and a massive download then upload occurs. All across Earth and beamed to the colonies, a simple message appears. The gist is, everyone is screwed, something is coming, meet at these coordinates in one year with a jump capable ship. This more or less causes mass panic, and over the course of the year, ships mutiny, families all pack their shit, and everyone starts losing their minds. A lot of people don't believe it, but enough do. So, at the coordinates, the people who listened to the warning are met by the human government's navy.
Essentially, all those that were going to leave had coordinates loaded into their nav computers and they all started spooling up for a jump. The Navy just stood there and I forget who shot first, but it turned into a bloodbath on both sides. In 3 hours, the bulk of Humanity's Navy had either been crippled, destroyed or fled with the ones who listened to the Warning, along with millions dead. The remnants limp back to port and begin to repair.
Before repairs could even really get underway, they started picking up jump signatures at the edge of every major colony and Earth itself. All attempts to hail are met with silence and as they get closer, they can see the thousands of ships swarming towards their worlds. The Scourge had arrived, a parasitic organism that either uses an organic host or is merged with a war machine. The fighting was completely one sided and probably would have been even if humanity had been prepared. The Scourge immediately start landing and slaughtering everything. Billions die. But, civilian and military ships alike manage to rescue however many they could reach and barely dodge the Scourge fleet to escape. The ones who got away set course for the furthest colonies they could reach. Over several weeks, millions manage to escape to these outer colonies before they finally turned off nav beacons to keep the scourge from following. Only about a dozen worlds are still in Humanity's control. And they swear vengence upon whoever did it. It took a century and a half to build up the industrial base and numbers required for the massive undertaking, but they did it. The United Colonies of Mankind would return to the Cradle worlds and destroy those that had almost wiped them out.
Since everything is measured from center of unit to center of unit, it can easily be proxied. Get creative, bruh.
Skirmish battles (1000pts or less) don't need commanders or command cards. Command cards aren't necessary, and really just add to the game.
Honestly? There's been nothing to talk about for so long. There's been two books over several years, and the 'experimental' units rub a lot of people the wrong way. When things get leaked, a couple of friends and I talk about it again, and then in about a month we've moved on because we've done everything we can.
Also, honestly, new units don't really create an urge to build new shit. They're not game-changing, just slightly different. With the exception of the Scourge getting the ability to play the PHR game, there's been no real paradigm changes that make people want to revisit the game and try it afresh, while other games (Malifaux, Guild Ball, 40k, just off the top of my head) can put out a single model that completely uproots everything and makes it shiny and new.
Basics:
UCM - Think Starship Troopers marines.
Scourge - Think Starship Troopers bugs, but also with bodysnatchers.
PHR - Humanity as cyborgs. Lots of Ghost in the Shell
Shaltari - Advanced tech aliens who cheat (not really, but yeah) with teleportation
Resistance - Space Insurgents who didn't leave when the bugs invaded their worlds. Low tech/Mad Max solutions to their problems.
They plan to introduce 3 more factions in the future.
I just bought a 2 player starter set and now I feel bad thanks to this thread.
Don't. It's a solid game.