Noble Armada

[Halaxi]

So, it's sad to see that this great game has, predictably, turned into the red-headed stepchild of Mongoose. At least it can share some space in the basement with Victory at Sea and now Starfleet.

So Matt, are you just going to front up and admit that your wayward attention has dropped this game for good (or until the Dredd cash-cow dries up again...), or are you going to give your patented stock 'Oh no gentle reader, we haven't abandoned this game, we have [insert generic product] just around the corner!' statement?

And please, let's not have any white-knighting here.

Hal.

 

[Bellicose]

I am still crossing my fingers that it will last long enough to coax the League and Imperial fleets out before the seemingly inevitable death spiral.

 

[steelbrok]

And Symbiote...

 

[Bellicose]

On a slightly off topic subject, I have some Holistic minis for the League, the Caravan class freighter and the Sentry class escort. I am making stats for them for my own games. Any suggestions? Here is my rough draft. Any input would be appreciated. Based off SSDS of Holistic game.

Caravan class freighter 25 points

Speed: 2
Turn: 1/45
Hull: 3
Shields: 2
Damage: 18/7
Troops: 1
Craft: 0
Traits: Lumbering

Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Light lasers 24 F 2 Accurate, Precise, Burnout



Sentry class escort 75 Points

Speed:
Turn: 2/45
Hull: 4
Shields: 3
Damage: 16/7
Troops: 4
Craft: 0
Traits:

Weapon Range Arc AD Special
Light lasers 24 F 1 Accurate, Precise, Burnout
Light lasers 24 T 1 Accurate, Precise, Burnout
Light lasers 24 P 2 Accurate, Precise, Burnout
Light lasers 24 S 2 Accurate, Precise, Burnout
Grapple Gun S
Grapple Gun P

 

[MongooseMatt]

So, it's sad to see that this great game has, predictably, turned into the red-headed stepchild of Mongoose. At least it can share some space in the basement with Victory at Sea and now Starfleet.

So Matt, are you just going to front up and admit that your wayward attention has dropped this game for good (or until the Dredd cash-cow dries up again...), or are you going to give your patented stock 'Oh no gentle reader, we haven't abandoned this game, we have [insert generic product] just around the corner!' statement?

My friend...

We work very long hours here at Mongoose, and we try to accomplish as much as we possibly can. However, we cannot do everything at once. Everything has to take its turn.

For Noble Armada, we are currently waiting for artwork from Holistic for the League fleet, and their ideas for how the Imperial fleet should look and act. The Symbiotes will be done after these two fleets. We had a discussion with Holistic last month about thefuture of Noble Armada, and neither company wants to see it disappear.

I understand that if you are into a game, you want new things for it right _now_. However, I am afraid we cannot work like that. I would point out that the game engine is solid, the fleet lists balanced, and you have a choice of 9 fleets at the moment with a range of new vessels for all the original fleets.

There are not too many space combat games that can say that, and Noble Armada is still very much on our radar.

I am sorry that we do not have constant releases for all our games, but we have to focus our attention on a specific set of games at any one time (and I am not sure where you get the idea we have abandoned Victory at Sea - that is one of our major projects right now, in terms of both miniatures and writing). My own personal list of 'things to do' could stun an ox, but we _do_ steadily get through them.

Please just be a little more patient. League and Empire fleets are both on their way, Symbiotes will follow, and we have already begin talking space stations with Holistic.

Noble Armada is here to stay.

 

[steelbrok]

League and Empire fleets are both on their way, Symbiotes will follow, and we have already begin talking space stations with Holistic.


Good news, my wallet can wait even if my painting table is impatient

 

[phoenixhawk]

I'm glad that Noble Armada is not being buried. I really like the ship minis, but the waiting is the hardest part. I'm glad that Matt came on here and quieted the waters of dissent and I fully understand the nature of the business and that a limited pool of people can only accomplish so much. The problem with NA, and really all of the ACtA games, is that there is such a lag in releases, especially compared to Privateer Press, Games Workshop, and Wizkids, who all seemingly churn out competing products on a regular basis. Gamers tend not to have a very long attention span, and stores not only want product that moves, but new products to draw in customers. The ACtA games don't have a lot of new releases and many stores and customers tend to see limited or far-flung release dates as the game is dead and will clearance out the product or not want to get into it.

