For the very latest information on A Call to Arms: Noble Armada, grab the latest Signs & Portents at;
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/series.php?qsSeries=13
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/series.php?qsSeries=13
Preview in Signs & Portents 86
- Thread starter MongooseMatt
- Start date
The Legend
Mongoose
I've just finished reading the article. It sounds good Matt, I've always liked the Fading Suns universe. It always reminded me of a compromise between Dune and Battletech.
I think I'll get a couple of fleets and try it out but...... Any idea on prices for ships/fleet boxes. And rough compositions of fleet boxes. I don't want to tie you to specifics but y'kna how many frigates destroyers cruisers etc?
Cheers
I think I'll get a couple of fleets and try it out but...... Any idea on prices for ships/fleet boxes. And rough compositions of fleet boxes. I don't want to tie you to specifics but y'kna how many frigates destroyers cruisers etc?
Cheers
NX_Phoenix
Mongoose
Well worth the wait.
Shut Up Hippie!
Mongoose
Just read S&P - noble Armada looks very cool. with 5 different houses to start with should provide plenty of interest for most players
I reckon that Da Boss will go straight for a House Decados fleet as they sound like your typical Centauri!
Am looking forward to Feburary
I reckon that Da Boss will go straight for a House Decados fleet as they sound like your typical Centauri!
Am looking forward to Feburary
Clanger
Mongoose
Fading Suns is a very rich and great setting. Have ran a few games in this setting .
There is a lot more involved in the setting than has been seen in S&P.
There is a free primer of the setting for the RPG.
http://www.redbrick-limited.com/cms/index.php?categoryid=12&p13_sectionid=4&p13_fileid=40
.There is a lot more involved in the setting than has been seen in S&P.
There is a free primer of the setting for the RPG.
http://www.redbrick-limited.com/cms/index.php?categoryid=12&p13_sectionid=4&p13_fileid=40
Shut Up Hippie! said:Just read S&P - noble Armada looks very cool. with 5 different houses to start with should provide plenty of interest for most players
I reckon that Da Boss will go straight for a House Decados fleet as they sound like your typical Centauri!
Am looking forward to Feburary
Ah My friend - they do seem to enjoy wine women and song - although I don't think they stop at that - drugs, beasts and anything else as well!
Matching the looks, style and abilities of a Centauri fleet is not easy..............
I'll repeat here my comment from the other tread:msprange said:
The photographs of the minis are very pixelated and do the miniatures a great disservice, any chance we can get better quality images of those miniatures in the article? I'm trying to whip up some support, but the quality of the 'promotional' material isn't winning anyone over Wink
Could you indicated what's included in the Fleet boxes? And are the miniatures in the same scale/size as the ones from Holistic Design/Agents of Gaming?
How much support can we expect for this line? (And the question you don't want to hear, for how long?)
There's some leaked info:The Legend said:
Pricing is $30 or 22GBP (~€26,50) a piece.
Release date: Februari 2011
BenTOGS said:
Matt mentioned in another thread that they'll be all metal (and use a ball-and-socket stand).
I always thought of it as the bastard child of World of Darkness, Warhammer 40,000 and Dune.The legend said:
Clanger
Mongoose
I would say it had more in the way of Dune and Arthurian Legends with the Questing Knights going out finding new hope. It has its influences in a lot of science fiction books and films of its time. I would say 40K is a minor influence in the game.
Remember Fading Suns was written by Bill Bridges and Andrew Greenberg who had a hand in the Vampire and Werewolf Game Lines. So you could expect a little influence creeping in.
Remember Fading Suns was written by Bill Bridges and Andrew Greenberg who had a hand in the Vampire and Werewolf Game Lines. So you could expect a little influence creeping in.
Clanger
Mongoose
Cergorach
Which 40K took from the way Medieval Europe was structured at the time. The Church, Nobility, Heretics, Inquistion, Superstition, "Unnatural and Evil Powers and Forces".
