Not every project is one I do for commercial reasons. One of the things I have decided to do this year is to embrace creating something that will exist purely because I wanted it to do so. This is a WW2 "hack" based on the 2nd edition of 40K. Yup, the one with sustained fire dice and all that good stuff.

It is a complete stand alone game which will (over time) get more unique units and so on. Currently the game is playable for infantry games with vehicles being a bit longer in the making, since it takes more work. Army lists are not quite there yet, but you can easily put a couple platoons on the table and have a game.

It does not require owning any 40K material, neither does it really require knowing those rules (though of course it can help having at least a basic idea). 

This will be strictly non commercial, but is something that I am hoping to keep working on throughout the year, both improving it in response to feedback, adjusting points values to be more balanced (as these things go) and adding cool, colourful units to the army lists.

If you are interested in giving this a spin, drop me an email at nordicweaselgames@icloud.com (or discord DM if you have me on there, either is fine) and I will send you the current version. 

With Mystic Space shaping up well, I wanted to do another Q&A post. 

You can find the prior Q&A at https://nordicweasel.posthaven.com/mystic-space-some-questions-and-clarifications and the announcement post at https://nordicweasel.posthaven.com/something-new-this-way-comes-mystic-space

These are more general questions and are both a few questions I have gotten over email as well as anticipating a few that will no doubt arise. So I suppose call it a "preventative Q&A" :)

Q: Won't this compete with <insert game here that has a full figure line, 200 novels and a marketing budget the size of Venus>

A: Not really. I mean, yes in the most basic sense but I think this is the kind of question that you already know the answer to. If you are reading the Mystic Space rulebook, you are already the kind of person who want to try something different. 

Q: How will this work when you do not have a dedicated figure line, but it is a specific setting?

A: You read the book, get inspired by the setting and rules and then run out and find the miniatures you think your favourite faction looks like. This is also why there will not initially be named Heroes, because I want your Heroes to be "your dudes".

Another example here is the weapons tech. You can look at the weapon names and profiles and decide what you want them to be on your models. The Glint Rifle is probably a laser rifle, except maybe for you it is not? 

Q: Why isn't this a solo warband campaign game?

A: I didn't want to make one this time. 

Q: Will there be other Mystic Space games later?

A: Yes. I have two planned. One will be a "competitive co-op" game (think the venerable Space Crusade board game) and one will be a "combat RPG" (think Inquisitor and the likes).

Q: Does this mean there will not be any more Unified Space games from NWG?

A: Under the NWG name specifically, probably not but never say never. There's a pretty full schedule planned for that stuff from Modiphius. 

Q: Will you eventually sell Mystic Space to a big publisher so we can get a glossy rulebook?

A: If the check is big enough sure. It is not really planned though and I can't imagine a conventional publisher is keen on getting into a game that for them WOULD compete with <mega company>.

Q: Will there be Faction army books?

A: Initially it'll fit in the rulebook. I think down the road, it'd be cool to do but I would have to think about how it'd look. I think I would enjoy it being an even split between setting and mechanics. What I do NOT want to do is write 30 new units for each army.

Q: Will the setting be treated the same as in Five Parsecs where it is all really vague and sometimes contradictory?

A: No, it is intended to be a consistent and specific setting. If errors creep in, we will try to fix them. The plan is to even have a timeline that advances every now and again. This could even have units or weapons that are available only during certain periods similar to how WW2 games work.

Q: Can my version of the setting be more grim / more kawaii / more serious ?

A: I am not your dad. There is a set tone throughout. As has already been discovered when discussing it with fans, it can be interpreted pretty widely. 

Q: Will you consider fan contributions into the setting?

A: If it is really good and fits the vibe yes. 

With a little help from a gentleman, Musket to Rifle is shaping to be mostly done. I am still ironing out some of the text and need to write examples and a few other things. So if you are new here, what is Musket to Rifle?

It is a set of rules for "mass skirmish" meaning 20-50 individually based figures. The period, as the name suggests, is basically the end of the black powder period. We kind of had to pick arbitrarily but it is roughly American War of Independence through to the Boer wars. 

