Warzone
- Thread starter byram
- Start date
If Mongoose were to take over the MC Warzone / Chronopia titles I'd recommend the following.
1) The Warzone name has developed a stigma, from the last 2 bearers of that name. I'd recommend going about the same approach Urban Mammoth did with Void 1.1, by remarketing everything under the Urban War name. Urban War, a skirmish version of the Void 1.1 game, seems to be taking off quite well and even the UM folks recognized sales improved on Void models when they relabled them under the Urban War name. Also, a new version of Void 1.1 will be coming out this year under the name Metropolis (keeping with the Urban War name). First I'd work on renaming the game, something different yet recognizable. I'd recommend "Mutant Chonicles: Miniature Wargaming in a Universe Under Siege". The MC name has not really been used in a long time, yet would be easily recognizable by it's fanbase. Also it should tie in with the upcoming movie.
2) Take the existing Ultimate Warzone rules and just clean it up and edit it! It's an excellent rules set, just poorly executed. Biggest complaint amongst even the biggest diehard fans. Perhaps break the book up into 3 books like Warzone 2nd Edition, Core Rules, Fluff Text, and Army lists. BTW, those rules (both Ultimate Warzone & Chronopia 2nd Edition) would also make good skirmish-level rules for other Mongoose titles like Babylon 5, Conan, The Wars, Lone Wolf, etc.
3) Clean up the miniatures catalog. Start with filling in miniatures that don't exist yet. Drop the really ugly, poor sculpts and replace them with new. Some troop-types can be doubled up with perhaps 1-2 model replacements or mods. For example, the original Brotherhood Troopers (very poor sculpts) were replaced with much better sculpts, and then were renamed Elite Brotherhood Troopers. Drop the old sculpts, use the new Brotherhood Troopers as both Brotherhood Troopers and Elite Brotherhood Troopers (just suggest painting them differently) and release a new Elite Brotherhood Trooper Sergeant (which could be as easy as modifying the existing new Trooper Sergeant by replacing her Punisher Pistol with a Machine Pistol). There are lots of other cases where this could be applied.
4) Start producing small campaign packs full of scenarios and fluff. Something quick to put out would go a long way to support the game while longer leadtime items (like 1-3 mentioned above) are taking place.
5) Support the game. Mongoose already does an excellent job getting the name out there and supporting it, from this forum, to convention support, to S&P magazine. This was one thing that people really complained about with EE, but Mongoose seems to do rather well.
6) Start making an OGL based RPG for both MC Warzone and Chronopia. Both titles have very rich backgrounds and artwork that would make a good rpg setting. Plus tons of models that already exist.
1) The Warzone name has developed a stigma, from the last 2 bearers of that name. I'd recommend going about the same approach Urban Mammoth did with Void 1.1, by remarketing everything under the Urban War name. Urban War, a skirmish version of the Void 1.1 game, seems to be taking off quite well and even the UM folks recognized sales improved on Void models when they relabled them under the Urban War name. Also, a new version of Void 1.1 will be coming out this year under the name Metropolis (keeping with the Urban War name). First I'd work on renaming the game, something different yet recognizable. I'd recommend "Mutant Chonicles: Miniature Wargaming in a Universe Under Siege". The MC name has not really been used in a long time, yet would be easily recognizable by it's fanbase. Also it should tie in with the upcoming movie.
2) Take the existing Ultimate Warzone rules and just clean it up and edit it! It's an excellent rules set, just poorly executed. Biggest complaint amongst even the biggest diehard fans. Perhaps break the book up into 3 books like Warzone 2nd Edition, Core Rules, Fluff Text, and Army lists. BTW, those rules (both Ultimate Warzone & Chronopia 2nd Edition) would also make good skirmish-level rules for other Mongoose titles like Babylon 5, Conan, The Wars, Lone Wolf, etc.
3) Clean up the miniatures catalog. Start with filling in miniatures that don't exist yet. Drop the really ugly, poor sculpts and replace them with new. Some troop-types can be doubled up with perhaps 1-2 model replacements or mods. For example, the original Brotherhood Troopers (very poor sculpts) were replaced with much better sculpts, and then were renamed Elite Brotherhood Troopers. Drop the old sculpts, use the new Brotherhood Troopers as both Brotherhood Troopers and Elite Brotherhood Troopers (just suggest painting them differently) and release a new Elite Brotherhood Trooper Sergeant (which could be as easy as modifying the existing new Trooper Sergeant by replacing her Punisher Pistol with a Machine Pistol). There are lots of other cases where this could be applied.
4) Start producing small campaign packs full of scenarios and fluff. Something quick to put out would go a long way to support the game while longer leadtime items (like 1-3 mentioned above) are taking place.
5) Support the game. Mongoose already does an excellent job getting the name out there and supporting it, from this forum, to convention support, to S&P magazine. This was one thing that people really complained about with EE, but Mongoose seems to do rather well.
6) Start making an OGL based RPG for both MC Warzone and Chronopia. Both titles have very rich backgrounds and artwork that would make a good rpg setting. Plus tons of models that already exist.