The 2 main cited influences of Fading Suns are Frank Herberts Dune and Dan Simmons Hyperion. There are many more but I personally feel that it is less 40K influenced. More influenced by the 2 novels / settings and Medieval settings.
Which 40K took from the way Medieval Europe was structured at the time. The Church, Nobility, Heretics, Inquistion, Superstition, "Unnatural and Evil Powers and Forces".
The 2 main cited influences of Fading Suns are Frank Herberts Dune and Dan Simmons Hyperion. There are many more but I personally feel that it is less 40K influenced. More influenced by the 2 novels / settings and Medieval settings.
I can't find any official mention of:
Sure, you could trace most sci-fi/fantasy worlds back into antiquity, but that is most often not the direct inspiration for modern games/worlds. Look at Blizzards Warcraft, inspired by Warhammer Fantasy Battle, which in turn was inspired by D&D/Chainmail, which in turn was inspired by Tolkien, who got his ideas from Mythology. Anyone who claims that the Chainmail/D&D/Warhammer/Warcraft Orcs were inspired directly by Mythology I would shake my had at. The same goes for Blizzards Starcraft (Zerg), from Warhammer 40k, from Aliens, from...
There are of course legio connections to the dark ages, but particular links to 40k (specifically the Rogue Trader age):
- Brother Battle vs. Battle Brother (Space Marine)
- Symbol of the emperor is the eagle/firebird
There are many others but you could link those to your 'inspired by medieval times' theory.
The World of Darkness link has a lot to do with how they presented their books (layout/art/style), how they handled the meta story and the game system.
Not saying your wrong, just how I perceive the setting.
In the three main rulebooks made by Holistic, one mention of Dune, but in a whole different context.
Sure, you could trace most sci-fi/fantasy worlds back into antiquity, but that is most often not the direct inspiration for modern games/worlds. Look at Blizzards Warcraft, inspired by Warhammer Fantasy Battle, which in turn was inspired by D&D/Chainmail, which in turn was inspired by Tolkien, who got his ideas from Mythology. Anyone who claims that the Chainmail/D&D/Warhammer/Warcraft Orcs were inspired directly by Mythology I would shake my had at. The same goes for Blizzards Starcraft (Zerg), from Warhammer 40k, from Aliens, from...
There are of course legio connections to the dark ages, but particular links to 40k (specifically the Rogue Trader age):
- Brother Battle vs. Battle Brother (Space Marine)
- Symbol of the emperor is the eagle/firebird
There are many others but you could link those to your 'inspired by medieval times' theory.
The World of Darkness link has a lot to do with how they presented their books (layout/art/style), how they handled the meta story and the game system.
Not saying your wrong, just how I perceive the setting.
Arch Lector Petrovski
Mongoose
Just finished reading the article in S&P and I've got to say...not impressed.
Not something I've ever heard of before and not exactly what I'd call an exciting new licence (being that it sounds like a fairly old, boardering towards obscure RPG). I think that relatively few gamers will have heard of it compared with Babylon 5 and I think that this will mean it's even more difficult to attract the average cash shy gamer.
I could be entirely wrong in what I'm saying, but it feels that moment when old gamers go on a nostalgia trip about a relatively obscure game that's been dead for years (like the way some old GW players go on about Man O' War).
As I said, I may be wrong, but feels like a swing and a miss at the moment.
Not something I've ever heard of before and not exactly what I'd call an exciting new licence (being that it sounds like a fairly old, boardering towards obscure RPG). I think that relatively few gamers will have heard of it compared with Babylon 5 and I think that this will mean it's even more difficult to attract the average cash shy gamer.
I could be entirely wrong in what I'm saying, but it feels that moment when old gamers go on a nostalgia trip about a relatively obscure game that's been dead for years (like the way some old GW players go on about Man O' War).
As I said, I may be wrong, but feels like a swing and a miss at the moment.
