Monthly Themes Suggestions


  • Hi, My suggestion for one of the monthly themes would be to have :

    A Command set
    for Death Fields Bulldogs.
    Maybe a general/commander, coms guy, medic, standard bearer, Sargent, ..Engineer/mechanic! A table with map etc 

    Space Orks Death Fields 
    Infantry and again command set

    General Stowage
    Not a name for a general himself...lol However a set of stowage for the Death Fields sets.
    What do folks think? 


     



  • An orks set would be awesome, with options for melee and shooting units.


  • @Barry Evans 

    There's a digital kit idea thread started by @William Ing going here:

    https://wargamesatlantic.com/community/xenforum/topic/81951/digital-wish-list

    And a thread for digital themes going here:

    https://wargamesatlantic.com/community/xenforum/topic/85084/monthly-themes

    That being said I completely understand starting a new thread to share your ideas.  With rare exceptions once a thread slips off the "Latest Threads" list it doesn't get a lot of traffic.  

     

    I think "Command and Control" was one of the very first themes WGA had on one their very first digital monthly votes.  Not sure how that didn't win.  Easily the most actually useful of the themes.  What gaming force doesn't need command and control?  I'm sure it will roll around sooner or later.  The Bulldogs along with all the Death Fields sets could benefit from a C&C set like you described above.


  • @Barry Evans 

    The Space Ork kit idea is cool.

    Are you suggesting completely new models or more conversion parts for the existing WGA plastic orc models?

    If going the conversion parts route they lack the size to be decent Ork proxies.  Maybe they could stand in for Traitor Guard or be used with Genestealer Cult rules.  Some minor space race or semi-stable mutation/abhuman.


  • @Erebos Hammerhand I think the market already has a plethora of Orks in a hard plastic that are quite good. Not that another set won't sell, especially if it offers some unique variation to the theme, but WGA are masters of making products that no-one else has. Not so much filling niches but offering kits that jsut haven't been attempted by other manufacturers.


  • @Paul Mitting It is true, that there are many good orks sets, but in my opinion they all look rather cartoonish (at least the ones, that I know of). It would be interesting to have a set, that is less cartoonish and that portrays orks in a more brutal and terrifying way, like they are described in most stories and lore, where they are one of mankinds worst enemies.

     


  • I think WGA can do better than just do space versions of fantasy species, however well that might sell. 

    You could do an original looking brutal alien team for Death Fields with parts that just happen to be sized suitable for GW Ork bodies. And possibly would work with Spacenam for that matter.

    I would MUCH prefer a new alien type to work with. New limb options for the Harvesters to convert them to tool users and/or clawed types would be a nice addition too.


  • @Mark Dewis I agree. New alien species would be a good avenue for WGA to explore. Making them cross-compatible to other ranges is a definite bonus to kitbashers like me.

    It has been said before, but a felinoid species like the Kzin (from Larry Niven's works) would fit the bill as suitably large and vicious. No-one does anything like them in hard multi-parts to my knowledge. They would make a great Death Fields team as well as being useful figures for many sci-fi games.


  • They could use bulky digitigrade bipedal bodies for a lot of aliens, if the bodies are fully clothed.  A choice of head and tail could make them felinoid, canid, rat-like or even more alien.  


  • @JTam@Erebos Hammerhand  Actually I think adding guns to the Fantasy orcs they already have on WA digital would spice them up considerably in a good way, particularly if we are not just talking SciFi guns but say flintlocks for silver bayonets along with more setting neutral firearms like revolvers. 

    That said though I don't think WA should bother making a whole new SciFi orc set or design another one of their own unless we are talking "Pigs in Space" themed orcs with classic D&D pigheads😆.

    After all SciFi orcs were never serious as a concept nor should they be really, it’s like fairies with blaster or fedora wearing raptors with Uzis. I mean it would actually have to be more like humans who were genetically re-engineered into orcs to make it even close to “hardish” sci-fi and even then the “why" could and probably would be comedic. At its heart orcs with space guns is a TMNT style Saturday morning cartoon verse idea and while it would work for Death Fields, it would be cooler to move on to other options.

    @Paul Mitting @Paul Mitting Yeah new aliens would be good. To be honest I would like to see the shadowkish done since they are truely alien in many ways which something missing from the SciFi side of hobby if you asking me rather than anymore Death Fields sets though I agree not-kzin would work great along with the Bull Dogs, grogs,etc. (though I could argue thats just beastmen in space).

