Starship Troopers Evolution

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

I agree with Lieutenant Rasczak as well, though I will admit to playing some of the "clicky" games, Hero & Horror. They are completely different and I play them for a different reason, just like I play DDM, SWM & AAM for different reasons.

Until I got into SST & B5 ACTA, I had forgotten how much I love to paint minis. Does this announcement make me angry after investing hundreds of dollars for the minis I now have, no. Matt has already stated that we will still be able to get the stuff out now for up to tens years and will more than likely be able to get some of the new stuff unpainted and unassembled, there is enough demand for it.

So gripe all you want, but I say it was a very good descision on Mongooses part to head in a direction that will ensure the longevity of the game that we all love to play.

 

[nezeray]

I am so happy that these won't be Collectible in that you pay through the nose for that one figure that you need for your army. I remember back when Mage Knight started. All was good till I needed to trade for that one freakin' dwarf to lead my army. Nobody who had one would trade, they all wanted ebay prices for it. I refuse to pay upwards of $20.00 for a single plastic mini. A box full of propainted plastic minis? Heck Yeah! Then you had those dragon things, I never saw anyone pull one. They'd buy 10 boosters and not pull one. I jumped out screaming.

I did buy some of the Hero Clix, but only because I could trade "valuable" ones for tons of commons for my RPGs.

I have tons of SST and B5 minis, and I will buy the new ones. If a model has a paint job that I don't like, I will find a good way to strip it and repaint it. Watch the forums for a how-to if that time ever comes for me.

Nezeray

 

[Cammo_Green]

Well this is the break through ive been waiting for, hopefully this will get people here in Melbourne playing SST.

Personally i love what Mongoose is doing. Ive been painting minis for about 12 years - and im sick of it :roll:. Ive got all the figs from the main game assembled and sitting in a box awaiting painting (A whole load of warmachine stuff is in front at the moment) - So if i can buy boxes of prepainted stuff ill be a very happy camper

I hope thay plan to use a card based system - for unit stats, which you get in the box of minis ala warmachine - instead of the "army book" style there using now.

 

[knuckles]

My sons and I got into miniatures gaming via Mage Knights, from there I started with DBM and the boys wanted to paint my 15mm ancients. Sorry kids this is mine all mine, so we went ont he hunt for 28mm stuff for them to paint, enter SST. All history now, I have ended up painting 80% of the 3000 point MI and 3000 point bug armies we have. Since moving to PNG I thought it would a good hobby for them as we would be looking for something to do. Between, the Scuba Diving, Sailing, fishing and social activities we find it hard to squeeze in games let alone paint the remaining figures. In fact I still have a couple of boxes to go and two burrowers unfinished since July. What's my point, prepainted will suit us down to the ground and if I get the urge to be creative I can do it at my own pace without having unpainted figs on the game table. I am sorry to rant but I think there has been a lot of Chicken Little "the sky is falling" going on, Matt has been pretty bold in posting this as it telegraphs his punches to the industry and that shows a lot of respect for those that have supported his products. We could at least do the same, and be constructive in our comments.

End of rant.

 

[Avenger6]

My only issue with the recent comments is the, "for sale at Walmart" stuff. The largely mom & pop gaming stores that have been the back bone of this hobby since the beginning are seriously harmed every time a game company "deals with the devil" (Walmart). Walmart will buy in bulk demanding a lower price from MGP. Then sell the game for less than your FLGS can, costing the FLGS sales. But, while Walmart can sell games, they will be unable to promote the game. What they know about gaming can easily be packed into a snails rear end. I don't see Walmart hosting painting clinics, game nights, tournaments, and answering questions about rules. You know who will be stuck doing that......your local FLGS. They just won't have the benefit of the $ generated by sales of the game. How nice for them. WOTC, AH, TSR, Wizkids, Decipher, Bandi......on and on. So many companies have given in to the attraction and temptation of mass market quick profits offered by the big box stores. And at each turn your FLGS has lost sales. Think of that the next time your relaxing at your FLGS enjoying the camaraderie of fellow gamers. How will they stay in business. Where will you go to play if their closed. Matt I hope your listening.....NO BIG BOX SALES!

 

[patton]

"I don't wanna have unpainted parts I just wanna have the whole sprue.
No one should take his fingers on that sprue - it has worked till now, why shouldn't it work in the future?
Don't assemble the thing, don't cut the parts out, just give me the damn sprue - is that so hard?

With offer solely pre-painted minis you'll kill the about 50% of what the Tabletop stands for.
It's both (converting,) painting and playing. Only in this mutual you can call it tabletop.
Otherwise it's just a board game, like BM Dark Age or HeroClix.

What I have seen in other (non-SST-) Forums was primary "Look how nice I have painted my Bugs, I'm so proud of them" or "how should I paint my MI, do you have any suggestions to me".
Taking out painting will reduce SST to just playing, and also reduce the amount it is talked about in other forums by about 95%.


And at least (and most important) it's a philosophical thing to me. Once you have painted a damn fat 3000p Bug Army you are BOUND to like it as you have invested such time in making it the precious jem it is by now.

When you just pack it out and play with this per-painted stuff your army is not really 'yours', it doesn't really BELONG to you, there is not that strong emotional link as between you and all those little critters you spend hours of work to make them look oh so sweet.

