Is Chainmail dead?

[Axiomatic Unicorn]

"I have to agree with those people who wanted it to be a massed combat system."

EOL, you took the words right out of my keyboard.

As far as I'm concerned, it was never alive to begin with.

I agree. The minis were nice, but over-priced. And I never understood why I would buy a separate set of rules to run combats I can already do with the Player's Handbook.

 

[rounser]

Maybe a better plan would have been to fulfil the niche that D&D players already needed filled (mass combat rules on a Warhammer scale but with a d20-friendly rulebase) and addict them to the miniatures rules by introducing it that way. That would take a much bigger miniatures department to make all the armies, though, so probably wasn't possible...

There's definitely a market for skirmish rules, but GW gamers going from 40K or Fantasy Battle to Necromunda/Mordheim is a much easier leap than D&D gamers going to miniatures skirmish rules, which they effectively already have in the PHB. Then again, where is the feeder for the MageKnight market coming from? Hmmm...

 

[SableWyvern]

hard core wargamers like fielding huge armies, because they look impressive.

IMHO: Hard-core wargamers look for quality simulations, often times not involving miniatures at all. Miniature collectors (and people who like Games Workshop because its the only thing they know about wargaming) like fielding huge armies because they are more interested in the size and quality of said miniatures than the quality of the game system.

That's not to say that GW games aren't fun or are necessarily poorly designed (although some have been). I just get a little peeved at people who equate wargaming to GW-style miniatures gaming. When paint-jobs count towards tournament scoring, you know that a game is more about style than gaming.

 

[Bhadrak]

I think Chainmail's main problem is people look at it and say, "Why do I need Chainmail when I've got D+D?" Just like people are asking in this thread. And maybe part of the problem was that WotC attempted to sort of sell it as a D+D accessory.

But it's not.

Chainmail is a completely seperate game designed to be played on its own.

It's a skirmish level miniatures game that is well designed and a heck of a lot of fun. It's not perfect, but it's still a good game, and it deserves to live.

 

[Derulbaskul]

As soon as I saw on the WOTC website that they released the rulebook as a free PDF I started to assume that the game will be cancelled.

You don't give away the rules for free if you're committed to the line....

Cheers
NPP

 

[Number47]

The biggest problem with Chainmail is the cost of the minis. If they had produced it, and the cost of the minis was competitive with the cost of other minis the rules for the skimish battle simply would have been a bonus. It would have made me very likely to buy some, even though I don't know anybody who plays. Logically, many others would have done the same and suddenly we are playing Chainmail. Instead, I look at the price and say, "I'm not going to shell out nearly double the price for a mini so I can get some rules for a game nobody plays". Everybody else says the same, and nobody plays.

The game can still be saved. Wizards just needs to produce it cheaper.

Alternatively, the game can live on through the rules alone. You really don't need to have the exact mini, just the rules for it and photocopy of stats for it.

 

[hong]

That's not to say that GW games aren't fun or are necessarily poorly designed (although some have been). I just get a little peeved at people who equate wargaming to GW-style miniatures gaming. When paint-jobs count towards tournament scoring, you know that a game is more about style than gaming.

Spot the grognard.

 

[Finkin Swiftfingers]

Our game group uses the mini's simply for our gaming sessions. I think they look great and do not mind the slightly high purchase cost.

 

[EricNoah]

*wink*

People, I hear what you're saying and I understand, but come on ... I'm not starting up Eric Noah's Unofficial Chainmail News! And that's final!

 

[MerricB]

As soon as I saw on the WOTC website that they released the rulebook as a free PDF I started to assume that the game will be cancelled.

You don't give away the rules for free if you're committed to the line....

As opposed to (say) Magic, where they've given the rules away free for years?

This is just a statement by Wizards: the value of Chainmail is in the figures, not the rules. And I don't consider it inaccurate, either.

It's a very good move, in fact. People will be able to get into Chainmail by using any miniatures (and finding stats for them on the internet); if they like the game they'll be likely to pick up official miniatures & stat cards.

Cheers!