Battletech destiny or alpha strike simplify things even further. Great to see another Battletech fan! I'm a Clan Wolf guardsmen but for inner sphere clashes I prefer the Federated Suns/Davions.
Gaslands has provided THE biggest laughs as well as legit moments of tension out of any minis game I've ever played. The game mechanics do an elegant job of simulating specifically cars, so that you're constantly trying to find that sweet spot of control/speed while maneuvering to get opponents into your crosshairs. When my friend attempted to drift an armored car to avoid a head-on collision with a canyon wall, we played the Initial D theme (he made it, too!). It's also one of the cheapest minis games to start playing; along with the rulebook & D6s, all you need is a Hot Wheels car and a set of movement templates printed on some cardstock. Also in my backlog are some of Osprey's other minis-agnostic games: Frostgrave, Stargrave, Oathmark, Reality's Edge, and as a personal project I'm adapting A Fistful of Kung Fu for Jedi/Sith skirmishes.
I missed „Kings of war“ as this is currently one of my favorite. 1. easy to Learn 2. cheap because of multi-basing 3. you are allowed to use any Modells from each company (if the scale fit). So if you have an old Warhammer Fantasy army, with Kings of war you have the ability to reanimate them. 4. It have 27 different army so you will find one which you love.
@@dadashlorgar yes on more point ;-) But I see it getting more and more Praxis in my local Club to use 3d printed models. As the most of us are not going to an official tournament.
Battletech is one I recommend because the IP owners support/encourage use of third party or even 3d Printed models in use in the game its a nice change from "Only use our stuff or we'll get grumpy and mess with you and your store"
@@baronbob962 The IP Owners are not supporters of 3rd party or printed models for mechs at all. They are ok with terrain, and it's pretty gray area with tanks/vehicles. But try to post a picture in the official forums with a 3rd party Mech model or printed Mech model and you will see it banish pretty much instantly.
My first introduction to the battletech universe was Fasa's mech commander on PC. I didn't know about battletech yet. I had so much fun. MechWarrior I was never into until MechAssault came out on Xbox original. After that I saw/found mech warrior dark age with clix bases. I still have and collect. them, I love em. When I found out about MechWarrior online and battletech advanced on PC, I about had a stroke. Now I've got MechWarrior 5 on my Xbox and playstation and I'm building my battletech arsenal in metal while learning to 3D print my own. I'm dying to find players and get started.
I'm also a battletech fan! My first experience was mechwarrior 3 on pc....then 4, now 5 and HBS battletech. HBS battletech got me interested in table top. My area doesn't have many people that know what the game is let alone play it. My local game/hobby stores only carry Warhammer stuff.
Malifaux is the best game system out there. Tight rules, shifting victory conditions. I don't even particularly enjoy the setting and can say the game is still amazing enough that I don't even think about the setting much.
As an alternative to Dust, I'd suggest Konflikt '47. Same basic premise, but using a modified Bolt Action system. We normally play with the Bolt Action 2d Edition rules and import the rules for KF47 units and weapons. The best part is you can use your Bolt Action army in Konflikt '47 either as is or by adding the K47 units in, Same minis for 2 games!
I've honestly wanted to look into the newest edition of Bolt Action more for my lgs (I'm their buyer) but the one person I had at the store that would have been a supporter of the system unfortunately moved away. So it never got any traction. I hear great things though. I'll have to look into Konflikt '47, it's popped up in a number of comments.
@@HobbyNight Bolt action and K47 are great games. I would dare say better than most. They are very well balanced, the game is fresh and interesting, and is easy to play!
Makifaux not only has cool minis (and lots of them) but the game system itself is robust and has a cool scenario system which makes every match truly unique. A friend won a game despite getting his army tabled the turn before... not something possible in other games.
I started playing star wars legion this year with an escalation league. Put my droid army on jungle bases made from those little plastic plants from the walmart craft aisle. Lost all twelve games I played, but won best (only) droid player and was voted best painted!
Not sure what your list is but definitely make sure you are running as many corps droids such as B1s as possible and maximize your activation count! Droids are amazing when played as a swarm and if you don’t have an AAT yet definitely pick one up when possible it is the best tank in the game! :D
@@otterblau5253 That's an awesome story. lol. you seem like the type that is really enjoyable to play with. most people get upset and blame balancing when they lose. you seem really light hearted about it. It reminds me of this guy we played bloodbowl with. He showed up smelling of booze every night, so we weren't sure how it was going to go, but he ended up winning a best sportsman prize which I strongly advocated for. He was getting murdered every night, but was just happy to be out playing.
Sorry this is months later. Separatists are in a great spot ATM. If you feel you want to upgrade and run a better list id suggest picking up a super tactical and 2 dwarf spider droids. They really add some meat to a separatist list with good command cards, good overrides and solid damage output and support. Slap in 4 squads of B1s and another unit of your choice and call it a day
I am a big fan of Dust 1947. I am not normally big on WWII games but the alternate history is cool and once they introduced the Cthulhu mythos, I was sold. It is easy to learn, has rules for both gridded and gridless play and has beautiful miniatures. I also play a lot of Battletech as well. Mainly Alphastrike on hex so that we can have bigger battles and avoid some of the crunch involved in playing full sheets. 8 mechs a side with 3-4 players is usually done in less than 4 hours and it could be quicker if we didn't spend so much time laughing and joking with one another. Although, where's the fun in that...
Why is the japanese faction just a bunch of schoolgirls and female ninjas??? Seems like such a waste, to reduce a cool nation down to a trend popular in the 80's and 90's amongst otaku at that.
I like to use Mantic's Deadzone as an introduction to wargaming (for kids or newbie adults) as it doesn't require a ruler to measure movement - it's more familiar to move so many "squares" rather than inches.
I love Marvel Crisis Protocol. Best game I've tried so far. And the variation in painting makes it the most fun to paint for me. Took a break from painting Luke Cage to watch this video. Been into Malifaux, Kill Team (tried the new system too), 40k, Warhammer Fantasy. Bought Star Wars Legion, but the small community seems to have died out. Looked at Infinity but won't ever touch a metal mini again. I've become severly sensitive to superglue and get sick for a week. Might be a case of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.
The best mini game is necromunda. In one mission of the gangers is secretly a murder robot. It's like kill team but everything can and will go wrong and the missions are dumb.
Marvel Protocol is OK. If you prefer a real 'superhero' style mi iature game, the Knight Models DC Universe Miniature Game (and its source: The Batman Miniature Game) is a better option. You want Superman to pick up a building and throw it at Darkseid? Go for it.
I’ve been a BattleTech fan for longer than I’ve been into 40k and I still play it when I can. Besides that, I think the biggest contributor to my unpainted mini backlog is probably Shadows of Brimstone. I’ve played a bit of Legions, but the group I was playing it with moved on to other stuff.
Shadows Over Brimstone is one that I am super interested in but have 0 idea where to jump in at just because there is so much of it out there. Or at least I feel like I've seen tons of expansions available when I've gotten in a Special Order requests from time to time for sets at my day job.
@@HobbyNight There are, indeed, TONS of add-ons, but the majority of them fall into one of two categories: Additional monters/characters, or additional 'worlds'. You don't NEED any of those. All you need to have a fun game is one of the starter boxes, which these days would be: Shadows of Brimstone: City of the Ancients Revised Edition, or Shadows of Brimstone: Swamps of Death Revised Edition. The only difference between the two is which 'world' of monsters and locations you start with. City of the Ancients starts with a frozen city full of ancient and inscrutable technology where you fight more stone constructs and icy horrors. Swamps of Death puts you in a strange jungle full of lizardmen and magic. Both sets also come with the standard 'weird west' enemies that you encounter first before opening portals into these strange worlds. The other big option, if you don't like the 'weird west' theme as much is to get Shadows of Brimstone: Forbidden Fortress. This is a feudal Japan themed starter set with entirely different characters, maps, and basic monsters than the other two. However, the biggest difference is that this set starts out more difficult than the other two. You can look at this one sort of like the advanced starter zone for players that already know the game well and are looking for more of a challenge. It is still playable by newbies, but you may wipe your party once or twice before getting the hang of things. Everything else they sell for the game is just gravy that you can add on if you want more content. None of it is necessary, and I honestly wouldn't buy more than a starter box before deciding if you like the game or not. That said, there are some really cool minis available in the monster add-ons, so if you just want something to paint, there are lots of fun choices! In fact, if you just want to paint stuff, I think the Magma Fiends could be fun, and Beli'al would make one heck of a Daemon Prince proxy (He is BIG). The Swamp Raptors aren't exactly Seraphon...but they probably could be their mounts. Oh, and the Swamp Slugs might be a nice excuse for some crazy color schemes. Even if you don't have time to pick up the game, there are definitely some fun minis available.
