The future is here. Just what the
hell is it though?
Awakening from the clichéd post-ETC hobby slumber, I rub my bleary eyes and am confused...
Even Back to the Future doesn't seem to have the
answers…
As everyone even remotely connected
to the dark and crazy world of tabletop gaming will be aware, the summer of
2015 saw a seismic shift, leading to destruction on levels not normally seen outside of a
disaster movie. There have been some parallels in history I’m told, but even I
am too young to remember those. I guess it is almost with a sense of privilege
that we got to experience first-hand a truly historic and terrifying event.
Sure, like any slowly dying aristocracy,
the signs where there for all to see. The Persian rugs were threadbare, the
ancient tapestries depicting momentous events were sun bleached and hanging
limp. A slight layer of dust clung to the books in a library that remained the
envy of the world. Even then, when, upon careful consideration, you could tell
that the household staff had been diminished in numbers and that some of the
prize silver had been hawked off to keep the lights on, there was an air of
quiet dignity to the scene. The end may have been inevitable, another
memory ground under the pitiless wheels of progress and modernisation to
be forgotten by an increasingly unenlightened world, but this was true royalty,
and it was going to do things properly.
After all, when the end is all there
is, the manner of it matters a great deal.
Yes, the behemoth that was Warhammer
Fantasy Battles, that eclectic Tolkenian tabletop adventure that accounted for
years of people’s lives (and fortunes from their wallets) from a time when most
players were not even a thought in their pubescent parents' minds - before
household computers were the norm, before there were more mobile phones in this
country than people, and *way* before internet rage became a vocation,
through to this very year – it saw the rise and fall of nations.
In the modern day when immediate
gratification is a right and patience a largely alien notion something like
this should really make people pause and reflect.
The king is not only dead, his
kingdom has been torn asunder and the ashes spread to the corners of the world.
WFB had many (seriously, *many*)
issues with it. But that was part of the fun in many ways. We all lived through
it, and, a lot of people agreed, it kept getting better and better (slowly,
like a maturing oak). The imperfect balance of the game was also its own draw
(imperfect balance is important in the longevity of a game). Most of us
who have played for more than five years have seen the rise and fall of armies.
The stories accompanying these added to the actual DNA of the game. The library
of fiction that accompanied the game was rich and varied – from the metal early
days with content definitely not aimed at children through to the more modern
times with the now standard fantasy tropes.
A large part of it was not only the
monopoly of presence – GW after all are the only company of their type,
establishing a strong retail presence and priming the pump for the wider
tabletop/modelling scene – but the sheer unparalleled scale of it. The sheer
number of armies and supporting materials is something no other game has ever
come close to matching (even its big sister game largely relies on different
flavours of vanilla ice cream). All this meant that collective decades, if not
centuries, of time were spent idly pondering one or more of its innumerable
aspects by people across the world.
And then it died.
Like the fading glory of empires
before it, its demise was inevitable.
The investment (in time and money) to
get into the game was simply far too much for the modern world of Candy Crush,
cardboard crack and pre-painted star ships. The cost of sustaining over a dozen
unique armies was simply too much in a world where the average gamer rarely
added to their collection in truly real significant numbers – the price of the
laudable continuous backwards compatibility of their product.
The writing was on the wall, and I,
for one, will always be thankful that GW chose to see off the world with a big
bang, rather than a hard cut to black.
Like the death of any close friend
however, the inevitability of it all did not make it any less painful to
experience.
As is the nature of society in this
day and age, the body was not yet at room temperature before the 24 hour news
cycle got round to the “what next” question that had been sitting, all cute and
elephant like, in the room for some time.
For many, normally those with limited
amount of time in the hobby, the question was (relatively) easily answered.
Find a game that was challenging, ideally not *too* expensive to play
and with a decent number of players playing it locally = winning. For others
the search was on to find something that filled the much wider hole left by the
departure of a large part of their lives
Just as Europe could not stay
united following the death of Charlemagne, the eventual fracturing of the
tournament scene (at the heart of things for many of us) was inevitable.
So, just what should take its place?
I should note, this is all about me,
people will play all sorts of things for their own crazy reasons ;)
There appears to be several serious
pretenders to the throne, though it appears unlikely that any one of them will
have the power to recreate the true glory of what was lost:
Warhammer: Age of Sigmar
This appears to be the natural
successor, coming from the loins of the company with the world’s longest and
strongest track record of tabletop games. The lack of rectangles (turns out
this is a *major* deal) and the inexplicable lack of an internal points
system immediately torn the old scene asunder. Many veterans of WFB have flat
out refused to play it, decrying its many flaws became a hobby in itself.
Strong sales point for the game seem to be the models, backwards compatibility
of armies and a (probably) deceptively complex ruleset with very low entry requirements.
Kings of War
The little game in the corner we all
used to laugh at with her braces, silly hair and truly terrible models. Now
she’s grown up and is striking in her own sort of way. A *key* thing
here, it turns out, is rectangles. The game has never made a secret of its aim
to tap into the existing GW fanbase and they moved to reap the whirlwind.
Strong sales points were (by all accounts) simple, balanced rules and
compatibility with existing GW armies.
Privateer Press (Warmachine/Hordes)
The quintessential (and almost
clichéd) standard refuge for those fleeing GW and all it stands for. Exploded
into the public consciousness with the advent of Warhammer 8th
edition as many players fled to its eager embrace. Strong sales points are (I
am told), incredibly clear & tight rules, low cost of entry and
made-for-tournament design.
