Rabidchild
Mongoose
The Tabletop Gaming News Editorial review of 2008 has some interesting things to say about the hobby and Mongoose. The editorial also specifically mentions A.D. Publishing, congratulations Agis and CourtJester!
TGN Editorial
- Thread starter Rabidchild
- Start date
DaWarbossMI
Mongoose
Very nice write up. Indeed, some very astute observations. I think it was a bit too forgiving on the GW issues, but then again, I might just be tainted beyond repair on GW. I still like their games well enough (Warmaster is their best title, with LotR a close 2nd IMHO) but the corporate structure...moronic.
FFG... simply one of the best board game co's out there. Twilight Imperium is one of the best board games in existence. Its one of the few games with a political element that TRULY captures the political process and (if you do it right) has an element of role playing (using fiery rhetoric to try to sway your friends votes is my favorite thing).
Rackham... the core system used for both AT-43 and Confrontation is a unique and fun system. I think their metal sculpts are some of the best on the market (well...were the best...). The pre-paints for the current 2 lines have very good sculpts and solid pre-paint quality.
Small publishers... AD... RIGHT ON. 'Grats on the mention Agis. Your BFEvo supps are the best in production. The content and layout is top notch. I think Kraken is definitely one to watch, with Alkemy on the rise. Alkemy has some neat elements and great sculpts. The price per fig is a bit high, but since the armies are soooo small, its a price I'm willing to pay. My favorite small publisher is Exploding Goat Games though... (yes.. I'm biased and have a stake in the Goat's success :wink
Apocalypse-Z has received good marks (and a mention in TGN's, but all credit was to Mongoose...hey they fronted the print money, I guess). We playtested the poo out of the Z rule, but my layout skills are...well...terrible. I really should read a book about how to use InDesign 
... oh well... "learn as I go", it is!
Mongoose... I agree with Zac on this. Mongoose makes great game systems. We didn't just role out Z to take advantage of the open license. Evo is a great system. Its one of the best intro sets out there. In one hour you can get an 8 year old playing a wargame. We run demos and theme games at a lot of cons and this is a plus. Evo is also solid enough to keep us veteran wargamers happy for tactics. The ACTA/VaS system is very solid. Its the best simple 2D combat to date. Not too many complications, captures the feel, light and fun. I agree with the layout comments. I like the full color books. Its less of a profit margin for any publisher (and lets face it.... game companies are a business [must-pay-salaries-taxes-bills-benefits-production costs-make profit]). Any core rule book should be full color. Supplements..B/W is acceptable, but color is preferred. As far as Mongoose minis are concerned. I've always enjoyed the B5 sculpts, never tried the Gangs of MC1, but think the sculpts are decent. I like the Arachnid sculpts but not so much the MI (this has nothing to do with Mongoose though... I didn't like the concepts of the human armor from the animated series). I was a fan of the BFEvo pre-paints. I thought they were priced appropriately and the paint jobs were perfectly acceptable. Its a simple matter of production run sizes and the Chinese market. China makes a lot of crap very cheaply. You want baby formula cheap... go Chinese... just don't whine when it contains poison. Minis cheap... go Chinese... just don't whine when the paint jobs don't meet promised standards. You want quality... make em with domestic labor. You'll pay the price though... we're union (and proud of it dammit). Hey, what can we say... we like to be able to afford housing and toilets that flush. Until the Chinese people kick the poo out of their commie overlords and our own corporate demigods of avarice, and stand up for their rights to live and not work to death from the age of 3, we'll keep getting cheap Chinese crap (sorry about the soap box, there).
I think every company out there has been the victim of the current global downturn. You won't see, in the near future, too many companies with enough capital to launch overly ambitious projects. I think perhaps the pre-painted Evo minis fit that bill. I would, however, like to see them return in the future. I love painting and modeling, but have FAR TOO MANY sitting unpainted right now. A little "open box/play game" is nice once and a while.
Oh well... my rambling, 2 cents (worth 0.5 cents in today's economy)...