I am trying to work through painting my Shadows of Brimstone minis. I have practically everything released thus far for the Wild West edition, which is quite a few minis to go though... I would definitely recommend the game, looking at the revised core sets, I think Swamps of Death is a little more fun because the enemies and encounter themes mesh a little better than City of the Ancients did, but that might just be personal bias since my Swamps of Death was trapped at my studio for two years thanks to the pandemic, so it feels different than what I had been playing based off the City of Ancients core.
I have 3 out of 5 of those Starter Sets (Star Wars, Marvel, and Song of Ice and Fire), and I keep looking at Dust 1947 and Infinity because one can never have too many games to play or minis to paint. Love the video and I would love to see you paint some of those Dust pinups on your channel.
They are cheeky and I've painted one other pin up model before but I am a lot better now so it would be a fun challenge! Honesly if the Angela Wolf model was in stock I think I'd order one and probably do it. XD
I have to say, Infinity is a great game, even if it's the most complicated one I have ever found reason to play. I don't know any other game where instead of my fighter shooting at the enemy, they can hack his armor, turn it off then send his location to friend who shoots the idiot with a smart missile. Other games may be just as much fun, but Infinity is amazing because the sheer number of options and counterplays available keeps the game fresh even if one never buys more than 15 models for the game.
Meh, code one disstills infinity down to the point it is an easy on boarding point. Just walking people through those learning missions helps build people up. Then once you get someone comfortable with code one, (n4) infinity is not that big of a step up. I remember jumping cold turkey into an n3 tournament the day after my first demo game. Not the way to learn infinity, lol.
@@fourfourths8445 Yeah, code one makes teaching the game to new people a lot easier. I have been playing and demoing the game starting from n2, so nowadays my point of view is centered on the full game. I know all the different options, but I also know not to show all of them to a new player right away. No-one enjoys analysis-paralysis.. In my opinion, Infinity is fun from the start but it gets a lot better when both players really understand the rules and use every tool available to them. That takes a bit more than just the code one learning missions.
@@mennorach i play tohaa primarily, rules are for other factions, lol... the rest of my collection makes giving a demo a colorful experience, aleph, jsa, spiral corp and CA shasvastii/morats. I will typically just proxy my jsa as yu jing for code one demos, vs my combined army. But i perfer a 150 point game of n4, i have vanilla lists built and "cheat" sheets for each army list. The only army i won't demo with or let someone use is my tohaa, mainly because they are discontinued. I may begrudgingly add some o-12 if the next code one box does include aleph.
I really enjoyed this video, it's good to see you cover some non GW games - there are lots of really great games out there. Maybe you could look at doing a video on some of the games that aren't tied to specific mini range, e.g. Stargrave, Frostgrave, 5 Parsecs from home, Oathmark...
I’ve really been into the “Fallout: Wasteland Warfare” game lately. It adapts to a story driven/rpg style of play really well that’s been a lot of fun.
I'm pretty sure the one that was bundled with Fallout: Tactics was a different game - I've downloaded the files for the rules and the "standy" minis, it just isn't the same game. I will have to look into it further to be sure (it featured hairy deathclaws if I remember right, those aren't in the newer game.)
I want to see Angela painting Angela, haha. The Angela-ception would just be awesome in my opinion. I also think it would be cool to see what like...your custom legion of clone troopers could look like, so consider that a vote for Dust and for the Star Wars game. And, as always, Kingdom Death Monster, haha.
Haha it would be very fun to paint her! My clone troopers would all just end up looking like the Bad Batch! I really like the way they paint up their armor. I'd probably play with a lot more color than then do though lol.
@@HobbyNight How is the Bad Batch? Don't have Disney+ anymore so haven't seen it, but I've heard nice things about it. But hey, even if they end up looking like the Bad Batch, so long as you're having fun, right? And I'd actually like to change my vote. I want to see Angela painting Angela as Angela. Max Angela-ception.
I love the Bad Batch, it's an excellent series! If you can find a way to watch it I would very much recommend it. Hopefully one day she will come back into stock so that I can! XD
Malifaux not recommended :(. Jking of course you can't mention everything but man I am excited to move into Malifaux as soon as I have time to paint xD.
I will continue to evangelize Malifaux by Wyrd Games. It is an excellent skirmish game that is rather complex and deep. It has these marvelous figures which go are all turn of the 20th century inspired with Steam Punk and Fairy Elements, and clash of cultures, and goofy goblins. It doesn't use dice, but playing cards for randomization, and it's great to paint up their models. Every year they release also special "nightmare' sets of one of their crews so you can get really crazy models like Nightmare Unicorns, or Cyberpunk people, and so forth. It's really worth painting their minis, and I highly recommend the game.
I've looked into Malifaux a few times, one of my co-workers is super into it, but we've never had much a community in the area for the system to really stick. Maybe I'll get to try it out sometime at a con or something.
It's odd, but I've never been super impressed with the Malifaux models whenever I've seen them...and I've never really understood why. Especially since I hear people gush about them all the time! It's probably me just having a poor memory of the line if I had to guess. I haven't actually looked at any of Wyrds products in at least 2 years.😅
@@HobbyNight What impressed me about their current (last 2 years) sculpts is how fine and complicated they are. The Mysterious Emissary is a whole model kit that has the level of detail of today's newest GW top of the line heroes (or even better since to put it together all of the parts had to fit exactly), while costing about 1/3 - 1/4 of the price. The smaller models have a charm to them, but the theme might not be for everyone.
I know it's an old post but I can't help but comment. I've recently got interested in what if's, like gamming obscure battles like Alam El Halfa, ironically one of the most pivotal battles in WW2 Western Desert. Or the what if scenario of a US Marine Battalion v the Golden Horde of 10 tumens, 100,000 men. Some dope had the Marines being rolled over in one easy charge, but restricted the Marine capabilities to defend themselves. I have naval games, plus the Black Seas Napoleonic scenarios. So don't be upset if your favourite game was not here. I have at least twenty of which none were mentioned.
No Malifaux? List is invalid. Seriously, though, Malifaux is excellent. It is low model count, and each model is its own individual character. The alternating model activation thing is great, but two things make the game really stand out: 1. Cards. Rather than using dice, the game uses playing cards. The basic system is Skill + card value flipped off your deck vs target number. When the duel is opposed (e.g. attacking an enemy model), the target number is the target's relevant defense stat + what the opposing player flips off of his deck. But it gets better. In many cases, you are allowed to "cheat" a card in from your hand (usually 6, sometimes more or less), which replaces your flipped card with the one you play from the hand. This gives the defending player an active role in his defense. It adds a resource management mechanic since one has to decide whether or not it is worth cheating. Degree of success matters, and the suit of the card matters, since particular suits can cause additional effects ("triggers"). 2. Objectives. Malifaux has the best objective system of all the mini wargames I have played. Indeed, the game is very much about achieving objectives rather than killing enemy models (although some objectives involve killing specific enemy models). Quite a few of the models one takes in one's crew are there not to deal damage, mitigate damage or buff, but to achieve objectives. These objectives often involve the placement of "scheme" tokens in certain places on the table; sometimes, these score immediately, but sometimes they score at the end of a round or the end of the game, so the opponent has the opportunity to remove the token. Each game has a "strategy" which is a revealed objective that both players share, which can be scored once per turn after the first (for a maximum of 4 points), and each player has two hidden "schemes" chosen from a randomly generated list at the beginning of the game prior to choosing one's crew. Each scheme may score one point when achieved immediately, and a possible second point for achieving it in a more complete way at the end of the game. Each player therefore has a maximum score of 8 points, which makes every objective important (and tabling an opponent is not an automatic victory - one can lose all of the crew but still win if one scores more points). There only real downside to Malifaux is that the models, while amazing-looking, are a real pain to assemble. Also, Wyrd's release schedule could be better.
