Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Future Wars => Topic started by: Hobby Services on May 07, 2019, 10:04:01 PM
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Strolling down memory lane on the blog today with some Cybertronic troops from way back in the Nineties:
https://brokenstarsburningships.blogspot.com/2019/05/nostalgia-time-first-edition-warzone.html
(https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XKZ8SCANyFo/XNHr3FbLEmI/AAAAAAAAD-o/X4c0dNl-ai4rcMJLozv8am8pc3saquQ6gCLcBGAs/s320/100_8405.jpg)
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Fond memories.
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I have a Cybertronic army with these guys in it. I like them a lot! Your's look good! I still am a fan of WZ 1st. It had some warts but was easy to play and you could run really large games.
Thanks,
John
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Love those minis, you’ve done an ace job.
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I still am a fan of WZ 1st. It had some warts but was easy to play and you could run really large games.
Very true. I found 2nd edition rather disappointing by comparison, the troop stats felt a bit too same-y compared with 1st. Neither was perfect, but 1st holds a lot more nostalgia appeal for me. Didn't hurt that you could build bad guy armies out of cheap Siege of the Citadel figs, of course. :)
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Ive painted unit of those guys for a friend in a day..
They were on of the best sculpts in 1st edition and translated well to the casting.
Ive heard 3rd edition was best one, but most of the minis of faction I would play (Legion of darkness) were a bit pooish (couldn't live up to art based expectations) so never tried (but I still have a few)
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Ive painted unit of those guys for a friend in a day..
They were on of the best sculpts in 1st edition and translated well to the casting.
Agreed. Also pleasantly generic. Mine served duty in Necromunda, Shock Force, and several RPG campaigns including Shadowrun and Cyberpunk 2020.
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Lovely, Warzone is a treasure!
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Lots of fond memories!
I still have a ton of figs, mostly Bauhaus. (And lots of Chronopia, too.) I was excited when Prodos revived the game but I waited to see if gamers were interested. Glad I waited, but a shame it failed.
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Yaaasss! Warzone was good. The whole three-action thing from 1st Edition was solid. I still have a drawer of unpainted guys, including these fellows.
I feel like the company had no idea how to break in, and the handling of the whole Mutant Chronicles IP was botched after it changed hands about a half-dozen times. But that 1996 feel was strong, and I am smiling just seeing these old guys.
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Back in the day, in my area, Warzone was always considered to be a bit of a gimpy 40K wannabe, and nobody I knew played the game, even though it was represented quite well in the local gaming shop.
I remember receiving several Warzone miniatures on birthdays and for Sinterklaas over the years (due to lacking interest, they were on perpetual discount, so obvious choices for bewildered relatives looking for gifts), but I never really took a fancy to them. it wasn't until later, when they featured regularly in Harbringer magazine, that I sort of warmed up to them.
Eventually I even began painting up a Cybertronic miniature, but that stalled, and it's actually been sitting on the shelf of shame till this very day...
But a couple of years ago, nostalgic git that I am becoming, I picked up a batch of Capitol miniatures and painted them up for use as generic space soldiers. Now there was something that clicked in regards to the miniatures' look and feel, and painting that squad completely changed my opinion.
These guys are great miniatures, have a lot of character and indeed evoke this fuzzy nineties feeling, twenty years later.
There are too many projects on my plate as it is, but I'd really love to paint up a few squads of different factions, just for the heck of it. Especially the Dark brotherhood with its completely zany mutant monsters.
You certainly put a nice paintjob on these guys. They actually already were seasoned veterans when you painted them, and it's great to see some again.
Oh, and for your viewing pleasure, here are those Capitol guys I painted a few years back (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=104442.msg1298944#msg1298944)... :)
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Oh, and for your viewing pleasure, here are those Capitol guys I painted a few years back (http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=104442.msg1298944#msg1298944)... :)
Image links appear dead to me, unfortunately.
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Prince August Games carry the War Zone classic figures and by a remarkable coincidence they are having a 30% off sale till May 14th.
https://shop.princeaugust.ie/mutant-chronicles-warzone-classic/
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Prince August Games carry the War Zone classic figures and by a remarkable coincidence they are having a 30% off sale till May 14th.
https://shop.princeaugust.ie/mutant-chronicles-warzone-classic/
Good to see the old classics are still available. I especially liked the Copplestone sculpts.
