This week I’ve been travelling so I’ve only got a small update for you. :)
Orc Marauders v2.50 Test
Over the past week or so, we’ve been having an interesting discussion on Discord about the way that the Orc Marauders work in Grimdark Future. The main points of discussion were how shooty vs choppy the army should really be, as well as what contributes to the orcs not feeling quite right for some players.
With that in mind, we created a new version of the Orc Marauders list for v2.50, which changes some of their core special rules to give them a different feel, as well as boosting their vehicles firepower. We’d be curious to get a broader community feedback on this change, so feel free to leave a comment. :)
The June mission pack has been released on Patreon, with 4 brand new missions:
Grimdark Future – The Cave
GF: Firefight – Waves of War
Age of Fantasy – Sacred Temple
AoF: Skirmish – Clash of Heroes
These missions are focused on fun new ways to play, with interesting objectives and special rules to spice things up. We release new missions every month, so make sure to stick around so that you don’t miss any.
Note that whilst the missions are designed for each specific game, you can totally play them with the rules for any other game (with slight adjustments). This means that you have even more missions to play each month!
New Miniatures on Etsy
Don’t care for 2D printing or 3D printing? Well then we’ve got you covered, because now all of the minis we released in June have been uploaded to our Etsy Store.
New Free Model on Cults 3D
Every month we add new free models to our Cults3D page, and this month we’ve added a Vinci Militia from the Duchies of Vinci, bringing us up to 22 free models! :D
Last week we ran a community wide survey, asking you all for you input on the games, the armies, the project as a whole, and much more. We’re happy to say that we got a ton of responses, and they are super interesting. :D
Let’s get to it!
Community Survey Results
Alright everyone, it’s time to take a look at the community survey results. Since this time we had a couple more questions, I am going to give a quicker rundown of the results, just so this post doesn’t get too long.
Top 5 Voted:
Mech Combat
Customizable Skirmish
Small-Scale Sci-Fi
Cyberpunk
Post-Apocalyptic
The trend seems to be pretty in line with our last survey results, but I do find it interesting that there are so many votes for customizable skirmish. I am wondering if maybe the way that the idea is titled might be giving different people different ideas of what that means, so if those that voted could leave a comment with what they expect, it would be really helpful.
This one is also very aligned with the usual trends, with Battle Brothers, Alien Hives, Robot Legions and HDF at the top, closely followed by Orc Marauders, Havoc Brothers and TAO.
Fantasy remains stable, with a much more even spread of factions played across the board. It’s sad to see that Volcanic Dwarves actually lost players, going from 4.8% on the last survey down to 1%.
The graph is a little deceiving because it has two purple sections with almost the same color, but the 24.8% one is actually “I would like to play OPR games, but still haven’t had the chance”. It’s nice to see that even with the pandemic, people are able to get in at least a couple of games a month.
As expected, the majority of people play at home, whilst the rest is evenly split between online matches and store/club games. It’s interesting to see that the percentage of online games is much much smaller than the in person games, because when looking around on discord people mostly talk about their online matches, so it sometimes give me the impression that not many people are getting to play at home.
This one was also quite expected, with most people playing pick-up matches and narrative/campaign games, and almost nobody playing tournament games. It would be fun to get some sort of tournament organized as the games get more balanced, maybe it could be done online or at some point once restrictions are lifted.
I’m not sure what to think of this one, because I suppose that most people that play competitively are also looking to play with balanced armies, so maybe the way that the question was phrased was not right. In any case, it’s interesting to see that there are 17.9% of you that ignore points balance, wasn’t expecting that.
Another one that was quite expected, but still interesting to see. Most people play with physical models from other companies, and only a small percentage play with paper minis. The spread of 3D models is pretty even, which I would assume is because 3D printing players often mix and match between minis from different creators.
Last but not least, the open feedback box. As always, everyone has been super sweet and shown their love for the projeect, and I really really appreciate it. At the end of the day, I do this for you peeps, so it’s awesome to see people happy! :D
Now, let me go over some of the most frequently mentioned feedback:
Army Roster App – There is currently work being done on a webapp that is going to allow you to easily put together your lists to play, as well as allow you to create your own army lists (using the point calculator) and easily share them with the community. No idea when it will be done, but stay tuned.
Dungeon Crawler – Lots of you asked about the making of a solo/coop dungeon crawl game, and we’re actually working on that right now, with a game called Sellswords. The game is still in early access on Patreon, and we’re hoping to get that done and released to the public soon!
