Wargames Atlantic pick next box poll

[zemjw]

I haven't seen this mentioned here, so...

Wargames Atlantic are running a poll to choose what box they'll make next. It's the final round of heat 1, so head on over to vote. No signup or email required (unless you want to have a chance to win a prize)

poll link

I went with most of their SF stuff, but other periods are available. I didn't see the medieval civilians from their recent April Fools, but there are a lot of options, so I may have missed them

[Sir_Theo]

Some interesting options there!

[Grumpy Gnome]

I have had fun doing the poll. Some of the suggestions are interesting some are a bit... odd. But it is great to see WA engaging with us customers.

[Elbows]

While I can't attest to the business success of Wargames Atlantic - they're doing the one thing I'd do as a company new to the mix; fill the gaps.

There are so many gaps in plastic miniatures which big companies are too afraid to tackle.  I hate to see new companies show up and produce...*gasp*...WW2 Germans for Normandy, etc.

I think there are a ton of plastic kits that could be very successful if a company is willing to do them.  Maybe not world-shattering sales records, but worth producing.  I'm still amazed no one produces a box of plastic Cowboys, or a box of plastic Roman Gladiators (with all the popular classes represented, etc.).  Kits that could be applied to dozens of different games, etc.

[Pattus Magnus]

My knee-jerk response to the idea of cowboys or gladiators was “they would be great, but wouldn’t be profitable for the producers because cowboys and gladiators are for small team/skirmish games and you would only ever need to buy one box. Plastics are for mass battles.”

Then it occurred to me that the 1 box format with a massive number of components, designed for a small team game, is exactly what the Frostgrave boxes do, and they seem to sell well enough to keep going.

I’m hoping my knee-jerk response isn’t right and the companies like Wargames Atlantic and Northstar turn good profits with the versatile kits they’re doing.

[BZ]

Done all the polls, and Im very curios about the results!
I love Wargames Atlantic for making those kits, that nobody else wants to make. And their price and quality are also good!

[Coenus Scaldingus]

My knee-jerk response to the idea of cowboys or gladiators was “they would be great, but wouldn’t be profitable for the producers because cowboys and gladiators are for small team/skirmish games and you would only ever need to buy one box. Plastics are for mass battles.”

Then it occurred to me that the 1 box format with a massive number of components, designed for a small team game, is exactly what the Frostgrave boxes do, and they seem to sell well enough to keep going.

I’m hoping my knee-jerk response isn’t right and the companies like Wargames Atlantic and Northstar turn good profits with the versatile kits they’re doing.

To some extent, I suppose the more niche sets do benefit from having a particular popular ruleset requiring those kinds of models. That certainly will have helped Frostgrave at least! Generic fantasy adventurers would certainly not have been quite as in-demand otherwise, though the cultists especially appear to have been popular beyond Frostgrave too. Not sure if Jugula is still much played, but a plastic set covering most gladiator types available around that game's release for example would have been rather good. I suppose there are even some larger scale applications for such a set (Spartacus and all that). There is also the factor that you might attract a lot of customers buying one box of something that only requires the one box, while anything meant for larger armies will sell multiple boxes to fewer customers.


Anyway, very interested to see what comes out of this; the poll options are certainly rather an eclectic mix.

[Major_Gilbear]

I'm still amazed no one produces a box of plastic Cowboys [...]

Yeah, me too! I would have thought that a good set of those would have enough universal appeal to succeed for a long and steady period.

I also think a multipart robot and cyborgs set would be a sleeper hit, especially considering that it'd have enough utility to appeal to all sorts of different games and genres. Could be combinable with a plastic Gladiators set too!

Then again, I guess it's the usual issues with plastic kits:

- Quality of detail and casting
- Scale, proportion, and posing of models
- Number of separate parts
- Amount of configuration/variety from the kit
- Price of final box

Sure, that applies to metal models too, but the up-front investment in a plastic kit means you can't really afford for it to not be a great success. Plus, every option or separate part means more mould tooling (and therefore, more cost).

