I AM DAWGIE, a long time sci fi gamer, and i have to admit up front a bit embaressed because i forgot this place exists (braindead is my 10 year long cyber alibi), and first became aware of the planned new way forward at SNOWMAN'S SST yahoogroup.
i am here now because RONALD MATTHEWS and i have come to cyber hand strokes over my questioning posting on the SNOWMAN's group about the new way forward. LOL, i have to thank him for reminding me this place was here, so here i am for a look-see at his recommendation.
contrary to belief i am a SST gamer (among other rules), like the rules, and do love the majority of the toys that have been released todate. i have concentrating on MI, BUGs, and SKINNIEs, but not everything relea sed by MONGOOSE for these three species. sunk a bit of cash into the stuff, with no major complaints and no hesitation, either. the money i have spent to date is not NOW a complaint either, nor am i worried about the NEW MOE WUNNDERFUL STUFF making my OLD STUFF look bad, nor am i worried about the new stuff being pre-painted and making my own paint jobs look like crap.
(HEY, my SST stuff gets as much off a work out using CR 2.0 as it does with SST rules)
as far as painting quality goes, like a lot of aulde farts, wargamer standard is fine with me (painting toys to the best of your ability, but no spray painting, dip painting, etc) and i haver zero tolerance at all for BARE METAL OR PLASTIC toys on the table. especially in a public place, like a shop or at a con. at another location, fine with me. the only thing i would suggest is that the host advise any new folks about the use of unpainted toys in advance to avoid culture shock with aulde farts like me.
i do realize that a lot of folks are intimidated by other gamers paint jobs, and especially the professionally painted miniatures they see. the new way forward will appeal to them.
i do realize that most folks nowdays claim to be too busy with work/school/family/friends to paint, and i do realize that the pre-painted boxed stuff will appeal to a lot of folks OUT THERE for this reason as well.
i do realize that a lot of folks do not like to assemble plastic or metal or resin multi-piece toys of any type, so the pre-assembly in the boxed set will also be a plus for them.
(after i was finally told what type of glue to use with the new MONGOOSE toys, i was once more a happy gamer!)
i am glad to see new stuff coming out, in plastic, and no more metal product (not because i am GREEN, but, because plastic is soooo easy to work with when converting, etc.
i hope that MONGOOSE will take this opportunity to introduce a SAW/GPMG trooper while they are doing the new plastic stuff. a joe/jolene with his SAW/GPMG being fired from the hip, or being toted at waist level while advancing would be nice. the current tripod mounted squad "LMG" is nice but outdated in concept, so i use it for a tripod mounted rapid fire grenade launcher infantry support weapon with longer range than the MORITA under barrel launcher provides.
i am worried that the new boxed plastic stuff will not have the nice detailing that current plastics have (those dreadful one piece SPACE PUPPIES that came with a 40K set a few years back, as well as some other plastic game miniatures i have seen spring to mind here). i have been told that this will not happen. the jury is out till i see for my self on this one, though (sorry, to much doubt based on 30 plus years of hearing/song dance routines from other companies).
i am glad to read that the old stuff will remain in production alongside the next stuff (and hopefully with same contents for same pricing).
as far as previous MONGOOSE announced releases that never happened, i do understand that (bleep!) happens and things change. like many, i cheered loudly when the plastic MI (SST:THE MOVIE) failed to be released and MONGOOSE released metal miniatures at the same price! kudos for MONGOOSE!
i am glad to see that MONGOOSE is going to keep the price for the new stuff as close as possible to the old stuff, but i do realize that the number of pre-assembled, pre-painted, toys per box will decrease as part of the new way forward, and that the cost of plastic is effected by the cost of oil as well as packing material and etc.
i do not feel "screwed" by the announcement about the new way forward at all. i cannot say how the retailers with MONGOOSE SST stock sitting on sold on their shelves feel, as i suspect a lot of potential as well as actual SST gamers will not spend money on the old stuff, saving their dosh for the new stuff instead.
i am relieved to read that MONGOOSE is not going to try for the mass market sales of WAL-MART, TOYS R US, TARGET, and etc, with sales being aimed specifically at younger kids whose parents have thick wallets (and thicker skulls!).
as far as FLEET orbit to ground assets are concerned, i am not upset by the cancellation of this, that and the other for wot ever reasons. i for one tended to think these would be overpriced and not very useful for actual gaming. i view strikecraft, assault landers, and orbital fire support for grunts on the ground as WHOOSH!BLAMM! or WHOOSH! events in relation to the table top fight anyway.
(now any of the above can become a very important part of the table top game if used to designate landing/lift-off sites for troops/etc, as well as targets for the enemy to readily ID and target. also for rescue missions, etc. that is why i used down loadable PDF landers and etc: cheap, nice looking, useful, light, and easy to store/transport )
i for one would like to see some nice light armored AFVs. APCs/IFVs, as well as some MBTs introduced to the SST UNIVERSE, but ie not i will continue to buy these from other sources as needed desired.
BUT, i also know that other folks OUT THERE would like to have the "proper model" for this or that FLEET asset, so i would suggest that MONGOOSE produce their own drawn to scale, detailed, etc, down loadable FLEET assets for a reasonable fee.
i also know there are lots of folks OUT THERE who were anxiously awaiting those cancelled FLEET landing parties, for those occassions when the MI is not on hand. to them i say this:
MODERN naval/air force personnel used for " grunt/squaddie work" wear (if at all possible) the same battledress and use the same weapons that the grunts/squaddies use for logistical as well as economic reasons. sometimes they wear different style of uniform instead of battledress under the standard helmet/armor/webbing/etc. look at modern naval/ air force working uniforms that are sometimes worn for boarding/landing party missions. make up will be officer, NCOs, RTO, medic, and assorted techs turned gunslingers, instead of MI grunts/squaddies
to all of the folks who view the new stuff as rendering their old stuff ugly and useless, i say, why worry? keep your old stuff, play with it, enjoy it! if you see something new and want to buy it, go ahead! use it alongside the aold stuff! remember in the real world, there are multiple variations on the basic model MBT, fighter, bomber, truck, wotever!
i am glad to read that MONGOOSE is going to continue to allow proxies in gaming events, as long as the proxies follow the ancient, hallowed WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) as far as weaponry/armor/etc goes on the proxie troopers.
overall, i am hoping for the best of both worlds from the new way forward, will continue to buy assemble paint stuff like i was doing before the annuncement, all the while waiting to see what the new stuff costs and actually looks like . i am not putting everything up for sale on EBAY in a furious snit OR USING MY OLD STUFF FOR TARGET PRACTICE AT THE SHOOTING RANGE! i am gonna soldier on with SST for the time being!
this does NOT mean i am saying MONGOOSE is becoming a clone of the EE at all, or that i think we are being told whopping big lies. it simply means i am waiting to see what happens next.
DAWGIE