Small-Scale Games/Models – As per the games results above, we know that lots of players enjoy small-scale games, and we haven’t been idle about that. We are working on a new line of small-scale models as we speak, and once we’ve released Sellswords, we will focus on a small-scale game as well.
More Original Armies – Many of you asked if we could make more original armies, and we’re happy to say that we do plan on releasing more new armies soon. We’d like to first complete the armies we already started, but then we want to alternate between a classic army and an original army. We’re also going to put more effort into making sure that even our classic armies have a much more unique feel, so that they truly belong to OPR.
Printable Terrain – We’re currently in the early stages of producing our first 3D printable terrain sets, but if you’re into papercraft, then you can already get paper terrain sets by OPR on Patreon and WGV/DTRPG. We currently have a grimdark set ready, and are working on the release of a fantasy set as well.
That’s it for now, there was lots of other feedback, but with 100+ messages I won’t be able to list them all here. Nonetheless, I’ve read every single one of them, and I am happy to say that many of your wishes will come true in the future, keep your eyes peeled. :)
New Loyalty Reward Units
Last month we revealed our new loyalty rewards, and now we finally have rules for them!
Check out the Alien Hives for the Hive Titan rules, and the Duchies of Vinci for the Walking Fortress rules. These two massive behemoths are truly a sight to behold, as are true forces of destruction on the tabletop. :D
FTL on Patreon Again
Warfleets: FTL was originally developed on Patreon under the early access label, meaning that once the game has been completed, it would be removed and only be available for sale on our WGV/DTRPG stores.
Well, after many many fan requests, we have decided to bring Warfleets: FTL back on Patreon, making it a permanent reward like our other Full Rulebooks. We think that it’s worth it to give new players a chance to discover the game like that, and we also having something new cooking to be revealed later…
Arena Games Moved
As announced last week, the OPR Arena games are now officially on hiatus, and we have removed them from the main games page, as well as from our WGV/DTRPG stores.
Don’t worry though, if you’re into arena, you can still find it in the One-Off Games.
Video Content
That’s it for this week, hope you enjoyed the survey results! :D
This week we’ve got tons of stuff for you, with a new Community Survey for you, some updates on our Arena Games, as well as a long-form explanation for the v2.50 changes.
Let’s get to it!
Community Survey
Every 6 months we run a community survey to get a general feel for what sort of players are currently interested in OPR, and to give everyone an opportunity to send in their feedback/suggestions anonymously.
This is a super quick 3-question survey that only takes a few minutes to fill in, and we’ll be keeping it open for a week, with the results being revealed to the public in next week’s post.
This month we’ve released our last arena warband on Patreon, and we have some news.
With this warband, we have now completed the 3rd seasons of our arena games, and as previously discussed we have decided to take a break from the games indefinitely, instead of launching into 4th season in July.
It was really fun to work on these games for the past 9 months, but unfortunately they haven’t been able to really find an audience, and in their current format we don’t think that they fit into the OPR ecosystem like our other games.
Because of this 3rd season won’t be available for sale on WGV, and we’ll be removing seasons 1+2 from WGV as well, to make sure that people don’t buy into a game that they expect new seasons for. Don’t worry though, all of the rules and warbands will continue to be available on our website, so that you can still share the games with friends.
If you’re interested in continuing to develop new warbands for arena, we recommend supporting us on Patreon, where the warband creator will be available until the end of June.
We’re going to keep thinking about how we can re-work the arena games to turn them into something that can be enjoyed by a bigger part of our community, so fingers crossed that one day we’ll have more news for you arena fans. :)
Balancev2.50 Explained
Last week we revealed that we’ve been working on new versions of our army lists, which are meant to re-balance the game and improve the gameplay on multiple fronts (see here).
We’ve already received a lot of feedback from the community, which has been great, but there have also been a lot of players that are curious about the reasoning behind the various changes, and how they’re meant to improve the games.
In order to avoid making this update extremely long, we’ve created a PDF with a compilation of all the major changes and the reasoning behind them, which should hopefully give you a better idea of where we’re coming from.
Please note that all of these changes are not final yet, so you can expect the lists to be wildly different by the time that we are ready to fully release them to the public.
New Videos
That’s it for this week, don’t forget to fill out the survey and have a nice weekend. :)
Today we’ve got some exciting news, with a preview of some potential balance changes coming to the games in the future, as well as a couple of other new things for you!
Game Balance v2.50 (beta)
The games that we make are always evolving, and thanks to the feedback of our awesome community, we have been able to significantly improve the balance of our games over time.
Even though we have been releasing some major overhauls for some of the factions in the past few months, there are still some fundamental issues with how armies, weapons and special rules are currently set up, which can lead to some issues.