In the case of the cowboys set, I think you'd need two sprues to really have a big impact: one where the models all have dusters, and one where they don't. I'd also include a couple of mounted legs on each sprue too, designed to fit with suitable popular ranges (say the Perry ACW mounted boxes). I'd go for a slightly chunkier "herioc" 28mm too, so that they fit well with a wide range of existing metals in that style, but avoid making them too cartoonish (i.e., too "GW"). Unfortunately, the very fact that I think two sprues with some extra options on them would be a perfect option for a 10/12 - 20/24 model box means that it probably wouldn't be financially viable (as most people would only ever buy 1-2 boxes at most).

[dwbullock]

SPACE BEARS!!!

Sometimes, you just have to click the silly ones.  However, some modular robots are always fun.  Actually, many of those look fun.  And I do appreciate not just their humor, but their willingness to engage with customers and provide what their base wants to build.

[has.been]

Many interesting options, problem is that I want them...NOW !

[Pattus Magnus]

If the robots ever make it into production, I expect they will become a common donor kit for cyborg kitbashes. Throw a robot arm on a Northstar cultist and you have a down-and-out ‘borg outlaw. They’re potentially versatile enough to fit into a lot of projects.

[Elbows]

Well Stargrave is coming out - so a droid/cyborg kit is almost a guarantee at some point - so I'd actually be tempted to skip that one. I assume Northstar/etc. will be doing that kit.

[TWD]

The difference between cowboys or gladiators and Frostgrave is the player base IMO.
Fantasy (Frostgrave) has a much bigger audience than gladiators which helped sell the initial set. The success of that set plus the success of the game opened the doors to the subsequent sets.
It used to be that you either needed a big player base (Naps, WW2) or big armies (Ancients, Naps again)  to generate the sales to  justify the cost of tooling plastics.

I think cowboys has a relatively small player base and as noted you only need a posse of a few models to play.

However the cost of tools and sculpting, especially if done in China (like WA) means smaller runs are more affordable.
Who would have thought a few years ago we'd get plastic Pathans for instance (small player base and generally small forces)?

[Pattus Magnus]

Regarding the robots, there might be room in the market for a set each from WA and Northstar, since Starwars established the precedent that there can never be too many types of robots in a space opera setting!

Actually, it seems like with plastic sci-fi and fantasy kits (and historical figs that cross over easily, like knights and Vikings), the competition between companies is a bit blurry due to conversion potential. I know I have bought sets that could be considered redundant (because I already had figs of that type), just so I could get more scope for making conversions. For those types of subjects (orcs, aliens, robots, dark ages/barbarian infantry), having more options generates new demand.

I have no idea how that works for the economic viability of the sets for producers, but it seems like with some there’s synergy rather than simple competition.

[Elbows]

The difference between cowboys or gladiators and Frostgrave is the player base IMO.
Fantasy (Frostgrave) has a much bigger audience than gladiators which helped sell the initial set. The success of that set plus the success of the game opened the doors to the subsequent sets.
It used to be that you either needed a big player base (Naps, WW2) or big armies (Ancients, Naps again)  to generate the sales to  justify the cost of tooling plastics.

I think cowboys has a relatively small player base and as noted you only need a posse of a few models to play.

However the cost of tools and sculpting, especially if done in China (like WA) means smaller runs are more affordable.
Who would have thought a few years ago we'd get plastic Pathans for instance (small player base and generally small forces)?

Sure, but we won't really know until someone tries it.  The advantage here is that there is not a competitive market for that...meaning if you did a really nice box of plastic cowboys or gladiators - you'd be it.  The only show in town.  Now neither of these genres is huge...but it exists.  There is a new Old West skirmish game released maybe once a year.  I do agree that there's no point in several companies competing with boxes of plastic figures for a small genre - but the space is there for someone to grab it.  Particularly if you become "the" supplier who does that stuff.  I think it's a market space that's available - as long as you're not trying to be the next Games Workshop.

The advantage here is that 3D printing will cover all these bases, but a lot of people (myself included) still "prefer" simple HIPS plastic kits.