#Atomic Mass Games

[oldschoolfrp]

With yesterday’s news from Atomic Mass Games that they are ending production of Star Wars X-Wing and Armada, it is a good time to remember 2 truths that many gamers overlook:

All games based on licensed properties require licences that cost money up front to obtain and more money over time to continue to keep active. From day one, publication of any licensed game should be expected to end during the tail end of the game’s profitability, when income dips below the cost of the license.

There’s no such thing as a ‘dead game,’ as long as you own the game and still want to play. This is especially true for miniature collections.

Licensed games are under pressure to earn money quickly before shutting down, and often have a production life much shorter than successful games based on original, generic, or historical concepts. The X-Wing games had a remarkably successful run considering the economic challenges.

The most notable exception to the rule is the Star Fleet line of games which relied on a very generous and open-ended license, apparently with no expiration date. This has been attributed to Paramount believing Star Trek was a ‘dead property’ in the 1970s. They made an agreement with author Franz Joseph which gave Franz Joseph Design the rights to everything in his Star Fleet Technical Manual. FJD was able to license those rights to Armadillo Design Bureau/Task Force Games at a relatively low cost.

Since then other rights holders have been more careful. When Grenadier made the first official Star Wars miniatures for West End Games’ line of products in the late 80s (above), it was Lucas Film Limited’s initials that appeared on every figure base, clearly reminding us who remained in charge.

As for ‘dead’ games, I still own copies of WEG’s out-of-print games and can play with Grenadier’s figures that I already collected. I also can use those figures with any other rules I choose, which is a major benefit of collecting miniatures for a favorite theme. Many of the new ‘miniature agnostic’ indie games available as PDFs or zines encourage digging out old figures and returning them to the table.

A reasonable counterpoint for gamers in the US is that there are few independent clubs here, where organized public play depends on game stores willing to set space aside for tables and priority is given to games the store can sell. I would not be surprised to see an immediate end to X-Wing events at those stores that were still hosting leagues and tournaments.

But for those willing to take ownership of their own fun, you might find some good deals on spaceships in clearance sales.

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Star Wars: Legion - Republic 501st Battle Force Box Art by Alex Kim

[primerjohn]

Leading the Mandolorian Super Commandos is Gar Saxon. Though he prefers to lead from afar with his sniper rifle. That being said, he’s no Crosshair with his shots.

[itsnatt09]

Spent the weekend basing all 39 of my B1 droids, including a new box.

That's all of my Separatist army based except for the AAT and 2 Snail tanks (one of which I'll be building next).

[phailhaus-paints]

Well, I’m all abuzz with progress so let me introduce you to the first 2 of my Bee2 B2 Super Battle Droids.

These guys have more than a sting in their wrist mounted lasers. Looking sharp, it’s good to see the CIS is following proper health and safety with these guys.

Although I have gone slightly loopy with painting chevrons, only two more of these to go.

[thagrosh2]

[simonbreeze]

One of my fave little dudes, Rocket!

I play a lot of Guardians of the Galaxy in MCP, and I love this little bin bandit. I really enjoyed painting Rocket, possibly one of the smallest minis I've painted as well.

[illyanarasputinfan]

Marvel: Crisis Protocol (2024) Atomic Mass Games

Sorry, Kwannon. ☹️ The players have spoken. I still love you, though. 💜🥷

[highwaytothedungeonzone]

I am very happy with how this turned out, but Lord, may I never have to paint another Ahsoka Tano miniature again. Those montrals and head tails were a pain to paint.

[the-bonereaders-library]

a 6 round game of star wars armada. I was commanding a rebel grab bag flying 3 new ships, the mc80, the rebel version of the providence class, and my beloved little mc30, plus admiral akbar on the corvette. I managed to secure a narrow victory against a 6 ship Republic list (those little councilor class ships can pack a punch, especially when there's 3 of them flying around). we also used some of my recently 3d printed obstacles, we had one astroid field and one debris field, and I'll hopefully have a completed set soon

my mc30 was just as amazing as I thought it would be, even if I mispiloted a little. I deployed a little too close, so I had to swing the mc30 wide to the right turn 1 to avoid a collision. I would've wanted it to get to the action sooner and get some better shots in, but having it go wide actually won me the game. I managed to pick off a few small ships early on, but my providence went down turn 3 before getting to activate, and the mc80 went down a few turns later, but it managed to tear into both the victory and acclimator while it was still space worthy. on the last turn, the mc30 swooped behind the acclimator and victory, getting two beautiful close range shots into both of them, taking them both down before evading a hail of fire from the enemy flagship pelta. in the end, had the mc30 had one hull point left, exhausting the last of its defenses to barely hang on, but hang on it did. anakin was no match for akbar, but he put up a good fight. mc30 was definitely the MVP, I want two more of them.

[bloodbowlminis]

5PfH The Mandalorian saga begins…

The story starts some time after Din Djarin and Din Grogu decided to head out and find other lost Mandalorians.

Campaign Turn 1 - Ep1 Revenge of the Empire

Diary of Din Djarin 10ABY

EVYN 3. We had heard there was a Mandalorian working in the EVYN system. A blaster for hire who had crossed the wrong ex-Imperial. We tapped into local communications, this kid is getting smarter by the day, and think we have tracked her and them. All we can hope is we can reach her in time. This is The Way.

Rival tracked us down forcing us into a showdown.

Unity Grunts/Stormtroopers

4 standard blast rifle

2 specialists pulse rifle

1 lieutenant blade + b rifle

RESULT: HELD THE FIELD

2 Casualties - Atakoath-KO, Imupaek-Crippling Wound: 2cts, 4 turns in SB

Battle field find - 1x Still

Loot - Repair Bot

Got to use my Star Wars Legion/Imperial assault miniatures I hardly ever get to use as well as some great terrain I have been collecting this year including battle systems, loke battlemats, and Dungeons and Lasers, TT combat, and some great prints off of Etsy.

[mementomoriminis]

This is Green Goblin my Atomic Mass Games I painted for a friend.

[primerjohn]

Experimented with painting Ice-Man. I had heard @artoflovejoy had done the box art starting with a metallic silver undercoat. Taking that idea, I slapped down some silver paint on the model and ran with it.

[itsnatt09]

These faces make me so nervous, but then they turn out like this and I'm amazed.

"Cad Bane, at your service."

[phailhaus-paints]

Work started on the Kraken Super Tactical Droid. Always imagined it in a purple ish colour, and I’ve been wanting to push my ability when it comes to lighting on models.

Overall It’s looking pretty good to me so far. Just got to get the rest done to the same level now.

[thagrosh2]