/awg/ Alternative Wargames General

Hey hey Booboo, Imma club you!

Yeah, if you can wait the 50 years it takes to navigate that site, you'll find them OOP.

Anyone have experience with lead minis? Once they've been painted, are they safe? Or will I need to wash my hands after every time I touch them regardless?

>lead
As long as you aren't eating it, breathing in the dust or bathing in it, it's safe as a miniature.

You'll want to wash it first to get the release agent off it because paint won't stick to it.
And once it's painted, no more risk.

What’s everyone’s current project?
Currently I’m painting up a force of mixed Vanguard, Epic, and Onslaught to play some LaserStorm.

Novan Winter Infantry look great but be aware of horrible shrinkage and fragility at their ankles

...

CMON is a miserable pile of broken dreams and promises where games go to die.

I'm trying to build a 15mm tomb kings army.
It's going slow, I'm still trying to get stuff and assemble the parts. I'll probably build the chariots myself since I really dislike the ones on offer and I'm still trying to figure out how to do the crypt knights

Is this a good place to ask about Kings of War? Couldn't find a thread and wanted to ask about a place to pirate the 2nd edition rulebook.

> I'm trying to build a 15mm tomb kings army.

What minis are you using? So far the only egypt-ish undead I've found in 15mm are Splintered Light.

Also how are you doing bases? I've been experimenting with 15mm WHFB that could be used in other systems too, currently thinking about ranks of five guys on 75x15mm bases.

Painting what feels like a million tons of Pantheon stuff and wondering if I can use it in any form for fantasy wargaming, too.

Also looking at Foreign Stars, a playtest ruleset posted on the 15mm Facebook group as a possibility for my on-hiatus Ace Combat/Cold War Evangelion project. It feels like 40k with less special rule creep and in a more sensible scale.

On top of that, trying to find time to alpha test a Freespace-esque starfighter game I hacked out of Blood Red Skies.

New League of Assassins box for BMG

>CMON is a miserable pile of broken dreams and promises where games go to die.
CMON's reach definitely exceeds their grasp at times, but that's a little harsh. At least they actually deliver their kickstarters consistently. And they've helped a few get off the ground that otherwise probably would not have (like McVeigh's stuff).

>lead minis
wash your hands after working with them - but that's good advice for minis in general. Most of the things we work with are not for eating. Once they are painted you're all good (unless you're using lead paint, I guess? Still probably shouldn't eat them).

>Is this a good place to ask about Kings of War?
This is basically a home for all the TTG that don't have their own general and don't fit under /hwg. We discuss KoW from time to time, sure. Check the novice trove for pdf's.

>I'm trying to build a 15mm tomb kings army.
Sounds pretty cool, post some pics when you have em.

Warzone. The classic stuff.

>Check the novice trove for pdf's
Thanks. Looks like 2nd ed is not there yet. Does anyone know if the short pdf on mantic's website contains simplified rules, or regular rules, just without the fluff?

Finish up my Full Thrust ESU and Raider fleets so I can move onto my 6mm ground forces.

Post pics, I love fleet games but I seem to be the only one in my area...

I have a shitty 2009 potatoe for a phone so no pics for now. I did borrow a friends camera to take some pictures of my ships a little while back so I could then use photoshop to try different paint schemes. I did take pictures more recently but lost those ones.

I'll try to get some new pics up later tonight/tomorrow, but be prepared for a basic/horrible paint job. It's been nearly a decade since I last did miniatures, I was but a child back then and my skills have not improved over the years.

What are the ground forces?

What’s your area?

>Does anyone know if the short pdf on mantic's website contains simplified rules, or regular rules, just without the fluff?
I believe the rules on mantic's site are complete, it's just the army lists that are abridged. IIRC they're actually perfectly playable, they just don't have a lot of the more out-there monsters and war machines on them.

>tfw KoW seemed appealing as a rules-lite mass battles game where most traditional fantasy armies would make competent, fun forces as everything is quite balanced (if bland)

>go on the FB Group and it's all about what's in this years "CoK" rules pack, pivot charge rules-lawyering, artifact spam and general tournament wankery

Sort of sad to see. I know FB groups aren't always representative of the games actually taking place in real life, and I know not everything can be genteel like Song of Blades and Heroes, but there always seem to be a contingent of autists who *must* have every loophole sewn shut or they will abuse them. You come across it in all sorts of games unfortunately.

