Pre-painted Games

Miniatures, Boardgames, video games, etc.
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Count Zero
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Pre-painted Games

Post by Count Zero »

I have started to realize that I am tired of painting my miniatures and I am really interested in some pre-painted games. Part of this realization came from recieving a free mech for Mechwarrior Dark Age at GameX.

So, I was kind of curious about MW: Dark Age, but I don't think it is played too much anymore. I am also not real thrilled about the collectable aspect. I figure I can get some collections cheap because people are dumping them on e-bay. Has anyone played this? What is it like? Are there any other pre-painted games that you have played which you enjoy?

I have recently been looking at AT-43 because it is pre-painted and not collectable. I have played it once and it seems okay. Also, it looks like Confrontation is going pre-painted too.

Would any of you be interested in getting into a pre-painted game together?
Whenever I get confused about D&D alignment morality, I just imagine Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Ghandi arm wrestling shirtless on the back of a killer whale.

In other words, I remember that it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense and deal with it best I can.
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MikeB
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Post by MikeB »

I played some Mechwarrior, the one made by Wiz Kids, a while back. It was ok, but the times I played most were at a couple of tournaments sponsored by the local game stores at the time. I wasn't totally impressed by it, but saw with a little imagination how maybe you could turn it into something interesting, say with little missions or campaigns. Heroclix has the same type of possible interesting play. Some one even ran a little campaign, where you started with a green group of heroes and through experience and successful missions they became tougher or had access to different enhanced powers.

I used to play in a chainmail campaign (which were the you paint yourself miniatures, before WOC came out with their collectable line of miniatures) which was really fun. I think the same type of thing could be done with the already painted D&D miniatures that lots of people already have.

I really love skirmish level type games, because even if you have to paint a few guys, its not that big a deal, but that is beside the point.

I have never heard of AT-43, who makes it?
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Count Zero
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Post by Count Zero »

A friend of mine just gave me a bag full of Mechwarrior minis. I will have to download the rules and check it out.

As to AT-43, it is made by Rackham. I like it because it isn't collectable. I have played it once, it was pretty cool.
Whenever I get confused about D&D alignment morality, I just imagine Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Ghandi arm wrestling shirtless on the back of a killer whale.

In other words, I remember that it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense and deal with it best I can.
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MikeB
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Post by MikeB »

Where did you play it at? I checked it out. Seems cool. The starter box says that it costs 60 Euro. I don't know the conversion, but thats quite a few dollars.
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Count Zero
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Post by Count Zero »

I played it with a fried at Game Empire. Apprently, people are playing it at Game Towne sometime today. The starter set is about 80 bucks. While that seems expensive, it comes with two large minis and a bunch of smaller ones, and a collection of terrain.

The rules are pretty simple and effective, but I haven't played the full rules yet.

Each individual set is about $30 - $40. Considering they are prepainted, that isn't really that bad. You would pay that much for an unpainted, unassembled GW figure.
Whenever I get confused about D&D alignment morality, I just imagine Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Ghandi arm wrestling shirtless on the back of a killer whale.

In other words, I remember that it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense and deal with it best I can.
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Mr Harkonnen
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Post by Mr Harkonnen »

Ok Jonathan (yes, I know you) the lowdown with Mechwarrior Dark Age is that there won't be any more sets that what would be considered traditional CMG sets (random packaging, levels of rarity), that's dead. That means you can get any of the old stuff you want on ebay cheap. They're moving to the occasional release of boxes with 4 mechs each, non-random, I'm pretty sure they're faction-specific, about 40 bucks a pop. I've never played it, the collectible nature put me off (the players said it was the worst CMG for cost vs. having a competitive army) but it did look kind of cool.

As far as AT-43 goes it sold poorly initially. Popularity doesn't mean shit when it comes to minis games, most really popular games suck as you know. It does mean something when it comes down to how many people will be willing to play it. The minis are really good when compared to other pre painteds but the rules look pretty weird. The next couple months will tell if it's going to survive.

Out of the 2 I would go with Mechwarrior, it's probably more solid as a game. Tanks, VTOLs, mechs,the traditional Battletech overheating and the super-cool Battletech factions are all there. It's a bummer to sink money into a game and have everyone stop playing, AT-43 ain't cheap, it's status as a game that will be around for the long haul is up in the air. BTW I heard that Confrontation is going pre painted.

Mongoose will have the Starship Troopers Evolution game available this summer. Pre painted and streamlined version of the minis game that's been out for a couple years. I will most likely be playing SST Evo. The original SST game had some of the best weapons rules I've read, hopefully some of those will port.
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