Precinct Omega

CONTENT WARNING - SEXUAL THEMES

In this week's news I look at new releases from:

 

Battlefront

Manufaktura Miniatures

Limbo Division

 

What these three have in common are problematic content and themes involved in their new releases. How should consumers identify, deal with and respond to problematic themes in their hobby? And how should manufacturers deal with the issue of what is, ultimately, a leisure game about warfare?

So, Plast Craft Games looks like they're going under.  How did this runaway success and tabletop tech leader get into such trouble?  Well... I can't pretend I really know, but I'll take a good guess in this week's episode.

There was some excitement recently over a falling-out between venerable miniatures wargaming forum, The Miniatures Page, and respected historical game design partnership, Too Fat Lardies.

 

You know this stuff always gets my little grey cells pumping, so I thought I weigh in some factual, legal and philosophical analysis.  But it's not just theoretical.  This is a question with some significant import in how Precinct Omega will do business in the future.

Due to the other stuff going on in my life, I pre-recorded this podcast, so it doesn't include some important things I'd like to talk about.  I'll get to those next week!

 

Companies mentioned:

 

Artejoal Studios and their awful Kickstarter 

Wargames Atlantic 

Mantic Games 

Strato Minis

Elladan

Last week was #MechWeek2020.  Because I decided it was.  First time ever.  Decidedly underwhelming, I know, but whatever.

So I have a chat about mechs, and why I think they're awesome, even when they're stupid.

Farsight (Warchest)

Monsterpocalypse

Catalyst Game Labs (Battletech)

Weta Workshop (GKR: Heavy Hitters)

There's been a lot of chat about miniatures-agnostic games, lately, so I instead take a look at game-agnostic miniatures instead, this week.

 

Manufacturers mentioned are:

 

Puppetswar 

Anvil Industry 

Hasslefree Miniatures 

Monster Fight Club - and their Kickstarter 

Acid House Terrain 

Troublemaker Games - and their Kickstarter 

 

I also mention GW, FFG and Corvus Belli, but you should all know where to find them, by now...

I completely forgot to post this week's podcast on Monday!  No idea how that happened.  Won't happen again.  But episode 8 will be up on Monday.

A shorter episode, now, as I chill out a bit.

Do we take our games too seriously sometimes?  I ponder where such things can lead, why we shouldn't let it and look at a few new and emerging products that aim to help us keep a sense of proportion when we play with our dolls.

 

Spellcrow 

Stickman Journey 

Rubber Duckie Dice 

TTCombat

TRIGGER WARNING: Race

Yep.  We're going there.  I'm going to talk about race and wargames and you can't stop me.

Manufacturers mentioned:

Pulp Figures

Guildhall Studio

Corvus Belli

Miniatures Building Authority

When GW announces a new edition of Warhammer 40,000 it's hard for anyone else to get a word in edgewise in the tabletop miniatures wargaming world. In this episode, we look at why this is the case, why people play 40k at all, and how this affects small creators fighting for a slice of the pie.

I'll add links to the relevant manufacturers mentioned in the podcast at some point...

TRIGGER WARNING: sexual content, child exploitation

This week's discussion is about "chibi" - where it comes from, what its original purpose is and how that purpose is being misunderstood and misapplied by miniatures creators and what that means for wargames.  Does "cuteness" have a role in making miniatures wargaming more accessible to people outside the traditional market?  Or is it just making us look even weirder than people already think we are?