Specialist Games

[ninjahax]

Hi!

Do any of you 40k buffs play mordheim or necromunda? I prefer mord TBH, this game has so much potential on the table top, and as an rts with relic, they should totally get that rolling ;)

ITT: Talk about other specialist games produced by GW.

[Kalamain]

When I used to play TT (All those many years ago!) we actually used to play more Blood Bowl and Space Hulk than we did normal 40k!

On game nights the BB table was ALWAYS in use and our local Manchester store had a preset SH 'map' in use that someone had made to look semi-real. It was a brilliant map and good fun!

[SilverTabby]

I play Necromunda. It's easier to get a 12-16man gang painted and finished than a whole army. And the 2nd Ed 40K rules work much better for small scale than 40K.

Not that my gang is finished, but it is easier in theory... ;)

[FarseerAnimal]

There's actually a Blood Bowl game coming out sometime. Saw it at Gamesday UK this year.
I don't play any of the specialist games myself, though I would like to try Battlefleet Gothic, starship combat is something I've never really done.

-Animal

[snrjefe]

Ah Bloodbowl...my Orkland Raiders were the shit back in the day. I had a blitzer that killed 3 humans in one game.

I used to play Epic as well. Phantom Titans and Tempest tank hosts FTW! I couldn't get the hang of Orks though, they always got slaughtered when under my command. Epic just had a much more, well, epic feel to it. Painting the little infantry figures sucked, but we had a huge table and tons of Lego-based terrain as well as the cardboard stuff that came with the game, so massive battles that took 2-3 days to resolve were the norm. That's where the BloodBowl came in, to break up the long slog gaming with some short, fast bloodletting.

Necromunda always looked fun, but the gaming group fell apart after high school.

[Brother Wolf]

I play Epic, BFG, Necro & Mord. Necro has always been a huge love of mine as I agree w/ Tabby that the 2nd ed rules are much better than the current 40K rules in the smaller skirmish format. BFG needs a counterpart for fantasy so I can get my age of sail on, but as an old sailor with a love of sci-fi, I find BFG to have the best overall rule system of any game produced by GW, (it's also the only 100% painted army/fleet in my collection. Death to the false emperor!).

I don't play Warmaster, (though I would like to), nor Inquisitor. I play Blood Bowl, but only via the online Java client, (which does make me want to collect a couple teams in pewter & plastic).

All that being said, I find Mordheim to be the one we play the most often. I can't rightly explain why, but there are a few simple changes to the experience component which make Mord superior to Necro, (so we adopted them for Necro. Nothing worse than rolling a stat bonus for your Heavy and getting WS. Lame), and I just find the overall emphasis on fantasy combat to be more engaging than SciFi shooting.

In each case, these are games which have a lower cost of entry in terms of money and time, (again, Tabby totally got it right), compared to their full sized WFB/40K cousins and the campaign aspects of Necro./Mord really make you want to play more and watch your band of bad mamma-jammas gorw into a formidable force.

[spacewolflord]

Battlefleet Gothic has always been my Specialist Game of choice. What is not to love having a small fleet of warships under your command with enough fire power to lay waste to a planet if you wished? All in the name of the God Emperor of course.

It is one of the cheapest games GW makes with most game are around 500-750 points and most Cursiers are 150~ range. So you only need a few of the big boys with a small group of escorts or two and you are set.

[Jianaran]

I play epic. Well, I have models and hope to have a game one day... I'm also considering getting into BFG, but Epic's enough for now. I play Specialist Games partly because they're awesome, but also because I *reall* hate the direction that 40K's been heading in of late -5th ed, the latest ZOMG ULTRAMARINES marine codex, Chaos being gutted.

[BLUE_ICE8822]

I could be wrong, but aren't the live rulebooks for Necromunda and Blood Bowl run by the fans?

That is one reason why the rules are now so excellent and playable. All the wrinkles have been fixed from the original and faq's are very extensive. At some points, the game mechanics have been extensively overhauled ie. the BB special play cards.

This is the same direction that I think 40k should take. Some of the codex's for 40k are so out of date it is laughable. And FAQ's or rules corrections take forever to appear or just don't happen. The fans could do a better job.

Hand the rules and codex's over to the fans GW, we'll show you how to do it!!

[Xenith]

My favourite game to have been produced by GW is Mordheim (I like it more than fantasy and 40k!), its the one me and my friends played the most, its so easy to get to grips with, get a warband for, its fun, and you can get a game done in around 40 minutes, or a few in a night.

I also play inquisitor, which can be hilarious if youre in the right mindeset (RPG, not winning), and am looking at begging back into BFG, being v shaky with the rules.

The specialist games range is really good, and adds another dimension to gaming.

[Vaaish]

I'm quite fond of Epic and BFG :)

[Tinweasel]

Pity GW doesn't reclaim Man O' War... still got the box w/ starter navy sitting in the basement and plan on playing it with my daughter when she's a bit older. I would say my wife now, but she's not too keen on the whole "husband paints miniatures and does hobby-related things instead of other stuff."

Is Space Hulk still supported? I remember all the cool terrain articles back in the day.


And to stay quasi-relevant, I've never personally played BFG, Mordheim, Necromunda, or Epic. I do have some painted Skaven Blood Bowl players, though, but not enough for a team. (The Dark Eldar team I did have I passed along in a Mini Exchange.) I never got into any of those games but saw tons of articles about them in my older White Dwarf issues. Do people still play the specialty games in stores, or is it more of a "niche" market?

[Xenith]

My local store, Leeds, still does blood bowl leagues every so often. or at least they used to, only just started going back after a break. you can usually book a table for any game that you want, but its mainly gaming clubs that you can play specialist games.