Malifaux
The ‘other’ established skirmish game
alternative to Warhammer. The scene has been “there” for a while, though no one
outside it has any real idea of the scale. Seemingly a quirky mix of Western,
Steam Punk and bizarre nightmare things. The models have certainly improved
over the years as well. The strong sales points seems to be mission-specific
force selection, solid rules set and cards instead of dice.
X-Wing
The new kid on the block. This is not
a tabletop hobby in the same way as the others – this is strictly a ‘game’,
with everything coming prepainted and ready to use. Low model count and (by all
accounts) tight rules, in addition to a rapidly growing scene would be the big
sales point here. But its not. The big sales point is that its STAR WARS!
Enough said really.
Star Wars Armada
Seems to be similar to the above, but
with fleet based action, rather than space dogfights. Looks cool, though , from
casual observations, it seems far less popular.
Others:
Infinity
I honestly know very little about
this. Science fiction skirmish game doesn’t really fit in the “fantasy” setting
of the above options, but it certainly has exploded in popularity. Seems to
have an anime type look.
Dropzone Commander
Similar in look, in many ways, the
much loved Epic games of yore. Models have a hit-and-miss aesthetic in a world
that seems pretty solidly set up.
Darklands
Seemingly a historical/fantasy mashup
skirmish game with, one hears, very solid rules. Beautiful models.
Magic The Gathering
People love it. I have so far
resisted it… It scares me.
Fan-Made options
In the seeming vacuum that followed
the death WFB two notable fan-made options quickly laid claim to the hearts of
gamers the world over. The driver here, understandably, was the ETC scene.
There is an event to go to in August
next year, and people wanted to know what they would be playing – the costs and
time associated with that adventure are not inconsiderable.
On the one hand “internet celebrity”
Furion went to work with a design brief to tweak 8th edition to
eliminate the need for comp.
On the other an assortment of games,
who, it is fair to say, largely disliked 8th edition, armed with
extensive community feedback, set about more serious root and branch re-writes
to create '9th Age'
Following a vote of the teams 9th
Age was the winner – winning on the basis of its mission statement one assumes.
It is now the game that will be played at the 2016 ETC in Athens.
9th Age
A re-write of WFB. Compatible with
all existing armies with constant community input to make sure issues are
promptly addressed. Main selling point appears to be that the ETC will be using
it next year.
So, these, broadly speaking, seem to
be the options.
Where shall I be investing my hard
earned money and non-existent free time?
That, as Cumberbatch is paid to say,
is the question.
What do *I* look for in a
game?
With an almighty twenty seconds of
reflection I would probably sum up the key things for me as:
Fluff
“Fluff” is a terrible term in my
opinion (I’ve long ago stopped trying to be humble ;) ), by implication it is
classifying this aspect of things as somehow “lesser” than the rest. The thing
that got me into WFB in the first place was, after all, the background setting
(and its Tolkenian vibes), not any game mechanics you can point to. A rich,
easily accessible, background setting that has that impossible to describe
‘hook’ that advertisers and film makers are always looking for is worth a hell
of a lot in my eyes.
Game
Once we have a setting, how the game
plays is obviously fundamentally important. Does it flow? Does it seem to
appropriately recreate what is happening within the rules? Is there scope for
pouring endless hours of thought into ‘solving’ list-writing? Does it balance
on that knife edge of indepth and fun?
Visual
Does the game “look” right? Obviously
models are important here. More importantly, in many ways, is how units and the
armies themselves look. Is it a cinematic representation of carnage (akin to
aspects of 8th edition), or is it all about the minutia of
measurements that epitomised the dark sides of 7th? Quite simply,
would it be fun to watch two other people play this game?
Cost
Nothing good is free. Heck, I live in
London, the expectation is that everything is expensive. ‘Cost’ is more than
financial though – and no one *wants* to spend a fortune. Is it going to
take a vast amount of time to learn enough to play the game? Do games
themselves take ages, or can I easily fit one in in an evening?
Package
How is the game sold to me. Is it a
hefty tomb spilling with knowledge and possibilities? Or is it but an
introduction into some endless micro-transaction iWorld? How hard will it be to
get everything I could possibly need to play this game?
Fun
‘Fun’ speaks for itself really. It
is, to one extent or another, why we do all this. And the things that can
contribute to this aspect are in many ways unquantifiable. Like judging any
form of art, a lot of it is gut feel.
Scene
This is the most important one in
many ways. People not ‘in the know’ will assume this is a by-product of an
overly competitive mindset (or an insatiable desire for alcohol). That is
missing the point. The social aspect of this hobby is why we spend hundreds, if
not thousands, of pounds a year travelling around the country (an
internationally), to push plastic around. People may be despicable
Skaven-pushers, or collect Dwarfs, but away from the table they become friends.
There are other scenes of course, but a scene that is as close as possible to
the one we have all loved would be fantastic.
 |
| Now that was a party! |
Away from this, perhaps unattainable,
dream a scene of scale and variety (I prefer not every event to be in essence
the same – have never understood how the Poles played ETC comp all the time) is
the ideal – if the people are not twats that would be great too.
So, with these loose criteria (and
any others that occur to me as I go) I am going to take a look at my options
and try to work out what the hell I am doing.
It’s going to be an arduous, though hopefully enjoyable, journey of
exploration – I’m quite excited really.
Until next time
Raf
