Warhammer 3e Demo Experiences -OR- How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bits

[Herremann the Wise]

Ah. I'm a philosophy guy. I love the pure formality of numbers... each one as if uniquely its own species, like the very angels themselves.

Bah unique?! There's an infinite number of the little bastards like demons in the Abyss. Angels?!
Philosophy major huh?...Sheesh!

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[Trolls]

Warhammer 3e has me very interested. I'm not that familiar with the Warhammer world (though I did play 40,000 back in the day), so it's really just the mechanics that have caught my eye. I don't know if I'd have seriously considered buying the game a couple of years ago, and I think my experiences with 4e have lead to that change of heart. RPGs don't have to be arcane.

I know some people like to be huddled over a set of open books, scribbling notes on bits of paper. But that's not how I like my games anymore. For me, it's about the time at the table, not the time at a desk, and I don't care what departures from tradition a game takes to make the experience more fun. Warhammer 3e seems to exemplify that.

That, and I'm a sucker for good presentation!

I just wish there were some demos running in the UK. It's worrying to spend £70 on a product without trying it out!

 

[delericho]

As, far as the cost. Well I just dropped $90 on the big box Carccassone game. considering what I got with that dropping $100 (most likely less at Amazon or Chapters) doesn't seem that bad especially when you compare getting the 3 books for D&D 4e is roughly the same.

According to Amazon UK, the RRP of Warhammer 3e is £80, while the 4e Core Rules gift set is £60. That strikes me as a fairly big difference. (And, incidentally, the RRP of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition was £25.)

It's also worth noting that Amazon offers a significantly greater discount on the D&D set than the Warhammer box. In effect, the D&D 4e core rules are about half the price of Warhammer.

I'm not inherently opposed to big, expensive RPG purchases. But if I'm going to be convinced to make that purchase, the company involved really needs to blow me away with their presentation. It's too expensive for me to buy it unless I'm sure I'll both like it and use it heavily. Neither of these things is true of Warhammer 3rd Edition.

 

[Angellis_ater]

According to Amazon UK, the RRP of Warhammer 3e is £80, while the 4e Core Rules gift set is £60. That strikes me as a fairly big difference. (And, incidentally, the RRP of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition was £25.)

However, does those 60 pounds include dice? Character sheets? Sure, the three core books are about 60£, but the boxed set of WHRP is more than just books. It is dice, character sheets, counters and a crapload of other stuff.

Just pointing these things out.

 

[delericho]

However, does those 60 pounds include dice? Character sheets?

The dice used by 4e can be considered ubiquitous amongst the gamer population. Only brand-new gamers will need to buy a set (at about £5), and they can then use them in every other RPG out there.

Character sheets can be downloaded freely from the Wizards website. Even for people who don't otherwise have access, libraries provide access to the internet and printing facilities for a matter of pennies.

So, yes, I believe that £60 includes everything that is needed to play that the average gamer wouldn't otherwise have.

By making use of custom dice that can only be used for this one game, FFG have increased the price point of their game. That is a reasonable decision to make (one that I disagree with, but fair enough), but it does mean that they'll suffer by comparison.

 

[Jhaelen]

I'm afraid I simply cannot imagine why someone would want to count and manage little symbols (comets, hammers, green clovers, etc.) when they could use numbers instead. Beautiful, crystalline, pure numbers. Have we lost an appreciation for their loveliness?

I guess, you don't have any mathematically challenged players in your group then. In my group there are two players that have problems adding two digit numbers to single digit numbers. One of them uses a calculator to add her d20 results to her bonus, the other doesn't use any calculation aids but is as often wrong as not, forcing me or other players to check all of his calculations. Both slow the game down quite a bit.

They'd _love_ it, if they just had to count symbols (and me and the rest of the players, as well)!

 

[Ssadral]

My suspiscion is that they don't expect more than 1 copy to exist within any given group... Or, perhaps, they expect only the GM to buy it, though maybe they're hoping that multiple GMs will each buy their own copies.

I think a more likely scenario is they are going to release the books separately as well as the fiddly bits, after a predetermined amount of time has passed. Otherwise your going to have some pissed off gamers when they lose some of their fiddly bits, or the get ruined etc. No one is going to want to buy another whole set to replace a few items.

Just a guess of course. But, it is the one thing that is making me hesitant about getting it. I need to know if it will get that kind of support.

According to Amazon UK, the RRP of Warhammer 3e is £80, while the 4e Core Rules gift set is £60. That strikes me as a fairly big difference. (And, incidentally, the RRP of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition was £25.)

Ah, I was going by Canadian Amazon prices.

Warhammer 3e: $62.97
D&D 4e gift set: $66.12

Both have free shipping so your just paying tax on the two amounts.

So, at least for us it is cheaper.

 

[orangefruitbat]

Amazon Canada

Where did you see the link on Amazon.ca? I can't seem to find it on the Canadian site.

Ah, I was going by Canadian Amazon prices.

Warhammer 3e: $62.97
D&D 4e gift set: $66.12

Both have free shipping so your just paying tax on the two amounts.

So, at least for us it is cheaper.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

Thanks for the in-play review, there is some interesting information there.

Sounds like a fun game to me, and I'd be happy to give it a shot. Personally, I couldn't care less whether a particular game is "board-gamey" or not, I'll take it on it's own merits.

 

[crazy_cat]

I'm not inherently opposed to big, expensive RPG purchases. But if I'm going to be convinced to make that purchase, the company involved really needs to blow me away with their presentation. It's too expensive for me to buy it unless I'm sure I'll both like it and use it heavily. Neither of these things is true of Warhammer 3rd Edition.

Agreed, £5 for a PDF of a game I'm not sure about is one thing - but a big initial outlay like this requires that I be convinced this is something I really want and am going to enjoy and get some use out of.