Also Malifaux, has truly some of the best model concepts in all of gaming, I mean a 10 year old girl with a head in a basket and a toddler with a butcher's knife and man-eating teddy bear companion, inspired.
Renegade Game Studios is bringing HeroScape back 100% official. March 1 will be a virtual con where they'll show off the first wave and pre-orders open.
Something that is not for immediate playing, but on my list of things to seriously consider is the October release of Mantic Games Deadzone version 3. I look at Dust 47 off and on, but they just don't seem to be able to get the traction to really get going and little concerned that by the time I really get into it - it will fade away; kind of like AT-43. Infinity has announced that they are going to start making plastic models, right now mostly TAGS (bigger mechs), but they mentioned they are making this move because of the expense of white metal and an attempt to keep the retail cost down. Someone mentioned Privateer Press and they do seem to be gasping for air in a halogen filled room lately.
I just preordered the 3.0 starter on Friday. I can't wait for the October release. I have the 2.0 starter in my pile of shame (bought over the Summer) so I will be able to have 4 factions available and the extra terrain from the 2.0 box should flesh out the table a bit
I love this list and it encourages me to look into some other games. I'm a fan of WWII games and miniatures and I find your recommendations helpful. I do think that Star Wars: Imperial Assault is better for the game and miniatures, but that's just me. Thank you!
Very happy to see the love for Malifaux popping up in the comments, and I'd love to hear your take on it if you do get the chance to try it for yourself. The system is really elegant and I love the card/cheat mechanic that adds whole extra levels to the conflict. The setting is one of those fantastic omnivorous worlds that can mix up Wild West gunslingers, Dickensian grime, eldritch horror and hardcore steampunk and somehow have it all work. And this might just be me, but I love the fact that while it's a *war* game it's not necessarily a *military* game. There are crews with guns and uniforms and officers if that's your thing, but you can also field an undead madam and her pack of zombie saloon-girls, or a union leader leading a picket-line of striking steamfitters, or a little boy and the menagerie of horrifyingly twisted children's toys and nursery characters he's dreamed into being, or the proprietress of a cabaret theatre whose "troops" are her various headliners and showgirls (including a pair of terrifying clockwork ballerinas who trade their hands for giant knives when they head out on a mission). Wonderful stuff.
That's super cool you got to learn from someone that worked on Maximum Carnage and Scarlet Spider. Maximum Carnage is literally what got me into comics in the 90's and the clone saga is the only other comic arc I've read from Marvel.
It really was amazing! He had a wealth of knowledge to share about story telling and the industry and how to communicate with the readers when putting together a layout... man I miss it. Those classes were my favorites.
Hey Angela, pin ups gained popularity in WWII when US Army Air Corps men had Vargas pin up girls painted on the noses of their airplanes. If your a fan of Dust 1947 I have a Netflix or Amazon prime, I can't remember which, series you might like. It's called The Man in the High Castle. It's all about how the world, USA specifically, would look if the allies lost to the axis. Great video as always 👍.
That's a spendy list of alternatives. Perhaps check out some worthy less expensive options. One Page Rules- you can use all your broke-hammer stuff. Frost/Stargrave - Once again you can re purpose a lot of stuff you probably already own. Check out the offerings from Ganesha Games, Osprey and Spectrum. 5 Parsecs from Home and Reign in Hell are excellent offerings as well.
Still play Mutant Chronicles:WARZONE and CHRONOPIA. Theyre older games but you can still find the rules and the miniatures or proxy real easy. Nowadays you can also play Counterblast from Bombshell miniatures, Stargrave, Star Grunt, Albedo , and GRUNTZ (15 mm if you want something on larger scale armies)
Dust 1947 is my favorite game currently, I've written a couple of articles for the Dust USA site. So glad it came up! Ps- Angela Wolfe is who kills Hitler in this universe so of you want even more reason to grab her.
I am playing 60mm Vietnam War miniatures. It can be played as either an RPG or Wargame. 50% of the fun is showing off the spectacular game table, a moving Diorama.
Battletech is criminally missing from this list! The Beginner Box and A Game of Armored Combat sets are everything needed to get started. And if you get into the game, all of the materials are stuff you would've gotten anyways. Its an insanely good deal for the price.
I think you missed a bet here. How about war games with NO minis? My favorites? Gaslands/Gaslands Reloaded. Grab a few Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars, dirty them up, add weapons and you have the Mad Max style cars you need to play. My other game for this category? Stargrave/Frostgrave/Rangers of Shadowdeep. For the fantasy ones, you can use your D&D minis. For Stargrave, you can use whatever including all of the minis from games you discussed here. As for me? I love browsing the sci-fi minis from the likes of Etsy.
Bolt Action player here. I also have a Song of Ice and Fire. I am glad you are recommending it. I do not like the Warhammer Universe. But I would like to have well made minis.
Referencing Marvel Crisis Protocol. You might want to look at Monsterpocalypse for breaking scenery and environments. Godzilla vs. King Kong type of game.
Big into MCP, I don't play DUST but I play Bolt Action and Konflickt 47 which is compatible with Bolt Action. I also play Legion and I'm looking to getting into Burrows and Badgers an anthropomorphic animal skirmish game by Oathsworn miniatures
More DIY is needed in the hobby! Less reliance on major games companies and franchises to provide us with entertainment. Don't get me wrong, I do like all the games in this list, it's just the best stuff is more likely to come from small scale indie designers who don't have shareholders to appease. The best games I ever played were obscure and only had a small player base. The problem was finding players - the games themselves were great! For players looking for alternative mass fantasy I just launched 'Runestar D12'. Its designed for low-fantasy armies which can easily be made up of historical plastics + mage + dragon! Its only a first edition, but a living game so it's going to be well supported :)
Berkeley as in Berkeley California (famous for UC Berkeley) nice to see a focus on one of the largest wargame stores in the USA. Well done love.. warm thoughts from Richmond CA
Marvel Crisis Protocol is fun. Warcaster, Marmachines and Hordes are good games as well. Battletech is a no brainer, especially since it’s miniature agnostic, you can use official minis or 3rd party minis or a Cheeto if you like.
I thought it was an interesting option to offer as a alternate history game and not many people get to see Dust in an actual store! So I thought it would be fun to include.
I'm unlikely to get into any of these games, as I'm getting my model and gaming fix with CMON Massive Darkness, Zombicide and Invader games and boxes, you have to back their Kickstarters to get the best value, and I'm currently waiting on Massive Darkness 2 which I backed last year. Fantastic cooperative table top games. I started with Games Workshop in the late 1980's and early 1990's, was into Epic, 40K, Necromunda, and Blood Bowl for 20 years, then stopped because they kept changing things too much and made my 40K armies practically useless, unless I wanted to be 100's of new models. I recently got in to Kill Team and I'll continue to collect and play these for a while, but most likely never getting back in to 40K at a army level.
LOL, sounds like me. Late 70;s was Avalon Hill and SPI Wargames, D and D 1st ed, 80's was 40K 3rd, WRG 7th ed 15mm historicals, Avalon Hills Napoleons battles in 15mm, Ogre Minis by Steve Jackson and assorted Role Playing games. 90's was a Press ganger for Hordes and Warmachine for about 3 years and also was into Battlefleet Gothic and Warmaster. 2K I jumped into Flames of War, Bolt Action, all the Warlords mini games, and about 4 full KS for Cmon Zombicide stuff. Will not even go into shelves of Old Avalon Hill and SPI games, Star Fleet battles, Battle Tech, Totes full of Wings of Glory WWI planes and god Knows what else lurks in the closets.
I'm excited to get into Marvel: Crisis Protocol now that they have more X-Men available. I'm also really enjoying Stargrave and Gaslands. Before that I was into Frostgrave, because I haven't enjoy Games Workshop stuff since 2008.
Great breakdown Angela, I've just picked up the Star Wars Legion Core Set (Galactic Civil War era) and a few extras... in fact Sabine is staring at me from my desk and making me nervous but these models are a joy to paint and the game is so simple to learn yet dynamic and so much fun to play.