It might not be a license like B5, Stargate, Star Trek or Star Wars, but chances are that it costs a lot less in license fees (I'll eat my hat if that is not true!). And they don't have a giant corporation with all it's bureaucracy looking over their shoulders nor have to run everything past a commission for approval (ask MP about B5, AEG about SG-1 and FS, WotC about SW).Arch Lector Petrovski said:
MP wanted/needed to release their Call to Arms space combat rule set one way or another. With a licensed property they don't have to spend precious resources on background and ship design, it also comes with fans. The more popular the property, the more it will cost. Also, they need cool ship designs and not a huge surplus of the ships on the secondary market. Noble Armada is all this and they already have a working relationship with the license holder of Fading Suns (Redbrick), if this is a good relationship they can both benefit from the synergy between the wargame and the RPG parts of the property.
Also don't discount the power of nostalgia, mainstream properties like Transformers and G.I. Joe are pretty much build around this. Folks who grew up with the stuff now have the spending power to buy it. Similarly, my gaming expenses are mostly built around nostalgia, D&D, WFB, 40k, Battletech, Shadowrun, Heavy Gear, etc. I'm actually ramping down on new books, completing a couple of old (nostalgia) series and switching to pdf (iPad rules! ;-). Recently spend around ~€1000 on old RAFM Heavy Gear miniatures and 1st edition books (would have bought the newer dp9 miniatures if only they were the same scale), that in turn motivated me to buy ~$100 worth of new HG Blitz pdfs (something I would not have bought without the influence of nostalgia).
There are already tons of generic sci-fi ship manufacturers, so stepping into that market requires something special and FS/NA is pretty much that imho. Unless MP came with some awesome designs on the market, they wouldn't have sold all that much. Would people have bought as much B5 spaceship miniatures if they weren't B5 spaceships?
Rather then comparing it to old GW players going on about Man O' War, take Space Hulk (particularly 1st edition). You know what, GW reissued that last year and sold tons! FFG is making a card game from it and that is doing great as well. It wouldn't surprise me the least if someone would pick up the license for another computer game. SH 1E is from 1989 2E (the last version before rerelease in 2009) was from 1996. That's around the same time as the Original Noble Armada was released. So nostalgic titles do have the ability to be successful. The question of course is, will CtA:NA be the same way. To me it really depends on the quality of the ships, the price of the ships and the availability of the ships. A nice fully illustrated background book would be nice, a good rulebook would be appreciated, but not really necessary imho. There are tons of rule sets available, old and new, everyone will find something they'll like to use. imho it's the actual miniatures that will sell this game and make the profit.
Greg Smith
Mongoose
Red Brick are planning a third edition of Fading Suns early next year.
I don't like game balance being shifted towards boarding actions. Boarding actions in space are no better idea then boarding actions on submarines. I understand that it is because of the setting... But I tried recently F:A and massed, successful cruiser boarding action against my undamaged battleship convinced me I will never fully enjoy the game. I was waiting for ACTA 3 only to discover boarding actions taking over another space-combat game.
jimmor said:
I would say give it a try.
Generally speaking, you won't get cruisers hammering dreadnoughts in boarding actions without a great deal of prep or swinging of odds into their favour.
There _are_ ships that can punch above their own weight in boarding actions (such as the Galliots), but they are really frigate-sized ships that can go toe-to-toe with, say, destroyers. They won't be knocking over anything larger on their own unless they have been tricked out with elite troops or marauders, which can get pricey.
Give it a go - boarding is an additional tactic in the game, one that is very useful at putting your opponent on the back foot. However, it is by no means the only way to win (especially with some of the scenarios we have included).
msprange said:
I am going to... I am really going to. It's just sth different then I expacted. I really liked the boarding actions in ACTA 2 where you had to cripple your opponent before taking his ship (or at least you had to block path of his hulking dreadnought with your own squadron of assault ships dropping from hyperspace to prevent him from moving over half of maximum speed
... well this one was a bit cheesy)
