Just made my last purchases of Runewars miniatures. 2 more packs of heavy crossbow and the Baron. A bit of melancholy now that the game has died but also some satisfaction that things went about well as I'd hoped.

I knew from the beginning in 2017 that Runewars would be short lived but my goal was a bit of fun with this new game while I collect and paint an army of Good Guys that could face my Chaos Bad Guys in a variety of games.

I had fun with the game until the closing of an FLGS killed the game locally. I painted most of 4 starter boxes and some additional. My 4 boxes of archers will likely never see a game of Runewars but when I paint them and a few others I'll have an army big and varied enough for KoW or any other fantasy wargame.

So my overarching feelings are satisfaction and some thankfulness.

-I enjoyed learning a new (I'd not played XWing)kind of rules system that was quite a nice change of pace.

-It was a neat experience to be playing a current game with a fairly active community at an FLGS.

-I've got everything I need for mass battle ( KoW, etc.) Good Guy Army.

-Due to some box trading and closeouts it was actually fairly affordable!

-I came to appreciate the Terinoth setting and I'm now enjoying it more with Battlelore 2nd that my son and I have been playing.

So, thanks to FFG and the community. I got out of this just what I'd expected and a bit more. I'm mostly going back to indie gaming but I enjoyed my time at the cool kids table and I'm sure it won't be the last time FFG gets some of my gaming dollars.

Good Luck and Godspeed.

Hey there,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I’ll offer some reflections as well and perhaps some perspectives going forward.

1) Today’s gaming industry has SO many new products that to be one of the games that made it ~ 2 years is something of an accomplishment.

2) As you can see from their product lineup and marketing focus, FFG is taking bigger swings these days at games with much larger player bases across the world. Many smaller companies would probably be happy with an audience the size of Runewars (before the announcement).

3) Games can’t be all about new releases and larger tournaments (at least for me). Look at Armada and Imperial Assault. Both are on maintenance releases at best (although Armada might actually see new plastic in 2020, I guess). If you have a group of friends that like the game, then play it and enjoy yourself.

4) Getting new players in the game isn’t that hard given the discount on new figures and the folks selling their stuff on eBay. I built a group here in Chicago on that. We have 8 people playing on a bi-weekly basis. It’s great...

5) New stuff... We all want new stuff and as I’ve documented in other topics, I’m working with @Church14 and @Jukey on a massive, card-based expansion. We’re a couple of weeks away from sharing a draft of it with folks, but the point is that you will have so much stuff that you simply couldn’t get tired of making armies with all of the diversity we’re introducing. After this, we’ll start working on rules for new figures.

6) Comparison with other games. Look at Battletech. I’ve played that since 1985 and we just played again yesterday. It’s been a few months, but I trotted out many of the mechs I used back in college. Heck, I still see CCG tournaments for games I played 15-20 years ago.

In short, hang in there and stay with us if you enjoy the game. If it doesn’t work for you, then no worries, thanks for being a part of this up until now...

Thanks for sharing. Lots to consider and I'll be looking forward to what you all come up with for Runewars. In response to some of your points:

1, 2. I really agree that alot was accomplished in 2 years. In my mind 4 complete factions is a complete game. I'm sure many folks were hoping for the longevity and scope of XWing but that was not in the cards and RW did much better than most new games do before their demise.

3. Definitely agree. We're on hiatus but my club had 8 years of meeting every other week and playing games we like regardless of age or popularity , most of which are some combination of obscure, dead, indie or old. Chicago Skirmish Wargames

4. You're in Chicago too? Will be in touch...

5. New stuff is low priority for me. My wargaming purchases are probably 33% new and the rest used.

6. Comparisons are tricky. Battletech is my absolute favorite gaming universe but CBT (not a fan) vs Runewars (quite good) is a masterclass in how rules have improved in the last 30 years.

As it happens, just this afternoon I was talking to the guy in my game club that got into Runewars with me. He and I both got the game in the Adepticon Swag Bag and split the boxes. He had been my most frequent opponent he will also be scooping up some Waiquar units at current closeout prices. However, we both agreed that while we may play Runewars in the future, for both of us the interest now would be more to complete and paint our armies regardless of what game they might be used in.

This sort of thing is what we've always done. For us, the opportunity to build and paint a new army is never constrained by a single game. As an example, figures from my chaos fantasy army (made from Battlemasters, GW, Ral Partha, and others) has seen battle in Song of Blades (original and Advanced), Kings of War, Of Gods and Mortals, Dragon Rampant, Frostgrave and likely others that I don't recall. Though my gaming has slowed lately, it's likely that my Daquan will see battle in a similarly broad range of games. Regardless of the status of Runewars, these fellows...

... will fight on.

Your armies are very nice- I like seeing something that’s not painted according to the FFG scheme. I’m not good at coming up with colors on my own. I’m working on setting up another tournament with the Madison folks down here in the Chicago area in late September or early October. I’ll be sure to include you. We could easily hit 10 or more at the tournament.

I love your points about the game, I too agree that 4 factions with the number of units we have is a complete game. I also find that the sophistication and simplicity of the rules (in general) shows how much game design has advanced since Battletech and Warhammer in the 80’s.

We’ll be in touch... 😀

Thanks!

I got the idea for green from a BoS blog by a fellow named Ben.

https://www.beastsofwar.com/liveblogentry/bens-christmas-army/

Seemed a nice change from usual armor colors though I avoided his 'Christmas' army look by substituting brown and blue where he used Red.

Hey. Leave Battletech out of this. If I want a game that has rules to do essentially anything you can conceive of, Battletech is my go to.

Especially with the clan invasion Kickstarter going on now.

Fortunately, FFG at least made a game that feels complete. They spectacularly messed up the balance for a few of the final wave’s cards. Though past a select few cards, the game feels pretty **** good.

On 7/19/2019 at 11:08 AM, Church14 said:

Hey. Leave Battletech out of this. If I want a game that has rules to do essentially anything you can conceive of, Battletech is my go to.

Especially with the clan invasion Kickstarter going on now.

Fortunately, FFG at least made a game that feels complete. They spectacularly messed up the balance for a few of the final wave’s cards. Though past a select few cards, the game feels pretty **** good.

Ha! Well I will say this for Battletech, it is at least playable which is more than can be said for some of its 1980s contemporaries.

However when I want lance vs lance combat I reach for "Mech Attack!" (A fantastic fast playing indie ruleset) In order to be able to finish the battle in less than 2 hours. I even run it in 25/28mm at conventions. For larger scope battles Alpha Strike is a good option.

This leads me to one of the best things about Runewars. Like most of my favorite games it plays fast! When your game time is a workday evening short satisfying games are great. Just started playing Battlelore with my son and the game time is similarly perfect.

Well said, that’s one of the things I love about Runewars as well, you can play 1 game on a work night, possibly 2 if you realize you did something wrong and start over 2-3 turns in. 😂

I love Battlelore 2nd ed. Just needed the Elves (and maybe a few tweaks to some of the Uthuk units) to make it a complete game as well...

A coda to this and a farewell to the FFG minis forum.

The reason for this thread turned out to not be the last Runewars purchase. Just grabbed 4 packs of the Daqan Outland scouts. As I move my green good-fellows into Kings of War I thought it would be a good idea to have a regiment of light troops.

Thanks for the good times with Runewars and farewell to the forum.