Stubby:
-I'm reading through 2001 now, finished 2005 last night. Great read. I'll start 2010 tomorrow. Told you guys I was a rulebook junkie
-I looked around and didn't see much. By the by..... I have brand-new Lego sets that I don't want, but the price was too good to pass up. Was planning on selling them for 15% off retail, what I paid for them. Do you guys know of any good place to sell Lego sets without paying a fee? And this may become semi-permanent; I'm uncertain if this deal is a one-time offer, or a consistent one. But, hey, 15% off retail, you've got my attention.
-Yes, I mentioned minor heroes before seeing the Officer and the like. I was just thinking something along the lines of perhaps a smaller ego, however this idea definitely is not fleshed out yet. I will have to play more games first.
-No more nutty than I sound, describing 10 pounds of notations on Warhammer
And like I said, I was reading Quikwars. I'm very impressed with the actual rulebook. No insult intended!-That's funny; start a company, take your logos, and then immediately get sued by Lego for making money. Would anyone else care to get in on solid gold Hero dice? The more we buy the cheaper they get.
-Ah ok, the half-dice advice is duly noted.
-Ok. If anyone is feeling a little more daring, how do people feel about shipping armies for a campaign? Whoever the DM would be would obviously send back some form of collateral; for me that could easily be custom pure silver BrikWar tokens (for personal campaign use, not for sale unless Rayhawk wanted to hammer out something specific). I feel it might be an even grander campaign if you have not just multiple players, but multiple actual armies, hopefully with plenty of silly, unique units. I already have the rough makings of my army below.
I'm loving the "vague hand waving" mental image. Trying to imagine doing that in a Warhammer game, or worse, D&D.
"Your Space Marines lose *hand wave* eh, five guys."
-Really? I've looked all the way back to the 2nd Edition rules (which were better in some ways, by the way, and I still can't find the bloody 1st edition), and I didn't see anything nearly as silly as Brikwars. I mean, in terms of rules; I get that the Grimdark theme was very satirical. Yea, that is unfortunate that GW is a money-grubber. It actually was the reason I started building my own game, and why I hope to create a similar, but less expensive, range of minis like Warhammer.
I certainly get the colonial attitude. Charging more in Australia being the prime example. It's pretty disgusting; I wish I had the financial clout to strip away their ridiculous copy-rights. It would really only take one good lawsuit; sorry GW, you didn't come up with the concept of a "Space Marine". I'm pretty sure China was onto the "Imperial Guard" well before you. You just stole the word "Imperium" from the Romans. "Lasgun", are you serious? "Bolt", you are grasping at straws.
On a related note, there is a game on steam called Grim Dark (Brikwars would be an example, if it made any attempt to make money at all). Any ideas on how they did not get their pants sued off, and how, when I actually formalize the game, I can protect myself from GW's elite band of Legendary Lawyers? They have 6D6 to attack, and the Bored To Tears, Supreme Smugness, Cumulative Lawsuits and Pending Litigation special rules. I will admit I'm a bit scared to move any farther forwards with making my own game.
I do intend to profit and grow a company. I'm just going to emphasize loyalty to my fans (easy, I love wargaming more than I love profit), being actually helpful in the hobby department without trying to get you to subscribe to a magazine (as in, free tutorials on painting/assembly, and free .pdf rules. If you want to buy the physical book you can), and a low, fixed profit margin (something that will blow GW's mind). My kits would also get cheaper over time; the biggest cost in creating a mini, by far, is the actual creation step, hiring artists and getting past concept art, paying for the molds, etc. After that, I already know manufacturers who could stamp out kits for essentially nothing. The price is just a way to get your money back, so I think over time kits should slowly lower in price before bottoming out. Tamiya, for example, has been making the 1/48 M1 Sherman for, what, 30 years? It should be a flat price of $10 now, but it's still $25-35, because, you know, why not profit off your customers?
Wargames do not exist so that companies can profit off the community.
-Whenever I start hating a wargame, I find it helpful to completely up-end the scenario. So you've got a slog-fest between Imperial Guard and Orks; it's been going for hours, and of course neither has a clear advantage. Any Guard unit that's caught by Orks is butchered, but the Guardsmen are also gunning down droves of Orks, running them over with tanks (my personal favorite tactic, I have house rules for it), etc.
Turn 7 or 8, people are getting tired of the game. This is where I would call another player who had something ridiculous. My buddy's Deathwing army comes to mind, my other friend's huge Tyranid swarm also. Give them half(ish) the point cost of the original sides, and let them deploy in the center. For the Deathwing, this was dropping all their droppods in a ring in the dead center of the map, and jumped out inside the ring, effectively forming a modern wagon circle. If they were 'Nids, I would have let them deploy from both table edges in the center (pincer movement). There's another player to talk and joke with, more units to get killed, and since we let them deploy essentially into the battle, the fight picks up the very next turn. Suddenly it's not about slogging my Guardsmen up through his Orks and trying to get at his suspiciously-clever Warboss (lurking around the small town at the edge of the map, just beyond my Russ range); it's about fixing bayonets and going up-and-over against this tiny super-fortress that has suddenly appeared in the midst of my men (literally. One drop pod squished a commissar. But that's why I always have 6!). Orks are pouring in from the other side, Space Marines are gunning both parties down, etc.