How were the casts for the ESU? I like GZG, but I know they tend to drive their moulds into the ground before replacing them.

A lot of players jumped from GW to KoW and 9th age when Age of Sigmar came around. Sorry to say, but usually it was the same crowd that ruined WFB by waacing the shit out of it.

Thanks.

>my on-hiatus Ace Combat/Cold War Evangelion project.
A good combination. You played the translated Japanese version of Electrosphere? (as opposed to the butchered version that was originally released in the West, missing like half the game and words)

>What are the ground forces?
Bunch of GZG, a few metric kilos of H&R, and some random old toys.

Plan is to use the GZG (and some toy bugs) for a modified version of the Starship Troopers miniatures game by Mongoose Publishing, and then put those things together with some of the suitable H&R figures for a battletech-esque Mercenary sci-fi campaign.

After that (or more likely during) I have enough of every soviet armoured vehicle from H&R to make about three regiments for Fistful of Tows.

See pic. I got these at the start of last year so the moulds might be worse now? Cleanup wasn't too bad, although all the light cruisers had little chunks missing off the starboard 'wing-tips'. Mould lines went almost from front to back along the hull sides (although it was mostly quite light), and the cylindrical parts that protrude (front, under wings, engines in back) tended to have some junk on them that got so difficult at times that I accidentally chopped off parts of the protruding bits in my attempts to get the junk off (see closest front thin protrusion and under-wing protrusion).

>random old toys
Mate. Good for you.

You can do great things with toys.

Which MBP mini is that?

None of this is really surprising. Online discussion groups need conflict to stay fueled. In a vacuum, they'll invent it. Even in a relatively well balanced game, they're going to nitpick it to death in the endless quest for something to argue about. Rest assured that KOW is a great little game IRL, and holds up fine for general use including in organized play.

We saw the same thing on here with the general thread for WMH (which we played a ton of here), where people were constantly losing their damn minds about the latest hypothetical powerwank. The average 2-3 day thread would contain more examples of broken rules and WAAC lists than I encountered in almost a decade of weekly store nights. Not to say that shit doesn't happen AT ALL in the wild, I'm sure it does, but the online discussion tends to be a hyper-condensed positive feedback loop of negative opinion on any given subject. Grains of salt should be considered standard equipment.

>Wrath of Kings
>Last release was in November
hopefully it's not dead, although I've only played it rarely.
A couple of the releases that were right on the horizon look incredibly cool.

Need to put the last bits on paint on my GCC, and then I'm probably going to try and start working on my Ogres for KoW.

God I need that. Looks so damn good! And that big dudd? Will League have a melee monster, finally?

On the other hand, it's kind of annoying that they're US-only company. Then again, so is DP9 because I don't think there's a major distributor outside of US left that still wants to deal with them.

We have that issue here in the states, too. Lots of companies out of Europe where getting their stuff state-side is absurdly difficult at best.

I agree, though, that more game companies should focus on a global scene.

I remember seeing some 28mm gas masked turban heads a while ago, they were kind of Nemo-esque.

I can't find them now though, don't suppose anyone has any idea where I might have seen them?

There' a difference between some cottage business like say, Hasslefree having expensive (read non-business discount) shipping to US vs CMON having practically zero presence out of US. CMON isn't a tiny 2-man operation.

Speaking of hasslefree, ordered their Elsa or bright wizard, got anna mini as freebie since I ordered right after christmas. Fucking amazing people.

Oh I agree, and I'm not trying to defend CMON or their idiotic business practices.

I'm just saying that it isn't exclusive to companies on this side of the Atlantic.

Persephone

Finally received my Oathmark goblins. Excellent sculpts. My only dissapointment is with the character packs. No bases included. But great casting nonetheless

That's the one.

Almost all the gods are great looking, with the exception of Aphrodite who is a womanlet and Hades whose pose is a bit weak.

