Why is Warmaster dead?

[kyussinchains]

yup, having read the rulebook, as well as becoming totally disenfranchised with WFB, I see the appeal of the game much more now.

I agree the huge battle thing to a point, but a 10k game of warhammer looks pretty epic in size, even if it's only just about representative of a standard game of warmaster

I'm totally not bashing the game at all here, I really like it, and I fully intend to pick up a couple of armies (probably brets and vamps as I've always liked them in WFB) in future, I'm just offering potential reasons as to why it never 'took off' like some of the other SG, it has great miniatures and a fantastic ruleset, but evidently those things aren't what everyone wants!

I know epic armageddon is undergoing a bit of a resurgence at the moment, I'm playing in a tournament tomorrow with 30 entrants, if it's not already happening, I think more people are looking to branch out into alternative wargames and maybe warmaster will gain a bit of popularity....

[Nuada]

I'm just offering potential reasons as to why it never 'took off' like some of the other SG, it has great miniatures and a fantastic ruleset, but evidently those things aren't what everyone wants!

I think the reason is something you highlighted in an earlier post. People are very suspicious of anything GW brings out, all their attempts at a new system are seen as yet another way to part their customers with money. I see GW as the equivalent to Man Utd, everybody loves to hate them. People aren't keen on buying into a new system. Mordheim, Necromunda and Blood Bowl are all games where you have around 10 figures. With warmaster you need an army, so you have to commit time and effort and gamble that a) you'll have opponents to fight against and b) the game is good

For me personally we tried out warmaster towards the end of 7th edition warhammer. We haven't bothered with warhammer ever since (we prefer 8th ed to 7th) and i'm gutted we didn't try warmaster earlier. Now i'm selling all my warhammer figures, warmaster is a much better game. We now have a group of 6 WM players

[Cuttle]

Hi folks,

just joined the forums, and noticed this thread - really interesting to me at the moment because I'm in the process of trying to get some of my gaming buddies interested in Warmaster. Agree totally with the idea that people are reluctant to commit themselves to a new gaming system, so I've been buying bits and pieces from Ebay to get three small armies for Warmaster, in the hope that I can run some games for folks without them having to buy their own armies. My target audience is other WFB gamers who will probably want to translate their armies into the equivalent Warmaster armies if they do get into it, undead all round then! Interestingly, none of my gaming group had ever really heard of Warmaster before, and none had played epic 40K either.....but then neither system has been pushed in-store here or in White Dwarf etc for years, which as people have mentioned previously has no doubt had a lot to do with the lack of uptake....

[zerodemon]

The problem with Warmaster was GW never really bothered with it. It had the unfortunate position of being one of the later SG and GW kinda just threw it out and waited to see if it stuck. It didn't.

Great game though.

[brm130]

It also suffered some early crossover problems with WHFB. The Tomb Kings, Kislev, and Araby armies didn't (at the time) exist. And some popular FB armies like the Skaven, Vampire Counts, Daemons, and Dark Elves all came out way after the game had been apparently discontinued. I can't recall if Brettonia and Wood Elves even came out.

It's a shame, really since by all accounts it's a brilliant game and the models look great on the table. I played it a few times around launch, but it just never took off.

[Vos]

I am part of a group of 6 that all play warmaster as much (some of us more) than we play WHFB or 40K now. We have every army between us and we play HUGE games (10K a side is the record).

Just convert people one at a time.......

Vos

[wreiro]

@Vos that sounds awesome. I would love to get back into warmaster since I have 6 armies totalling over 15000pt. But nobody I know plays regularly. Dont suppose your group is near Edinburgh ?

[Nurglitch_PS]

I have recently bought a ton of games rulebooks. I tried DBA, but got repulsed both by the "Bakerese" language and Phil Bakers' attitude to those who tried to make his game clearer. So I bought the Warmaster Ancients rulebook and fell in love with the game. I've never ever seen a rule set so easy, clear and graceful. I managed to acquire Warmaster Ancient Armies and the Warmaster Medieval is right now in the post, headed towards me. I have since bought FoG and Hail Ceasar but Warmaster Ancients still appeals to me the most. Tomorrow I'm playing a 1000p game with a friend, Romans vs Britons.

