http://www.robogear.co.uk/home/home.aspx Wasn't sure where to put this one, but I thought it was better off here than in the modelling section. I read about this on another forum: http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthrea ... 206&page=1 I was personally quite interested in the idea of an Airfix Wargame I have to admit, but when I looked at the link... shudder... Two things that are immediately off-putting to me are: The appearance of the models for a start, all pretence of realism has gone out of the window here, they make Gamesworkshop's efforts look realistic and convincing. "8 fantastic fighting vehicles with real firing weapons " Real firing weapons...? Oh please, if this is the case what are the rules like: "Strafing attack - hold model in one hand, move in sweeping motion above opponent's figures whilst yelling "Whooooooooosh!!!! Dakka-dakka-dakka-dakka!" Flamethrowers could be fun though..... (Fun memories of combining the following ingredients: Alcohol, wargames, aerosol deoderant, lighter...) I haven't seen it in the shops yet, or had a chance to even look at the rules, but overall I think that for the children's toy appearance of the models, rules will be too complicated for those the models are likely to appeal to (I reckon about age 6-10) unless they are seriously "Snakes and Ladders" simple. Any older gamers including young teens that are going to be inclined to read and understand the rules are likely to be put off by the "...real firing weapons..." and toylike appearance of the models. I guess as an introduction type game for the dad-in-his-twenties trying to establish an interest with his son in wargames (Wait a minute, that's me! Maybe someone will buy it afterall!), then maybe... but the problem then is that there's no grown-up version of the game to go on to. Maybe I'm being too harsh or cynical but I just can't see this working. Any other views?
:cry: Basically, it will quickly sink into oblivion compared to the host of much better wargames out there... Oh Airfix, what have you done?
I'm gonna keep an eye on them, a friend and I are currently working on a set of rules to recreate Anime-based fight (Ghost in the Shell/ Appleseed/ Akira) and the Japs for some reason like tanks with legs (or at least their comic artists do ). So I'll be getting some to build vehicles for the games.
Here is the explanation of the 'weapons that actuall fire' "This time a front on view of the Hurricane. Like many of the Robogear vehicles Hurricane has spring-loaded weapons that can fire plastic projectiles across the battlefield. In the case of real weapons you don’t need to roll to see if the shot hits, because you can see that with your own eyes. If you fire the weapon yourself and you hit the enemy unit then the enemy unit is hit just as though you’d rolled the correct number on a dice. The bonus of doing real shooting is that you don’t have to trust to the luck of the dice as you rely on your own skill instead!"
Yep, that's about as bad as I thought it could get, I hate to think what close combat involves ("Players take turns to flick each others figures, any that fall over are automatically hit and wounded"). There is no way that is going to be taken seriously by wargamers.
LOL! I think that it is standard wagaming, but with the option of actually firing weapons instead of rolling dice. But you can roll dice if you choose. Personally, the word 'gimmick' springs to mind.
This made me remember something Airfix produced back in the '70s. This set came with two pillboxes which could shoot small discs, a couple of AFVs, two boxes of German and British soldiers and a dioramic base including a building and accessories. All in glorious 1/32 scale. Of course, they called it a playset back then.
Ahh, but you forget: "real wargamers" started off using firing toy guns - I was reminded of this when I downloaded a Guttenberg (sp?) Project copy of HG Wells' Little Wars :lol:
I saw the box set of this game in my local Woolworths the other week, which reminded me of this thread. As you would expect from Airfix, the box art looks really cool... Inspired by this, I had another look at the website, which is now mostly working, and includes some 'battle reports' from a few skirmishes that they have organised. Quite fun, really. One of the reports is sent in by a dad who bought the game for his son, and includes this gem: "Matthew is quite taken by the real firing weapons and decided to use T-Rex’s missiles to try and hit Spider. What was quite funny was that he was such a bad shot aiming at the Spider he actually hit two troopers instead. We weren’t sure what the rules say about this, so we just classed them as killed in action."
On the subject of Wargames I have played quiet a good space fighter game call Silent Death. It's it's not the deepest of systems in fact it's a bit of a beer and pretzels game but it is very playable. Can't remember the makers name. American crowd do a good basic box.
I found out last week that Robogear is actually a Japanese (IIRC) toy company's effort and is only boxed and marketed as Airfix in Europe (dunno about the States) - they had nothing to do with the design at all.
