Demise of Spartan Games and the Future of Wayland Games

Founded in 2008, Spartan Games has created many great games over the last ten years. They started with Fantasy fleet combat (Uncharted Seas), then expanded their product line with 1:100000 scale , Space Fleet Combat (2009 - Firestorm Armada), 1:12000 scale Steampunk Victorian era fleet/air/land combat (2010 - Dystopian Wars), 32mm steampunk skirmish (2012 - Dystopian Legions), and recently 10mm future combat (Planetfall). I was hooked ever since buying, in 2011, my first fleet boxes for Firestorm Armada and Dystopian Wars. The scale was perfect and models were cool. The exploding dice mechanic added an element of surprise and shock. The rulesets were suited for fun games. I added models from time to time and still have many more in boxes awaiting eventual assembly, painting, and playing the occasional game.

 

In winter of 2016 I had participated in the Dystopian Wars kickstarter for their new 2.5 edition of the rules, starter with new models, and lots of cool add-ons including Egyptian hover ships that had been delayed in delivery until summer of 2017 and I went for it. The summer of the delivery there was another offer for Canadian and Teutonic Order war/air ships and I went for it. Then in August of last year, Spartan Games announced that they were folding.

 

Besides losing out on the money for the projects, which my credit card company has refunded, I had mixed feelings. I was angry that they were encouraging people to advance buy projects while on the knife’s edge of their bank account. A friend of mine was so upset that he is thinking of selling the Dystopian Wars models I sold him in 2017 and turning his back on the game, which also makes me upset because the community for Spartan Games items in my neck of the woods is very small.

 

Then Wayland Games, maker of Wild West Exodus (WWE) and internet gamestore, announced that they were acquiring the IP rights to all of the Spartan Games products. Although I have heard mixed experiences with their internet gamestore, I have heard good things about the WWE models. They not only are incorporating their WWE world with Dystopian Wars, but they are going to begin making a 3^rd edition rulesbook and Dystopian Wars models in 2018. In successive years they plan to add to their lineup the other nee-Spartan Games products including Uncharted Seas which was stopped in production and development at Spartan Games for years.

 

This made me hopeful. Only caveat is I am not a fan of the Dystopian Wars land game being redesigned in 10mm scale vice the original 1:12000 scale. What made me more hopeful was when I received an email that Wayland Games wanted to send me the personalized Dystopian Wars rulebook made, but not delivered, for the Kickstarter! Not only that but they wanted to send me a copy of the 3.0 rulebook they would make for free. I just had to provide an address and a picture of myself in the world of social media with an older rulebook. Well, the first has arrived…the 2.5 edition of the rules.

It’s very nice and shiny inside and out and am happy with this effort of Wayland Games to build trust. Although I declined their offer of 30% off the Icemaiden carrier, their first Dystopian Wars model, I am looking forward to future efforts. In the meantime I will assemble and paint Spartan Game models, and play games using the existing rules. I will be continuing to post Spartan Games models under that tag in this blog though. I just hope Wayland Games can expand the player base without sacrificing the fun gameplay and cool models. Time will tell.

Maki Containers for Batman Miniature Game

These containers are from a Maki Games Kickstarter I donated to in 2013 and received a year later. I didn’t do anything with them because I stopped playing Warhammer 40k and my interest in Infinity waned in favour of other games. When looking through my terrain kits collecting dust in order to make some Batman Miniature Game terrain, I decided to put some together to see what I could come up with.

Unfortunately, I did not get the modern setting sides to make proper modern setting containers but the sci-fi ones work very well for high-security ones. They sell the containers, in 40k skull and flip side modern, here at their webstore as well as other items. One issue that the company advised people of is to either shave the pegs or file the holes so that the pieces could go together and come apart with greater ease. All was painted with dollarstore paints and logos/text printed and glued on and coated with glue with Gorilla brand wood glue.

The Blackgate Penitentiary is my favorite of the three I made. The prison orange and worn look, made it feel that it is used to transport criminals both powered and unpowered but all dangerous.

The WayneTech container is basic and blends into the background. Perfect for Batman to get one dropped where he may need equipment for a mission or as support.

The LexCorp container is a little Superman in the world of Batman, but Lex does provide arms to the highest bidder. He also could be planning schemes against powered humans and aliens no matter where they are and supporting a crew in Gotham. Nothing can be proven in court, of course.

I will see what from the Maki Games Kickstarter I can use for terrain as time progresses.

Heroes of the Aturi Cluster for X-Wing

A friend and I started a cooperative X-Wing campaign called "Heroes of the Aturi Cluster". X-Wing is a tabletop spaceship dogfighting game set in the world of Star Wars and made by Fantasy Flight.

It made an immense impact on the tabletop gaming world when it was released and is still as popular today. The campaign is also free to download and enables you to start off with rookie Rebel pilots as they engage in missions to gain experience and save the galaxy. 