I liked dust back in the day and legion is my current favorite game. Also I don’t know about where you are but here in Houston here’s a surprising amount of warhammer fantasy battles players here most have serval armies
Hmmmm no Bolt action or Flames of war. Matter of fact nothing from Battlefront or Warlords. Been a while since I have been to the shop though, nice to see it has gotten more stock.
Awesome that you mention Dusty 1947. It was very popular where I lived. Unfortunate that Paolo is finished with Dust and it's not being released anymore.
Another one, which I have, is the Fallout Wasteland Warfare by Modiphius. Not only can it be player vs. Player, but it can be played as a co-op with a card driven AI system.
@@noblegalifreyan4551 There is also a RPG that uses the tactical miniature combat from that for the combat system. The models look fantastic and I would like to get more of them for myself.
Nice! It looks like a lot of fun. And the models are super cool to me! I especially like the new Carnage and Black Cat models. Sadly not sold together lol
Many recommend Battletech and I can only support that: Also what many (even old BT-players dont know) there are official rules for tabletop play (they usually play on a hex grid, where, of course, you could also use regular terrain builds, but there are also rules for real table top, i.e. measuring with tape, arcs... without hexes). Also what many could like are one of the many board game (less table top) skirmishers from kickstarter: Some with very nice miniatures and good rules are: Super Fantasy Brawl (available in Retail), Mythic Battles (Pantheon with greek mythology is already out, currently running is ragnarök with norse mythology (but you can buy Pantheon stuff, too)).
My biggest issue with Wyrd is they don't make 2 player starter sets, because I also had looked into Malifaux when I was at GenCon in 2019. But their models are pretty neat looking regardless. One of my co-workers has a relatively large Gibber Hordes (I think that's what they are called, I might be wrong) army that he used the models for in one of our rpg campaigns which was awesome!
@@HobbyNight fortunately they're just about to come put with a 2 player starter set for their wargame (it's on pre-sale at gencon). But yeah they seem to want you to just grab whichever core box you want with a buddy
@@HobbyNight theres no 2 player starter mostly because of how different the factions are, but there *are* now starters for most of the factions out, and there is a 2 player starter for the other side now usable with every faction there (because of how syndicates work) TOS is the one with "gibbering hordes" (it also *psuedo* doubles as a malifaux starter for both guild and ressers, but not amazingly)
What I love about Dust is that the system does away with all of the stuff that slows down a game. There's no need to measure range, no debates about line of sight or cover, no dicking around with templates. The game system is lean nd elegant and games don't take all night. The premium models are assembled and "ready to play" but most of the product on the shelves is assembled but unpainted.
@@chad534 Absolutely! It's no longer an FFG thing. There are starters for each of the sub-factions and much of the previous line has been updated or re-released.
Dust is very much alive and growing. If not for shipping issues, I would already have added the new Spawn of Shub-Niggurath to my painting queue...or as many are calling it, Murder Catutus. 😀
I play Legion and Infinity. Infinity's metal models are very well made. A few tricks like scoring the joins between pieces with a knife and using isopropyl alcohol to accelerate the glue drying make it go pretty easy. Also, way more important to wash metal pieces before assembly. I dump mine in a small ultrasonic cleaner with a touch of dawn and warm water for a few minutes.
As cool as I think Infinity’s metal minis are they also make me super nervous to build because of the trickiness of assembling metal sculpts so I haven’t done anything with the starter set I have.
@@HobbyNight Metal minis are not that hard to clean or paint, as a long time gamer when GW minis were metal all you really need to do is wash them in a degreaser, then I suggest a light ink wash over the entire model to see all the mold lines, bigger or finiky models may need to be pinned other wise super glue works well on them. you will need to change your primer to a rattle can type like rustoleum as those made for plastic or resin model do not adhere well to the metal after that paint as normal
Look up Konflikt 47. its alternate history WW2 and its phenomenal. theres historic units plus additional stuff like walker units, genetically engineered super soldiers (some of which went wrong and make werewolves etc) and fantastical guns like tesla weaponry
Warmachine/Hordes was one of the best games ever produced, until Privateer Press shot themselves in the foot. I miss that game sometimes, but realize it will never again be what it was.
Classic Battletech, it doesn't get any easier or more enjoyable to play.
So much this !
Battletech destiny or alpha strike simplify things even further. Great to see another Battletech fan! I'm a Clan Wolf guardsmen but for inner sphere clashes I prefer the Federated Suns/Davions.
Aaaaah Battle Charts. A classic. Introduced my son to it as well.
Ditto. My younger brother introduced me to it waaaay back in 1985 when we were kids (damn, time flies by), when FASA still owned it.
@@watchmanschannelofdespair I was first introduced to it right it rebrandef from battledroids to battle tech. I miss the FASA days.
Gaslands has provided THE biggest laughs as well as legit moments of tension out of any minis game I've ever played. The game mechanics do an elegant job of simulating specifically cars, so that you're constantly trying to find that sweet spot of control/speed while maneuvering to get opponents into your crosshairs. When my friend attempted to drift an armored car to avoid a head-on collision with a canyon wall, we played the Initial D theme (he made it, too!). It's also one of the cheapest minis games to start playing; along with the rulebook & D6s, all you need is a Hot Wheels car and a set of movement templates printed on some cardstock.
Also in my backlog are some of Osprey's other minis-agnostic games: Frostgrave, Stargrave, Oathmark, Reality's Edge, and as a personal project I'm adapting A Fistful of Kung Fu for Jedi/Sith skirmishes.
I was just about to say pretty much all that. I fucking love Gaslands
Also, let us know how that Fistful of Kung Fu works out!
You forgot about battletech. Thanks for making this video, you guys showed me ideas for 3d terrain and other things
That made me roll my eyes too.
That would be like a Chevy man hyped up about a Ford.
😢
People get upset and despicable when someone doesn't mention that other favorite game like robotech is so hilarious.
Not only BattleTech, but the fast playing/large scale version, Alpha Strike. I play that game a lot with my young son as he can understand the rules.
I missed „Kings of war“ as this is currently one of my favorite.
1. easy to Learn
2. cheap because of multi-basing
3. you are allowed to use any Modells from each company (if the scale fit). So if you have an old Warhammer Fantasy army, with Kings of war you have the ability to reanimate them.
4. It have 27 different army so you will find one which you love.
Oathmark is another good one, so is Dragon Rampant
you can play any game with any minis - as long as the scale fits. think outside the box :)
@@dadashlorgar yes on more point ;-)
But I see it getting more and more Praxis in my local Club to use 3d printed models. As the most of us are not going to an official tournament.
Really been getting back in BATTLETECH lately at the local hobby store.
Ah Battletech, I still need to try my core set from the newest edition. Also a cool one to check out!
Battletech is one I recommend because the IP owners support/encourage use of third party or even 3d Printed models in use in the game its a nice change from "Only use our stuff or we'll get grumpy and mess with you and your store"
@@baronbob962 The IP Owners are not supporters of 3rd party or printed models for mechs at all. They are ok with terrain, and it's pretty gray area with tanks/vehicles. But try to post a picture in the official forums with a 3rd party Mech model or printed Mech model and you will see it banish pretty much instantly.
My first introduction to the battletech universe was Fasa's mech commander on PC. I didn't know about battletech yet. I had so much fun. MechWarrior I was never into until MechAssault came out on Xbox original. After that I saw/found mech warrior dark age with clix bases. I still have and collect. them, I love em. When I found out about MechWarrior online and battletech advanced on PC, I about had a stroke. Now I've got MechWarrior 5 on my Xbox and playstation and I'm building my battletech arsenal in metal while learning to 3D print my own. I'm dying to find players and get started.
I'm also a battletech fan! My first experience was mechwarrior 3 on pc....then 4, now 5 and HBS battletech. HBS battletech got me interested in table top. My area doesn't have many people that know what the game is let alone play it. My local game/hobby stores only carry Warhammer stuff.
Malifaux is the best game system out there. Tight rules, shifting victory conditions. I don't even particularly enjoy the setting and can say the game is still amazing enough that I don't even think about the setting much.
correct, shame it wasn't on this list.
