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emperorpenguin

Mongoose
We've all seen it, be it in the hobby games industry or in larger, more mainstream markets. A company comes along and does something that seems to make no sense at all. Why is that? Are there buffoons running the board of directors?

Generally speaking, no. There are very real and solid reasons why companies do things that, at first, seem to defy explanation. Like, for example, why a games company would cancel its Babylon 5 miniatures range. . .

Babylon 5: A Call to Arms has been a truly successful game over the years, especially for a space combat game (which never enjoy the same limelight as 28mm skirmish-based games). There are thousands of players all over the world, and if you gathered all the ships sold into one place and laid them out flat, they would cover an area the size of Belgium to a depth of four inches (maybe).

We started with roleplaying games but, having a passion for miniatures games, we soon branched out. This is why we do the games we do. However, we also have to run a business - otherwise, there will be no more games, ever.

The reality of A Call to Arms, despite its popularity, is that a miniatures production facility cannot be run on B5 alone these days. We had hoped to bolster the capacity of the facility with Starship Troopers (it needs 2, maybe 3 miniatures games to run for the long term), but rising production costs mean we simply cannot continue to subsidise it. That is the hard nature of business - something can sell well, and still not be selling enough. If the hole is not plugged in good order, we risk losing the whole ship.

To be brutally fair about things, the A Call to Arms miniatures range has had a good run. There are thirteen different fleets, and few games can boast that many forces. There are around 200 different ships, not including variants. There is a good community for the game.

I want to emphasise that we have not dropped the game itself. We'll continue to support it in S&P, sure, but if there is sufficient demand, we will continue with book releases as well, covering different campaigns, variants and scenarios. We will also keep running events for as long as there is interest. In addition, we will be using the rules for future games.

The other blow, of course, is that we also have to pull away from Starship Troopers - however, I'll be dropping by the SST forum soon with something that might make SST players a great deal happier. More on that soon.
Overall, the restructuring of Mongoose is a condition of staying in business. We have always adapted to the changing business environment, and this is precisely why we are still here while so many other hobby games companies have failed. We _know_ some decisions upset some of our strongest fans, and they are never taken likely. We know you do this because you care about the games and what happens to them. But if it is a choice between cancelling a line now, or Mongoose not being around at all in twelve months time, then I think at least most of you would agree on the right course of action.

For this year, miniatures production is being mothballed (though we still plan to bring things back on line in 2009), and we will be focussing almost purely on publishing books - this is certainly where our strength lies. As well as the roleplaying side (which remains the greater part of our business, as it always has), we will be bringing you new eras for Victory at Sea, as well as the Battlefield Evolution games, such as World at War and Modern Combat. We rarely get complaints about our games systems, and so we will be spending time developing those.

Oh, and one last word. Our general clean out has sprung up some very interesting items that are no longer needed, and we will be eBaying them over the next few weeks. We'll be announcing this in our General Discussion forum, but among some playtest fleets and armies, there will be some _serious_ one-off items that should grab the attention of gamers and collectors alike. Stay tuned. . .
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Bye bye Mongoose miniatures :( Atleast for forseeable future. Wonder what could possibly make SST players happier anymore? Looking how new model range seems to be cancelled...

This was NOT a good day :cry:
 
Unless it's another company actually making the miniatures... or we're all getting free stuff, I'm not sure what will make us happier...

Edit:
For this year, miniatures production is being mothballed (though we still plan to bring things back on line in 2009), and we will be focussing almost purely on publishing books - this is certainly where our strength lies.
Click to expand...
 
Oh for gods sake :roll: We will at least still get the rule book we've been told is completly finished???

As for the miniatures... Is it even worth it now? I don't think theres anyone who can take you seriously in the minatures field anymore. How many consumers and retailers have had their fingers burned?
The only game you've ever successfully supported for more than a year has now had support pulled...

I can well imagine how we're gonna have some big announcement saying how 'BIG THINGS are on the Horizon', how 'We'll still see support in S&P', how 'This is for the good of the game' and 'By this time next year we'll have a whole new range of minis and more players than ever'.

