Gunboats & other unrated vessels are way down on my interest chart, and not worth the trouble of resetting the scale.
Gunboats & other unrated vessels are way down on my interest chart, and not worth the trouble of resetting the scale.
TBH to give frigate actions justice you really need to reset the scale. And since thats where 1812 sits.....
And for the fans of pirate actions, that's going to mostly involve small ships.
I concur here. Most of the Barbary xebecs were small ships, as were most pirate ships since they needed to be fast and weatherly. Larger schooners and brigs should not be a problem at the current scale, however smaller ships and gunboats mounting a single gun may be. Something to think about when planning that cutting out scenario.
Eric
From a marketing perspective, I would choose pirates over 1812, regardless of anniversary tie-ins. I think the broader public is familiar with pirates and not with 1812. SoG, like WoG, will attract general gamers and not just harder core historical wargamers.
From a personal perspective, I would love an 1812 expansion; however, I would like all types of expansions - Anglo-Dutch, Russian-Swedish, Spanish, etc.
Sadly your right. And not historical pirates. The public prefers Johnny Depp and "Pirates of the Caribbean" over Russell Crowe and "Master and Comander." Ares may should focus on phantom ships with ghost crews instead of HMS Surprise. That's where the real market is.:erk:
Say it ain't so! I know as well as the two of you that you are correct but history has always been made by those who stand apart from the rest. :steer:
Naw, not nerds. I've seen the hordes of nerds in game stores and they aren't playing historical war games! They can tell you about every aspect of many fantasy lands but not hardly anything about history or geography. And they are the intelligent ones in our society. Western Civilization is dying. Were not nerds, just Neanderthals.
"Naw, not nerds. I've seen the hordes of nerds in game stores and they aren't playing historical war games! They can tell you about every aspect of many fantasy lands but not hardly anything about history or geography. And they are the intelligent ones in our society. Western Civilization is dying. Were not nerds, just Neanderthals."
True observations and words.
No, we're just the ones who see what comes when well-intentioned and intelligent but short-sighted people who don't know how to see the next miles down the road take the reigns--and they don't see that because they refuse to read the roadmap of history.
In short, we're the ones in our own small way fighting to keep the torch of enlightenment burning in an ever-dimming world... and sadly, I expect it to only get worse rather than better. Would you believe there are people in the generations after mine who think James Bond is new and Daniel Craig is the first actor to play him? (And to many of us who grew up on Connery and even MOORE, and the original Fleming novels, the casting of Craig was an Act of HERESY...)
Kind of like if someone had tried to evacuate the most important knowledge from the Library of Alexandria and preserve it when the barbarians (and I use that term by action, regardless of religion) at various times sacked and ultimately destroyed it...
I hate to say it but, Craig plays James Bond like Ian Fleming describes him in his books.
What Hollywood doesn't seem to get, it was the humor of Connery, Moore, Brosnan & the rest is what made 007 such a great hit. Craig just doesn't have it.
True, and the next closest to text canon was Dalton--but compared to the original tet-on-page, in many ways the Connery films were an IMPROVEMENT... and while Moore's The Man With The Golden Gun got a little out-there with the title weapon and some of its tech (in the book Scaramanga had a gold-plated Colt .45), at least IT you could discuss in polite society unlike most of the source novel. (Seriously, with the prevalent obscenity statutes at time of publication, it's a wonder that one ever saw print...)
But we're :OFF-TOPIC: now...
THAT whackjob? The REAL captain of the Black Pearl was Sir Henry Morgan...
For a while, anyway. LOL
NO, I haven't even got the spoils of my last KS for this system. WHy would I do it again.
I would want to see 1812 ships as expansion packs, but if the only way to get them is through a KS or if the KS 1812 pieces are going to be exclusives, then I would participate in it... just don't see the need for them to market the expansion this way.
http://www.innovatoys.com/metal-work...arl-model/6109
I need to get some pics of my copy....
I would guess that Ares is thinking that since the majority of the SGN business (and maybe all of their business) is coming from the US, and the closest cronological war to the Napoleonic era involving the US was the war of 1812, that should be their next stop.