You're right sir
totally agree
Absolutely.
Indeed.
As an alternative to Dust, I'd suggest Konflikt '47. Same basic premise, but using a modified Bolt Action system. We normally play with the Bolt Action 2d Edition rules and import the rules for KF47 units and weapons. The best part is you can use your Bolt Action army in Konflikt '47 either as is or by adding the K47 units in, Same minis for 2 games!
I've honestly wanted to look into the newest edition of Bolt Action more for my lgs (I'm their buyer) but the one person I had at the store that would have been a supporter of the system unfortunately moved away. So it never got any traction. I hear great things though. I'll have to look into Konflikt '47, it's popped up in a number of comments.
@@HobbyNight Bolt action and K47 are great games. I would dare say better than most. They are very well balanced, the game is fresh and interesting, and is easy to play!
It also doesn't break the bank like most other miniature games.
Makifaux not only has cool minis (and lots of them) but the game system itself is robust and has a cool scenario system which makes every match truly unique. A friend won a game despite getting his army tabled the turn before... not something possible in other games.
It is SO underrated. I honestly think its the best skirmish game out there right now.
Malifaux is easily the best tabletop game around.
I started playing star wars legion this year with an escalation league. Put my droid army on jungle bases made from those little plastic plants from the walmart craft aisle. Lost all twelve games I played, but won best (only) droid player and was voted best painted!
Not sure what your list is but definitely make sure you are running as many corps droids such as B1s as possible and maximize your activation count! Droids are amazing when played as a swarm and if you don’t have an AAT yet definitely pick one up when possible it is the best tank in the game! :D
@@sies3334 Thanks! I'm currently wait for the support pack with the cheap tactical droid, should really open up some points for my list.
@@otterblau5253 That's an awesome story. lol. you seem like the type that is really enjoyable to play with. most people get upset and blame balancing when they lose. you seem really light hearted about it. It reminds me of this guy we played bloodbowl with. He showed up smelling of booze every night, so we weren't sure how it was going to go, but he ended up winning a best sportsman prize which I strongly advocated for. He was getting murdered every night, but was just happy to be out playing.
I love Legion
Sorry this is months later. Separatists are in a great spot ATM. If you feel you want to upgrade and run a better list id suggest picking up a super tactical and 2 dwarf spider droids. They really add some meat to a separatist list with good command cards, good overrides and solid damage output and support. Slap in 4 squads of B1s and another unit of your choice and call it a day
Dust is my favorite war game series. I love the system and miniatures. The whole list is great.
sadly its out of production now.
@@askger yeah, I see Paolo shut down the Dust' 47 studio...that's too bad. Picked up *tons* of Dust when FFG was dumping it a few years back.
I am a big fan of Dust 1947. I am not normally big on WWII games but the alternate history is cool and once they introduced the Cthulhu mythos, I was sold. It is easy to learn, has rules for both gridded and gridless play and has beautiful miniatures.
I also play a lot of Battletech as well. Mainly Alphastrike on hex so that we can have bigger battles and avoid some of the crunch involved in playing full sheets. 8 mechs a side with 3-4 players is usually done in less than 4 hours and it could be quicker if we didn't spend so much time laughing and joking with one another. Although, where's the fun in that...
Been playing Alphastrik w my 10y old son for almost a year, just getting the main rules now.
Why is the japanese faction just a bunch of schoolgirls and female ninjas??? Seems like such a waste, to reduce a cool nation down to a trend popular in the 80's and 90's amongst otaku at that.
BATTLETECH the game that has been around for 40 year, it rocks!!!!!
I like to use Mantic's Deadzone as an introduction to wargaming (for kids or newbie adults) as it doesn't require a ruler to measure movement - it's more familiar to move so many "squares" rather than inches.
Plus it covers the terrain pretty well in the starter boxes
Stargrave is a spin-off of Frostgrave. You can use ANY sci fi models for it
I love Marvel Crisis Protocol. Best game I've tried so far. And the variation in painting makes it the most fun to paint for me. Took a break from painting Luke Cage to watch this video. Been into Malifaux, Kill Team (tried the new system too), 40k, Warhammer Fantasy. Bought Star Wars Legion, but the small community seems to have died out. Looked at Infinity but won't ever touch a metal mini again. I've become severly sensitive to superglue and get sick for a week. Might be a case of Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.
The best mini game is necromunda. In one mission of the gangers is secretly a murder robot. It's like kill team but everything can and will go wrong and the missions are dumb.
Marvel Protocol is OK. If you prefer a real 'superhero' style mi iature game, the Knight Models DC Universe Miniature Game (and its source: The Batman Miniature Game) is a better option.
You want Superman to pick up a building and throw it at Darkseid? Go for it.
World War III Team Yankee is a take on if the cold war went hot in 1985. It's a wonderful game and very well priced for the models.
One of my favorites!
I’ve been a BattleTech fan for longer than I’ve been into 40k and I still play it when I can. Besides that, I think the biggest contributor to my unpainted mini backlog is probably Shadows of Brimstone. I’ve played a bit of Legions, but the group I was playing it with moved on to other stuff.
Shadows Over Brimstone is one that I am super interested in but have 0 idea where to jump in at just because there is so much of it out there. Or at least I feel like I've seen tons of expansions available when I've gotten in a Special Order requests from time to time for sets at my day job.
@@HobbyNight There are, indeed, TONS of add-ons, but the majority of them fall into one of two categories: Additional monters/characters, or additional 'worlds'. You don't NEED any of those.
All you need to have a fun game is one of the starter boxes, which these days would be: Shadows of Brimstone: City of the Ancients Revised Edition, or Shadows of Brimstone: Swamps of Death Revised Edition. The only difference between the two is which 'world' of monsters and locations you start with. City of the Ancients starts with a frozen city full of ancient and inscrutable technology where you fight more stone constructs and icy horrors. Swamps of Death puts you in a strange jungle full of lizardmen and magic. Both sets also come with the standard 'weird west' enemies that you encounter first before opening portals into these strange worlds.
The other big option, if you don't like the 'weird west' theme as much is to get Shadows of Brimstone: Forbidden Fortress. This is a feudal Japan themed starter set with entirely different characters, maps, and basic monsters than the other two. However, the biggest difference is that this set starts out more difficult than the other two. You can look at this one sort of like the advanced starter zone for players that already know the game well and are looking for more of a challenge. It is still playable by newbies, but you may wipe your party once or twice before getting the hang of things.
Everything else they sell for the game is just gravy that you can add on if you want more content. None of it is necessary, and I honestly wouldn't buy more than a starter box before deciding if you like the game or not. That said, there are some really cool minis available in the monster add-ons, so if you just want something to paint, there are lots of fun choices! In fact, if you just want to paint stuff, I think the Magma Fiends could be fun, and Beli'al would make one heck of a Daemon Prince proxy (He is BIG). The Swamp Raptors aren't exactly Seraphon...but they probably could be their mounts. Oh, and the Swamp Slugs might be a nice excuse for some crazy color schemes.
Even if you don't have time to pick up the game, there are definitely some fun minis available.
yes, original battletech is a winner
I am trying to work through painting my Shadows of Brimstone minis. I have practically everything released thus far for the Wild West edition, which is quite a few minis to go though...
I would definitely recommend the game, looking at the revised core sets, I think Swamps of Death is a little more fun because the enemies and encounter themes mesh a little better than City of the Ancients did, but that might just be personal bias since my Swamps of Death was trapped at my studio for two years thanks to the pandemic, so it feels different than what I had been playing based off the City of Ancients core.
The Infinity card terrain has actually massively improved since the example shown in the video. It was good before, and now it’s amazing.
The newest starter sets looked improved! I need to check them out.
The old paper terrain was designed really well, you were supposed to put the boxes the minis into the buildings to give them support
How can you miss Battletech?!?
1.Kings of War
2. Warpath
3. Battletech
4. Star Wars Legion
5. Armada
I have 3 out of 5 of those Starter Sets (Star Wars, Marvel, and Song of Ice and Fire), and I keep looking at Dust 1947 and Infinity because one can never have too many games to play or minis to paint. Love the video and I would love to see you paint some of those Dust pinups on your channel.
