MBS Podcast Episode 37

[Ruckdog]

Better late than never, Episode 37 of the MBS Podcast has arrived! Greg and Andy start of the show with a look back at the events of 2018. Later, they take a look at some of the generic conventions that they most associate with naval miniature games.

2018 Year in Review: 47 Min

Generic Conventions: 1 Hr 36 Min

Checkout the Latest Episode of the MBS Podcast!

http://www.manbattlestations.com/blog/2018/12/22/episode-37/

[RuleBritannia]

Loving the cast.  Really good nuance and thoughtful analysis of the year.  Interesting question emerges of why and which naval games break through.  It seemed like there was a moment for Dropzone, Dystopian wars and Star Wars Armada, but they seemed to peter out.  X-Wing seems pretty mainstream but as a fighter game that's very accessible.  Can TTCombat and Warcradle try and break through?  What would they need to do so?  What about Battlestar, Oak and Iron, and Cruel Seas?  Do they need to advertise, be accessible at all FLGS, or call upon a familiar name?  Can they compete with GW?  Is it better to just be like Brigade, being decently sized, well proportioned and improving models bit by bit?

[Covertwalrus]

 Good podcast and a marvellous wrap to the year.

 Forgte off hand which of you gents made the comments about how the Warcradle version of DW 3.0 is going, but I have to agree from my perspective- Those in the People's Front and others are also noting that the bloom of new rules is off the rose for many of the enthusiastic original players, and the whole impetus for the 3.0  ( And ship designs with all the . . . fascinating changes there :/ ) is from those entirely new to the game since Wayland bought the IP. Even some of them are makign comments that seme to indicate that the rules will swing back towards the originals in some aspect.  ( Though given the social media policy of that company to "negativity", one may not be getting an accuarte picture representatiive sample of what teh audience is thinking  )

 As for a big 'breakout' game in naval tabletop, I would not be surprised if Cruel Seas might be the closest yet. Admittedly, it is in 6mm scale which is such a niche market despite it's great utility for combined-arms gaming ( Yes, I am a Braille scale player, but I can defend that point ). nevertheless with the massive amount of ancillary miniatures and support in that scale ready-made, it's possible that it could have the legs to go far. Englsih readers might be reminded of the sarcastic phrase " This show will run and run and run" but despite that,. I think it's a possibility.  RuleBritannia makes good points about those previous games, though one has to wonderif they had had a solid financial and company backing - As GW first did when it started what became the Warhammer40K juggernaut - could they have done better?

[Landlubber]

Thanks guys, glad you're enjoying the 'cast.

@RuleBritannia, I think that's the million dollar question--not just for naval games, but games in general. I would hate to be a game store owner trying to figure out what to stock and what to pass up. There must be a hundred different reasons that games take root in certain places, and those reasons would almost have to be different for each area.

@CovertWalrus, that's interesting about Dystopian Wars. I will most likely not follow the game into the Warcradle Era, but I do wish them well. I'm not planning to stop playing (or painting) the game anytime soon, but likely won't pick up any of the new stuff. I have plenty of version 2.5 opponents here so I'm not too worried about it.

Cruel Seas may be the breakout game of 2018--I've only heard good things about it. One of our local stores here has a lot of players interested to try it, but they can't get any stock in--apparently Warlord can't make copies fast enough for demand. I personally can't wait to see it on the table and give it a go, and I'm probably going to pick up a few of the Osprey books to learn about that aspect of WWII naval warfare.

[RuleBritannia]

2019 looks like it is going to be interesting from what you say.  We have the expansion of Cruel Seas to see if that is a sustainable game.  The launch of Dystopian Wars 3.0 at some point, so finally get the make or break of the new rules and designs, and if Warcradle's promise of reaching out to a new market will work.  Warcradle also have 3.0 beta of Firestorm, and Stuart has spoken of adding some kind of 3D element to the ruleset which I remain to be convinced on.  Oak and Iron and Battlestar will be arriving on tabletops and X-Wing and Armada's Clone war expansion could cash in the prequel fascination.  Do Landlubber and Ruckdog have any predictions for next year?

[Ruckdog]

I've got a few! Stay tuned for my annual predictions blog post .