We have played two missions and it is a lot of fun. The charts that determine what the Imperial ships do is logical and well thought out. The only downside is that it benefits the group, when some or all the participants have the ship miniatures required for the missions. I'm looking forward to playing more games.

Ruined Wall with barrels

Not sure where I got this or what company but its perfect for modern or future settings. It was painted with dollarstore paints.

Grin Twins

The Grim Twins are from Knight Models in the Suicide Squad Starter box. They must activate after one another and must allocate token the same as one another, but are good in melee combat. 

Primed white. Suits painted Thamar Black, heavily drybrushed Cryx Bane Base, drybrushed Cryx Bane Highlight, and lightly drybrushed Trollblood Highlight. Ties painted Skorne Red. Masks painted with Thamar Black and Morrow White. Knife painted Cold Steel.

Base painted dollarstore Black, heavily drybrushed Cryx Bane Base, drybrushed Cryx Bane Highlight, and lightly drybrushed Trollblood Highlight. Wash of Agrax Earthshade applied to whole model. Ring of base painted Beaten Purple.

Eyeball Man

Stan, AKA the Eyeball Man, is from Knight Models in the Suicide Squad Starter box. Excellent at targeting one model, it suffers a penalty when shooting at targets far away. 

Primed White. Jumpsuit painted Khador Red Highlight and drybrushed Ember Orange. Eye mask painted Morrow White, iris painted Thamar Black, and veins painted Skorne Red. Iris also painted Cygnar Blue Highlight, 50/50 mix of Cygnar Blue Highlight with Menoth White Highlight, and Menoth White Highlight. Gun painted Thamar Black, drybrushed Coal Black, and lightly drybrushed 50/50 Coal Black and Menoth White Highlight. Harness painted Umbral Umber and drybrushed Bloodtracker Brown. Boots painted Umbral Umber and drybrushed Bloodtracker Brown. Nametag painted Morrow White.

Base painted dollarstore Black, heavily drybrushed Cryx Bane Base, drybrushed Cryx Bane Highlight, and lightly drybrushed Trollblood Highlight. Wash of Agrax Earthshade applied to whole model. Ring of base painted Beaten Purple.

Goat Headed Priest

The Goat Headed Priest is a model in the Joker's crew, from Knight Models in the Suicide Squad Starter box. It has a brutal light machine gun to take out multiple models but always attacks the closest model, friend or foe, so be careful when using.

Primed White. Coat painted Thamar Black, Heavily drybrushed Cryx Bane Base, drybrushed Cryx Bane Highlight, and lightly drybrushed Trollblood Highlight with Cold Steel buttons. Gun painted Thamar Black, drybrushed Coal Black, and lightly drybrushed 50/50 Coal Black and Menoth White Highlight. Mask painted Menoth White Highlight, washed with Baal Red, drybrushed Skorne Red mixed with Menoth White Highlight. Hands painted Khardic Flesh, drybrushed Midlund Flesh, lightly drybrushed Ryn Flesh. Gun Ammo belt painted Cold Steel with Rhulic Gold bullet tips. Boots painted Umbral Umber and drybrushed Bloodtracker Brown. Horns painted Bloodtracker Brown.

Base painted dollarstore Black, heavily drybrushed Cryx Bane Base, drybrushed Cryx Bane Highlight, and lightly drybrushed Trollblood Highlight. Wash of Agrax Earthshade applied to whole model. Ring of base painted Beaten Purple.

Panda Man

Panda Man is from Knight Models in the Suicide Squad Starter box.It is a tough model with a devastating rifle to take out enemies of the Joker crew. 

Primed White. Black parts painted Thamar Black, drybrushed Cryx Bane Base, lightly drybrushed Cryx Bane Highlight, and very lightly drybrushed Trollblood Highlight. White parts painted Menoth White Highlight. Eyes painted Thamar Black, Coal Black, and a 50/50 mix of Coal Black and Menoth White Highlight, and Cygnar Blue Highlight, and a splash of Menoth White Highlight.

Hands painted Khardic Flesh, drybrushed Midlund Flesh, lightly drybrushed Ryn Flesh. Harness painted Umbral Umber and drybrushed Bloodtracker Brown. Gun painted Thamar Black, drybrushed Coal Black, and lightly drybrushed 50/50 Coal Black and Menoth White Highlight.

 

Base painted dollarstore Black, heavily drybrushed Cryx Bane Base, drybrushed Cryx Bane Highlight, and lightly drybrushed Trollblood Highlight. Wash of Agrax Earthshade applied to whole model. Ring of base painted Beaten Purple.

Joker (Jared Leto)

From Knight Models in the Suicide Squad Starter box comes the Jared Leto version of the Joker. In charge of the Elite Cosplayers, he carries brutal weapons and has a host of abilities to deal with his opponents. A worthy opponent for Batman.