They are cheeky and I've painted one other pin up model before but I am a lot better now so it would be a fun challenge!
Honesly if the Angela Wolf model was in stock I think I'd order one and probably do it. XD
infinity got some really great models
I have to say, Infinity is a great game, even if it's the most complicated one I have ever found reason to play. I don't know any other game where instead of my fighter shooting at the enemy, they can hack his armor, turn it off then send his location to friend who shoots the idiot with a smart missile.
Other games may be just as much fun, but Infinity is amazing because the sheer number of options and counterplays available keeps the game fresh even if one never buys more than 15 models for the game.
Meh, code one disstills infinity down to the point it is an easy on boarding point. Just walking people through those learning missions helps build people up.
Then once you get someone comfortable with code one, (n4) infinity is not that big of a step up.
I remember jumping cold turkey into an n3 tournament the day after my first demo game. Not the way to learn infinity, lol.
@@fourfourths8445 Yeah, code one makes teaching the game to new people a lot easier. I have been playing and demoing the game starting from n2, so nowadays my point of view is centered on the full game. I know all the different options, but I also know not to show all of them to a new player right away. No-one enjoys analysis-paralysis..
In my opinion, Infinity is fun from the start but it gets a lot better when both players really understand the rules and use every tool available to them. That takes a bit more than just the code one learning missions.
@@mennorach i play tohaa primarily, rules are for other factions, lol... the rest of my collection makes giving a demo a colorful experience, aleph, jsa, spiral corp and CA shasvastii/morats.
I will typically just proxy my jsa as yu jing for code one demos, vs my combined army.
But i perfer a 150 point game of n4, i have vanilla lists built and "cheat" sheets for each army list.
The only army i won't demo with or let someone use is my tohaa, mainly because they are discontinued.
I may begrudgingly add some o-12 if the next code one box does include aleph.
I really enjoyed this video, it's good to see you cover some non GW games - there are lots of really great games out there.
Maybe you could look at doing a video on some of the games that aren't tied to specific mini range, e.g. Stargrave, Frostgrave, 5 Parsecs from home, Oathmark...
I’ve really been into the “Fallout: Wasteland Warfare” game lately. It adapts to a story driven/rpg style of play really well that’s been a lot of fun.
My flgs has that one too, but we never got a huge community for it sadly.
I remember this game being bundled with Fallout: Tactics PC release as a printable document and cardboard minis.
I think it might have been, but there's a whole line of plastic minis for it now if that's more your jam!
I'm pretty sure the one that was bundled with Fallout: Tactics was a different game - I've downloaded the files for the rules and the "standy" minis, it just isn't the same game. I will have to look into it further to be sure (it featured hairy deathclaws if I remember right, those aren't in the newer game.)
I want to see Angela painting Angela, haha. The Angela-ception would just be awesome in my opinion. I also think it would be cool to see what like...your custom legion of clone troopers could look like, so consider that a vote for Dust and for the Star Wars game. And, as always, Kingdom Death Monster, haha.
Haha it would be very fun to paint her!
My clone troopers would all just end up looking like the Bad Batch! I really like the way they paint up their armor. I'd probably play with a lot more color than then do though lol.
@@HobbyNight How is the Bad Batch? Don't have Disney+ anymore so haven't seen it, but I've heard nice things about it. But hey, even if they end up looking like the Bad Batch, so long as you're having fun, right?
And I'd actually like to change my vote. I want to see Angela painting Angela as Angela. Max Angela-ception.
I love the Bad Batch, it's an excellent series! If you can find a way to watch it I would very much recommend it.
Hopefully one day she will come back into stock so that I can! XD
Malifaux not recommended :(. Jking of course you can't mention everything but man I am excited to move into Malifaux as soon as I have time to paint xD.
I will continue to evangelize Malifaux by Wyrd Games. It is an excellent skirmish game that is rather complex and deep. It has these marvelous figures which go are all turn of the 20th century inspired with Steam Punk and Fairy Elements, and clash of cultures, and goofy goblins. It doesn't use dice, but playing cards for randomization, and it's great to paint up their models. Every year they release also special "nightmare' sets of one of their crews so you can get really crazy models like Nightmare Unicorns, or Cyberpunk people, and so forth. It's really worth painting their minis, and I highly recommend the game.
I've looked into Malifaux a few times, one of my co-workers is super into it, but we've never had much a community in the area for the system to really stick. Maybe I'll get to try it out sometime at a con or something.
@@HobbyNight Malifaux has some insanely well-detailed miniatures. I've bought a few of them as hero proxies for WFB and general RPG play.
It's odd, but I've never been super impressed with the Malifaux models whenever I've seen them...and I've never really understood why. Especially since I hear people gush about them all the time!
It's probably me just having a poor memory of the line if I had to guess. I haven't actually looked at any of Wyrds products in at least 2 years.😅
@@HobbyNight What impressed me about their current (last 2 years) sculpts is how fine and complicated they are. The Mysterious Emissary is a whole model kit that has the level of detail of today's newest GW top of the line heroes (or even better since to put it together all of the parts had to fit exactly), while costing about 1/3 - 1/4 of the price. The smaller models have a charm to them, but the theme might not be for everyone.
I know it's an old post but I can't help but comment. I've recently got interested in what if's, like gamming obscure battles like Alam El Halfa, ironically one of the most pivotal battles in WW2 Western Desert. Or the what if scenario of a US Marine Battalion v the Golden Horde of 10 tumens, 100,000 men. Some dope had the Marines being rolled over in one easy charge, but restricted the Marine capabilities to defend themselves. I have naval games, plus the Black Seas Napoleonic scenarios. So don't be upset if your favourite game was not here. I have at least twenty of which none were mentioned.
No Malifaux? List is invalid.
Seriously, though, Malifaux is excellent. It is low model count, and each model is its own individual character. The alternating model activation thing is great, but two things make the game really stand out:
1. Cards. Rather than using dice, the game uses playing cards. The basic system is Skill + card value flipped off your deck vs target number. When the duel is opposed (e.g. attacking an enemy model), the target number is the target's relevant defense stat + what the opposing player flips off of his deck. But it gets better. In many cases, you are allowed to "cheat" a card in from your hand (usually 6, sometimes more or less), which replaces your flipped card with the one you play from the hand. This gives the defending player an active role in his defense. It adds a resource management mechanic since one has to decide whether or not it is worth cheating. Degree of success matters, and the suit of the card matters, since particular suits can cause additional effects ("triggers").
2. Objectives. Malifaux has the best objective system of all the mini wargames I have played. Indeed, the game is very much about achieving objectives rather than killing enemy models (although some objectives involve killing specific enemy models). Quite a few of the models one takes in one's crew are there not to deal damage, mitigate damage or buff, but to achieve objectives. These objectives often involve the placement of "scheme" tokens in certain places on the table; sometimes, these score immediately, but sometimes they score at the end of a round or the end of the game, so the opponent has the opportunity to remove the token. Each game has a "strategy" which is a revealed objective that both players share, which can be scored once per turn after the first (for a maximum of 4 points), and each player has two hidden "schemes" chosen from a randomly generated list at the beginning of the game prior to choosing one's crew. Each scheme may score one point when achieved immediately, and a possible second point for achieving it in a more complete way at the end of the game. Each player therefore has a maximum score of 8 points, which makes every objective important (and tabling an opponent is not an automatic victory - one can lose all of the crew but still win if one scores more points).
There only real downside to Malifaux is that the models, while amazing-looking, are a real pain to assemble. Also, Wyrd's release schedule could be better.
/cough Battletech /cough
Battle tech?
Look up the black pants legion, that was my introduction to battletech @@Straycat3
@Straycat3 BattleTech is a game from the mid-late 80s and has been rebooted by Catalyst.
Fantastic game that hits strategy hard.
Also Malifaux, has truly some of the best model concepts in all of gaming, I mean a 10 year old girl with a head in a basket and a toddler with a butcher's knife and man-eating teddy bear companion, inspired.
Renegade Game Studios is bringing HeroScape back 100% official. March 1 will be a virtual con where they'll show off the first wave and pre-orders open.
Oh very nice!
