Skip to Content
 

Several random Question about plastic and paper miniatures.

2 replies [Last post]
Mon, 06/04/2012 - 15:35
Redcap
Redcap's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/26/2008
Sample Art: Menacing Robot of Death

Feel free to answer any question that you feel you can or want too :)

I am designing a game that has some elements of a tabletop war game but on a much smaller scale and has a lot of different units. Due to prices of custom plastic miniatures being huge I was leaning more to having the game have paper miniatures for the units. For the bigger vehicles I was going to do basically cardstock contruction kits much like those found in worldworks kits.

Question 1: Why don't you usually see paper miniatures in professional miniatures games or in games at all?

Question 2: If the pieces were pre-printed and cut on durable chit board/ card stock would you be interested in a miniatures table top game? I could basically do quality resin bases that the cardstock slides nicely into.

Question 3: As my game gets quite a bit more love and polish would anyone be interested in future playtesting of a futuristic table top/ board game? Can I contact you at that time?

I have looked extensively into manufacturing custom plastic miniatures but can't find any good companies to even talk with. I understand that it is extremely expensive because you have to create a steel or aluminum mold for the injection process, and have to pay for a sculptor to make the models in the first place. I am in a interesting position because I don't actually have to pay for a sculptor because I do digital sculpting as a freelance artist already.

Question 4: What company did this ( http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/coolminiornot/sedition-wars-battle-f... ) kickstarter campaign use to actually manufacture their models?

Thye have a pretty cheap boxed game for the number of custom pieces in it. I think their game had about 8 or so different models and a quantity of 50 total for about $80. That is an incredible price per piece and would actually make my game viable to me at that price, because again I could just swallow the costs of the actual sculpting.

Question 5: What are peoples general feelings towards pewter models?

Question 6: Would you rather have pewter miniatures in a game than no miniatures at all?

Now the next few question are more in regards to my actual game and a few questions I have had with it. The game is a mixture of sci-fi and fantasy where magic comes from heroes being embedded with energy from stars giving them super natural powers, such as telepathy, increased speed and strength, manipulation of elements, ect. The game play has two different armies build bases and armies and then battle on a table top.

Question 8: I am trying to come up for a name for the game. Do you have any suggestions?

Question 9: I am trying to make the game very fast compared to other table top games and am developing a system that doesn't require dice. Do you like rolling dice in table top games or would the streamlined play be desirable at all?

Thanks all for reading and responding to this wall of text. In closing here is some sample art I was mocking up for the game.

Top
Mon, 06/04/2012 - 15:36
#1
Redcap
Redcap's picture
Offline
Joined: 07/26/2008
P.S. my post automatically

P.S. my post automatically made some of my words into annoying advertisement links, is there a way not to do this?

Top
Mon, 06/04/2012 - 21:48
#2
desperadonate
Offline
Joined: 12/07/2011
A couple answers

1) I think part of it is a durability thing, and tabletop miniatures see a lot of wear and use. Plus, most tabletop wargames are heavy into "recreation," and having three dimensional miniatures is a big part of the "realism" (true for sci-fi/fantasy at least as much as historical). Also, I think there's a tactile satisfaction with metal or plastic miniatures. Also, while some people don't like the idea of having to paint and assemble their own minis, there are a lot of people for whom that is a huge part of the draw of tabletop gaming. Being able to paint and customize what your army looks like is a major part of the fun for many people
2) As a customer in a store, I would be willing to try a game with cardboard minis so long as it looked really engaging and well put together. It would be important for the cardboard cutouts to look like they're of good quality and could stand up to repeated use. Having a base for them to stand upright would be a huge plus - I'd be much more likely to buy one that had the bases over one that didn't.
3) I'd definitely be willing to do some play testing, and you could PM me when you're at that point - if you need more contact info, I'll send it to you and we'll go from there. I think its cool that you could digitally sculpt your own models. I don't know how many pieces per game you're thinking of doing, but you might be able to save lots of money doing some of the work yourself. I'm also not an expert on plastic casting methods, but if you had any buddies with access to cnc machines or some of the other equipment, you might be able to pay them a few bucks to help you get the prototypes or maybe even the molds. It'd be a big commitment (and possibly a huge headache), but it's an option. If you keep your designs streamlined and simple, it will help, no matter what method you go with.
4) I'm afraid I can't help you much here, though I'd be interested to find out who they did get to do the casting. Your right, it does seem to come out to a reasonable price.
5) I like pewter models. I think they have a nice feel to them. If they're meant to be painted, even better, but even if they're not, I personally think they're a good option.
6) Definitely. I think pewter is a huge upgrade over no minis. If you've got well-designed, full color, good quality cardboard cutouts in resin bases, the difference between those and plain pewter might not be a huge deal to many people, though, so you might want to ask around and see whether one is worth the cost over the other.
8) I'm terrible at coming up with titles, so I'm not much help here. If there's an element to the setting/backstory that jumps out at you, I'd probably go with a play on that.
9)While they can be a bit of a hassle, I'd say huge fist fulls of dice can also be a big part of the fun of tabletop games. I think its important that each roll be meaningful, though. I don't think I'd go with much more than attack, armor check, and maybe some spell checks. In my experience, what really slows tabletop games down are excessive phases. If you have an inititive phase, a movement phase, an aiming phase, a shooting phase, a reaction phase, a regrouping phase, a morale phase, etc, then it just gets cumbersome and it takes forever. If you can get players running around and shooting things (or other cool stuff) for most of the game, you'll be good.

Top
Syndicate content


forum | by Dr. Radut