    Maybe even give them or the spiders and lizards their own diffrent inverse  timeline with diffrent teams drawn from it, though that could be to hard to do.


  • @Brian Van De Walker what is a shadowkish? Google gives me nothing.


  • Shadokesh, the aliens from the Iron Core/Dreamforge universe.  There were some models of them released during the Dreamforge kickstarter, and Wargames Atlantic teased some renders.


  • @Brian Van De Walker  ... "particularly if we are not just talking SciFi guns but say flintlocks for silver bayonets along with more setting neutral firearms like revolvers."

    I like that idea. 


  • Perhaps heads and weapons a bit like:


  • Going in a different direction to the current thread, how about Law & Order (or, Crap it's the Fuzz!) as a theme? For the classical era maybe Roman Lictors, for fantasy we could have the City Guard, for Death Fields they could be Corporate Cops for Hire or Mega-City Enforcers.

    WW2 could bring in things like MPs or Shore Patrol. The Victorian era could embrace that well known detective and his long suffering medical friend.


  • @JTam Love to see a more "Shadowrun Orc" as opposed to the cartoon Orc of GW.


  • @BS Kitbasher ah, I see. Hmm... I can only find images here that Kickstarter people posted in the forums. I haven't found anything from WGA proper, but I'm also not going to troll through four years of news again in a hurry.

    Law and Order is an excellent theme idea. Can easily work with all ranges. And who doesn't like some not-Judges or not-Arbites (not-Judges squared?) for Death Fields? 

    Mounties, Fantasy City Guard, Sheriff of Nottingham, Sheriff of Tombstone, Military Police from both world wars of many nations, Edo period Samurai police, State Troopers from the Australian colonies for Dead Man's Hand Down Under, Roman Vigiles Urbani, Acient Egyptian Medjay, Napoleonic gendarmerie nationale, and I'm sure many others.


  • Talking about Shadow Run made me think of Cyberpunk which led to the other Punk genres.

    There is of course Cyberpunk, but I know of at least Steampunk, Dieselpunk and even Clockworkpunk (possibly also called Lacepunk). That could make Punk as a theme for a number of eras. Any thoughts?


  • @Paul Mitting needs to be framed so that it works for the strictly historical eras as well. You may struggle to find a match for First Empires or Blood Oaths. Cyberpunk in the current ranges only really fits into Death Fields.

    Probably better done by looking for a more general theme that "-punk" could be attached to, such as "Urban Warriors", "Myths and Legends", "Technology and Inventions", "Amputees" or "Special Operators".


  • @Paul Mitting 

    Should work for ancients just fine:


  • "whatever"punk is often more like "fluffy not real fantasytech X with maybe mowhawks included" except maybe Cyberpunk which tends to be "Hard bleeding edge/alternet modern reality science with some mowhawks included", and most seem to work best in "not our world" fantasy settings except Cyberpunk if you ask me but there is a fanbase for what your talking about.

    That said it would be smarter to do an alternet history theme month as "weird war" since there are tons of weird war rulesets for Ancients, Dark Ages, etc. with fantasy elements, but not a lot with candelpunk and clockworkpunk as part of the setting. Likewise you could still do steampunk or something more shooty era like for Classic Fantasy (like flamthrower gnome/dwarves, etc.) and a Nappy steamcart/tank would be cool.


  • @Brian Van De Walker Very true. All the 'Punk settings veer into sci-fantasy rather than hard sci-fi, but I like the genres for that reason. It's why I love Time Bandits, Star Wars and League of Gentlemen. Ideally there would be dedicated kits made, however having arms, heads and the odd body to make your own versions from existing lines would be great as well.


  • @Paul Mitting I assume you mean League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and not the 1958 heist book, the 1960 film of that, or the BBC black comedy from the turn of the century. 😉


  • @Paul Mitting great idea, the Kzin were also (briefly) part of ST universe with an episode of the animated serie, so they could fit well in a non-official continuity.


  • @Paul Mitting That is beside the point the real issue is "punk" is not really an across the board topic for wargaming yet (there are no candle punk rules for Ancients, Dark Ages, etc., at least none that are well known), which is why I counter suggested with weird war which has more than just fantasy tech themes to bring to the table (like mythic war with gods and monsters which has several rule sets).