Something that is not for immediate playing, but on my list of things to seriously consider is the October release of Mantic Games Deadzone version 3. I look at Dust 47 off and on, but they just don't seem to be able to get the traction to really get going and little concerned that by the time I really get into it - it will fade away; kind of like AT-43. Infinity has announced that they are going to start making plastic models, right now mostly TAGS (bigger mechs), but they mentioned they are making this move because of the expense of white metal and an attempt to keep the retail cost down. Someone mentioned Privateer Press and they do seem to be gasping for air in a halogen filled room lately.
I just preordered the 3.0 starter on Friday. I can't wait for the October release. I have the 2.0 starter in my pile of shame (bought over the Summer) so I will be able to have 4 factions available and the extra terrain from the 2.0 box should flesh out the table a bit
Deadzone v3 is releasing in a couple weeks. Best rule system I've played.
Generaly i/we play WRG 5th ed ancients, George Gush Rennaissance, armor & infantry 1950-1974. FGU blue light manual ACW, and space marines.
Since Marvel Crisis Protocol got released I haven't picked up any of my GW armies. The game is amazing.
Battletech classic and alpha strike, and some wild west exodus
I love this list and it encourages me to look into some other games. I'm a fan of WWII games and miniatures and I find your recommendations helpful. I do think that Star Wars: Imperial Assault is better for the game and miniatures, but that's just me. Thank you!
Bolt action mate!
Battletech, oathmark, Malifaux, Star Wars legion, Stargrave, Frost grave Dust 47
Very happy to see the love for Malifaux popping up in the comments, and I'd love to hear your take on it if you do get the chance to try it for yourself. The system is really elegant and I love the card/cheat mechanic that adds whole extra levels to the conflict. The setting is one of those fantastic omnivorous worlds that can mix up Wild West gunslingers, Dickensian grime, eldritch horror and hardcore steampunk and somehow have it all work. And this might just be me, but I love the fact that while it's a *war* game it's not necessarily a *military* game. There are crews with guns and uniforms and officers if that's your thing, but you can also field an undead madam and her pack of zombie saloon-girls, or a union leader leading a picket-line of striking steamfitters, or a little boy and the menagerie of horrifyingly twisted children's toys and nursery characters he's dreamed into being, or the proprietress of a cabaret theatre whose "troops" are her various headliners and showgirls (including a pair of terrifying clockwork ballerinas who trade their hands for giant knives when they head out on a mission). Wonderful stuff.
Malifaux: 50% horror, 50% steampunk, 50% weird west, and 50% politics/labor strikes.
Also: Never trust a child by themself in Malifaux.
Bushido is good I think you would love painting up some of those models, middle earth SBG is good, so are the Saga titles Vikings, Hannibal etc
That's super cool you got to learn from someone that worked on Maximum Carnage and Scarlet Spider. Maximum Carnage is literally what got me into comics in the 90's and the clone saga is the only other comic arc I've read from Marvel.
It really was amazing! He had a wealth of knowledge to share about story telling and the industry and how to communicate with the readers when putting together a layout... man I miss it. Those classes were my favorites.
Hey Angela, pin ups gained popularity in WWII when US Army Air Corps men had Vargas pin up girls painted on the noses of their airplanes. If your a fan of Dust 1947 I have a Netflix or Amazon prime, I can't remember which, series you might like. It's called The Man in the High Castle. It's all about how the world, USA specifically, would look if the allies lost to the axis. Great video as always 👍.
That's a spendy list of alternatives. Perhaps check out some worthy less expensive options. One Page Rules- you can use all your broke-hammer stuff. Frost/Stargrave - Once again you can re purpose a lot of stuff you probably already own. Check out the offerings from Ganesha Games, Osprey and Spectrum. 5 Parsecs from Home and Reign in Hell are excellent offerings as well.
Bolt Action is actually pretty cheap if you don't go overboard with extras.
Still play Mutant Chronicles:WARZONE and CHRONOPIA. Theyre older games but you can still find the rules and the miniatures or proxy real easy. Nowadays you can also play Counterblast from Bombshell miniatures, Stargrave, Star Grunt, Albedo , and GRUNTZ (15 mm if you want something on larger scale armies)
Thank you for including Infinity. It’s my personal fave.
No problem!
I use infinity miniatures for Stargrave. They are excellent.
Good idea!
Dust 1947 is my favorite game currently, I've written a couple of articles for the Dust USA site. So glad it came up! Ps- Angela Wolfe is who kills Hitler in this universe so of you want even more reason to grab her.
I am playing 60mm Vietnam War miniatures. It can be played as either an RPG or Wargame. 50% of the fun is showing off the spectacular game table, a moving Diorama.
Battletech is criminally missing from this list! The Beginner Box and A Game of Armored Combat sets are everything needed to get started. And if you get into the game, all of the materials are stuff you would've gotten anyways. Its an insanely good deal for the price.
I think you missed a bet here. How about war games with NO minis? My favorites? Gaslands/Gaslands Reloaded. Grab a few Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars, dirty them up, add weapons and you have the Mad Max style cars you need to play. My other game for this category? Stargrave/Frostgrave/Rangers of Shadowdeep. For the fantasy ones, you can use your D&D minis. For Stargrave, you can use whatever including all of the minis from games you discussed here. As for me? I love browsing the sci-fi minis from the likes of Etsy.
Currently enjoying Burrows & Badgers, Infinity Code One, The Drowned Earth, Deadzone 3rd ed and 7TV (Pulp & Fantasy)
Skip the monster terrain items. The only item on that shelf you need is Mel "the terrain tutor" Bose his book. And make your own terrain :)
I have that too!
There's also 7tv from Crooked Dice, you can play with multiple 80's and earlier movie/series-"characters" in a gangfight/rpg style.
Bolt Action player here. I also have a Song of Ice and Fire. I am glad you are recommending it.
I do not like the Warhammer Universe. But I would like to have well made minis.
Referencing Marvel Crisis Protocol. You might want to look at Monsterpocalypse for breaking scenery and environments. Godzilla vs. King Kong type of game.
Malifaux, awesome fluff, truly twisted mini's and the rules are both tight and very different.
Big into MCP, I don't play DUST but I play Bolt Action and Konflickt 47 which is compatible with Bolt Action. I also play Legion and I'm looking to getting into Burrows and Badgers an anthropomorphic animal skirmish game by Oathsworn miniatures
Star Wars Legion and Age of Sigmar, that Infinity model are so cool I tempted, but first I have to paint my Age of Signar vampire minis 🤗
More DIY is needed in the hobby! Less reliance on major games companies and franchises to provide us with entertainment.
Don't get me wrong, I do like all the games in this list, it's just the best stuff is more likely to come from small scale indie designers who don't have shareholders to appease. The best games I ever played were obscure and only had a small player base. The problem was finding players - the games themselves were great!
For players looking for alternative mass fantasy I just launched 'Runestar D12'. Its designed for low-fantasy armies which can easily be made up of historical plastics + mage + dragon! Its only a first edition, but a living game so it's going to be well supported :)
Conquest last argument of kings!
this is my favorite video of yours Angela. you should do a redux of it!
Berkeley as in Berkeley California (famous for UC Berkeley) nice to see a focus on one of the largest wargame stores in the USA. Well done love.. warm thoughts from Richmond CA
Marvel Crisis Protocol is fun. Warcaster, Marmachines and Hordes are good games as well. Battletech is a no brainer, especially since it’s miniature agnostic, you can use official minis or 3rd party minis or a Cheeto if you like.
Amazing that you happen to sell these alternatives...
Oathmark by Osprey Publishing. Old school rank and flank fantasy and very easy to learn as well as being miniatures agnostic.
Can’t believe you name checked Dust! Great game, surprised you included it!
I thought it was an interesting option to offer as a alternate history game and not many people get to see Dust in an actual store! So I thought it would be fun to include.
I'm unlikely to get into any of these games, as I'm getting my model and gaming fix with CMON Massive Darkness, Zombicide and Invader games and boxes, you have to back their Kickstarters to get the best value, and I'm currently waiting on Massive Darkness 2 which I backed last year. Fantastic cooperative table top games.
