Australia- The Final Frontier

ikara198 · Post by **ikara198** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 8:07 am

I have been collecting micro armor for some time now, starting on ebay and then direct from GHQ. I am at a point now where I want to get out and actually use these things to battle against other like minded people. The problem is, as with most things here, no one sells the product, promotes the product or distributes the product locally hence we swamped by those New Zealanders and their flames of war- I have played it but it just doesnt do it for me. I work for a company that distributes a very well known camera brand, we spend big money attending in store demos, trade shows and training days but guess what it works- we sell cameras. Heres my point- has anyone thought of doing this in australia with micro
armour?
The adavntages over FOW are-
Less space
Less money
More units

But the disadvanges are-
Less glossy ruleset
No one sells it

The essential ingrediant that impressed me with FOW was the fantastic books- their models were fairly ordinary, but those rule books are great, i think this is the key to initial mass market take-up coupled with good supply and wide range. The final big thing GHQ has going for it is the multiple time periods, imagine a rule book for vietnam or modern like the current flames of war stuff. I guess the old argument of style over substance hold true here, anyway I enjoy my hobby and wish to meet others who do also

Mickel · Post by **Mickel** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 8:25 am

Go read the thread somewhere here (about half way down pg2) about playing FoW with micro armour, started by our hosts. There was great debate about the merits or otherwise of the FoW rules and whether it is rules, models or marketing that make the difference.

Not all Kiwis have been swallowed by the B/F juggernaut.

ikara198 · Post by **ikara198** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 10:32 am

read that, its intresting to see- whats more its fantastic to see an NZ company take on the world.

mlcolbert · Post by **mlcolbert** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 8:02 pm

I do know that a few years ago, read 7+ there was a company down in Victoria which was an agent(?) for GHQ, at least they were the ones with a range of models and then they started operating from home but I have since lost track of them. As they had a shopfront, to my knowledge they didn't attend cons etc, they didn't need to, they were known in the Victorian gaming community. I don't know of what they did for interstate sales. The reason they wound down was more a problem in other areas as well as an apparent lack of interest read sales from the small (sic) numbers of gamers interested in 1/285 th scale. I think that one of the problems for them was in postage rates etc as well as minimum orders from GHQ?? but that last is only a guess.

I don't know of anyone who has taken the baton, certainly Tin Soldier doesn't do anyhting nor Hobbyco. Maybe that wargames place in moorabbin??? I forget the name for the moment, but they seem to have some models in stock.

michael

av8rmongo · Post by **av8rmongo** » Sat Aug 19, 2006 9:56 pm

I don't know what side of the continent you live on but there is a model/hobby shop in Perth that had a fair selection last time I was there (2004). I talked to the owner for maybe 30 minutes about micro armor. He was supportive of the genre but said his customer base was steadily erroding. Not sure what if anything he would have left but i could probably dig up the name if it was useful.

Paul

1ComOpsCtr · Post by **1ComOpsCtr** » Sun Aug 20, 2006 2:50 am

Gentlemen,

This a perfect case for combining GHQ with Flames of War...

It is an accepted set of rules that can be played on a scale that can be made to look much more realistic using the exact rules and just substituting the smaller scale miniatures and bases, or you can downscale the whole thing using centimeters. Personally be think leaving all the measurements the same would make the transition easier for players who are already using the rules...

Even if you would prefer to use a different set, you can ease other players into them by starting with FoW, building a following, and moving into a better set (hopefully GHQ's 1 for 1 scale rules when they are available).

But, that's just my opinion, for what its worth...

Will
ComOpsCtr

ikara198 · Post by **ikara198** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 12:28 pm

i am looking into the fow modern conversion, i really want to get away from the ww2 stuff. You are right about the ruleset, it does translate well. I have started tinkering around with my own rules, when i get them together i will post a link- i may be showing my age here but did anyone play GDW Striker ruleset, it was SF but translated well to almost any time period

drathul · Post by **drathul** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 9:55 am

Just thought I'd mention that Olympian games in Canberra sells GHQ micro armour.
I just bought my first command baxes on the weekend.
Now I need some rules and an opponent.