Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Work Continues...

…Okay, so I haven’t had a lot of time to put work in on any recent builds, the demands of my paying job and negotiating a return to college (long story) have been taking up my attention as of late.

Also, in light of some recent developments in the Miniature Wargaming community, I’m considering some major revisions to Battletech: Combined Arms. With the advent of miniatures games such as X-Wing, Star Trek: Attack Wing, and the popularity of competitive, streamlined game systems….I’m considering altering my approach.

You see, I’ve been a miniature wargamer since 1998, where I started with Warhammer 40,000. I grew up playing that game through ever edition but the first, and I’ve steadily grown more and more frustrated with how complex the game has gotten. It’s not that I avoid complexity- hell, I grew up with a bit of D&D too. It’s just that complexity (especially the unnecessary kind) bogs down gameplay, clutters the table with unnecessary extras such as cards and dice and counters and templates (all of which Warhammer 40k now uses), and dissuades competitive play.

While I want Battletech: Combined Arms to be a competitive game that competes with the best in the business….it has become clear that that is no longer Games Workshop and Warhammer 40,000. As it stands now I want to work towards adapting a smaller scale (along the line of N-Scale), pre painted miniatures using a simpler game format for smoother, easy-to-learn yet difficult-to-master gameplay.

It’s also becoming clear that larger model kits like the 1/60 scale that i was initially planning don’t sell so well, the price point of competing, smaller scales necessitates a shift in sales tactics. I urge my readers to provide some feedback on this issue, as I’d love to hear what the community thinks.