Well after more than two years of hearing that I've ceased to care.
We've got V1, and theres a world of proxies to fill the gaps.
SST can join the pile of dead classic rulesets, theres no future for the game after this final nail in the coffin.
Lets just remember the good times, try and forget all that prepaint evo rubbish that killed it off, and ignore all the claims which didn't bare out of the past few years, its better than getting caught up in the next big restart that doesnt pan out.

I've said it before and I still stand by it: You only get three chances in this game, if a game hasn't taken off by its third edition it never will.
Unfortunatly that includes failed restarts too.
 
It's certainly going to be hard to get the game moving again.

Any way you cut it this is more negative press. More hacked off players.

I feel sorry for the mini production team, i assume this means they'll be looking for other employment, you can mothball the equipment but people are harder. Shame as it must be great to work in the industry. Could also make it alot harder to get back into having a MGP mini facility. Could mean outsourcing from here on in but then you look at BF:Evo saga and hope procurement, quality control and legal learned a thing or two.

I hope it works out but i can't see how yet.

Another in a series of MGP disappointments.
 
Guys mongoose has ALWAYS had good..no GREAT ideas and high hopes....they just seem to go out on a limb only to have it drop out from under them.....they need to pair it back, take a good hard look at the market and what it is crying out for, then roll up their sleaves and deliver it..........SST had great ideas SOME great miniatures, and several LOUSY ones and some promising miniatures
(viking,skyhook,tac fighter) that would be useful in a much wider market....if they could could sit back dust themself off and narrow the focus down and finally DELIVER on the things that people are really looking for.....I mean, we all know that the big models are not going to be lead,any chance the anoucement will be that they'll still be released? Personally I KNOW these peices would sell.....AND no doubt pick up sales from those who play 40k and cant afford Forgeworlds nice but OVERPRICED models
 
I log on to check when the new shinies are out and...

Frankly I despair, I've been a loyal customer - put up with all the crap over hte last few years and now its going - *waves*.

Will we see the rulebook at least? My local store has a load of SST minatures for a few bob each, gonna buy them all and start stockpiling for 25 years from now when they may be valuable...

I think all of our collections have just become worthless lads.
 
Hiromoon said:
What are you looking for?
Click to expand...

I would just have stocked up a few more things, nothing in particular, I was on an ACTA spree at the time and now that's done as well. I'll just have to continue to play with what I have.
 
Well, there's still tons of stuff available on the market. One of my local stores doesn't "unstock" anything....

You can still find MGP Mighty Armies boxes...
 
How do you kill my game twice?

I mean... how?



And what are you using to guard yourselves from Scipio's wrath? because if you just marektted that to the US Military I'm sure we wouldn't be having this problems.
 
Guy here!

So long SST; we hardly knew you. :(

Despite 18+ years of RPGs, I had never even dabbled in miniature games until SST came along. Needless to say, this whole SST/SST: Evo, etc. has left a pretty bitter taste in my mouth.

However, I must say that most of the folks on this board are great. I hardly ever post, but I've been on this board for quite a while. And the support, stories, and pics from people on this site have been unreal. SST has/had one of the best forums I've been on.

Needless to say, I'll be clearing out my SST stock over the next couple of days. Keep an eye out for it.

Good luck and good gaming to all!
 
Gauntlet- said:
And what are you using to guard yourselves from Scipio's wrath? .
Click to expand...

I really feel sorry for the guy, after trusting Mongoose and telling us all that there is a bright future for SST.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall if and when he next flys over to Mongoose HQ.

I'm glad that Mongoose has finally come out and told us all what we all know deep down inside... that SST is a dead game.
 
I sold off my minis a few months ago since I was expecting something like this to happen. No animosity towards Mongoose or Mr. Sprange, but that makes a total of five miniatures games (six, if you count SST twice) produced and then discarded by them. So ends my rampant consumerism as regards MGP.

I still have all of the rule/army books, and will probably collect a few different 15mm (or even 6mm) figs to play the game, never having been fond of 25/28mm figs for scifi gaming. If the new rulebook makes it to market, fine - I'll buy a copy. If not, a few tweaks to the 1ed book will work, and I'm sure that my group can come up with some stats for other races/ideas we find interesting.
 
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