It hasn't always met with success, but it's had a good effect on many of my larger games especially, where you can already expect it to take a full day.
As to obligation, we have always honored the "guys.... you want to just call it?", as well as the "..... fuck it. Let's start a new game" statements that come up from time to time
Red_SPAMbot:
-Uh oh. I feel the impending wrath of a Banhammer over my head, like a Mini who has angered his Human. Forgive me oh mighty Stubby!
I will look up Pheonix Command; that sounds both interesting, and the dullest game in the world.
CaptainZebra:
-That's roughly how I would go about it, I just wanted to see if there was already an established system the community used. I certainly don't have enough Legos to DM then
As to my army, I was curious what you guys thought of the rough idea. I also don't know much about the history of the game yet, so bear with me if I say something dim:
The Dims:
Very little is known about the Dims. Featureless, numberless, they arrived in Brikland years ago and began conquering, slowly turning all colors to black, ethereal nothingness. To begin it was nothing more than rumor; a black sorcerer in a faraway corner of the world, casting dubious spells on dim-witted locals. But soon larger tidings were heard; the sorcerer had taken an entire village. A few days later, the next village sent help, and found nothing there, as if the village had never existed. A few terrified horses were all that could be find in the surrounding areas. It was not until the Dims arrived by the hundred against a minor city that local factions began considering them a serious threat.
Their leader, [to be named because I'm lame], has converted ever-larger populations into Dims through use of Dark Magic; if he touches you, it is only a matter of hours before you are also a Dim, halfway between this world and the next. The weaker your will, the faster you turn. Their plan is unclear, their motives undeclared. They have never attempted to parley, nor do they show any signs of actually enjoying murder and mayhem (which is what frightens your average Mini); they arrive, silent, flickering with what appears to be black sand blown in the wind. Their leader overlooks the target, and without a word the Dims start forward. When they have accomplished whatever foul task they were given, they simply turn and retreat back to their master to await new orders. Dims also appear to be single-track minds; when given an order, the Dim will move to accomplish it as quickly as possible. If he encounters an enemy, the first thing a Dim will do is attempt to simply walk by him, as if the enemy is just a thing in the Dim's way. If that soldier attacks him, the Dim will turn and retaliate, but only for a few moments(1 turn), before turning back towards their mission. In this way, Dims seem to be almost reluctant to fight if given specific orders (unless those orders are to fight, of course), but they will engage, if half-heartedly, to defend themselves. If a path is blocked, a Dim will attack whatever is in the way, be it mini or wall, but as soon as the way is clear the Dim will again attempt to accomplish their mission.
Weaker Minis might be overcome by the sheer numbers, but Dims have been shown to be rather, well, Dim. They are numerous, true, but easy to trick; one Confedebrik lieutenant described fighting the Dims "like fightin' idjut zombies, who's too stupid even for their own sakes". Dims can and do walk directly into raging infernos, simply because their last orders from their leader was "go in that direction and kill what you find". Heroes and Mounts seem to be the only thing that causes something approaching fear in the average Dim; it is thought all that shiny metal makes them hesitate to attack (giving any nearby Hero a bonus counter attack every turn against any attacking Dim), and as Dims are rarely armed, Mounts smash through them with ease. Defeating the Dims is not difficult, but far too many factions rely on defenses to save the day. The Dims do not even bother with siege equipment to reach the top; they will scale the walls, eat through the foundation, and batter down the gates, all at once. Defenders are often overwhelmed at their outer posts, where they are stretched thinnest, before they can rally to form an effective interior defense. The castles that do fall turn gloss black within days, and seem to emanate the same blown-sand effect as the Dims themselves.
One thing is for sure. Before the Dims become too menacing, for their numbers grow with every conquered village (plus black is a really boring color), the Legendary Trio will have to rally their forces (and all the beer they can muster), to save Briklandia. Again.
So the basis for the army is this; I have about 200 minis that have no features whatsoever. No idea where they came from, they are featureless black everything. They look to be Lego, but I suppose they could be some off-brand. I have a bloody army of these things, so I thought why not make a very evil, terrifying army? I also happened to have just one of the new black skeleton heads, which, combined with some glossy black armor, quickly became my de-facto Dim leader.
In case that effect wasn't clear, by the way, the Dims look like black ghosts that have a slightly solid center of swirling black sand (a rough approximation would be the evil peoples from Kingdom Hearts); you can just barely see hints of bright blue flashes in what would be a mini's belly. Slashing through a Dim would see the Dim fall apart; the heavier center sand would fall to the floor in a heap, and the extremities would be blown away in the wind, ideally with a ghostly "waaaaaaa" from the Dim (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inli9ukUKIs) as his spirit leaves the Brik world forever (we think). I plan to have the average Dim be unarmed, and unarmored. Are there unarmed rules or should I make them up? Dims won't be strong at all, it will be up to their numbers and sneakiness to win the day against power-armored berserkers like the VOL. I could not for the life of me find a picture of just a featureless lego dude, so here is what the Elite Dims would look like:
http://www.customminifig.co.uk/wp-conte ... effect.jpg