Again, good job Agis and AD publishing.
Jay
FFG... simply one of the best board game co's out there. Twilight Imperium is one of the best board games in existence. Its one of the few games with a political element that TRULY captures the political process and (if you do it right) has an element of role playing (using fiery rhetoric to try to sway your friends votes is my favorite thing).
Rackham... the core system used for both AT-43 and Confrontation is a unique and fun system. I think their metal sculpts are some of the best on the market (well...were the best...). The pre-paints for the current 2 lines have very good sculpts and solid pre-paint quality.
Small publishers... AD... RIGHT ON. 'Grats on the mention Agis. Your BFEvo supps are the best in production. The content and layout is top notch. I think Kraken is definitely one to watch, with Alkemy on the rise. Alkemy has some neat elements and great sculpts. The price per fig is a bit high, but since the armies are soooo small, its a price I'm willing to pay. My favorite small publisher is Exploding Goat Games though... (yes.. I'm biased and have a stake in the Goat's success :wink
Apocalypse-Z has received good marks (and a mention in TGN's, but all credit was to Mongoose...hey they fronted the print money, I guess). We playtested the poo out of the Z rule, but my layout skills are...well...terrible. I really should read a book about how to use InDesign ... oh well... "learn as I go", it is!Mongoose... I agree with Zac on this. Mongoose makes great game systems. We didn't just role out Z to take advantage of the open license. Evo is a great system. Its one of the best intro sets out there. In one hour you can get an 8 year old playing a wargame. We run demos and theme games at a lot of cons and this is a plus. Evo is also solid enough to keep us veteran wargamers happy for tactics. The ACTA/VaS system is very solid. Its the best simple 2D combat to date. Not too many complications, captures the feel, light and fun. I agree with the layout comments. I like the full color books. Its less of a profit margin for any publisher (and lets face it.... game companies are a business [must-pay-salaries-taxes-bills-benefits-production costs-make profit]). Any core rule book should be full color. Supplements..B/W is acceptable, but color is preferred. As far as Mongoose minis are concerned. I've always enjoyed the B5 sculpts, never tried the Gangs of MC1, but think the sculpts are decent. I like the Arachnid sculpts but not so much the MI (this has nothing to do with Mongoose though... I didn't like the concepts of the human armor from the animated series). I was a fan of the BFEvo pre-paints. I thought they were priced appropriately and the paint jobs were perfectly acceptable. Its a simple matter of production run sizes and the Chinese market. China makes a lot of crap very cheaply. You want baby formula cheap... go Chinese... just don't whine when it contains poison. Minis cheap... go Chinese... just don't whine when the paint jobs don't meet promised standards. You want quality... make em with domestic labor. You'll pay the price though... we're union (and proud of it dammit). Hey, what can we say... we like to be able to afford housing and toilets that flush. Until the Chinese people kick the poo out of their commie overlords and our own corporate demigods of avarice, and stand up for their rights to live and not work to death from the age of 3, we'll keep getting cheap Chinese crap (sorry about the soap box, there).
I think every company out there has been the victim of the current global downturn. You won't see, in the near future, too many companies with enough capital to launch overly ambitious projects. I think perhaps the pre-painted Evo minis fit that bill. I would, however, like to see them return in the future. I love painting and modeling, but have FAR TOO MANY sitting unpainted right now. A little "open box/play game" is nice once and a while.
Oh well... my rambling, 2 cents (worth 0.5 cents in today's economy)...
Again, good job Agis and AD publishing.
Jay
pixelgeek
Mongoose
Thanks for the comments guys
This is rather funny because I am getting a bit of grief on the Dakka Dakka forum for being too hard on GW
I'd be happy with well designed black and white if that was an option. The current layout style also appears to waste a lot of space that could be used to trim the size of the book.
DaWarbossMI said:
This is rather funny because I am getting a bit of grief on the Dakka Dakka forum for being too hard on GW
I'd be happy with well designed black and white if that was an option. The current layout style also appears to waste a lot of space that could be used to trim the size of the book.