The game is a true skirmish game. It is pretty common to do "semi skirmish" where you have small figure counts but the units are still forming squares and lines and all that. Instead we are treating them as actual skirmishers which means a unit of 12 figures represents exactly 12 combatants and thus will act the way 12 skirmishers ought to. Well, within the confines of a game anyways. 

The rules will provide points values for pick up games, a bundle of scenarios you can slot your armies into and solo mechanics. It is structured as a conventional wargame (rather than a narrative campaign - for that pick up the Five Kilometers from Leipzig early version) 

Mechanics are aimed at being fairly conventional with attack dice, morale checks and so forth. The idea here is that by avoiding too many abstractions, it may be easier to convert material either from other games or from books and media.

So if you are a fan of (or especially if you always wanted to get started on) Napoleonic warfare, the Franco Prussian war or the Slesvig wars this will be a pretty good time to jump in. 

I wrote the miniatures rules for Forgotten Ruin (based on the book series) and it is available for pre-order here https://modiphius.net/products/forgotten-ruin-the-adventure-wargame

The usual stuff applies: You get the PDF right away, book is scheduled to ship in February I believe and a stand alone PDF will be for sale through Modiphius and Wargame Vault when this happens.

The game is set in a future past Earth where a platoon of US rangers finds themselves in a magical fantasy world and have to fight their way through hordes of orcs, evil elves and the occasional giant monster. It is a solo campaign game in the "5X" series and is a completely stand alone experience. 

I have gotten a ton of questions so I am trying to catch the more common ones here:

Who wrote the Forgotten Ruin miniatures game?

I wrote all of it. My good friend Jason helped with ideas and some of the early work on the transformations. 

Where is the art from?

The art is from an intended RPG that we were allowed to use. I am not sure if that game ever did come out or not.

Why does the book not have the NWG logo?

It's a licensed game produced by Modiphius and written by me. 

Is this based on Parsecs/Leagues/Bug Hunt/a mash up?

The rules are based off those yes. However this is not a copy/paste job. The combat rules have been tweaked for the new environment and the campaign structure and progression systems are (once again) different. 

I'd say combat is closest to Parsecs.

How many miniatures do I need?

Enemy sizes increase a little as the campaign goes on, but around 20 figures is a good start. The thinking was if you already had some painted for Leagues, you can add a bit to them and be good to go.

For your soldiers you are usually fielding 9. 

Can I hire fantasy characters into my squad?

No, but you can become fantasy characters. One of the cool things in the book is that the soldiers find themselves turning into fantasy creatures so if you want a lizard man machine gunner or a wizard sergeant, we got you covered. People who enjoy making cool figure conversions will have a field day.

Is the campaign open ended like Parsecs or does it have a goal like Leagues?

The campaign has a maximum duration (13 battles) with an end game and climatic conclusion where you get to fight an obscene number of enemies. 

What is the exact relationship between the books and the game?

I decided (and the author of the book agreed) to base the game around a platoon of rangers that gets separated from the main force in the first book. This allowed me to focus on different challenges and have more variety compared to the mostly defensive actions in a lot of the first book. Your rangers are on their own and need to keep moving. 

The goal of the campaign is to rejoin the main force. 

The game is strictly based on the first book. 

So the talk is going around that a certain mega billionaire wants to buy D&D. Said mega billionaire (name omitted to avoid drawing in the rabid shark fanboys) also has a tendency to lie about everything, so odds are this is not happening, but it is probably worth thinking about what happens to a world where everything you are permitted to consume is controlled by an ever-smaller handful of billionaires. 

Assorted questions I've gotten here and there. As usual, paraphrased from their sources.

Setting

Q: Will Mystic Space be a specific setting or more open ended like Parsecs?

A: It is intended as a specific setting with specific named factions existing. However we will be building it so you will be able to still put your own spin on things.

Q: Will there be specific named characters to use in the armies?

A: Not initially. I think I'd prefer people make their own characters. I like special characters sometimes, but I think they can end up upstaging the "normal" heroes. 

Q: Will there be aliens?

A: Alien lifeforms yes, intelligent aliens you can use in armies, no.

Q: You've mentioned space magic. Where does that come from in the setting?

