Holy Halo Batman!

[Stephan]

Let the rumor mongering begin!

http://community.spartangames.co.uk/index.php?/topic/12949-halo-coming-to-fsa/

[Quickdraw]

I don't want to speculate too much but it seems clear to me that it has something to do with Halo. It's too similar to be anything else in my opinion.
Beyond that I am excited if it is Halo related, hold your breath everybody.

[Landlubber]

Well, that most certainly IS an outline of the Master Chief's helmet. Some on the Spartan forum think maybe Spartan Games "borrowed" the image to promote Planetfall Spec Ops, but I think that would be silly.  I really don't know what to make of it, to be honest. I want to believe that they're going to make some sort of Halo-related miniatures game, whether ground combat or space combat. If it's one of those two things, well, I'm going to have to send them my bank account and routing numbers.

At the same time, I don't know if Spartan would make a Halo-themed miniatures board game. Fantasy Flight seems to have the corner on that market, especially with large, well know IPs, like the new Star Wars Imperial Assault (and I think they also did a miniatures board game based on the Gears of War IP). Plus, miniatures board games really aren't Spartan's thing. Which brings us back to some sort of ground- or space-based miniatures game, ala Dystopian Legions or Firestorm. 

But I don't want to go too far down that road of speculation, much like Quickdraw. Time will tell. Gives us something to look forward to next week!

[Stephan]

Yeah, my only thought is that, if they aren't doing something with Halo, they're asking for a copyright infringement suit from Bungie over use of that graphic.

[Landlubber]

My thoughts exactly, and I don't think Spartan Games would do that. I mentioned about the miniatures board game because some of the Spartan forum comments were moving that direction, and I just don't see Spartan Games doing that.

Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be well executed. Uncharted Seas notwithstanding, Spartan does a bang-up job with their game systems, IMHO. If it is Halo miniatures of some type, you can bet that I'll buy every single one.

[Quickdraw]

Agreed with Stephan. They aren't that thick to infringe on a copyright and put it all over their facebook.
I also agree that it's doubtful they will do a one off board game, that isn't their thing. As Greg mentioned we have Fantasy Flight with a corner on that market. And in the UK they have Mantic for direct competition that handles one off games like that.

My thought is if they will release Halo based factions for their existing game systems rather then a new system itself. This is of course if they did truly gain those rights.
The only worry is that the Spartan portfolio is getting pretty big. I would hate for them to have too many fish and not enough frying pans. Hence my thought that it could be an add-on to an existing system.

[Landlubber]

Would they do a one-off miniatures game? I guess there is precedent for that. Space Hulk and Battlefleet Gothic could be considered one-offs from GW's main line of games, right? But those were also in the same "universe" as WH40K. Spartan would be using a completely different IP, and the Firestorm Universe wouldn't mesh well with the Halo Universe.

Eh, just rambling. Can't wait to see what it really is. But it wouldn't make sense to me that they're using what is pretty much universally recognized as the Master Chief's helmet to promote Planetfall Spec Ops.

Add in the fact that the Master Chief was a SPARTAN II soldier...and we're talking about Spartan Games...if it IS Halo-related, they should have announced it on January 17th, as the Master Chief's official designation was SPARTAN-117.

[Stephan]

I bet we'll see a distinct line of minis plus some slightly modified rules and scenarios to support games in the Halo-verse.  I've seen that in the past from GW for things like Lord of the Rings and such.  The closer they can keep the rules to the core Spartan rules the better since it will allow play between Halo and non-Halo factions.  Given that Halo is primarily a first-person shooter, it wouldn't surprise me if the much rumored 28mm Spartan game gets its first release in the Halo-verse.  All the 28mm terrain they've been putzing around with would certainly support that game plan.

[Landlubber]

I bet we'll see a distinct line of minis plus some slightly modified rules and scenarios to support games in the Halo-verse.  I've seen that in the past from GW for things like Lord of the Rings and such.  The closer they can keep the rules to the core Spartan rules the better since it will allow play between Halo and non-Halo factions.  Given that Halo is primarily a first-person shooter, it wouldn't surprise me if the much rumored 28mm Spartan game gets its first release in the Halo-verse.  All the 28mm terrain they've been putzing around with would certainly support that game plan.

I see what you mean about Lord of the Rings...I forgot about that. And actually, the rules engines they have for Firestorm Armada, Planetfall, and Dystopian Legions would be easily adapted to a Halo miniatures game, whether fighting in space or on the ground. They would have to rename ships and weapons systems and maybe tweak a few things, but it would work (much like I think Fantasy Flight could do a one-off of X-Wing using the same basic mechanics, but having Battlestar Galactica Vipers and Raiders...just sayin', FFG, just sayin').

I always assumed Spartan's foray into 28mm sci-fi scenics was connected somehow to Planetfall Spec Ops.

[Ruckdog]

Would they do a one-off miniatures game? I guess there is precedent for that. Space Hulk and Battlefleet Gothic could be considered one-offs from GW's main line of games, right?

A better comparison would be Dread Fleet...BFG was a fully-supported miniatures game for a number of years, and not so much of a "one-off" as the others. Heck, in its prime, BFG was supported at least as well as any of Spartans games.

That aside, this is intriguing. This would, to the best of my knowledge, be the first licensed game from Spartan. I have to think that there will be a space component to this, as space ships are very conspicuous on the Halo games. I can hope, anyway!

[Landlubber]

Personally, I would be happy to see either a small-scale ground game, a 28mm skirmish, or a fleet game.  However, they'll have to stretch the Halo universe regardless of which direction they take it--if, indeed, that's what this actually is. The UNSC forces were fairly limited in different types of personnel and ground vehicles, and we didn't see a whole lot of the space fleets on either side. Now, what we DID see was pretty cool, and it wouldn't take much to expand on it, I don't think.

Also, there would be an issue of timing, especially if they go with a 28mm-ish skirmish game. Depending on when the game is set, there would not be very many SPARTAN soldiers--the UNSC player would be limited to marines and ODSTs (and hopefully the marines would be more effective in the miniatures game than they were in the video game!)

Eh, I sound like a Halo fanboy. I guess I am. I mean, geez, I'd buy the models just to have them!

[Ruckdog]

Indeed! A 28mm game is a definite possibility, given SG's recently announced kickstarter campaign for terrain in that scale. Although, that could just be for the Firestorm: Spec Ops game which we know is already on the way.

[Landlubber]

Something for us to look forward to in the next D6G podcast:

https://www.facebook.com/TheD6Generation?fref=photo

[Ruckdog]

I got this word via the D6G's Patreon account:

Neil from Spartan Games will be on in the third chair to talk about a new partnership. Guess what it is?

The word "partnership" has me thinking it is, in fact, a Halo tie-in.

One think that occurred to me; Neil Fawcett made his fortune in the software industry before retiring and starting Spartan Games. I wonder if any of his contacts from his previous career has anything to do with this...

[Quickdraw]

I saw this.
Seems pretty clear what it is now. We only need to wait to see what it means. I will say that they can just have my money.