MeG, ReG, DoS, GdG Update - Sept 1 2022

[nikgaukroger]

An update from Simon Hall

State of Play

We have built up a superb player base and community - despite launching the rules just before the pandemic. The main MeG FB page has 2500 followers and the players FB page approaching 2000. International travel has been limited but there have been great events all over the world - recently adding Poland to the mix.  Alas with me being ill, we missed the chance to launch properly in the USA this year. We have a very strong platform on which to keep building the community of players. But with the legacy effects of Covid and the cost of living impact from Ukraine it is far from an easy time for many, and we need to adapt to the world we are in. 

The work with PSC has evolved and I can now see what works best for each part of the hobby, and have completed some discussion with Will at PSC we are changing arrangements going forward.  PSC's core skills are the development and marketing of models and physical items, less so rulebooks and rules.  It is far more effective if rule owners and enthusiasts do the marketing of rules. It is also better to have control, so it is easier to evolve and update rules in a modern and simple way.  So going forward, we will focus on rules and PSC will focus on physicals.

Finally, we made a big breakthrough in winning the SEGA Rome Total War contract with PSC. This is a breakthrough for the CCC systems, from which I expect to gain a lot of new tabletop wargamers, as long as we are welcoming and support suitable events.

The Way Forward

The approach for all CCC rules is changing to the following:

•   PSC will continue to manufacture and sell all physicals for the games -   Dice, Cards, Counter Sets etc. for the system and models and figures for the rule sets. They are planning two more MeG box sets and thereafter a big range of 10mm WW2 to support Divisions of Steel.

•   All rulesets will switch to the PDF format that we have used for ReG and DoS recently, so that the rules can be bought directly from the rule website, and have a link to the physicals needed at PSC.  We want to maximise the number of players, so we can keep pricing more modest this way.  We will also be setting all the rule sets up for print on demand so you can still get them as books, but a different way.  We will make the switch from Jan 1 2023.  It is good news that PSC has sold nearly all of the Compendiums produced in the second print run.

•   Each rule set will have a core team of 3 rule developers with me in all of them. For ReG we already have me working with Alasdair and Simon, and this has worked well. For DoS  it has been Mark Bevis and I so far, and we are delighted to be adding Lance Flint to the team.  For Gloire de Guerre, I am please to announce a core team of Olivier Joucla plus Jacques Wilputte and myself (the rules are closer than you think). On MeG I have agreed to develop the next iteration with our two stalwarts Richard Jeffrey-Cook and Nik Gaukroger.  This set up fits my long-standing philosophy of team and community building, and will allow everything to progress more quickly.

•   I will remain in executive control of each set of rules and will be the final say on rule changes.  But rarely have I needed to adjudicate anything so far.

•   I will take back the role of any paid marketing of the rule sets and pay for that out of the moneys received for rule PDFs.  We will get marketing again and start to put some adverts out covering events for all rule sets and set a new tone in 2023.  There was something of a void in 2022.

•   Skull Rollers events will exist for all rule sets and move back to Battlefield Hobbies for 2023. In 2023 will have separate Skull Rollers events for Maximus, Pacto and ReG (so you can play in all three). We already have the dates set: March 25/6th for Pacto, May 27/8th for ReG and October 7/8th for Meg Maximus.  In future years we will add DoS and GdG as well.  BH is well placed in the centre of the country, which will help us all given the rising costs of accommodation and travel.  And it is always a great place to game.

•   We will aim to get groups of players travelling internationally again next year with some support from the central marketing fund for key people to attend overseas events.  As is often the case, if a few travel others will join.