Dark Cornflakes
Mongoose
CmdrKiley said:
I'd love to see them do the minigame. I've always been kind of bugged by not being able to be them here in EU.
Personally I loved Warzone and I would *love* to see it rereleased and supported by a company that actually know what they are doing with it. I'd just love to see the miniatures and concepts from the game expanded on an revamped (as good as some of the sculpts were...they are nothing compared to what is available these days).
High Lord Dee
Mongoose
Loved the Mutant Chronicles RPG from the Warzone world. I would buy it.
HLD
HLD
We have actually been offered this. However, the holders of the IP have another property we are far more interested in making a miniatures game of. . .
High Lord Dee
Mongoose
Mutant Chronicles Rock. If I were to run a Sci Fi RPG setting, this would be it. Bring it back Mongoose!
HLD
HLD
MaxSteiner
Mongoose
The Warzone IP has been sold onto someone else hasn't it?>
Theres currently a prepainted miniatures game in development.
I'd secound the RPG... but I don't see how you can improve on perfection really.... Mabye release Operatation Kirkwood in English? Thats all you could do really though, Mutant Chronicles is one of my favourite RPGs, even if it is next to impossible to convcince players that system where you spend more time choosing you're guns then you're concept is a good idea...
Ooooh oooh how about Chronopia?... Even though it never really seemed anything more than "Fantasy with Shoulder pads.... really really BIG shoulderpads" I kinda felt it had some depth worth eploring.
Theres currently a prepainted miniatures game in development.
I'd secound the RPG... but I don't see how you can improve on perfection really.... Mabye release Operatation Kirkwood in English? Thats all you could do really though, Mutant Chronicles is one of my favourite RPGs, even if it is next to impossible to convcince players that system where you spend more time choosing you're guns then you're concept is a good idea...
Ooooh oooh how about Chronopia?... Even though it never really seemed anything more than "Fantasy with Shoulder pads.... really really BIG shoulderpads" I kinda felt it had some depth worth eploring.
Right, FFG (Fantasy Flight Games) currently hold the right to any miniatures game (they are releasing a collectible miniatures game called "Mutant Chronicles"). Also apparently all the rights are shot to hell- so you would have to get multiple rights for both RPG and mini game. I'm not sure how difficult all this is but it wont be easy.
Onto the game itself- first it mustnt be expensive and suffering from your current "price creep". £10-15 for 10-20 soldiers seems fair to me (remember of course that the most consistently praised item I hear of on other forums are the LAMI because they are so cheap for so many and pretty well sculpted.) Blisters similarly should not be overpriced. Continue your strategy of releasing units in boxes not blisters. Alternatively follow Dark Age and sell both forms but the box is slightly cheaper and has one Ltd edition mini in it. Ptices for blisters should not be high. Look to Hasslfree and Dark Age- rarely beyond £4 for a single mini (usually £3) unless its big. £5 for 3 men suits me. Sure there wont be much profit but people will buy more, praise you more and as Dark Age proved keeps you going in decent style anyway. I wouldnt actually release the original minis themselves except as a "Classics" range. I feel that a new start is best and while many people are nostalgic the fact remains that the minis are mostly crap and have waaaaay huge shoulder plates. Similarly much of the artwork should be removed. Instead make the rulebook "false colour" with b&w illustrations/art (its too big for full colour art all the way through) and then have colour sections or just have certain bits of art in colour. Hire new artists. I'm sorry but for a big company Mongoose seems to hire some mediocre and crap artists. Ditch many of them (some are good after all), go to conceptart.org and hire en masse. Much of the art some of these people do in their own spare time is better than much of the mongoose art I've seen. Next "names", Adrian Smith is obvious for Chronopia and would be great for Warzone too. Add in Paul Bonner (again obvious), Paolo Parente if you can get him (another Chronopia vet). Karl Kopinski would be great for Warzone. Next sculptors; Mark Copplestone (excellent at doing humans), Kev White (anything female or grizzled), Perry Bros (make great infantry) etc. Names are needed for sculpts. Oh and keep hiring Gael Gourmon. Update the look too, ditch the shoulder pads (well, make 'em smaller) etc etc. This should be rebirth, not another ressurection.
OK, ramblings over...