I started with Games Workshop in the late 1980's and early 1990's, was into Epic, 40K, Necromunda, and Blood Bowl for 20 years, then stopped because they kept changing things too much and made my 40K armies practically useless, unless I wanted to be 100's of new models. I recently got in to Kill Team and I'll continue to collect and play these for a while, but most likely never getting back in to 40K at a army level.
LOL, sounds like me. Late 70;s was Avalon Hill and SPI Wargames, D and D 1st ed, 80's was 40K 3rd, WRG 7th ed 15mm historicals, Avalon Hills Napoleons battles in 15mm, Ogre Minis by Steve Jackson and assorted Role Playing games. 90's was a Press ganger for Hordes and Warmachine for about 3 years and also was into Battlefleet Gothic and Warmaster. 2K I jumped into Flames of War, Bolt Action, all the Warlords mini games, and about 4 full KS for Cmon Zombicide stuff. Will not even go into shelves of Old Avalon Hill and SPI games, Star Fleet battles, Battle Tech, Totes full of Wings of Glory WWI planes and god Knows what else lurks in the closets.
I'm excited to get into Marvel: Crisis Protocol now that they have more X-Men available.
I'm also really enjoying Stargrave and Gaslands. Before that I was into Frostgrave, because I haven't enjoy Games Workshop stuff since 2008.
Conquest and Bolt Action are also really great, with Bolt Action being more of a proper WWII table top game.
I'm considering Infinity BECAUSE of the metal miniatures ❤️
That Angela doesn't just have a sniper rifle...she's got a goddamned anti-tank sniper rifle.
A song of Ice and fire is great. I play AoS and the Msbg but Asoiaf is my favourite to play. It's just so quick compared to the others I play
That's great to hear!
Cool games....I would add Flames of War or Team Yankee by Battlefront. Nice gaming system that you can get into at a reasonable price.
Great breakdown Angela, I've just picked up the Star Wars Legion Core Set (Galactic Civil War era) and a few extras... in fact Sabine is staring at me from my desk and making me nervous but these models are a joy to paint and the game is so simple to learn yet dynamic and so much fun to play.
I also have been nervous to paint Sabin! I want to do her justice!
Best new skirmish game you've never heard of. Gangfight. Ya'll go check it out.
I liked dust back in the day and legion is my current favorite game. Also I don’t know about where you are but here in Houston here’s a surprising amount of warhammer fantasy battles players here most have serval armies
Oh man I wish I was there to play Warhammer Fantasy with you guys! I never got to play in the past and it's something I always wanted to try.
@@HobbyNight I played AoS first and jumped ship to fantasy. AoS even it’s second edition felt kinda lame
Hmmmm no Bolt action or Flames of war. Matter of fact nothing from Battlefront or Warlords.
Been a while since I have been to the shop though, nice to see it has gotten more stock.
Awesome that you mention Dusty 1947. It was very popular where I lived. Unfortunate that Paolo is finished with Dust and it's not being released anymore.
The Genesys Project. Miniature agnostic. RPG elements on faction level. Go from 1st age to 2ndcage to 3rd age.
DUST Tactics is a pretty solid game
Another one, which I have, is the Fallout Wasteland Warfare by Modiphius. Not only can it be player vs. Player, but it can be played as a co-op with a card driven AI system.
It's more of a skirmish game but honestly it looks very fun and models look great
@@noblegalifreyan4551 There is also a RPG that uses the tactical miniature combat from that for the combat system. The models look fantastic and I would like to get more of them for myself.
Great list.
I've been with mcp since day 1 and each match is always a blast.
Nice! It looks like a lot of fun. And the models are super cool to me! I especially like the new Carnage and Black Cat models. Sadly not sold together lol
coolest war game bg, im looking for these
Many recommend Battletech and I can only support that: Also what many (even old BT-players dont know) there are official rules for tabletop play (they usually play on a hex grid, where, of course, you could also use regular terrain builds, but there are also rules for real table top, i.e. measuring with tape, arcs... without hexes).
Also what many could like are one of the many board game (less table top) skirmishers from kickstarter: Some with very nice miniatures and good rules are: Super Fantasy Brawl (available in Retail), Mythic Battles (Pantheon with greek mythology is already out, currently running is ragnarök with norse mythology (but you can buy Pantheon stuff, too)).
Battletech, Bolt Action, Dystopian Wars, Beyond the Gates of Antares basically anything other than GW :)
I've been wanting to get into Dust 1947 since I tried it at Gen Con 50. Too bad no one around here carries it >
Excellent list. While I haven't played Dust, I own and have very much enjoyed the other games.
Best video ever !^^ I like to mention Core Space and Five Parsecs From Home. Take a peek..I think you would like them.
Thanks! Will do!
I've been diving heavy into malifaux. The deck based game and cool steam punk styling. Rules are free and models are decently priced.
My biggest issue with Wyrd is they don't make 2 player starter sets, because I also had looked into Malifaux when I was at GenCon in 2019. But their models are pretty neat looking regardless. One of my co-workers has a relatively large Gibber Hordes (I think that's what they are called, I might be wrong) army that he used the models for in one of our rpg campaigns which was awesome!
@@HobbyNight fortunately they're just about to come put with a 2 player starter set for their wargame (it's on pre-sale at gencon). But yeah they seem to want you to just grab whichever core box you want with a buddy
@@HobbyNight theres no 2 player starter mostly because of how different the factions are, but there *are* now starters for most of the factions out, and there is a 2 player starter for the other side now usable with every faction there (because of how syndicates work) TOS is the one with "gibbering hordes" (it also *psuedo* doubles as a malifaux starter for both guild and ressers, but not amazingly)
I am too far down the 40k rabbit hole to want to change. Thanks for the look at other choices.
No problem!
I would play sw legions if they added a imperial army unit, like the ones from solo
What I love about Dust is that the system does away with all of the stuff that slows down a game. There's no need to measure range, no debates about line of sight or cover, no dicking around with templates. The game system is lean nd elegant and games don't take all night.
The premium models are assembled and "ready to play" but most of the product on the shelves is assembled but unpainted.
Are the models readily available anymore?
@@chad534 Absolutely! It's no longer an FFG thing. There are starters for each of the sub-factions and much of the previous line has been updated or re-released.
@@HeadHunterSix Oh very cool.
When ffg had a fire sale a few years back I thought that was the end of the game and it dropped off my radar
Dust is very much alive and growing. If not for shipping issues, I would already have added the new Spawn of Shub-Niggurath to my painting queue...or as many are calling it, Murder Catutus. 😀
Just got into A Song of Ice and Fire with the Baratheon starter set! Can't wait to find people to play this with.
Sweet! Baratheon was the other House aside from the Free Folk that spoke to me the most while I was researching this episode.
I have been playing Legion since it came out, it is a great game (and the minis are so much fun to paint).
That Mando looks great, but Empire is life 😉
I do really want to paint up my Agent Kallus model. I loved him in Rebels.
I play Legion and Infinity. Infinity's metal models are very well made. A few tricks like scoring the joins between pieces with a knife and using isopropyl alcohol to accelerate the glue drying make it go pretty easy. Also, way more important to wash metal pieces before assembly. I dump mine in a small ultrasonic cleaner with a touch of dawn and warm water for a few minutes.
As cool as I think Infinity’s metal minis are they also make me super nervous to build because of the trickiness of assembling metal sculpts so I haven’t done anything with the starter set I have.
@@HobbyNight Metal minis are not that hard to clean or paint, as a long time gamer when GW minis were metal all you really need to do is wash them in a degreaser, then I suggest a light ink wash over the entire model to see all the mold lines, bigger or finiky models may need to be pinned other wise super glue works well on them. you will need to change your primer to a rattle can type like rustoleum as those made for plastic or resin model do not adhere well to the metal after that paint as normal
Look up Konflikt 47. its alternate history WW2 and its phenomenal. theres historic units plus additional stuff like walker units, genetically engineered super soldiers (some of which went wrong and make werewolves etc) and fantastical guns like tesla weaponry
Warmachine/Hordes was one of the best games ever produced, until Privateer Press shot themselves in the foot. I miss that game sometimes, but realize it will never again be what it was.
The rules set is still very good
That game is hard on new people though.
@@foxtayle683 the learning curve is definitely steep lol
Moonstone. You should really check out Moonstone by Goblin King Games.