>Almost all the gods are great looking, with the exception of Aphrodite

Ironic

The new League box is really really good, I know you've been waiting for it too. The best part is it buffs the old guys as well (big dude has kill them for more katana spam on attacks and the bow can nuke an area with acid)

Aren't they still releasing figures? While it is technically still supported, it is sad to see everyone clearancing the figures. Hopefully the Confrontation reboot will pick up where WoK failed (Even though realistically I know that it won't).

Have they shown the cards? Did I miss those?

Well, they did get Paolo Parente to do a pinup Aphrodite

it isn't that good either imo

Check product data sheet on the KM webstore, it's where all the cards are

I was unaware they had added them to the store yet.

Yeah, this set looks like a good time. Although this Ras seems very similar to AC Ras, but I'll still probably buy AC just because it's a nice looking mini.

I'm using generic skeletons from Demonworld and I'm currently sussing out how to do the shields. I'll probably do a few by hand and then try to cast them.
Same for chariots.

For bases I got a pack of washer disks today. I'll try to make movement trays with magnetic inlays, so it should work out to a good footprint.

I'm hopeful for the new Confrontation, but it'll need more than just name recognition to get by (see Warzone for an example of that).

So new Ras having the Arrogant rule is gonna be a bitch. Means I can't run Killer Croc with a band of ninjas if I wanna use Ras.

There are some small differences (besides the fact that the new is straight up better; granted it is the first release in over 2 years (32 months)).
Arrogant is important, losing Grand Strategist is ok as you got exhaustive planner on top of strategist, the loss of undercover is not that important and lastly the sword isn't as cool.
AC ras used to be more of a disabiling piece compared to the control Liam Neeson, he enervating on the sword was quite useful but his 4 attack with all his buffs couldn't really keep up with the big sticks.
The new one has 5 attacks, though no +1, he is harder to block and deadly strike can scare people off.

So what I'm gathwring here is having both is a good call to add some variety to playing League. I'll never use Liam al Ghul so that's not a concern. Although I do want to get Lady Shiva's set.

Undercover is huge. New one has weapon master so he does have +1. New ras appears super killy.

Is modern age batman worth it if you dont care about robin? Acrobat, stealth, 100 points is cheaper than mamy batmen only weakness is lack of specials like total vision or bat armor.

He's still really good, just loses a little bit of his synergies. The dirt cheap cost, acrobat and stealth easily make up for none of the fancy Batman stuff, and his statline makes him the definitive cheap Batman IMO. That said, I've only ever used him with Grayson, so YMMV

Grayson seems hard to use, no offense, very squishy vs melee, I get he can rush to objectives but he cant hold them against anyone.

>Undercover is not that important
Undercover and Hidden are the best traits in the game, hands down.

New Ra's isn't bad, but I think he's slightly worse than Liam and AC. He's still very killy though, and not bad at all.
New Ninjas are all great though. Especially the big guy. Finally Wp 5 Ninjas that aren't Lotus!

Grayson is obnoxiously good. Disarray is ridiculously powerful, and if you give Batman Morality he can Discourage for even more control and denial.

Dick is also very hard to put damage on if you allocate tokens defensively, so he can comfortably rush an objective and sit on it scoring points while being very hard to shift.

He's can also do a bit of damage in a pinch if he throws his batarangs.

New Ras is more killy than deathstroke, he may be the most consistent injury dealer in the game. That said he doesnt deal the most damage, powerful stun dealers like bane or deathstroke when using his bo probably still beat him there.

Bastards.

Anyone go to Vapnartak in York btw?

Wow, yeah that blows. Hopefully the bastards get what's coming in short order. I'll definitely pass this around

>I agree, though, that more game companies should focus on a global scene.
Unfortunately, that really takes hitting a certain critical mass, and the vast majority of manufacturers in this business are relatively small shops. So high shipping is always going to be part of the deal to some extent. The only real way around is to work with your local shop or club to order in bulk and split the costs (which is a good idea anyway, because it helps your local community).

>so is DP9 because
DP9 is actually very firmly standing on guard for Canada. Getting their stuff in the states can also be surprisingly pricey. Granted probably not as much as shipping to europe, but still annoying.

Got some pics of my ESU. My previous warning of ugly painting still stands.