  • @Brian Van De Walker I am cool with that idea. I just want some hard plastic Cyberpunks and Steampunks, plus the odd Mechanical Man/Robot! Any kit that offers good kitbash potential will float my boat.


  • @Mark Dewis Yup.


  • Once you get to "candlepunk" you're pretty much indistinguishable from low fantasy. Noir sensibilities have been successfully used in medieval and classical settings (Marcus Didius Falco springs to mind), but if it's just a historical setting with murder, corruption, organised crime, sex, and betrayal... it's just historical fiction.

    Power sources are the key, and pre-clockwork you're basically looking at animal, wind and water.


  • I think most Punk genres fall heavily into the fantasy setting anyway. In fact the power sources for most artifacts in these stories tend to be semi-magical or use fantastical means of generating the required energy. Don't get me started on the idea of functional machine intelligence using only clockwork gears! But I still love thise kind of setting and will happily build my minis to create such implausible designs.


  • Gotta agree on cyberpunk being a different animal from the other "punk" subgenres, as the only real hard sci-fi option of the bunch (if only in a "20 Minutes Into the Future" sense.)

    From a certain way of looking at it, all the other "punk" subgenres are "kitbashes":  what do you get when you take Victorian costumes and buildings, and glue a couple ray guns, robots, and airships into it?  Steampunk!  What do you get when you take a suit of armor and glue some robot arms or heads or ray guns onto it?  Clockpunk or Dungeonpunk or Candlepunk or whatever the cool kids are calling it these days!  Got some WWII German bits and a few sci-fi bits? Kitbash them together and call it Dieselpunk!  It works the same way whether you're talking about miniatures, literature, comic books, movies, etc....

    And thus it probably works best for miniatures:  if you have some good, distinctive historical kits - especially civilian kits - to work with as a base, and some good flexible sci-fi bits or kits to bash onto that base, then you've got the makings for pretty much any "punk" sci-fi subgenre you can imagine, from the popular ones, to ones nobody has ever imagined. 

    Though, chances are, they've been imagined:  What do you get when you kitbash some robot bits and rayguns onto, say, a neanderthal/cave-man kit?  Wargaming action in the world of Yor: Hunter from the Future!  Or Pellucidar, Barsoom, or Masters of the Universe, or Mad Max....  What do you get when you kitbash sci-fi bits onto a Roman legion?  Not sure there's a name for it, but I guarantee we've seen it before on Star Trek or Doctor Who....

    I'm not a big fan of 3D printing and the whole digital thing (yet), but seems to me that Wargames Atlantic Digital is a fine place to start with providing some sci-fi kitbashing bits suitable for this sort of thing, though ideally I'd love to see boxed kits for robots, retro Victorian etc. costume bits, ray guns, and the like suitable for at least Steampunk and/or Cyberpunk gaming, which can be used as the source for more exotic "punk" projects.

    The main roadblock, naturally, being whether there's enough demand to support it.

    Especially considering how large a share of the sci-fi miniatures market is dominated by 40K, with almost anything sci-fi that isn't 40K-flavored being by default a niche market, in exactly the same way that anything fantasy that isn't D&D/Warhammer/Warcraft/Tolkien-flavored is by default a niche market!

    That said, I think that there's surely a reasonably large market out there for sci-fi to fantasy kitbashing for at least the purposes of retro soft sci-fi "space-opera" style gaming, a-la Star WarsStarfinderStar TrekDoctor Who, and the like... traditional fantasy pig-faced orcs/hobgoblins kitbashed with sci-fi bits?  We've seen those before dozens of times in those franchises, just starting with Klingons....  Any interest that can be generated among Shadowrun gamers in kitbashing orc and troll bits onto cyberpunk trenchcoat hacker and detective bodies and the like would be surely be niche icing on a niche cake for "punk" sci-fi kitbashing kits and Wargames Atlantic's fantasy line.

     

    For what it's worth, I love the idea of a "not-Kzin" sci-fi cat-alien faction!  I've proposed it before, but I don't think it got any traction.  40K, D&D, and Warhammer still seem to dominate the fantasy and sci-fi gaming markets, whether I like it or not!  (I don't hate it, but man, I wish there were more than a niche demand for wider variety in fantasy and sci-fi subgenres!)


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