I am really jazzed to hear that someone is finally going to produce naval mini’s aimed at today’s markets.
Right now I play at my nearest FLGS and make it a point to drift through all the ones that are within driving range to see what is happening. For mini’s, historicals are virtually extinct unless someone brigs them from home for show and tell. But no one plays them. They do play Warmachine, Malifaux and some others.
What appears to be the difference? 1. The local shops can get them through an actual distributor. And 2. The companies support the product with rule, figures/mini’s and organized play. Today gaming is not about recreating a battle that isn’t even taught in schools anymore. It is about 2-6 people getting together with balanced forces that they put together without the need to do major research and playing out a fun (emphasis fun) game in about 2-4 hours. Rinse. Repeat.
They absolutely will not spend days hunting through a few dozen independent web stores to try and put together a reasonable fleet. They will buy the “X” faction fleet/army box that has been pre-balanced to be equal to the “Y” faction box. Will they buy individuals and build up more ships? Yes. As long as the company releases “official” fleet lists and a balance point system.
And more important, that they have an organized play campaign system with at least quarterly contests.
I really hope the WW2 line happens and is successful, though I really can’t stand the introduction of carriers (in table top mini’s gaming)
. But a successful WW2 line may pave the way to the much better lines of WW1 and the Pre-Dreadnought era.
