The cold war is in full swing, we're all going to fry the world over in a big mushroom cloud, it rains all the time in England. It's the time of D&D and there are no BBS yet (hands up if you ever posted to one of those....ugh!)
A little known group of mates earns the rights to TSR's D&D behemoth in Europe. The found a cottage industry miniature design company, Citadel Miniatures, to produce miniatures for roleplaying games.
Fast forward to the late 80s (it still rains a lot, in England) and we have a wealth of licenses at GW's fingertips. Gary Gyrax reckons the two should merge but the GW stable know they're on a winner. Warhammer is cool. It's dark, it's gothic, yet it's tongue in cheek, it's highly imaginative. Rogue Traders span the galaxy, Marines are reminiscent of Vietnam US soldiers smoking weed and killing Orks. It's all very cool and innocent fun.
A few names pop into the the fold over the years - Ian Livingstone, Steve Jackson, John Peake (they were there from the start though, so that's kind of cheating)....Mike McVey, Rick Priestley, Andy Chambers, Jervis Johnson, Gavin Thorpe, Alessio Cavatore, Jake Thornton. And many others
To those who don't know them, these are the guys who, in various roles, designed WHFB (and its various derivative games) and WH40k (in its many, many incarnations, too) from the GROUND UP. Miniatures and all.
They came up with the idea of having a magazine (first Owl and Weasel, then White Dwarf) and back then there was no internet (there were BBSs by this stage, though...oh and ICQ!)
Their mail order service, known as the Mail Order Trolls, was helpful, knowledgeable and impeccable - as impeccable as Trolls can be, anyway!
Fast forward again to 1991 and the mood changes. An MBO (Management Buy Out) sees a focus away from creativity into running the company as a business. Good or bad, with the tension caused by having thousands of people on the payroll the world over and the falling profits due to videogames (yup, we've got the first internet by this stage!) and trading card games, the slow death of roleplaying games and the opening of Eastern economies, the whole demeanor of GW changes. They're in the worm hole that is capitalist doctrine now - not necessarily a bad thing per se, after all the Cold War is now over and YUP, the West (that's us!) won it. But the names you read before? They all get ousted or leave little by little to be replaced by a new brand of game designer, of retailer, of Mail Order Troll.
Cue 2010 MANTIC GAMES is on the scene. We're still in Nottingham - fancy that!
They've got a mag, they've got miniatures, they've got a mail order service. They've got a few of those names from above, indeed...- Mike McVey, Gavin Thorpe, Alessio Cavatore, Jake Thornton. And many others.
So I ponder, now, after this little history lesson of sorts - is Mantic worth checking out. Are we on the bottom rung of a NEW miniatures range and gaming system birth?
If these are the blokes who made GW what it is - ie designed its setting, its rules, its factions, everything you think you know and love about your favorite world was made by these guys - then shouldn't their new company be bound to produce quality?
Me, I've just bought the two Dwarf King's Hold board games as I'd like to sample the miniatures and see how the system holds up. Has anyone else thought about if this could be the new GW rising like a phoenix from the ashes of a capitalist takeover where the "fun" has left and the rain continues, that won't change, across the grey skies of Nottingham?
Ummmm....
Interesting idea.
ReplyDeleteI am old enough to remember when GW could not do mail order if it rained as the shop did not have enough room inside for the table and Citadel cast figures for you while you waited!
Look at the old WDs - much more than a house organ with flashy pictures (any else remember the Monstermark calculations?) - they understood games where not just fan boys but had interests outside the Warhammer universe and supported the whole hobby. Will Mantic do this? The figures can be used but do they actively support other games systems - nope.
Problem now is the plethora of games in the world and the Internet brings them direct to your table. No one company could survive by trying to cater for every game system out there directly you have to 'use as' with the figures and push out simple rules to hook folks in.
Manitc please:
1) Keep the rules simple - no multiple race books that make my army have to upgrade every few years. I want to choose when I upgrade
2) Keep true to your root - remember the fun side. Its a GAME. Make profit to keep going but not to rule
3) Talk to us - tell us things and not hide in an ivory tower
4) Show games at shows. Look at Warmachine - a small 2x2 table tells me more about the game in 20mins than all the blogs and websites. I can ask questions and get answers face to face
Good luck BUT please do not try to rule the gaming world.
Andrew
These days I favor companies like GZG and Reaper... maybe not the 'hip new thing' but they make a variety of nice product that is useful for a variety of games. Though both have put out game systems neither is really pushing their product in the manner GW/Privateer are. GW's business model seems to be very slash and burn... churning over new players and product with no concern over sustainability. No recognition of any 'hobby' outside of what they control (even early White Dwarf focused on products GW sold).
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't seem like Mantic is particularly interested in 'creativity' seeing as they've chosen to ride on GW's apron strings... and I don't see them embracing the wider expanse of miniature wargaming by making products that aim outside the 'GW proxy' market. Reaper is much more creative and multi-purpose.
Mantic seems to have no purpose but to feed off GW's leavings.
Guys I agree with you wholeheartedly
ReplyDelete"Creativity" is definitely not high on the agenda, though I do have to raise another point - what's left?
Where would you see the fantasy genre head? What can manufacturers produce that people will buy?
Or is the problem that GW has, over three decades, covered the fantasy genre completely with every declination of the various races?
What could Mantic bring out - centaurs? Sea Elves?