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Good to see the old classics are still available. I especially liked the Copplestone sculpts.
Looks like they've sold out on some things. No unit pack of Imperial Trencher troopers, for ex, only the sniper and HMG singles.
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No; they're selling off their existing stock, but will not cast anything from the line anymore. I was after a few choice minis to expand my squad, but when contacting PA about those, I was told the above. So Ebay it became... ::)
There's still lots around though, and they tend to go cheaply too.
Btw; link seems to work fine for me, on 3 different machines... ???
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Yeah, despite their age Warzone figs are still pretty common on the secondary market. Says something about how many were cast and sold, I think. The 90s were a strong period for miniatures production and distribution, and "Big" Bob Watts was something of a "name" in the business even then. The game never really competed significantly with 40K, but it was pretty easily found in stores throughout the US, at least. And when it started to fade a bit we got Vor and Void...lot of people trying to take a bite of the GW pie in that era. I suppose there still are, but the modern internet makes it easier to do so with direct sales then back before 2000, so the commonality of seeing things sold through distribution has dropped off some.
Links are still glitched for me, vagaries of my ancient software I suspect.
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Fan of Chronopia and Warzone. Remember getting the Wz rule book back in the day. My buddy picked up Levithan back then.
Got a couple dozen, i think. Cybertronic troops plus specials hitting eBay soon enough plus others.
Going to keep a few Cybertronic troops and a Free Marine or two as well.
and "Big" Bob Watts was something of a "name" in the business even then.
Funny enough I have that fig as well.
But the man behind the fig. I recall reading that he had passed away but not too long ago reading that BBW had joined another company, cant recall who.
So either i recall incorectly years back or there is another BBW in the industry.
Grimm
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BBW works at Privateer Press I believe. He was my contact when I was a Privateer Press Pressganger and he worked at Cerberus in the UK. Here's his LinkedIn account:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-watts-896a658/
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Yes, he's at Privateer these days, they announced him coming on board a while back. I'll be greatly amused if he gets a miniature of himself as War Machine/Hordes character - most likely a solo.
"BBW" has some unfortunate connotations in the world of adult internet parlance, unfortunately.
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BBW works at Privateer Press I believe. He was my contact when I was a Privateer Press Pressganger and he worked at Cerberus in the UK. Here's his LinkedIn account:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-watts-896a658/
Yes, he's at Privateer these days, they announced him coming on board a while back. I'll be greatly amused if he gets a miniature of himself as War Machine/Hordes character - most likely a solo.
"BBW" has some unfortunate connotations in the world of adult internet parlance, unfortunately.
Yes, i thought it was PP but i didn't have time to search for accuracy so i left it blank.
And Rich, how do you know what BBW means on the adult internet these days? ;-)
But what got me was, as i was mentioning above, back some more than 10 years back. I was at a HMGS con in PA and recall reading a sign stating that BBW has passed away. I know i seen this sign and recall it clearly enough. Where i saw the sign, top of the stairs near the Front Desk, whom i was with at the time of seeing the sign, Dave, and the story i had once i read the notice.
Anyone else with me on this or am i just insane?
Grimm
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The nice thing is that Warzone figs go pretty well with more recent Copplestone stuff. Being from the same sculptor, size and proportions are relative.
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The nice thing is that Warzone figs go pretty well with more recent Copplestone stuff. Being from the same sculptor, size and proportions are relative.
Most Warzone's a bit chunkier, but they wear so much heavy armor it's perfectly acceptable. The "wife beater shirt" Chasseurs are an obvious exception, but given that they're steroid-pumped and jammed full of cyberware I don't mind them being bulky.
But what got me was, as i was mentioning above, back some more than 10 years back. I was at a HMGS con in PA and recall reading a sign stating that BBW has passed away. I know i seen this sign and recall it clearly enough. Where i saw the sign, top of the stairs near the Front Desk, whom i was with at the time of seeing the sign, Dave, and the story i had once i read the notice.
Anyone else with me on this or am i just insane?
Maybe a prank in very bad taste? Either that or Privateer's using Cryxian recruiting personnel in HR these days and Bob is a reanimated thrall.
