WoW minis or Monsterpocalypse?

[Nwojedi]

Thou, I've never played MC. WoW Mini's is the best mini's game i've ever played. I've heard MC's rulebook is way to thick. WoW mini's you can setup and have your army drafted in about 4 min, ready to roll to see who goes first. Takes 3 min to put away when done, and once you get the hang of it, games can be done in about 15 min.

There are so many stategic elements to WoW mini's, that it's more like chess than anything else. Every move is critical.

[Lord Pyre]

MonPoc's rulebook is intimidating at first, but once you figure it out, it becomes a lot easier, especially if you only use one force, and you can memorize their abilities easier.

I haven't played WoW, but MonPoc is also very strategic. Once you get all the buildings and units (Yeah, that'll cost you a bit. But like I said, you can trade for the stuff you want), you'll find that certain buildings and unit combinations work better for you.

The only thing I don't really like about MonPoc is that there's not much you can customize. Perhaps HeroScape spoiled me, but you can't really make scenarios, or play different kinds of games, other than one or two monsters.

[boom]

And WoW hardly has to be a "race" for the objectives. The action-card bar really adds much more to it. You're going to love pouring over all your cards and figuring what combos of cards and figures gives you the best army, much like you do for your HS stuff . Monpoc is great, and I play both, but I'd go with WoW as a starter, especially if you like fantasy as opposed to sci-fi. My two centavos.

[Nwojedi]

Yea, the action bar card customizing is really awesome too. The thing with WoW is, that no army can defeat all other armies. It doesn't matter who you take. You would have just as good of luck, pulling randomly as you would trying to plan. Especially in a tournament setting. Some action cards become useless against some opponents, but super powerful against others. But you don't know who your going to play, so it's a crap shoot.

[keglo]

Ok, I'm still leaning towards WoW BUT what about AT-43? The figures look really sweet to me and the rules that I have read sound very interesting too. But I have never played a game of this sort that uses a tape measure for movement like At-43, Warmachines, etc. So any of you know anything about this one before I make a final decison? Cost, is it fun, how long a game last, how complicated it is, etc? Thanks for any help.

[boom]

AT-43 is a pretty cool game, but a tad costly. 8 Figures will set you back about $30 retail, or closer to 20 or 24 online. I have a few figs, and the paint jobs are decent enough. My biggest fear is that Rackham (the manufacturer) has recently severed ties w/ the US distributer, Fantasy Flight. Waves were slow to be released then. I wonder what will happen now? Do some more research on what the future of that game will bring before diving in. I'm in a holding pattern with it, at the 'mo.

[Eclipse]

I'll throw on some praise for the WoW game and for what its worth, I'm not a Warcraft fan at all. Nothing against it at all, but I'm not a RTS fan and the MMO was just dull for me. Just not the game for me.

The mini game on the other hand, is really good. In some ways its similar to Heroscape, but it really occupies a different style entirely. While Heroscape is about small skirmishes of bands of troops, WoW zooms in even closer and focuses on single characters, giving each on a lot of options to make it far more interesting then stand and smash.

There's lots of things I really enjoy about it. The 70% success rate for both offense and defense mitigates a lot of the wild, luck based rolls, while the general attack/defense numbers are balanced to keep the game from turning into a stalemate. The Honor system is really smart, balancing out figures well. The VPs on maps give a good option to fight over and a unique way to play for high defense, low Honor units. They also keep the Honor system from turning into a clear multiple of 4 team building issue.

Really, the main downside is that the Ubases don't make the game as easy to track as they should. It's too bad, because when they work the game flows fantastically and without there's a lot to track. You'll hear complaints about paint jobs, but really they're quite good; not as good as the promo pictures, but extremely detailed and colorful. They could definitely be better of course, but as good as most machine paint jobs I've seen.

Really, its just a fun game. It sits nicely with my Heroscape collection as a more hero focuses experience compared to the more squad based gameplay of scape.

[webhead817]

Originally Posted by keglo

Ok, I'm still leaning towards WoW BUT what about AT-43?

Unfortunately you just missed a HUGE sale on that game which would have been a good chance to get into it.

The rules for AT-43 are very dense...if you were looking for something where you could setup a campaign and play marathon sessions using strict military style tactics, it might be for you.

As mentioned elsewhere, the future of the game is a bit in flux, as the parent company has just pulled back US distribution from Fantasty Flight.

[keglo]

Originally Posted by webhead817

if you were looking for something where you could setup a campaign and play marathon sessions using strict military style tactics, it might be for you.

Umm..no. Big marathon sessions are not what I'm looking for. I unfortunately do not have the time and my wife would never make it through one session. So I will be going wit WoW. Thanks to everyone for all of your feedback.

[mnguy12000]

I have to say I love WOW as well. but one thing I hate is the collection aspect of this game. There are about 5-8 figures that are the main driving force in Tourney play and without them you are toast.

But if you dont care about tourney play and just want a fun fast game to play this is it. I am pleased I own it and I have fun playing either PvP or PvE. YES I said PvE. they have a pretty good rule set to get you started plus the WOW forums have some pretty good ideas as well.

[spacemonkeymafia]

Originally Posted by keglo

Thanks for all the advise guys. I think that I will wait until after Christmas to make my final decision.

ED: just realized that this thread was resurrected and likely no longer relevant...oh well

I saw that you already posted that you are all but going for WoW and that sounds great but I thought I'd throw in some more info/advice into the mix

MonPoc is great if you like that theme, though as people have pointed out, can be expensive.

AT-43 or Confrontation (the high fantasy alternate universe) has awesome sculpts, pre-painted, and the most "true wargame" of the current list of suggestions. Rackham (the publisher) is making it pretty easy to get into the game with the start of the "Army" box- 2000 pts (which I believe is rough 75% of what you would field in a tournament) of figures dedicated to one faction for $70. This price point is amazing for these figures and is about the same as the crazy FFG 1/2 sale, but more focused on a balanced army build. The AT-43 boxes come out this summer with the Confrontation ones following in September I believe.

Now just to throw one more option into the ring (and pimp my current most anticipated new game)...Arcane Legions:
http://arcanelegions.com/
Read through their site as they have pics in the News section, gameplay in the Games section, and pricing info in the Retailer part. Info on this game is scarce but the pricing seems amazing and the gameplay seems pretty cool/unique. It seems simpler to play than most war games but still meaty enough to be fun. It should be out by September so if you are still waiting for Christmas, then you should have plenty of info on the game to see if its any good. There is a thread already kicking in this forum if you are interested in catchy what little info is already available.

Otherwise, good luck and have fun!

[boom]

Originally Posted by spacemonkeymafia

ED: just realized that this thread was resurrected and likely no longer relevant...oh well

Now just to throw one more option into the ring (and pimp my current most anticipated new game)...Arcane Legions:
http://arcanelegions.com/
Read through their site as they have pics in the News section, gameplay in the Games section, and pricing info in the Retailer part. Info on this game is scarce but the pricing seems amazing and the gameplay seems pretty cool/unique. It seems simpler to play than most war games but still meaty enough to be fun. It should be out by September so if you are still waiting for Christmas, then you should have plenty of info on the game to see if its any good. There is a thread already kicking in this forum if you are interested in catchy what little info is already available.

Otherwise, good luck and have fun!

Why are you doing this to me, spacemonkey, why?