While I will no doubt be a buyer of the 1812 ships, I would be a more enthusiastic buyer of the ships of Henry Morgan, William Kidd, Bartholomew Roberts, and Edward Teach.
In that regard, I think that to do the Black Pearl would cost more money in licensing fees than Ares could ever, to pardon the expression, swing.
It would also be a ship for which I, with my anachronistic tendencies, would have no interest.
Right, Bruce--I was thinking of Morgan's Pearl, which the overfamed rodent can't claim copyright on, as opposed to the fictional one built on an oil-rig support vessel... LOL
As a new game, I would advise Ares to start with the broadest appealing lines. The last thing any of us need is for ships to sit on store shelves. There is a large box of WWII WoW planes at our FLGS. I have offered to buy and send them worldwide to Aerodrome members, and the store owner gave me a deal at $7 per plane. Only a half-dozen folks requested any, and most were the WWI planes or two models of WWII fighters. The rest are sitting at the store collecting dust. Furthermore, once the bug bites, general players might have more inclination to learn and care about other AoS historical periods.
I, too, am out on any fantasy-related ships. I just saw a tactical WWII kickstarter that has a horror-related stretch goal module. I really don't want to blend genres.
Perhaps one of the reasons that I have never "warmed up" to the WWII planes is that it seems like whoever has been selecting the planes has gone out of their way to pick obscure low production and low impact planes in order to represent as many nations as possible.
If it was my decision, Me 109's, FW190's, Spitfires, Hurricanes, Mustangs, Corsairs, P38's, and Zeros would always be in productions. Producing anything else would be on a once in a great while basis in low numbers aimed at the collector of obscura (Fiat and Gloster WWII biplanes? What are they thinking?).
The WWI release selection may be tending that way as well (look at what is in Series 5 and the upcoming Series 6 and then wonder about the D7 rerelease).
Broadening the product line and selection is fine, but I think that if the first tier craft (of any line) go out of production and all that a new player trying to get involved can do is buy odd ball fringe items or pay $30 - $60 per item on eBay for old stock they will likely move along to something else.
OK, Rant over...
I fully agree. It is hard to keep a business afloat, let alone grow it, without positive cash flow. Keep, as you say, "first tier" ships in production, and add to that limited runs of other ships. I think activity on the Aerodrome would support this. Many of the planes I see folks building on there are additional numbers of first tier planes they already have, but which Ares does not currently produce, for example Fokker D.VIIs. As a newbie myself, I have limited numbers of key aircraft because they are not in production, and I am not going to spend the money that folks are asking for them. I dislike the thought of having to build models of key planes/ships to play a game that already comes with its own minis. I can fully support building models of obscure ones, or building models just because I want to, for enjoyment's sake.
Yes, I guess I just had a flash of a time somewhere in the future where the only ships available from Ares in current release were Danish, Russian, and Cornish Luggers.
It would seem to me that secondary/alternative suppliers, like Shapeways and $60 Goering D7's on eBay in this case, only come about when there is a significant market need that is not met by the franchise holder.
Well that may have some of it, but a large percentage of gamers, imho, declined the whole ww2 version of wings based on the switched scale. Looking at the basis of their rationale on switching from 144 to 200 scale, I would expect that their early jets would be about 1/600 and the newest jets around 1/1200 or 1/2400 scale. Sorry way too many people are buying the miniatures to game with and want them to look good on the shelf, which for most display types want the same scale for a given type - airplane, ship whatever. If Sails switches scales from 1000 to something else because they go to triremes or steam, it would be a no sale on my part.
I'll have to reserve judgement until I get a chance to play this Kickstarter. One at a time at this price!
But the period is interesting enough, sure.
Ed, in looking for triremes have you come across www.romanseas.com? They have papercraft models you can buy, print and build. They have a complete world you can make, if you have the time and inclination.
Ed, have you ever played War Galley by GMT? I recently picked it up. You can look at a set of living rules here: http://www.gmtgames.com/p-168-war-galley.aspx
Thanks for the link Cory. The minis are rather nice. I hear the sound of more money fluttering away in the not-too-distant future.
Cool, more ships!
Thanks Dave. PM sent.