That blows. I remember Prodos had someone walk off with their cash box during Salute. Strange that there seems to be so much theft at these shows lately

...

The one on the right looks like the big brother of the NTS Goatman

So comfy it hurts

He's definitely good.
I just think that Liam's support abilities and AC's Undercover & Enervating gives them a slight edge over the new one.

Plus, Arrogant means you can't take Ra's and Deathstroke in the same crew :(

Holy shit, they are still making stuff for Maelstrom's Edge?

Yeah, not being able to take Deathstroke or Croc seems a bit harsh. Which is why I'll have both Rebirth and AC so I can mix up gangs.

How do you guys find players?

I'm near Seattle. You'd think being near a big city with a big tabletop gaming community would help, but if anything it's the opposite and there's more pressure for everyone to stick with mainstream.

huh.
Whatever that is, it looks neat.

Yeah, I like it enough to probably pick one up for something. Not really a fan of the line, but this one is nice.

Still, surprised that ME isn't completely dead.

Try bringing in enough stuff to run through some intro games with people

The face is adorable, I don't know why.
I know they have this de-centralized production, so they are not forced to produce and sell a lot, but still the game seems dead.

I don't know, but hese two look fucking great and I'll probably pick them up

Because its got this grumpy 'harumpph' face to it.

I can't say to much about the actual game, because I have read the rules, other than it was either this one or miniwargaming's game that was dismissed as a 40k clone. Personally, biggest thing that put me off is they released with 2 factions that were so completely different in style, they looked like they came from 2 different lines. You have this super modern future paramilitary looking army on one side, and the bad guys from every sci-fi movie in the 70's on the other.

Nah I say they have different roles but the enervating was good too have if he didn't have enough friends to kill a target or flubbed.
New one still better though, he will not disable but outright kill. (Also wil 8)
Never used it aggressivly though as he was good enough to kill henchies but needed frieds so he can soften up beatsticks.
He works as a great roadblock.
But some scenario makes undercover better
He is solid.
Not too much but eill still do what he needs to do.
Also his robin works great with him, who is a great controller and obj grabber.
Acrobat is the best trait.
We will see when I get to play a bit but I think AC is now fun to use but weaker unless you really one ac and a big guy, though I rather take Liam then for more support.

Well i had a stroke in that sentence there.
Just ignore that.

>other than it was either this one or miniwargaming's game that was dismissed as a 40k clone
Considering there are about 0 good and successful awg platoon games, why the fuck would you dismiss it on grounds of that?

search on facebook "Seattle Wargamers" or "Seattle Gaming" etc etc etc

If you aimed it too much towards the 4k crowd, it wouldn't stick because they already have 40k.

Plus, I don't know about good, but GoA and Warzone are doing ok.

To be fair, most people who play /awg/ stuff tend to want skirmish games from my experience. Also I find skirmish games an easier sell because they're generally cheaper overall than platoon games, and people don't have to paint nearly as much stuff.

I'd say those are both good games. Solid ruleaet and fun. Warzone's biggest issue is how Prodos is handling it right now. GoA had a rocky start, but I feel like Warlord is getting their shit together about it.

possibly anvil industries.

Anyone know of some rule sets that feature off table assets or battlespace shaping stuff? I love the stuff like artillery support from Stargruntz 2 and some of the factions special abilities from Black Ops. I would like to know what else is out there.

this looks impossible to roll out

it's SEATTLE.

my bud has a similar problem in VA near DC. some communities are more normie sheep that proper autist.
you need to actively fight the flow. be a rebel.
deny the mainstream it's power.

I would have bought an angry child over a smug one.

Yeah, the sculpt is a bit of a let down.

aside from anvil ramshackle has some of those as well.

Why would you fuck this up?

Having lived in Northern VA there are two good LGS's that I know of, one huge store near Dumfries with life-size superhero statues, and a smaller but far friendlier one in west Fredericksburg.
The trouble is traffic. You cannot drive on the interstate between 6am-10am and 3pm-7pm, unless you like a delay of several hours.

Seattle has a thriving Infinity, WarmaHordes and Battletech scene, at least as of a year ago.

Is there anyplace that has a sale on mantic stuff?