[Vos]

Wreiro

Sorry, no, were based around Preston/Southport in the North West of England. The best way to convert someone is to get 2 armies yourself and paint them to a decent standard, practice a couple of solo battles then invite them round for a test game. A lot of effort but its worth it..... Warmaster is the best game GW has ever made in my humble opinion.
Vos

[wreiro]

Vos, oh well it was worth asking! Yeah I have like 5 armies some of the figures are even painted. I played a few gmaes when it can out and one about a year ago as a demo for a friend. Will have to push a couple of folk to play another game soon.

H

[sigur]

It's always a bit weird when people assume that a system isn't present simply because it's not mentioned in 40k General or WHFB General (or the PPP sections) all the time. Warmaster is pretty darned alive and, in my opinion as someone who plays 40k and WHFB, is quite a bit healthier than 40k and WHFB.

[Amnar]

It's pretty dead in my area, which is a shame because I love it. We have a small gaming group that loves it, but it's hard to attract new blood....

[Jind_Singh]

It's pretty dead in my area, which is a shame because I love it. We have a small gaming group that loves it, but it's hard to attract new blood....

Woah! You live in Vancouver?! Excellent - I just got myself a painted Empire army, unassembled Empire, and Orcs & Goblins - I too want to grow a group! Maybe we should meet up in July to get in a friendly game?!

(As I'm in the UK until June 15th!)

[Whitesilk]

Its dead in my area...looong dead. At the time I and a store employ were the only ones playing (I know he was bashed into playing by his boss)! hahahaha

Though...anyone in MD that plays? Drop me a line. I'd love to get reintroduced to the system.

[Verm1s]

It's pretty dead in my area, which is a shame because I love it. We have a small gaming group that loves it

I'll react with more concern if you say you also have several larger gaming groups in your area. Even so, as long as you have someone to play it with...

Me, I'm going to try and get two groups interested. See the sig.

(One has a guy who already plays Warmaster Ancients, but tends to break out in hives at the mention of the word 'fantasy')

[Amnar]

Woah! You live in Vancouver?! Excellent - I just got myself a painted Empire army, unassembled Empire, and Orcs & Goblins - I too want to grow a group! Maybe we should meet up in July to get in a friendly game?!

(As I'm in the UK until June 15th!)

Sounds good bud, hit me up when you're back in town.

[yabbadabba]

I have 2x6k armies - Tomb Kings and Empire. In fact they maybe bigger than that. At the moment I think SGs are GWs hidden gems, and I kind of hope it stays this way.

As usual with these things, the reasons why GW dropped WM from the stores are more complex than "they didn't support it". As a store manager at the time I can say that was not the case at all.

[Vos]

I just hope they stay low profile enough to continue. Apart from the cupboard space they're using up and the caster's time to spin up the moulds, its not as if its actually diverting any real running costs to keep it going. It's a pity Rick was never allowed to do his 2nd edition Warmaster. No chance of that now! Still I suppose they're only protecting their IP.

I probably have over 50K points of various armies for warmaster including 10K of Chaos and 10K of Orcs and Goblins. The Empire are next!!!!

Vos (Warmaster Nutter)

[NemesisCH]

We are just about to start again with the Warmaster. It took a long time, but now I'm finally back playing WM with 4 more players. In coordination with an other club, we have decided to use the Warmaster scale (10mm/12mm) in the historical setting too. Before someone asks, we are in Switzerland (Europe). We will participate at this years German Games Day with a Warmaster game table.

[KentishNomad]

Warmaster was a great game, why were GW against a 2nd edition? I'm sure fans would be happy to contribute for free...

Battlefleet Gothic has experienced something of a renaissance so there's no reason why we can't work towards the same with warmaster.