Onto the game itself- first it mustnt be expensive and suffering from your current "price creep". £10-15 for 10-20 soldiers seems fair to me (remember of course that the most consistently praised item I hear of on other forums are the LAMI because they are so cheap for so many and pretty well sculpted.) Blisters similarly should not be overpriced. Continue your strategy of releasing units in boxes not blisters. Alternatively follow Dark Age and sell both forms but the box is slightly cheaper and has one Ltd edition mini in it. Ptices for blisters should not be high. Look to Hasslfree and Dark Age- rarely beyond £4 for a single mini (usually £3) unless its big. £5 for 3 men suits me. Sure there wont be much profit but people will buy more, praise you more and as Dark Age proved keeps you going in decent style anyway. I wouldnt actually release the original minis themselves except as a "Classics" range. I feel that a new start is best and while many people are nostalgic the fact remains that the minis are mostly crap and have waaaaay huge shoulder plates. Similarly much of the artwork should be removed. Instead make the rulebook "false colour" with b&w illustrations/art (its too big for full colour art all the way through) and then have colour sections or just have certain bits of art in colour. Hire new artists. I'm sorry but for a big company Mongoose seems to hire some mediocre and crap artists. Ditch many of them (some are good after all), go to conceptart.org and hire en masse. Much of the art some of these people do in their own spare time is better than much of the mongoose art I've seen. Next "names", Adrian Smith is obvious for Chronopia and would be great for Warzone too. Add in Paul Bonner (again obvious), Paolo Parente if you can get him (another Chronopia vet). Karl Kopinski would be great for Warzone. Next sculptors; Mark Copplestone (excellent at doing humans), Kev White (anything female or grizzled), Perry Bros (make great infantry) etc. Names are needed for sculpts. Oh and keep hiring Gael Gourmon. Update the look too, ditch the shoulder pads (well, make 'em smaller) etc etc. This should be rebirth, not another ressurection.
OK, ramblings over...
Honestly, I don't think warzone would work. It seemed it didn't sell. I mean, correct me if i'm wrong, but didnt two companies have this? I believe the first one went bankrupt and I never even heard about the second (so it must have been really bad).
From a practical business point of view, I belive it would be unfeasible for mongoose to do this game.
From a practical business point of view, I belive it would be unfeasible for mongoose to do this game.
Lakritsploppen
Mongoose
Maaaan!!!! 
WARZONE & CHRONOPIA Ill still play thoose games (and use 'em minis) :wink:
So... If Mongoose would reincarnate them as a Miniature game &/ or with MRQ as a rpg ... im buying, ill give you ££££!! and i KNOW my friends will too... we really liked thoose games...
WARZONE & CHRONOPIA Ill still play thoose games (and use 'em minis) :wink: So... If Mongoose would reincarnate them as a Miniature game &/ or with MRQ as a rpg ... im buying, ill give you ££££!! and i KNOW my friends will too... we really liked thoose games...
Mage said:
First company, Target Games, closed not due to itself the the holding company, Target Holdings, owning it went bankrupt. Unfortunately this left a glut of minis on the market (soon to fill the discount bins) and two great but somewhat incomplete game systems (Warzone 2nd Edition had only 2 army books out of 8 in print). This sort of left a bad taste in alot of distributors and retailers mouths.
The second company, Excelsior Entertainment, had an uphill battle due to trying to convince distributors to carry a product they just got done dumping and gamers who had either abandoned the game and sold off their collection or are all stock up after raiding the discount bins and hording stuff off of eBay. Furthermore Ultimate Warzone, although a great rules system (probably the best version of the three and one of my all time favorite TTG) was a horrible execution as it was the most poorly edited book I had ever paid money for. Unfortunately the people at Excelsior could design a great game system (Chronopia 2nd Edition was also great, and did not have the editing errors UWZ had), but couldn't run a company to save themselves. Strapped with lack of manpower, lack of money, and lack of focus, Excelsior could not release enough new product to keep supporting their game systems and just continued to frustrate their die-hard fans.
The owner of the license, Paradox Entertainment, pulled the license and gave it to Fantasy Flight Games as part the support for their recent movie deal.
Pretty much UWZ is no longer officially supported and last I had heard, all the molds and masters for the models were ordered destroyed. Fortunately UWZ was a pretty complete system and rather balanced with lots of playability and repeatability. Still tons of minis are out there and there's still lots of proxy potential. As it is, the game can still go on and be played rather well without any company support.
I myself love the game and own about 95% of the minis and have been working on proxies for units that never had models made. I would think that Mongoose would have done Warzone justice, much like it revitalized the B5 mini line. I've never played any of FFG's games but I've heard good things about them. I'm not interested in prepainted randomly packed minis, so it'll take alot to convince me to buy into the new version.
MaxSteiner
Mongoose
Good news fellow warzone fans!
Prince August molds are now selling the Warzone and Chronopia ranges. These appear to be ex stock since they're all in the original oxes.
That said Excelsior did do some very strange stuff when the closed down so maybe they managed to "aquire" the molds from the skip outside of excelsiors HQ?
Even way, nice prices, and great models.... well some of them anyway
http://www.princeaugust.ie/
Fuck the haters Mutant Chronicals was a great setting, how many other wargames can you name where 6 of the factions are actually different cultures rather than different races? Very good move I always thought.
Prince August molds are now selling the Warzone and Chronopia ranges. These appear to be ex stock since they're all in the original oxes.
That said Excelsior did do some very strange stuff when the closed down so maybe they managed to "aquire" the molds from the skip outside of excelsiors HQ?
Even way, nice prices, and great models.... well some of them anyway
http://www.princeaugust.ie/
Fuck the haters Mutant Chronicals was a great setting, how many other wargames can you name where 6 of the factions are actually different cultures rather than different races? Very good move I always thought.