A: A resource exists which can be used to bolster the inherent talents of someone who shows promise. As a result, the ability to cast spells is not common but it is not exactly rare either. Most armies will have a spell caster or two. 

Q: What is the tone? 

A: "Heroic space opera" is probably fine. There will be some serious elements, but it is not intended to be grimdark or any of that. 

Building armies

Q: Will there be faction specific units?

A: Not initially. Everyone picks from the same army list (don't worry it will have lots of units on it) and then the factions have their own traits and spells. Down the road, we might do faction units, I am not sure. Probably depends more on the mood among the players.

Q: How big will an army be?

A: Organised for a Patrol level game, 2-3 squads and 2 heroes. For a Battle game the minimum is 3 squads and 3 heroes, the max possible is 11 squads or vehicles and 6 heroes.  

Squads will be 6-8 figures in most cases. 

Q: Points or random roll?

A: Points.

Mechanics

Q: What will be the turn sequence be like?

A: Alternating but a hero and a squad within 6" can activate at the same time.

Q: Is it D6s again?

A: No! D10s. D6s may be used to track things though.

Q: How many stats?

A: Still narrowing that down, but likely 5. 

If you create games, you are presumably wanting someone out there to play it (though not always! Writing for yourself or your own gaming group is absolutely a thing as well)). However it can be pretty hard to actually figure out how big a game is. 

Obviously one answer is social media buzz but that's kind of hard to gauge. Warhammer 40K is obviously the biggest miniatures game in the market, but a large portion of the people talking about it online are not actually people who play the game at all. And for a smaller game, the social media buzz is likely to be a few hardcore folks on scattered forums rather than social media where all but the mainstream struggle to be noticed. ( This is all greatly oversimplified, please bear with me )

If the game is commercial, you have sales figures and I wanted to talk about that a little bit today. 

Fivecore 3rd edition has sold around 1400 copies in its lifetime. I don't remember how many copies were also "sold" when we were in the Bundle of Holding but I want to say another 1000 copies or so. Let's say it is 2500 all in all to account for give aways and other stuff I am forgetting.

So the easy answer is that there are 2500 players of Fivecore 3rd edition. But that isn't really the case:

Some people buy the game but don't end up playing it (they didn't like it, they never got around to painting that army, they bought it just to read for ideas etc.)

Some people did play but have moved on and won't return (do they count as players? Maybe not?)

Some are not playing currently but might in the future (do they count? Probably?)

Some are planning to play but have not yet (do they count? Probably?)

Some people pirated the game and while I don't think those people generally play games, a few no doubt do. 

Some people did not buy the game but play with their friend who does.

Some people play in a gaming group or club where 1 or 2 guys bought the rules but 4 or 5 play. 

Can you quantify all of these? Probably not. If I had to guess, I'd say two thirds of the copies sold is not a TERRIBLE estimate for a newer title and probably closer to half for an older title. It is entirely possible it is less than that. 

the Five Parsecs Facebook group has 4300 members and last I heard sales were somewhere above 10.000 copies, so that checks out if we assume that the people who sign up on facebook are more likely to play the game and that some amount of players never sign up for anything. (supposedly for video games 90% of players never interact with the game community in any form, I assume tabletop players are a bit more engaged but I could be wrong). 

Share your thoughts down below.  

Time marches on and new beginnings herald changes. 

I have been in this business for about 10 years. During that time I have created a lot of games. Spinoffs, adaptations, original creations, it has been a lot. If you have been along for all that time, you have seen things develop and change, seen new ideas come along and seen experiments come and go. That is the nature of things.

With the cooperation with Modiphius has come fantastic opportunities to do cool new things. Being able to release a game like Five Parsecs Tactics was really cool. We have a lot lined up for the future and I hope you are all excited to see that.

However even though that work has taken up a lot of time, I have never stopped creating new things. I am a little more discerning these days and more ideas go in the bin than get completed, as I find they do not quite hold up or they end up not doing anything I am sufficiently excited about. All part of the process.

One thing I have always chafed against however is getting type-cast. Around the internet, I am mostly known as the "solo guy" these days and I certainly welcome that as I happen to think I am pretty good at that. But I do not just want to make solo games. 

