avin
First Post
Gale Force Nine - Welcome!!
Conditions stuff maybe? There's some drama around minis sites saying this is the end of DDM.
Last edited:
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NOW LIVE! Into the Woods--new character species, eerie monsters, and haunting villains to populate the woodlands of your D&D games.
GF9 to produce official D&D stuff
- Thread starter avin
- Start date
Gale Force Nine - Welcome!!
Conditions stuff maybe? There's some drama around minis sites saying this is the end of DDM.
samursus
Explorer
I can see this happening... as it stands there is only one set being released this year, plus the Beholder set. Anecdotally, from other forums etc, it seems to take a lot of effort and time to plan/create a minaitures set. And from some more anecdotal information, the last few attempts haven't done spectacularly at the LGS.
I don't know how I feel about this. On the one hand I love minis. But on the other hand, they just seem too expensive and they always seem be too niche for my use. I think there are just too many factions in the minis buying customer base to please even a large minority. Maybe counters are the best bet. I know they are not as good as a nicely painted mini, but more than half the time I am using numbered pieces of wood anyways, so nicely illustrated "pogs" are definitely a step up, IF thats what they end up doing.
Steel_Wind
Legend
GF9 does some cool stuff for World in Flames miniatures. They have lately added some Axis and Allies acessory coolness too.
They did some exceptionally cool stuff for the Pirates of the Spanish Main Contructible Game. I picked up their nautical themed vinyl map for use in PotSM (it was never for sale in retail stores) as well as 12 ceramic islands, tokens and range ruler. (PotSM was an iffy game but they had really cool miniature ships; my son, who was 9 years old at the time, loved playing with those accessories. It definitely made the game more "fun" to play).
They do very cool terrain pieces. Battlefield-in-a-box stuff.
You've also seen their stuff (although you may not have known they made it) at various Gencons used by game mftrs to showcase their new releases (especially oversized dioramas).
I would expect that a company like GF9 would create stuff that most mainstream D&D players are unlikely to pick up, but which hardcore gamers will geek out over: cool accessories and neat stuff for use with miniatures, especially. This deal makes sense for WotC. The products that GF9 makes are products with a small enough market that WotC would never go after that small a segment of the market. Generally, GF9 makes this niche category stuff so well that it only compliments and enhances the overall brand. Perfect fit for WotC, imo.
Look through their catalog here.
This is, imo, very good news for the very good reason that these guys make cool gaming stuff.
They did some exceptionally cool stuff for the Pirates of the Spanish Main Contructible Game. I picked up their nautical themed vinyl map for use in PotSM (it was never for sale in retail stores) as well as 12 ceramic islands, tokens and range ruler. (PotSM was an iffy game but they had really cool miniature ships; my son, who was 9 years old at the time, loved playing with those accessories. It definitely made the game more "fun" to play).
They do very cool terrain pieces. Battlefield-in-a-box stuff.
You've also seen their stuff (although you may not have known they made it) at various Gencons used by game mftrs to showcase their new releases (especially oversized dioramas).
I would expect that a company like GF9 would create stuff that most mainstream D&D players are unlikely to pick up, but which hardcore gamers will geek out over: cool accessories and neat stuff for use with miniatures, especially. This deal makes sense for WotC. The products that GF9 makes are products with a small enough market that WotC would never go after that small a segment of the market. Generally, GF9 makes this niche category stuff so well that it only compliments and enhances the overall brand. Perfect fit for WotC, imo.
Look through their catalog here.
This is, imo, very good news for the very good reason that these guys make cool gaming stuff.
samursus
Explorer
Hmm after looking at the contents of their first offering, I wonder how well thought out it is. Most of their counters are designed to sit adjacent to the miniature base. As those that use miniatures know, most fights involve a lot of melee and movement... and these counters will just get in the way... plus one will have to replace them constantly.
Fifth Element
Legend
Indeed. That rather severely limits their usefulness, making them practically useless as I see it. At the very least, darned inconvenient to use. They'd be great if combatants were stationary and always had space around them. That just doesn't happen.
I have thought for some time now that WotC would be smart to create interlocking, round condition markers that fit directly under their DDM bases (or even click into the bases) so that a miniature and its attendant markers can be picked up and moved around as one piece during play. GF9 looks like they are equipped to do something like that. I hope they refine their current design a little.
