Re: Blue Sky Thinking (was: Re: [GZG] re: Wanted)

["Allan Goodall" <agoodall@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 11/2/06, Robert N Bryett <rbryett@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> IMHO the SG rule book
> needs a lot less fluff about "Private Bloggs", and a lot more canned
> scenarios to jump-start new players who may not have much background
> in wargaming, and to build their confidence and trust in the "no-
> points" system.

I don't disagree that SG2 could use more scenarios. The rule book only
has two pages of "fluff", page 65 and 66, which is mostly a
Tuffleyverse timeline. Oh, and three short paragraphs on page 2. You'd
be hard pressed to find a better "rules to fluff" ratio outside of a
historical game set.

> This is a serious barrier to converting young players
> with experience of 40K I've found, despite the fact that I think one
> gets a *much* better game with SG2.

I don't really think SG2 is after the same target market. SG2 is aimed
at a more mature player who respects what the rules are trying to do
with regard to command control and morale.

That's not to say that the game couldn't use scenarios! I think the
route to go is the one found in historical sets, where scenario books
are sold separately. In fact, there was a call for scenarios for a
scenario book. The call went out several years ago, but nothing came
of it.

> Once you pull back far enough, it doesn't matter if
> the infantry are armed with gauss-rifles or M-16s, or if the tanks
> have 120mm guns or lasers, or if the CAS is helicopters or grav-sleds...

This is a common complaint about SG2. It plays too much like a modern
rule set. Actually, given artillery accuracy and other issues it makes
a dandy Vietnam war rule set. The game needs more sci-fi in it, and so
does the as yet hypothetical SG3. It's the sci-fi chrome that would
turn make it stand out at a company level.

> d. Other :). I haven't made my mind up about 15mm. I came back to
> wargaming after a long lay-off beginning in the late '70s. Back then
> I played "25mm" for historicals plus 1:300th modern mechanised, and
> 15mm didn't really exist.

15mm started to make itself known for Napoleonics and American Civil
War in the mid 1970s. Traveller 15mm figures were available in the mid
1980s, by which time 15mm had become the de facto standard scale for
historicals.

> I must say that I've been very impressed
> with the quality of casting on modern 15mm stuff, but integration
> with popular vehicle/building model scales seems poor. In the pics,
> GZG's vehicles all look rather small (if beautifully formed ;) ) in
> relation to the figures.

In fact they are pretty realistic, size wise. I have several of the
new tracked vehicles. I thought they looked a bit small at first, but
in real life they look just fine.

Buildings are an issue. Microtactix does cardstock 15mm World War II
figures. Few other companies do 15mm cardstock buildings. However,
it's not too hard to take the images and shrink them to fit 15mm.

I don't know of any pre-made 15mm scale buildings. Some N scale stuff
fits (most is a little small), but it's all historical (and in the
U.S. it's mostly early to mid 20th century stuff).

One thing about 15mm sci-fi is that, just like 25mm sci-fi, you end up
making a fair bit of your own terrain. At least 15mm stuff is easier
to store. *S*

> I'm not sure what vehicles one might kit-
> bash for use with 15mm SF. Perhaps 1/87th Minitanks, but 1/72nd
> aircraft would be way too big I think.

Roco's Minitanks are actually good for kitbashing, but, seriously, as
someone who kitbashed them for my figures I'm just as happy using
GZG's 15mm vehicles. All I have to do is paint them!

> I'm just not sure how 15mm fits in. OK, I know it's cheaper than 25mm
> (probably the main attraction),

For me, the main attraction is that they are smaller.

> When it comes to ground-scale and gaming space, it doesn't seem to me
> that 15mm is different enough from 25mm to make a lot of difference
> (the SG2 rules use the same ground-scale for both...).

First, I prefer to play SG2 with 15mm. Even using movement units in
inches, as per the SG2 rules, I prefer 15mm figures. You don't have
the same cramming together issues that you have with 25mm (and even
worse with 28mm), and the vehicles have a smaller footprint.

Second, you can use centimetres instead of inches with 15mm figures.
The result is very much like using 25mm or 28mm with inches. Likewise,
you can use 15mm for games like FMAS, using centimetres to save space.

--
Allan Goodall            http://www.hyperbear.com
agoodall@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
awgoodall@xxxxxxxxx
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