I have also become associated with my particular brand of scrappy space opera science fiction (collectively known as Unified Space) but I do not just want to be the Unified Space guy either.

So it is time for a new beginning: 

With the new year, I am hoping to release not only a brand new game but one set in a brand new setting tentatively labelled Mystic Space. 

Mystic Space is an idea I have kicked around in my head for a long time now. A setting of glossy futuristic factions, big heroes, space magic and high tech. Something that draws from a completely different set of influences to what I have usually worked with. And hopefully something to allow the use of all manner of cool miniatures that often get overlooked. 

It is also intended to be a different game experience than what I have been doing for a while. It is not an adventure game or a game mastered game (though it could be both of those if people put their minds to it). It is a game of tactical action and fighting for objectives and selecting a faction that you like the sound of, the sort of thing that you play with a friend or at the club. Of course people can solo any game and I will try to make sure solo gamers are not left out, but this one, I want to do something different. 

It will not be a "build your own" toolkit, but a game with army lists and factions with special abilities and all that good stuff. 

Something for people who like games with big fun heroes with an identity in the game.

It is also intended to be a way to go back to the roots a little bit, but with the skills and tools I have available now. When a game PDF can be updated at no cost, then player feedback about weapons and points values can be taken into account easily. When a player can just reach out to the designer and ask, there never has to be any doubts about the intent behind a rule or how something is supposed to work.

I can't compete with the big glossy rulebooks from the big companies. But I can compete on caring about you and allowing you to become part of the process.

And heck, it'll be fun to create something brand new. Down the road, there will no doubt be other games in the Mystic Space setting and it is very possible older titles could end up with stats for both settings. 

Who knows? 

The future is bright. I hope to see you there.

I use "rip off" affectionately here, but when you write games, you will inevitably have the question of what games inspired a game you wrote. So I thought I would make the canonical list (as far as I remember it anyways). 

This is using a fairly narrow definition. Five Parsecs as a "vibe" is inspired by everything I like in scifi, so that doesn't really count, but Rogue Hammer is obviously meant to be Rogue Trader, so that counts. 

With rules, I am counting it if the idea for a rule or concept came directly from another game. 

The list is probably incomplete but I will expand it when I can.

Fast And Dirty

Morale checks on multiple dice came from White Wolf's RPG dice mechanic.

Suppression, wounded and confidence levels are in the game because they were in Stargrunt 2.

Five Men in Normandy

The campaign style was based pretty heavily on Necromunda.

Some of the feel of play was inspired by Nuts but I don't think any mechanic is specifically based on it.

Trench Storm

Somewhat based on Space Marine 2nd edition (and really NetEpic at the time)

LaserStorm

Heavily based on Space Marine 2nd edition and NetEpic.

Rogue Hammer

Inspired by Rogue Trader.

Renegade Scout

Mechanically based on Rogue Trader and 2nd edition 40K.

From Shako to Coalscuttle

4 stand units was inspired by a Neil Thomas game on 19th century warfare. 

Five Leagues From the Borderlands

Melee combat is heavily inspired by the roleplaying game Eon and the Inquisitor miniatures game. 

Squad Hammer

The idea of "flexible" hit roll numbers was inspired by writings on Matrix gaming methods.

War Story

The concept was based on Matrix gaming methods and Kriegspiel methods.  

MISCONCEPTIONS

These are questions or misconceptions I have gotten about where I got things from. I don't mind these but I thought it'd be fun to clarify things. This can also be updated over time.

The FAD morale check was taken from Chain Reaction.

Negative. FAD dates back to when I had just moved to the United States (though it hit the public around the same time as Chain Reaction) and as noted above was inspired by White Wolf RPGs.

FiveCore was inspired by Squad Leader

Negative. I did not actually play Squad Leader or ASL until I was a fair bit older and living in Oregon. 



Tonight we will chat about some indie games we have found cool in the past, as well as various other tabletop miniatures gaming topics. 

https://www.youtube.com/@axanax2534/streams at 21:15 (eastern time I think, just check in around that time).

We would love to have you check in and say hi in the chat.