I know there are places where NA and SF (and maybe even B5) are played and have enthusiastic player bases that keep the games alive and vibrant, but I've tried several times around here and never been able to keep people interested since there is a perception that the game is dead or dying. I only know 1 store that carries the ACtA lines and after I bought some SF ships, they haven't restocked the ones I bought, just have the same ones on the pegs from last time. Even several of the online stores don't maintain NA stocks anymore.

Game success means having retailers stock it and players play it. Without much enthusiasm on either front due to severely limited releases and a poor perception of the game, I wonder how realistic is the game's continuance, despite Matt's honest assurance.

I LIKE the ACtA systems and really want to see them thrive...but it seems the deck is stocked against them.

Chris

 

[billclo]

Too many product lines to keep going, too few people and too few hours in the day to keep churning out products = long time between releases.

 

[Stu--]

In most businesses if you can't support all your business lines, the least successful would be dropped to make way. At least in the short term.
Just saying perhaps a restructuring is in order. That paramount fee can't be cheap.

 

[Jean]

The probable expense of a "Paramount fee" is why ACTASF is Star Fleet Universe, not Star Trek in all its incarnations. ADB handles any fees paid to Paramount from its end. As this is a joint venture, not a licensing situation, "Paramount fees" have nothing to do with decisions made by either ADB or Mongoose regarding ACTASF.

 

[Stu--]

Fair enough then.
I was going to post about how stuff's been dropped and not finished and blah blah blah.
There's a hundred posts saying the same stuff now. Maybe we'll just go back to full thrust. I'm sure there's a Trek conversion somewhere. <abject disappointment>.

 

[billclo]

Fair enough then.
I was going to post about how stuff's been dropped and not finished and blah blah blah.
There's a hundred posts saying the same stuff now. Maybe we'll just go back to full thrust. I'm sure there's a Trek conversion somewhere. <abject disappointment>.

I know of a nice Star Wars Full Thrust conversion that a fellow runs at Origins if you would like the materials.

 

[Jean]

Stu, you must not follow ADB's page on FB or you'd be seeing that we're getting re-stocks on the 2500s, sprucing up our shopping cart for that line, and advertising them. Does that sound lke a dead line? No, it sounds like we have faith in the line, support it, and plan to continue it.

I continue to be excited about the 2500s. Remember that unlike Trek licenses, ours lasts forever.

 

[firekite]

not to mention the fact that the 2nd ACTA:SF book is slated for this year according to the new issue of hf.

 

[Stu--]

What's hf?
the product schedule shows nothing about ACTA (http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/releaseschedule)

Whilst I am glad to see that ADB is supporting the line as I do not want to see it die, there is little interest in playing this now at my local club. As my dad said when I suggested it the other week 'drones are broken and plasma doesn't work properly'.

What would be great though would be to see it fixed..

 

[billclo]

What's hf?
the product schedule shows nothing about ACTA (http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/releaseschedule)

Whilst I am glad to see that ADB is supporting the line as I do not want to see it die, there is little interest in playing this now at my local club. As my dad said when I suggested it the other week 'drones are broken and plasma doesn't work properly'.

What would be great though would be to see it fixed..

HF is Hailing Frequencies, a monthly newsletter.

See here: http://www.federationcommander.com/Newsletter/September-2013/index.html

 

[OrneryRooster]

Does anyone have any info on this supposed ACTA book 2 in Hailing Frequencies? Is this supposed to introduce more empires into the game or is this just the updated rules in a new book? Is this info even current? I hope I'm not the only person who wants to know.

 

[billclo]

Does anyone have any info on this supposed ACTA book 2 in Hailing Frequencies? Is this supposed to introduce more empires into the game or is this just the updated rules in a new book? Is this info even current? I hope I'm not the only person who wants to know.

Last I heard, a while ago, was that it was supposed to include the Hydrans and Lyrans, perhaps introduce fighters, possibly some other stuff.

 

[firekite]

it is also planned last I read to "flesh out the Orions and the Tholians. the Seltorions were mentioned along with the Hydrans and the Lyrans. there is a chance the Hydrans will be delayed a book because they want the Gatling Phasers and the fighters to be ready. battleships were to be added among other things.

 

[Stu--]

I can only hope that you're wrong about delaying the Hydrans. A book with Lyran, Tholian and a fixed set of rules doesn't sound to me like one that would sell very well unless it was cheap.

Yes I know you mentioned Orion but they're pirates and ACTA is a fleet game - always struck me as strange they were given priority in the first place.

Realistically the fixes to the basic rules should be freely available, not chargeable. And the PDF version of the rules was promised many moons ago too. (as a value add to existing book owners)