Predictions for 2017

[Ruckdog]

Happy New Year! As has become my custom, I've posted my predictions for naval wargaming in 2017 on the blog:

http://www.manbattlestations.com/blog/2017/01/02/2017-naval-gaming-predictions/

What do you all think? Do you have predictions of your own?

[Ryjak]

I think you're insane.  SG has no clue when it comes to Kickstarters, so there should be no expectation the DW KS will end up 'successful', let alone lead to future projects.

Dropzone/Fleet is up in the air to me; they really understand the importance of working to support their customers, but it seems even more niche than Spartan Games' products.

As for GW... the have taken some baby steps away from the Eye of Terror, but are continuing purely on momentum.

I'm on-board with everything else.  If you could make an A-list game, what would it be?

[Ruckdog]

I think you're insane.  SG has no clue when it comes to Kickstarters, so there should be no expectation the DW KS will end up 'successful', let alone lead to future projects.

Heh, that is probably true. And, like I said in my post, the history of miniauture gaming Kickstarters indicates that delays are very common with such projects. So, it's not so much an expectation as a hope! However, from the perspective of meeting its funding goal, the DW expansion KS was an unqualified success. So, from that alone, I fully expect that Spartan will attempt another KS campaign at some point in the future.

Dropzone/Fleet is up in the air to me; they really understand the importance of working to support their customers, but it seems even more niche than Spartan Games' products.

It's hard to say one way or the other regarding the relative niche-ness of Hawk and Spartan, since we don't have access to their respective sales numbers (nor should we). I think that, as with everything that isn't X-Wing or 40k, DFC/DZC is very strong in some areas and not so strong in others. However, by releasing and supporting DFC, Hawk is opening up a "second front" to attract gamers that might not be overly interested in 10mm ground combat but are very interested in space ships. Worked on me!

As for GW... the have taken some baby steps away from the Eye of Terror, but are continuing purely on momentum.

That momentum seems to be building of late...my impression is that AoS seems to be finding its footing as of late, and based on what I've read on event attendance 40k seems to be as popular as ever. There do seem to be some positive moves by the company over the last year or so. More to the point, they have mentioned a BFG revival in the past, and I think that when and if it comes it will make quite a stir.

I'm on-board with everything else.  If you could make an A-list game, what would it be?

Honestly, I'd love to see a mass-market WWI game, but I suspect that would not be popular enough to really be successful, at least here in the US. So, that probably means returning to the WWII well once again. I would like to see a somewhat more detailed game than War At Sea, with a boxed starter set and non-random ship expansions (maybe something along the lines of the way expansions are handled with games like X-Wing, SW Armada, or even TANKS). There could also be themed expansion boxes for famous battles (like the Battle of Midway).

[Dakkar]

Based on recent reports, at least the first half of the year for GW Specialist is Bloowbowl and new Adeptus Titanicus (titans only, no Epic). And they'll have hands full with new 40K, and summer campaigns for both AoS and 40K Fall of Cadia.

So BFG before 2018 is a LONG shot.

If Spartan makes their new business model to fund through KS and seed LGS's as an afterthought, then I'm done. For my Fleet Fix, I'll figure how to have fun with SW Armada, War Rocket, and local games of B5 ACTA.

[Landlubber]

I'll speak to the Dystopian Wars part of your predictions, as I don't know enough about the other systems.

Agreed that the Kickstarter was an unqualified success regarding funds raised. It warms my heart to see that level of interest in Dystopian Wars; people obviously wanted new models, fluff, and rules for the game. Whether or not Spartan can deliver on time remains to be seen; however, my hope is that the general community doesn't excoriate them for being late. This is, after all, a hobby. I know I'd be happy to get my pledge rewards on time, but if they're a bit late, no big deal--I've already got lots of stuff to paint and play with. But, that's just me.

Even though the DW Kickstarter raised a crap-ton of money to expand the game, I hope that they do NOT launch another Kickstarter in 2017. I'm not a businessman, and I don't know anything about running a game company, but to me Kickstarter is a way for companies to get financial help in launching new products, or adding to existing products. That's fine, but if the same company were to launch a few Kickstarters every year, I'd have to wonder what they're doing with their capital--why they can't fund this stuff in-house, so to speak. Spartan was able to launch both their Halo miniatures games without a Kickstarter, and they're both great games with excellent miniatures. They've stated that the DW Alliance factions are getting an overhaul in 2017 as well; hopefully, they can do that without the community's financial assistance. I think that's a well you don't want to go back to too often.

Just my $0.02. For the record, I hope that DFC does get support and grows; it looks like a pretty cool game.