THAT is why I want the dang sprues."

I agree 100% why can't you just make a starter pre-painted, and the rest normal, your killing a huge percentage of buyers, the "hobbiests"

-srry if this stuff has already been said, trying to read through the 20+ pages that came up since i left this morning... and couldn't keep my trap closed

PS- Rules in the box, no army books? lame. I know the books are expensive, but nothing beats pickin up the new army book, and flippin through the pages, reading up on fluff, unit abilities and lookin at fantastic art
i think i'm going to go and curl up in a ball and cry like a girl, or maybe vent my fury on an unsuspecting person, do you see the violence you created, all u needed to do was make some of the models less fuggly and make a new rule book or this update. but no... you had to change it...

 

[patton]

wait, i'm confused, did u say there will be a new rulebook u can get seperate in adition to the cheesy sheets that come with the minis?

 

[Lane Shutt]

Why not market SST to the clicky crowd? That's what this amounts to: prepainted miniatures, two pages of easy to learn rules that come with every single box, get a game going in minutes with no time investment required...

Because MGP has self respect.

I doubt you will ever see a clicky base on an MGP mini. AFAIK all the clicky games are also collectible, again not MGP style.

 

[Sgt. Brassones]

Well, I for one hope some at least have some poseablility because I like to customize my minis, oh and if it does happen and walmart does begin to sell sst minis, I'd absolutly love that, instead of ordering online go to the local walmart and presto, minis without having to wait for

The only thing with WalMart selling SST minis is that they would severly undercut the LGS's. That would be worse than the current situation.

 

[Sgt. Brassones]

wait, i'm confused, did u say there will be a new rulebook u can get seperate in adition to the cheesy sheets that come with the minis?

Matt did say a seperate "advanced" rulebook will be made available at release. It will include a revised version of the current rules plus new rules for suppressing fire and covering fire.

 

[BuShips]

wait, i'm confused, did u say there will be a new rulebook u can get seperate in adition to the cheesy sheets that come with the minis?

Matt did say a seperate "advanced" rulebook will be made available at release. It will include a revised version of the current rules plus new rules for suppressing fire and covering fire.

I for one would buy that book.

 

[Sgt. Brassones]

wait, i'm confused, did u say there will be a new rulebook u can get seperate in adition to the cheesy sheets that come with the minis?

Matt did say a seperate "advanced" rulebook will be made available at release. It will include a revised version of the current rules plus new rules for suppressing fire and covering fire.

I for one would buy that book.

Dude, I'm buying two. One for my own reading pleasure(during extended sessions on the "throne") and one for the suasage fingered grubby mits of demo players.

 

[MattRendar]

i was talking about this with my buddy he said if you guys came out with prepainted drop ship youd be gods of the gameing world!!! after a day of thinking about this . im a lot happier . future looks bright!

 

[Rabidchild]

Awesome!

Another 6 months or so of saving up and then KABLAM!!! Starship Troopers bonanza! :twisted:

Thanks for that, Rooster. 32 pages of posts and then a simple, happy (and slightly crazy) answer from our resident Dr. I'm with you on this one. 8)

Matt Sprange- Thanks for hanging in there and answering all these questions. I don't know of a single business that would have done the same. You guys at Mongoose have a great approach to business and I say; my hat's off to you.

-Looking forward
RC

 

[tneva82]

If the volume demands it

But is there demand if it doesn't matter if your model is unpainted or pre-painted as far as painting over matters?-)

Alot of the cost in service parts is warehouse and individual packaging and handling

And there's nooooo warehouse, packaging and handling costs if you have to DOUBLE size of your range just to get unpainted/unassembled models for the few who wants oh no...

 

[tneva82]

It then occured to me that this is a sign of the end of SST.

Lol. Investing insane amount of money into the new range(all plastic btw. Moulds for those alone will cost insane) sign of end? They are risking a lot to ensure this will be _long_ lasting game. Any short term sales just couldn't hope to compensate for the investement.

If they would like to kill SST they could do it much more profitably.

prepainted miniatures, two pages of easy to learn rules

Rules that are btw same as now...Except more clearly presented.

 

[LaranosTZ]

Erm, Patton, you keep forgetting, you can re-paint the miniatures. Sure you might not have as much pose customization as on-the-sprue models, but if you want your own paint scheme there is nothing stopping you from having it.

 

[mthomason]

I agree 100% why can't you just make a starter pre-painted, and the rest normal, your killing a huge percentage of buyers, the "hobbiests"

If it was that huge of a percentage, they wouldn't be doing this...

I'm seeing a lot of the veteran/hobbyist gamers on here liking the idea as well. Also a lot that don't, but many seem happy at having half the job done for them already.

 

[mthomason]

If the volume demands it

I doubt it will. Most of those that want to paint will very likely try overpainting the existing models first (me included) and will not want to buy them unpainted if it works.

 

[mthomason]

Erm, Patton, you keep forgetting, you can re-paint the miniatures. Sure you might not have as much pose customization as on-the-sprue models, but if you want your own paint scheme there is nothing stopping you from having it.

Pose customization is a relatively new thing anyway. Most veteran gamers (those that will supposedly not like the idea) are used to solid metal figures rather than the luxury (some I know would even say "abomination") of plastic parts on sprues, and know just how to chop a figure up to repose it.