Friday 18 September 2015

Modern Pulp: A Road Less Travelled

This is a very poorly represented field in wargames.  When I say "pulp" most people think 1920s-40s Indiana Jones style adventures.  In fact, for an area which is relatively niche in the mainstream media, classic 30s pulp is rather well represented in wargames. 

I'm talking "modern pulp" - stuff set in today's world, but with supernatural, superhero, scientific or alternate-history twists. 

X-COM/Alien Invasion
Be it small special forces teams battling a insidious alien infiltrators (X-COM) or all-out invasion (Independence Day, Battle of Los Angeles) persecuted alien minorities (District 9) coexistence (Defiance) or exploring alien worlds through a Stargate - this has plenty of legs. The minis are already there, as well.   The new Terminator game could fall into this category I guess, as might Transformers.  

Supernatural/Horror - Monster Hunters
Although there are plenty of RPGs in this vein, a skirmish game featuring hunters of evil from shows like Buffy and Supernatural seems indicated - unknowing humanity needs to be protected from the darkness. Hellboy and RIPD blur the line between this and the superhero genre.

Werewolf vs Vampire
This supernatural subsection is a rather tired trope in media, but surprisingly they don't have 101 wargames made about them (*cough* sickofzombies*cough*).  Underworld-style vampires wielding swords, shurikens and automatic weapons against werewolves has some appeal and would lend itself well to skirmish gaming.  Vampire the Masquerade-esque warring vampire clans also appeal.

Modern Mages
From books like Dresden Files, Gaiman's books, Lev Grossman's The Magicians, to the amazing Night Watch books and movies - there are magicians who live amongst us - fighting to maintain the balance between order and chaos, light and dark... or whatever. 

Superheroes
This is the low-hanging fruit, but apart from Knight Model's Batman (not really a superhero game) and Pulp City there's no major contenders (I don't count Heroclix and SuperSystem and isn't tearing up any trees).  Characters with a single power (from shows like Push and Heroes) or minor powers (Arrow, Flash) could be balanced reasonably effectively.   And of course you could tap into the Avengers thing that's suddenly made comics cool, but I think balance with more powerful superheroes could be difficult.  Superheroes are the new zombies, and I'm surprised more people aren't trying to ride the wave.

Trapped in a Videogame
The Matrix is just begging to be made a skirmish game, and Tron also has potential.  The Tad Williams Otherworld series shows the flexibility of this genre: how you can change settings from ancient history to modern at the flick of a... circuit?

Zombies?
Only kidding.  This is the most ****ing overused road of all. Please, no more, I beg of you.

Hand me the stick, the horse is still moving...
I think I've made similar comments before - but it still surprises me how poorly this area is explored in wargames, for the major place it has in popular culture.  Superheroes are now cool with teenage girls and comic heroes have moved from the closet nerds and collectors to mainstream.  "Modern magic" or "Supernatural" is the biggest fiction section in most bookstores. We've a long tradition of alien invasion movies.

When is wargaming going to catch up?

16 comments:

  1. Crooked Dice's 7TV has a distinctly '70s action tv vibe, given that it represents adventures like the Avengers and Doctor Who from that time period. It really does play out like a tv-show too. It's a genericized version of the Doctor Who Miniatures Game, but it's been broadened to other action-adventure serials.

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    1. Looks like the 7TV rules second edition are currently available for free. They definitely have that vibe. The rule about vehicles only being able to be used once is really interesting! Thanks for pointing that one out - they seem fun. (I thought at first that maybe they had too many special rules but then I realized you are only talking 2-5 characters per side, so that's not too much to keep track of and gives nice individualism to each character

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    2. I considered the spy/action genre - but most movies have a single hero, vs multiple baddies - more RPG material than demanding a wargame.

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  2. I have it on good authority that an XCOM styled game based on the blades/heroes thingie is out very soon.

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    1. This doesn't surprise me. There's a blade and heroes game for EVERY frickin genre now. I see there's a sailing ship game.....

      Sadly the engine works well for some things, and not as well for others (I was underwhelmed by the modern ranged combat versions).

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    2. Thats true. It does work better for swords than for guns. If you google the net, you find quite a number of very positive reviews on Galleys and Galleons, the sobh-seabattles version. So I am tempted by that one.

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  3. Dude, half that stuff you've bought up is about ten years old, if not older. 'Catch up' to stuff that was popular in 2005?

    Also, I catalogue books for a living and a good solid 90% of paranormal fiction is about romance and love triangles and all that sort of thing, and as far as I know there are absolutely no wargames that have ever successfully simulated a teenage girl's angst over loving two boys at once (but one more like a brother). I really doubt you'll get much of any crossover between those fan bases.

    As far as superheroes go, there are massive discrepancies between the box office takings of any given superhero film and comic book sales, which might very well indicate that people who are into the movies aren't necessarily into the related media. I'm going to hazard a guess and say that Batman game, despite being based on one of the most popular superhero properties, is neither setting the world on fire among existing wargaming fans, nor bringing in new blood to wargaming.

