Does Games Workshop need to be concerned? Recent announcements from Mongoose Publishing and Rackham about upcoming games featuring pre-painted miniatures brings a new entry into the miniatures game market, the pre-painted non-collectible miniatures game. The big problem with the existing set of pre-painted plastic games (D&D Miniatures, Axis & Allies, Mage Knight, Heroclix etc) is that they are collectible. Heroscape is a pre-painted miniatures game, but without the collectible aspect, but it has a lot of expansions. The recent announcements for Starship Troopers and AT-43 look to be standard miniatures game design, starter box and then defined army packs. If these release without the collectible aspect, it will be a huge advantage for miniatures gamers like me who love miniatures games, but don’t have time to assemble and paint a horde of miniatures.
I wonder if we will be seeing a pre-painted alternative from Games Workshop. GW has certainly got the experience to produce some high quality miniatures, even pre-painted miniatures, and perhaps these latest entries into the miniatures game market will get them interested. Mordheim, Battlefleet Gothic, and Necromunda would all be interesting in pre-painted plastic form. Perhaps more importantly, if these games are successful, could this further erode the GW dominance in the fantasy/science fiction miniatures game market? Privateer Press has a couple of very successful games on their hands. Flames of War and Confrontation are also continuing to generate a lot of talk. The current version of the Starship Troopers game has some very good reviews, and I have heard it is a blast to play. If Mongoose and Rackham deliver games that end up being fun to play, and the miniatures look nice, could this be a trend that other companies follow? I hope so. I see these upcoming releases as very positive from a gamer point of view. I think games like this could bring more new people to the hobby, as well as bring back some who lack the time or patience to paint.
I feel that miniatures gamers generally fall into one of three categories:
- People who buy miniatures mostly to paint the miniatures, with the game aspect being irrelevant or at least much less important.
- People who believe painting is an essential bit of the hobby and want to paint and play equally.
- People who want to play games, and the painting is an annoyance that prevents that from happening.
I am solidly in category number three, and I know a lot of others who are as well. Many people stay away from the current crop of collectible games because they tend to be simplistic, and of course they are collectible, but perhaps these new games will solve that issue. I am excited about both of the games. Rackham is supposed to have the game ready for Christmas 2006, and it looks like Starship Troopers will be around in March or April. Be sure to check out the links for AT-43 for some good pictures of the upcoming game.
Technorati Tags: miniature, game, pre-painted, at-43, mongoose publishing, rackham, starship troopers, games workshop
Comment (1)
I just read your blog, (although a lot of time has past since you posted it) I agree with your assesment. I think that if GW and other games like them do not at least consider creating a CMG or a painted miniatures game I think that they are missing out on a whole aspect of gaming (and a lot of money) that they and may others are well suited to explore. The cost of non-CMG games is becoming cost prohibitive (buying miniatures, Paint supplies, and specific army books), and time consuming (who has time to put together and paint 20 miniatures in a timely manner? It took me 2 days of dedicated work to get 20 miniatures ready to play on a table).