Sci fi 15mm- random thoughts

[Forst22]

Have you thought about Urban or Space ship terrain, each room /corridor a square?

[martin goddard]

Possibly Graham. This is a side project and thus will get less detail.

martin

[Smoking gun]

How about an aquatic environment, rather than a planets surface?

Best wishes,
Martin, from a village near Grimsby

[martin goddard]

Good thought Martin.
I think water would count as a different type of atmosphere?
The troopers would cope well(?)

Gamers find it difficult to cope if the idea is too "different".

Hence why WW2 games seem to be 75% Normandy. Then a bit of Pacific (what no tank gangs?), Desert (not enough T34s and JSII) and Russia (I only own 1 cloth and it is Normandy).


martin

[Flaminpig0]

Gamers find it difficult to cope if the idea is too "different".




martin

Much like people wanting to see the same film/tv show over and over again

[martin goddard]

Maybe folk find a safe existence and don't want to risk it?

martin

[JohnWyatt]

From my own experience it's more often the case that people fall victim to the latest craze / shiny toy only for buyer's remorse to set in reasonably quickly. I've been guilty of that on occasion.

WW2, western Europe was maybe popular in the past because many gamers had a relative who had taken part. Also perhaps there was a perception that it was a more "gentlemanly" sort of war than other theatres, plus arguably saw the greatest variety of mechanised vehicles. I've always admired PP for bucking the trend by doing a range for the 14^th Army.

To return to the topic, I would see the challenge of different environments as an important topic for a tactical sci-fi game. Aquatic and indeed aerial adventures might be difficult to represent unless the grid could somehow be turned into a cube. Maybe separate boards to represent x-y and x-z axes... would also mean twice as many figure sales. 

[martin goddard]

Agreed John. There should be a variety of environments with associated challenges.
With only 8 figures there needs to be a reason for splitting up. Scenery might be one of those reasons.

martin

[martin goddard]

Height
The figures will come with wire and a base on which to "fly" along.
It is assumed that most of the time the figures are zooming along at about 10m height in order to take advantage of scenics but not be slowed by them.
Figures will be allowed to be in this fly mode or in ground hiding mode.

The zooming about aspect should make the figures look good on the table. Maybe the wire support could be disguised with some "whoosh" stuff?


martin

[Colonel Kilgore]

Maybe we buy / paint two versions of each figure - one zooming and one hiding?

Simon

[sukhe_bator (Neil)]

One thing from Heinlein's 'Starship Troopers' is when troops are airborne or 'on the bounce' they need to dispense chaff, ordnance and acquire targets quickly. They may look cool in the air but they are relatively more vulnerable to SAMs etc. The main advantage to having an aerial capability is unpredictability. Anyone who has seen their offspring playing 'Destiny' will attest to that.

Neil

[martin goddard]

Flying will give faster movement but less protection.

The intention is to have blocker fences. ie a temporary shield with a similar effect to WW2 smoke. It is put up and then decays with time.
I think a better save when "on the deck" or even buried?
Heinlein is certainly a major  inspiration for me. The books, not him.

I am working on the weapon pod/arm alongside other things for "proper" ranges.
When the figure is done, a few paint jobs might bring the project forward?

Luckily, sci fi gives lots of latitude for imagination and making it fit the rules.

martin

[Flaminpig0]

Heinlein is certainly a major  inspiration for me. The books, not him.

Does that mean we are going to get burrowing aliens?

[martin goddard]

Probably not, as that is difficult to show on a normal table set up.
Gamers will need to be able to use their existing scenery. Extra items will be recommended, but gamers are often reluctant to spend out on new scenery?


martin

[JohnWyatt]

Heinlein is certainly a major  inspiration for me.

Some rules for Valentine Michael Smith and his friends would certainly give a different sort of game.