And Rich, how do you know what BBW means on the adult internet these days? ;-)
I'm going to go with "cultural osmosis via the internet" as an explanation, same way I've picked up most of my pop culture references in the last twenty years despite being quite the homebody these days. I will admit to preferring rather Rubenesque women in real life, though. Twiggy was not my ideal of the female form.
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The nice thing is that Warzone figs go pretty well with more recent Copplestone stuff. Being from the same sculptor, size and proportions are relative.
I always remembered Tim's name as sculptor and not Mark's name it came to that line.
Or were you just talking about the Cybertronic peeps specifically?
Grimm
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It had some warts but was easy to play and you could run really large games.
Hmmm, I seem to remember it being REALLY crunchy and grinding to a standstill with a reasonable sized couple of forces.
Long time ago though, so my memory might be playing up. I have the rules somewhere
Edit: The figures were real hit and miss but the capitol lads are still in my 'to paint' heap.
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I always remembered Tom's name as sculptor and not Mark's name it came to that line.
Or were you just talking about the Cybertronic peeps specifically?
Grimm
Copplestone did many of the first releases of corporations' humans; Cybertronic chasseurs, Capitol troopers and free marines, Bauhaus hussars, Imperial Blood Berets and wolfbanes). Also one pack of Undead Legionnaires and one Centurion.
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Its shows on the quality of the sculpts.
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Hmmm, I seem to remember it being REALLY crunchy and grinding to a standstill with a reasonable sized couple of forces.
Long time ago though, so my memory might be playing up. I have the rules somewhere
I've never played the game myself, so I can't really comment, but I do understand that there were significant changes between 1st and 2nd edition.
Also, there appears to be a clear distinction between miniatures released for 1st and 2nd edition, but again; I certainly can't tell. I just know I've recently taken a liking to those goofy, bulky and over the top nineties guys.
Edit: The figures were real hit and miss but the capitol lads are still in my 'to paint' heap.
Couldn't agree more on the Capitol miniatures. Some, such as the Light Infantry, with their Yogi Bear hats are kind of meh to me, but the Heavy plus Naval Troopers and the Free Marines are definitely my favourites!
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There were 3 editions of Warzone and never prodos 4th.
First wasclunky
Second was streamlined (and had some plastic models)
Third was combination of two
If you want to try this game i suggest Third edition big rule book as most comprehensive set.
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Personaly I had the 1st and 2nd edition, I prefer the version 1.
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1st Edition was a decent squad-size skirmish, but suffered from a lack of restrictions that led to broken min-maxing and choices that didn't match the fluff.
2nd Edition worked best at platoon level, IMHO, but could be stretched to about 50-60 figures a side before becoming too clunky. Better balancing in the basic lists that came with the game, but the army books outpaced those, and since there were only two released before the company folded, it wasn't great fun to play anything (except maybe Dark Legion) against Bauhaus or Capitol.
I used to be more in the 2ed camp when it came to figures, since there were a huge lot of excellent Kev White sculpts in there, but recently, I've grown more fond of the 1ed ones which have a distinct 2000AD vibe in many aspects and thus came in quite handy to supplement my Foundry and Warlord figures for that universe.
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I'd say 1st edition was more of a skirmish game that worked best with 2-4 squads and about as many characters. It's a little too detailed for really big games, and yes, it had balance issues akin to the GW rules of the time - tooled-up min-maxed heroes were a very 90s thing.
2nd edition worked better for larger games, maybe as big as a couple of platoons per side, and the heroes were far less OTT - but the troops stats became very similar, customization went out the window, and the (very) incomplete run of "faction" army books left its balance in tatters after support ended with the death of the company.
No idea what the later versions were like. I'd moved on to Vor: the Maelstrom by then. Sure can pick 'em, can't I? :)
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Couldn't agree more on the Capitol miniatures. Some, such as the Light Infantry, with their Yogi Bear hats are kind of meh to me, but the Heavy plus Naval Troopers and the Free Marines are definitely my favourites!
I love the lads with the Yogi bear hats!
I think the Warzone stuff could be used with the Infinity rules. The infinity figures look great until you see them in the flesh and realize how many bits they come in. The warzone figures are like their overweight older siblings
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We tended to play 1st edition battles using the large battle tweaks in 1st. The rules were almost at the end of the rulebook. You could run a platoon per side with no problem.
Thanks.
John