    (this is interesting: http://comicsalliance.com/dc-comics-readers-survey-reports-new-52-readership-93-male/ ; tl,dr is that some 70% of New 52! -- that's DCs rebooted superhero line -- are the same old people who always bought DC comics, while only 5% had never bought comics before)

    Why would people who have chosen to pursue a hobby that's about as far removed from the mainstream as it's possible to get be interested in what's popular, anyway? Frankly I'd be more surprised if they were.

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  4. Dude, half that stuff you've bought up is about ten years old, if not older. 'Catch up' to stuff that was popular in 2005?

    ..........Exactly. It's been around for ages. The kids who grew up on it are adults now. So why not cater to this audience?

    90% of paranormal fiction is about romance and love triangles and all that sort of thing, and as far as I know there are absolutely no wargames that have ever successfully simulated a teenage girl's angst over loving two boys at once....

    ........Point is, these are very well established, familiar tropes. Blade, Underworld, Ultraviolet, Daybreakers, Buffy. X-Files, Supernatural - these have been around for awhile. They could easily be adapted to a skirmish wargame.

    As far as superheroes go, there are massive discrepancies between the box office takings of any given superhero film and comic book sales, which might very well indicate that people who are into the movies aren't necessarily into the related media.

    ............I agree with your point. But in the broader picture: "superhero" stuff is trendy. Admitting you have a Marvel comic collection is not a bad thing. Superheroes are commonplace.

    Why would people who have chosen to pursue a hobby that's about as far removed from the mainstream as it's possible to get be interested in what's popular, anyway? Frankly I'd be more surprised if they were.

    ...........Because in my experience, the people playing fantasy and sci fi wargames also maintain a keen interest in popular media. As opposed to some historical gamers, who are a different subset entirely.

    TL:DR - the point I'm making is these genres are now commonplace. And have been for a while. My experience with wargaming teens - they relate many wargames to videogames, which are party of their "everyday" routine . Why is it such a stretch to see they would also be receptive to wargames based on "everyday" media?

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  5. I think one barrier to modern pulp games is the factions involved. One side is a handful of freedom fighters/heroes while the other are the evil, faceless goons. These are good for stories and RPG but not so good for war games. Who wants to collect the horde of faceless goons?

    However, when I combine What I just said about Modern Pulp with your belief in solo-gaming trends, there could still have a chance but more as a model based board game. Hmmmm.

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    1. "I think one barrier to modern pulp games is the factions involved. One side is a handful of freedom fighters/heroes while the other are the evil, faceless goons."

      Although largely true, I think the new trend for "gritty" movies and books is blurring that line. Heroes are flawed, and villains have redeeming qualities.

      I think only the aliens of the genres mentioned are less appealing but even then, people like Tyrannids etc....

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    2. Eric's point is valid to some degree. However that was also true for fantasy wargaming. Who would have liked to play the faceless orc-minions while you enemy had a bunch of cool guys?

      I think the wargaming genre has to develope the genre, much like early GW products did with LotR/Moorcock in Fantasy and Dune/StarWars in 40k.

      The evil gits can be made fun!

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    3. ^^ in case I didnt make myself clear, as i just reread my post and had difficulties to grasp it.

      What is needed is to modestly make the evil guys cooler, like GW did with Orcs and Chaos, and develope the good guys from individual heroes into a faction. Men in Black, XCom etc. can be developed into factions. Making it easily graspable, you d need one faction. Of tough guys in powerarmour, like space marines, one fragile and agile faction, like elves (maybe men in black?), the standard army etc.

      Just playing the Doctor, 007 or Superman vs. Dozens of faceless minions is too much work for a tabletop game IMHO.

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  6. My experience with wargaming teens - they relate many wargames to videogames, which are party of their "everyday" routine.
    +1

    It's true. When non-wargaming teens are exposed to 'The Battlefield', they instinctively know what each unit, gadget, and weapon does. In fact, before they are even taught the rules or exposed to specifics, the are already asking if certain items and tactics are in the game and can they do x,y, and z [ie Jeep Jihad].

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    1. Whatever happened to OPS4, your PC-RTS homage?

      Haven't seen much of it... did it ever get a final version?

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  7. I think your 2nd to 4th categories could easily be combined. Vampires, werewolves, etc. facing off human mages, Templars etc. OK I've channeled The Dresden Files to an extent, but there are a few factions I could think of ( Men in Black?) that would fit.

    Mmm, as always tempting stuff, but I've got to get off my butt to actually write my X-COM game first. Maybe second?!

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  8. I always quite enjoyed the FASA's Shadowrun setting with its magicians and street mages. I know its an RPG (Catalyst Games now own it I think) but the magic aspects (spellcasting, counteracting and magic items might be of great use or inspiration to you.

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