Primed white. Painted pants first with Exile Blue, drybrushed Cygnar Base Blue, and lightly drybrushed Cygnar Blue Highlight, and very lightly drybrushed 50/50 Cygnar Blue Highlight and Menoth White Highlight. Jacket painted Beated Purple, washed with Nuln Oil, drybrushed Murderous Magenta, then a series of light drybrushing of Murderous Magenta mxed with Menoth White Highlight. Skin was painted Morrow White. Lips painted Murderous Magenta. Eyes painted Thamar Black then Cygnar Blue Highlight. Have I mentioned I can't do faces before...sigh. At least it looks good from arms length.

Hair painted Thamar Black, heavily brushed Iosian Green, drybrushed Necrotite Gren, and lightly drybrushed with light mixtures of Necrotite Green and Menoth White Highlight. Cane painted with Umbral Umber and drybrushed Bloodstone with cane head painted Blighted Gold and drybrushed Gold. Tatoos painted with Thamar Black.

Base painted dollarstore Black, heavily drybrushed Cryx Bane Base, drybrushed Cryx Bane Highlight, and lightly drybrushed Trollblood Highlight. Wash of Agrax Earthshade applied to whole model. Ring of base painted Beaten Purple.

End of 2017 and a Look to 2018

This year was a good year for playing games and painting miniatures. I will probably have a change in the department I will be working for in 2018 so I may not get as much painting during the 30 minutes I allocate to lunch for little projects. Time will tell.

Game Books
Only read through three game books this past year: Malifaux Ripples of Fate, Adventures in Middle Earth Players Guide, and the Batman Miniature Game: 2nd Edition. Will attempt to read through more this year as I have a backlog but with running two games it will be mostly 5e and Fantasy Flight Star Wars books.

RPGs
Played thirty sessions of role-playing games. Most of the sessions (25) contimnued in a friend's 5e D&D game set in a late Roman-like time period set on Vancouver Island. I'm still playing a wizard, who harbours dark thoughts yet is courteous, who is part of a group to depose the evil emperor by freeing imprisoned gods from a forgotten empire. The basic rules are still free to download from the Wizards of the Coast website. We plan to continue this campaign for the foreseeable future.

The next most was the Fantasy Flight Star Wars: Edge of Empire setting (4 sessions). I played a Negotiator who was sold into slavery to protect her corporate boss' position. The character has raw talent but is a quick learner, and took the Marshall career to develop her combat abilities. We have cancelled this campaign as it was hard to do remotely with computer voice skyping. I also played one session of Star Wars: Saga edition as a one shot.

In 2018 I will be running a Fantasy Flight Star Wars campaign, starting with the Clone Wars with the PCs as force users and padawan. Also going to run the Storm King’s Thunder adventure book as a pickup game when there is not enough people who attend for the other 5e or Star Wars game.

Boardgame
I played only 75 war, board, and card games this year as many friends were occupied doing other things of more import. Games played the most were: Balloon Cup (4), Codenames (5), Crib (6), and Santorini (5).

Games I did not play much but were very impressed by and/or wish to play more (not excluding the above games) were: 878: Vikings, 1754: Age of Conquest, Freedom: Underground Railroad, Polis: Fight for the Hegemony, Sekigahara, and Terraforming Mars along with several games I have purchased but not played yet.

Computer Games
I played very very few computer games this year and anticipate that trend will continue. The only one I played was Plague Inc.

Miniatures
This year I played 51 miniature games, a slight drop from last year.

Guildball was again the most played game by myself to a total of 34, using my Mason and Fishermen teams. I hope to continue to play this excellent game next year. Even better, the rules, cards and standees are still free to download. Also painted eight of these models this year. Will continue to paint models in this line, including Granite and the complete Union lineup.

Malifaux was the second most game I played, with 13 total games. I mostly stuck with the Outcast faction with Von Schill, Misaki and Tara. I played Angel Eyes for two demonstration games at the LANtasy gaming convention. I expect and wish to play more in 2017. I have painted 27 of these models and will be continuing to paint more models of the Outcast faction, including the Jack Daw and Parker Burrows crews.

Besides these games, I played Dystopian Wars (1) and Kings of War (3). I am looking forward to playing and painting more Dystopian Wars, Firestorm Armada, Kings of War and the Batman Miniature Game.

I painted some more models for Dystopian Wars Prussia (24), Brittania (18), and Neutral (29) as well as nine Planetfall Aquan models. It was a shame that Spartan Games, the company that makes Dystopian Wars, Firestorm Armada, and Planetfall went bankrupt but Wayland Games has picked up the IP and is intending to continue to make models and new rules for these games. For Kings of War I painted 6 old GW Empire models as testers for a paint scheme. I also painted two models for the Batman Miniature game.

Terrain
I finished seven large and several small terrain pieces. I intend to paint many more in 2018. I was particularly impressed by the modern buildings I painted and put graffiti on.