Thursday 2 July 2015

Game Ramblings - DLC and (speak not its name aloud) Warhammer Fantasy

DLC is Here
In one of my regular videogame-to-tabletop comparisons, I commented on the inevitability of the "DLC" approach.  Well, it seems someone IS taking that approach - the TAC series of WW2 air rules available on Wargame Vault is selling the rules for each plane at $2ea. (And selling a lot of them, too!)  It is billed as "only buy the ones you want" which is a bit disingenuous as most pdf rules are ~$10 for the whole game, with ALL the units/aircraft/troop lists etc.  Heck, I paid that for a copy of "Scramble" which has 100+ aircraft listed.  That'd be $200+ under the "TAC" DLC model.  For a bunch of PDFs.     
Note: I've got a lot more interesting points to say on this topic but the rest of my comments are only available as a DLC.  

Age of Sigmar
You'd have to be living under a rock to avoid the Age of Sigmar hype.  Apparently the dying Warhammer Fantasy is being rebooted, with Games Workshop turning it into more of a skirmish game - borrowing ideas from successful rivals like Privateer Press.  No more codexes and $150 rulebooks - just a 4-page basic rulebook, supplemented by "unit profiles" with all the unit information and special rules available in the unit boxes.     Each player deploys one hero/unit at a time until one side says stop. He gets to choose who moves first.  The other player can keep deploying units - there are no "points" or unit size limits - if a player is outnumbered 3:1 he can win by "Sudden Death" - i.e. assasinating a major enemy hero/wizard/monster (Warmachine style) or keeping a designated model alive for 6 turns.  I think this is a really clever idea - no points cap, but allowing victory conditions to limit model count.  However I suspect the community of GW players (who tend to win by min-maxing armies) are going to scent blood in the water.   For what I can tell, the rules don't deviate much from the usual GW formula, though generals make units within 12" immune to morale effects. As morale is apparently quite decisive, I suspect this will emphasize the importance of generals, and lead to a "Warmachine" feel.   I'm not going to jump on board the GW train, but I may just buy my first White Dwarf since... 2002?

Warhammer: Total War
And neatly tying these two topics together - the videogame dev behind the Total War series is making a Warhammer Fantasy version.  It's a match made in heaven.  Creative Assembly are increasingly coming under criticism for their DLC-centric approach.  For example, they sold $100-120 worth of DLC each for their last 3 games.  Some DLC was even released on the same day the game was.  I mean, that's pretty cynical.  Other DLC merely unlocked units already in the game. The latest $3 DLC added more blood spatter and death animations, and sick soldiers now vomit. No, I'm not making this up.  I'm wondering if in Warhammer: Total War you'll only get a "core unit" for one faction and need to buy and download all the units at actual GW store prices....

3 comments:

  1. I'll at least check out the new Warhammer rules to see. Maybe it'll be a hit?

    I did notice that flight game. I dunno if it's awesome or not, but I felt a bit stiffed that each of the extra planes was entered as a ruleset rather than a supplement, to get more front page views :(

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    1. It depends how much AoS favours WFB, and how much it favours LOTR:SBG. The latter is actually one of my favourite games - a good example of a relatively uncluttered, adaptable rule set with familiar mechanics with that something extra (Might, Will, Fate).

      A few points that look like good moves:

      It allows any bases - I dislike square bases, and like the Privateer Press lipped ones.

      Also, I hate regiment-style games where you paint 20 identically boring minis to get a single unit. It's why I play skirmish - cos you paint only 1 guy and get a "unit" with the same in-game effect. Moving to a more Warmachine-scale skirmish game gets the thumbs up from me....

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  2. "Note: I've got a lot more interesting points to say on this topic but the rest of my comments are only available as a DLC."

    I'll pay you in Downloadable Beers then!

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