Growing MeG

As the pioneering rule set, we have been giving a lot of through to how to develop the MeG community in the coming years.  In truth, it started as a big game because I love big battles with lot of figures. We will slowly gain players with large figure collections from other rules. However, we have to accept that those of us with massive figure collection who love Maximus in all its glory are in a minority.  Most players out there will have Magna-sized armies from other rule sets or are starting out with Pacto armies. We need to adapt, therefore, if we are to grow with any pace. Here is the plan:

•   We are stripping out the first 6 chapters of MeG and turning it into a free PDF. These chapters really talk about what you will find and is an appealing introduction to the rules.  Anyone can then download it and read it and decide what to do next.  Also any player can forward it on to any potentially interested friend.

•   RJC/NG are currently updating Chapters 7 and beyond as a PDF to fold in all errata and clarries and bring greater clarity to sections that needed Q&As. This PDF will then be published as a searchable file direct from the website. For the benefit of Maximus players dropping down, there will be a new chapter summarising the differences for Magna and Pacto.

•   We are then creating a completely standalone Pacto rulebook, so that this becomes the entirely standalone core game, with diagrams specifically for Pacto and with the rules improved so it is no longer small brother.  E.g. KaBs will change to be a continuum system for size of TuG - so poors on RED for Maximus, YELLOW for MAGNA and GREEN for Pacto.  Plus some other neat improvements we are working on.  Pacto is then the fully-fledged standalone community development game.

•   I am developing MeG: The Ancient Battle Board Game, which is an A2 board with MeG played on a grid with punchboard elements. This will be marketed to the RTW board game buyers as a stepping-stone to advanced battle games. By stripping back to just the 5 armies in RTW and switching to a grid system it is easy to make it much simpler.  It will make an ideal travel set for all of us as well.  And if players buy a Pacto army they already have the bases to stick them on.

•   We want to have a lot of 1-day Pacto events in 28mm and 15mm next year. A tour of the main store locations such as Derby, Bournemouth, Stockport, Battlefield Hobbies etc. plus 1-day events at clubs etc. What we need is for enough Maximus players to step down to help to draw new players in - so please give what support you can.  We have a lot of people with Pacto in the UK and can grow a lot at club level this way. All volunteers willing to organize a 1-day event will be welcomed.  We grew South Africa to 25 players by playing 28mm Pacto - only 6 players had armies at the start.  There are loads of people with WAB armies out there that are big enough for Magna armies.  We need to attract them.

•   I will be doing some new videos of the new Pacto as soon as it is ready to form a part of marketing blitz to be timed with the delivery date for RTW in Q1 next year.

Rome Total War = supercharging

The core RTW game is now finished and Emperor is close to completion.  Both are playing really well.  Four people on this group got to have a first go recently, and all really enjoyed it.  It has been a lot of work, but we have a success on our hands and SEGA very excited about a lot more games.

My biggest contribution to tabletop wargaming from here, is to ensure RTW is a success and use it as a platform to get a small % of the players to switch over and play MeG Pacto and beyond.  The MeG board game is designed to assist with that mission.

To give a few numbers:
•   RTW 2 sold 1,130,000 copies
•   Shogun 2 sold 600,000 copies
•   Medieval 2 sold 550,000 copies

These numbers are huge compared to 2,500 MeG sets so far. So call it 2.0m computer players across all the ancient versions that all love the Total War series. Imagine we get 5% of those to buy the board game = 100,000 and 5% of those to play Pacto = 5,000.  Plus the entire board game community for battle games will be interested and that has grown 4x in the last 10 years. Several military games have sold 1m+ copies. 

So my feeling is that pushing the RTW link is a route to 5,000+ tabletop players gradually over five years.  But only if we are prepared to play a lot of Pacto to get people up and running.  It's worth it for the future of the tabletop hobby. Our own Dr Simon E is going to have a go soon and help with the launch.

I hope that all makes good sense to everyone. Much to do, but with the lead teams in place I think we can have all periods out and the RTW link firing by the end of 2023.

Thank you for the enthusiasm and support - it is ultimately what has made all this work feel so worthwhile.  We have a great community – let's grow it.

Keep enjoying rolling skulls and spreading the good news! 

Simon