In Place of Chainmail?

[Rune]

Hey, Kesh! How've ya been?

Long time, no see!

I notice you're in back in AK, now. Did you move again?

 

[Crypt King]

Compatability with D&D -- Characters shouldn't need special stats for the skirmish game; they should be easy to convert.

Cheap Plastic Figures -- Everyone can use hordes of Goblins and Orcs, even if they're not playing a wargame.

Mass Combat -- If it's just five guys on a side, why not use the D&D rules we already know?

Well 2 out of 3 isn't bad, I'm not a big supporter of plastic mini's for other then "cannon-fodder," creatures. I like the chainmail mini's, most are really good, and a lot of monters that never had mini's now have them, and there are some nice new monsters. There was plenty of player character pieces between them, the D&D release and the 25th anniversary release.

The rules weren't really all that different then D&D, it was more D&D light. I wished the real leadership feat worked more like the command points from chainmail.

If the rumors are true and they do make a "mage knight," game I won't support it. I don't play mage knight for a reason. I'm sad to see chainmail go, because there were some real nice figures, especially gnolls, which for the most part have been sub par in the past.

 

[Disciple of Darwin]

Chainmail wins Origins

As us Chainmail players expected: Chainmail wins Minature Rules of the Year All the more painful for the senseless decision to cancel the game.

http://www.gamingreport.com/article.php?sid=4447

 

[Kesh]

Hey, Kesh! How've ya been?

Long time, no see!

I notice you're in back in AK, now. Did you move again?

Yep, for good this time. Email me if you want to catch up a bit.

 

[mmadsen]

The rules weren't really all that different then D&D, it was more D&D light.

I recently downloaded the Chainmail rules off the WotC site, and I can't believe how not Lite they were for a mass-combat D&D Lite. You track Hit Points for every character? And Attacks of Opportunity? That doesn't seem streamlined at all.

 

[Crypt King]

Look at it again, it's D&D lite or D&D simplified.

 

[mmadsen]

Look at it again, it's D&D lite or D&D simplified.

It could be much, much simpler though; that was my point. Before I'd looked at the rules, I immediately noted two things I'd do to simplify a larger-scale d20: replace Hit Points with a "stateless" mechanic and replace Attacks of Opportunity with simpler rules. Chainmail made neither of those changes.

If you want to see what a simplified mass-combat game looks like, take a look at the Lord of the Rings Battle Game. That's how simple I'd expect combat to be -- but D&D flavored in a game like Chainmail.

 

[The Sigil]

Yes...

Cheap Plastic Figures -- Everyone can use hordes of Goblins and Orcs, even if they're not playing a wargame.

I'm not a big supporter of plastic mini's for other then "cannon-fodder," creatures.

I'm keeping the quote tight because I'm keeping my response tight.

I would love to use minis in my games. However, here are my problems (in rough order of importance).

1.) Lead/pewter minis are dangerous if swallowed. I have a toddler cruising around the house right now and darned if I'm gonna keep anything dangerous around for him to swallow.

2.) Cost is prohibitive for getting hordes of mooks. I like hordes of mooks.

3.) I'm too lazy to assemble stuff and buy all the special glues and brushes and files and crap I have to in order to do so... don't give me miniatures that require assembly... or that require me to glue them into plastic bases. I want a miniature that comes ready to go in one piece... think "army men."

4.) Don't need painted minis either. My "big boss" and "PC" minis may get painted (certainly not by me) but I don't want to spend hours painting mooks.

Having examined this, I know what I want.

Plastic minis. Preferably in bags of 50. For 5 bucks a bag. Give me a bag of orcs/goblins, a bag of dwarves, a bag of elves, a bag of humans, a bag of undead, a bag of "beasts" and so forth with 10 different "mook molds" in each bag. Give me a "PCs" bag for 10 bucks with 30 individual molds for PCs (preferably three or four of these so I can choose among over 100 PC molds). Make big bags for dragons and trolls and giants and tarrasques - maybe 10 critters in a bag for 5 bucks.

Basically, make 'em plastic so my toddler doesn't poison himself. Make them cheap. Make them one piece. Watch me spend a large amount of disposable income on them. Is that too much to ask? Apparently it is since nobody is doing it.

--The Sigil

 

[mmadsen]

Re: Yes...

Having examined this, I know what I want. Plastic minis. Preferably in bags of 50. For 5 bucks a bag.

I can certainly see why people want high-quality pewter figures, and I can certainly see why they'd enjoy assembling and painting them -- it makes for a great hobby whether or not you game with them -- but it does seem odd that no one sells bags of cheap men-at-arms, goblins, zombies, etc. Gamers snap up children's games (like Weapons & Warriors) for the cheap plastic soldiers, yet no one sells bags of spear carriers. Odd.

(By the way, if you want a quick zombie horde, I hear that the Zombies! game comes with 100 plastic zombie figures for ~$20.)

 

[Henrix]

It sounds to me that you guys want Fortress Figures . 20 plastic goblins for $10! (Not to mention 70 skulls for $10.)
They may not be the prettiest, but they are cheap.