Thread: Ex illis Kickstarter

Ok, I saw this on Kotaku this week (http://kotaku.com/where-video-games-...eet-1459831845)

I gotta ask - what is the point of the miniatures? From what I saw in the game play demo from the kotaku article, there was no point in moving the miniatures on the physical game board. And because all the dice and stats are kept on the computer...

I'm not trying to be a debbie downer, but I just don't see the point in the minis if we're basically playing a two player turn based strategy game on a grid with a computer or two. Can you please elaborate?

Edit: I did watch the video, btw (the explanation of the board / computer interface starts at around the 3:30 mark) But I still don't understand why you need the models because you have to input the move on the computer, which tracks where they are on the "big board" - the overall view.

I love the game concept and the models, by I too am having difficulties wrapping my head around the actual gameplay mechanic of it.

Originally Posted by Salubrious_vampire

Immersion and style I guess? Plus, painting stuff is fun. You could kind of ask what the point of any minis are, when you could just grab bases and stick tape on them that says "raaaaawr. I'm a warpwolf."

Soft factions sound cool, I generally like a lot of single cross faction models but don't want the whole army. (Though I have too much on my miniatures plate to really try other games out).

Then whats the point of the computer then? Switching between a screen and a table top is a lot less immersive to me that just doing one or the other. Also, the fact that it's a "medieval setting" and not a Sci-fi setting looses some of the immersion factor for me when we're using a computer screen.

I get what they are wanting to do - but i feel like there is a disconnect somewhere. I'm pretty sure if this game was JUST a board/table-top game or JUST a computer game I'd be more interested. This game has been around for a while and it didn't really take off locally. That's partly because everyone was already playing a lot of other games and (while the idea of computer aided play is neat) it's not interesting enough to make me want to jump ship.

(I like rolling dice as well. This game looses me there as well because it rolls the dice for you. but that's just me and my opinion.)

I do like the models - I really do! They do have some cool stuff on that front.

Originally Posted by AdamHarry

I gotta ask - what is the point of the miniatures?

As the Game Designer, this is one question I had to face a lot !

First of all, yes it is technically possible to play the game without the miniatures, but it is not fun to do so. The game was designed to have the Software AND the miniatures together as a whole, so if you only play with the software, you will me missing some information: number of miniatures per unit, fight directions and the most important info: the global view of the game. That last point is the most important, because the software always ever show you one tile at a time (it is as if the game focuses on the current action).

The other part is in the game's dynamism: Without the software, the game would be another miniature wargame (with very cool rules :P) and without the miniatures, it would only be a dull videogame. Both put together gives a very unique and dynamic experience! Also, the density of miniatures in the same zone makes a difference for shooting and close combat and is much more palpable when you have it in front of you.

The last point is the simple fact that the software was entirely designed as a tool between two players... you can change all the parameters you want to make the game fits to any setting you want (change the board size or shape, play Day or Night, put any terrain feature wherever you want on the map, the game size and rules of engagements, etc.) so it wasn't designed as a videogame and is uninteresting on its own.

To conclude, I just want to specify that the current Kickstarter is intended for a Classical "Rulebook" version of the game and will be a complete standalone from the digital versions.
Both games will continue to be supported !!!

Hope this is convincing enough

Originally Posted by Rocknswell

As the Game Designer, this is one question I had to face a lot !

First of all, yes it is technically possible to play the game without the miniatures, but it is not fun to do so. The game was designed to have the Software AND the miniatures together as a whole, so if you only play with the software, you will me missing some information: number of miniatures per unit, fight directions and the most important info: the global view of the game. That last point is the most important, because the software always ever show you one tile at a time (it is as if the game focuses on the current action).

The other part is in the game's dynamism: Without the software, the game would be another miniature wargame (with very cool rules :P) and without the miniatures, it would only be a dull videogame. Both put together gives a very unique and dynamic experience! Also, the density of miniatures in the same zone makes a difference for shooting and close combat and is much more palpable when you have it in front of you.

The last point is the simple fact that the software was entirely designed as a tool between two players... you can change all the parameters you want to make the game fits to any setting you want (change the board size or shape, play Day or Night, put any terrain feature wherever you want on the map, the game size and rules of engagements, etc.) so it wasn't designed as a videogame and is uninteresting on its own.

To conclude, I just want to specify that the current Kickstarter is intended for a Classical "Rulebook" version of the game and will be a complete standalone from the digital versions.
Both games will continue to be supported !!!

Hope this is convincing enough

Thanks for taking the time to address that! It does make a bit more sense.