If Babylon 5: A Call to Arms 3A started

[AdrianH]

Having just got into the game (and, with my usual impeccable timing, doing so just as Mongoose closed down miniatures production ), I'd both play and buy. I like the idea of plastic miniatures moulded in a suitable base colour, but not completely pre-painted. That gives me the best of both worlds - something which can be put onto the table right away if needed, but on which I can do my own work when I have time.

 

[Da Boss]

Its been mentioned before - coloured plastic - I always thought it was a great idea. IIRC previously MGP has said it was too expensive to set up?

 

[skavendan]

Its been mentioned before - coloured plastic - I always thought it was a great idea. IIRC previously MGP has said it was too expensive to set up?

They can be produced affectively in gray/black/white

affectively giving you the base coat already done!

 

[Da Boss]

sorry I meant plastics in general not colours - love the idea myself

 

[Locutus9956]

Would you really want to play a fleet whose ships can be blown up by grenades?

Ahh...but only from the inside!

Lets rephrase that then:

Would you really want to play a race STUPID enough to bring a grenade capable of blowing their ship up aboard volutarily.

Twice.


(personally though I'm with Hiffano on this 100% it was all just a bad dream. There was no such movie. It. Never. Happened. (definitely one of those movies that makes you wish Men in Black Neuralysers were real so you could zap the memory away ))

 

[skavendan]

Would you really want to play a fleet whose ships can be blown up by grenades?

Ahh...but only from the inside!

Lets rephrase that then:

Would you really want to play a race STUPID enough to bring a grenade capable of blowing their ship up aboard volutarily.

Twice.


(personally though I'm with Hiffano on this 100% it was all just a bad dream. There was no such movie. It. Never. Happened. (definitely one of those movies that makes you wish Men in Black Neuralysers were real so you could zap the memory away ))

Ah but then you would go what a spin off i must see and then go arg zap again it would never end!

 

[Locutus9956]

As for the actual thread. If ACTA 3rd Ed came out it would really depend what it actually consited of and how much it cost. If it was a signifigant change over 2nd ed and/or was affordably priced I'd think about it.

But to be honest the MAIN decider would be if mini production started up again, no matter how you look at it, in the long run without new players able to easily get minis ACTA IS gradually going to die out I'm afraid, as it stands I personally can't in good concience recommend any new players at my local club get into it at the moment other than to borrow ships off one of the existing players.

Simply put the game is fun but without minis, new players wont get into the game and it WILL die out as people find other games to eat up their attention. Its basically the same problem that happened to B5Wars. I still love the game as do alot of people I know, and we do still play it from time to time, but, new players simply wont get into it since you cant buy the models (or admittedly even the books (by and large) now)

 

[Darzoni]

Plastic molds are expensive enough that to get a good one is no small investment. I remember reading something that said that for action figures, molds cost somewhere around one million USD (this was about a decade ago as well). Whereas you can get away with a silicone mold for metal or resin if you really need to.

As for the future of ACTA. Well, I would like to see the miniatures show up again, because it's always a real treat to see assembled and painted minis on the table.

I've always thought though that the real strength of ACTA is that you /can/ play for dirt cheap if you want by using counters. You can actually try out the fleets before investing heavily in minis. Heck, you could mount the counters on bases if you want to make it easier to pick them up and stuff.

 

[skavendan]

Plastic molds are expensive enough that to get a good one is no small investment. I remember reading something that said that for action figures, molds cost somewhere around one million USD (this was about a decade ago as well). Whereas you can get away with a silicone mold for metal or resin if you really need to.

As for the future of ACTA. Well, I would like to see the miniatures show up again, because it's always a real treat to see assembled and painted minis on the table.

I've always thought though that the real strength of ACTA is that you /can/ play for dirt cheap if you want by using counters. You can actually try out the fleets before investing heavily in minis. Heck, you could mount the counters on bases if you want to make it easier to pick them up and stuff.

My point is confusion with counters and people using them for what they really apear to be!

But a new counter set is on the way so no doubt this wont be as big a problem no more.

 

[Darzoni]

My point is confusion with counters and people using them for what they really apear to be!

But a new counter set is on the way so no doubt this wont be as big a problem no more.

Yeah, the counters worked really well for the 1e Revised 'Core', but with all the new additions they don't work so good no more.

 

[mrambassador1]

I've always prefered counters. Personally I don't really think of the game as a mini's game but as a wargame. I find it a funny quirk of marketing/history that the game has such a strong mini following when I would have thought it would do great in the wargame community. I understand that mini people love their minis and this game has great ones (despite some of the quality issues) but the counter availablility always made it more accessible as a wargame. Battletech (especially original non collectable) while being a famous minis game was always at its heart a wargame that you could use minis for instead of counters (hell they even used hex maps).

While the mechanics of ACTA don't scream wargame, I find (as a predominantly wargame not mini guy) the counters give a completeness that wargamers would find appealing. As you know one of the main appeals of minis is collecting your favourites and painting them, giving them the love they deserve. We wargamers on the other hand tend to be a lazy impatient lot, we want to be able to open it, read the rules and play. None of this preperation nonsense. Also wargamers tend to like the idea of "the complete game", having all the parts needed, both players are equal, one doesn't have an advantage because he can buy any minis he wants, and you can't get that one piece that would make your perfect fleet complete because you can't afford it till next month. The presence of counters, especially in the 1st ed box set gave that sense of "I have everything I need, I don't need to buy stuff for the next 6 months". I was surprised to find counters not getting a look in for the last year or two, no dilgar, or drakh, or armageddon stuff, no 2e stuff (but coming soon )

ACTA may still do well marketed as a wargame rather than a mini game. While I feel very sorry for you mini guys out there losing some great minis, especially the ones who wouldn't really consider playing with just counters. I think ACTA could do well as a wargame, there have certainly been successful wargame battle games before (Battletech, Star Fleet Battles etc). The only potential problem is ACTA is now firmly thought of as a mini game, but perhaps a bit of new marketing, perhaps a box set of rules, fleet lists, counters like 1st ed could get more wargamers into the arena.