Warhammer Mark Of Chaos - How Is The RTS?

Steven Williamson writes "HEXUS.gaming's resident wood elf, Steven W, jumped at the chance to take the eye-opening trip to the Games Workshop HQ in Nottingham, home to the unique venue that is Warhammer World. What started out as a run-of-the-mill press event to see the latest real-time tactics videogame set in the Warhammer universe ended up capturing my imagination and quashing any previous hang-ups I almost certainly had about the people who played Warhammer and indeed the tabletop game that has spawned this latest PC game, Warhammer: MOC."

Comments

Fluff piece

[bidule]

This guy is really enthusiastic. You have to dig through the dythirambic spew to get the meat. At least you can't have the standard GW step 3 aka buy tons of figurines at high cost. Yeah I skewed against them, cry me a river ;oP

Re:Fluff piece

[Eccles]

At least you can't have the standard GW step 3 aka buy tons of figurines at high cost.

Ebay is your friend here. Buy them, then sell them back on ebay when you're no longer interested for a similar price, even possibly a profit if you're a decent painter. Also, OOP figures often go for cheaper than the latest stuff.

I bought a bunch of current model figs the other day, including $125 (list) in stuff still sealed in shrink wrap, and 50-60 other miniatures (mostly metal) for $100 including shipping. And a chariot just arrived today, $10 including the shipping.

Check advice sites for when to buy ebay stuff. I won the big lot I just mentioned in an auction that ended after 1 am EST. Sniper programs are also handy.

Skaven over Orcs?

[Sapphon]

What on earth prompted the inclusion of Skaven (rats, basically, for those of you playing at home) as a 'core' race over Orcs? Unless there's been a significant change since I last visited my local GW, Orcs have a far bigger following.
For the non-wargamers, this is akin to FIFA 2007 letting you play with Manchester City instead of Manchester United.

I'm not against the idea (of dropping either Orcs or Man U. *grin*), I just find it curious. Won't they have the same problem as with Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War, when all the Imperial Guard players had a sook about not getting to play their army (except as a "Dog of War" in one mission)? Or is the percentage of people buying this game who actually come from the tabletop version so low that it just doesn't matter?

Re:Skaven over Orcs?

[Firefly1]

It should be pointed out that they added the Imperial Guard with the expansion to Dawn of War. I'm just annoyed that they still haven't made Tyranids >:(.

The upcoming second expansion (Dark Crusade) adds the Tau and Necrons. The developers have no current plans to include Tyranids because they are not convinced that their engine, as good as it is, can do them justice. Although in the interests of rounding things out, I wonder if we'll be seeing Dark Eldar at some point...

Re:Games Workshop is the Microsoft of gaming

[LordDracula]

GW definitely has done (and is still doing) a lot to try to keep a stranglehold on the mini-gaming market. Privateer Press has put out an incredibly fun game in Warmachine, and now Hordes. Their models are at least equal, and in many cases (IMHO) better, than GW's stuff. But the real glory shines in the game play and setting.

I think that back in the late 90's, GW was definitely in position to completely kill the mini-gaming market right there after the fall of Ral Partha (yeah, Reaper's always been around, but has *never* managed to produce a half-way decent set of rules, so they're stuck in the "supporting other games" market for the most part). However, a couple of companies rose up to challenge them, mainly Rackham with their Confrontation game and Privateer Press with Warmachine. In some ways, GW has set the stage for their own overthrow by their abusive tactics (just try to find a place other than their own website that you can view and purchase their models online--you can't, because they don't allow it). I, for one, won't really miss them.