We have been talking with the community about potential balance changes for a while now, but we thought that it’s about time to show off what we’ve been cooking to gather some more feedback, and show in which direction the armies are going.
Most of the changes are actually quite subtle on paper, but we think will make a big difference whilst playing. For this post we’re going to focus on the two most important changes to the army lists in Grimdark Future.
The first change is that infantry defense values are being tweaked, changing all Def 2+ units to Def 3+, and tweaking the Tough values of certain units. To go with this tweak, we are also lowering the AP values and the Deadly values of certain weapons.
The second change is that weapon loadouts are being tweaked, making sure that units with Tough have enough firepower to compensate for their high cost. To go with this tweak, we are also lowering the range values of certain weapons, capping max. range at 36″.
These two changes alone should be enough to shake up the meta of the game, making sure that there isn’t such a huge gap between high defense armies and low defense armies (looking at you Battle Brothers). These changes also improve both the firepower and the durability of vehicles and monsters, making them worth their high cost.
There are lots more small changes, so try to see if you can spot them!
The army lists we’re showing off here are currently in beta and have no point costs, and they’re subject to change, so anything you see may look radically different by the time we officially release them.
It’s also important to note that whilst we’re currently only showing off Grimdark Future armies, there will also be tweaks to the Age of Fantasy armies, which we will get into once we have more of them done.
Over the past 6 months we’ve been getting loads of new awesome community translations for our games, and you can now find the games translated in Italian, German, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Russian! :D
Since May we’ve been releasing 4 new missions for the games every month on Patreon, and we thought it would be cool to make some cover art for them to spice things up. The mission packs will only be available for patrons right now, but once we have enough missions for each game they will be sold separately. :)
New Free Model on Cults 3D
Every month we add new free models to our Cults3D page, and this month we’ve added an Automa Guard from the Duchies of Vinci, bringing us up to 21 free models! :D
Lately most of my game design time has been spent on Sellswords, so I haven’t been having a lot to update you on in terms of game updates. I’m currently considering doing an overhaul of some of the most problematic factions, but am not sure how exactly that fits in the overall plan for the games.
No matter what, I’ll keep you posted. :)
King’s Wrath on Kickstarter
This week Atlas3DSS has launched a Kickstarter campaign for their new VULCAN resin, and in partnership with them we’ve created a 3D print starter set called King’s Wrath, which gives you everything you need to get started, with two armies (30+ models), the basic rulebook, core rules sheet, paper terrain and play tokens!
If you have a 3D printer and you’re looking to get yourself some quality resin plus miniatures, then we highly recommend you check out VULCAN by Atlas3DSS on KS.
Hive City Mercenaries Released
A few days ago we also released a new set of paper miniatures, with the Hive City Mercenaries. This pack features a Bounty Hunter, Munitioner, Battle Doc, Gang Cook (with adorable rat helper) and a Battle Bot.
Check them out on Patreon (and get tons more stuff as well).
New Loyalty Rewards
Earlier this week we also revealed two new massive loyalty rewards, with the Alien Hives Hive Titan and the Duchies of Vinci Walking Fortress.
These are two absolutely massive models, and are available for Patreon subscribers that stay with us for 3+ months. What’s even cooler is that these are not just display pieces, but will get full rules as well, so get ready for madness!
New Batrep
That’s it for this week, hope you have a great weekend everyone. :)
With the start of a new month we’ve got loads of new stuff that we released for all of you, so if you are in it for the missions, for the minis, or just for the heck of it, we’ve got you!
New Mission Packs
The June mission pack has been released on Patreon, with 4 brand new missions:
Grimdark Future – Psychic Nightmare
GF: Firefight – Frozen Wasteland
Age of Fantasy – Forbidden Forest
AoF: Skirmish – Ring of Fire
These missions are focused on fun new ways to play, with interesting objectives and special rules to spice things up. We release new missions every month, so make sure to stick around so that you don’t miss any.
Note that whilst the missions are designed for each specific game, you can totally play them with the rules for any other game (with slight adjustments). This means that you have even more missions to play each month!
New Miniatures on Etsy
Don’t care for 2D printing or 3D printing? Well then we’ve got you covered, because now all of the minis we released in May have been uploaded to our Etsy Store.
New Patreon Release
For those of you that are into 3D printing (or that want to know what will be on Etsy next month), make sure to check out our full June Release Overview.
That’s it for this update, have a nice weekend everyone!
Today we’ve got just a quick update for you, with the results of our latest game jam, a few army updates, and a bunch of new gameplay videos for you to check out.
Let’s get to it!
Game Jam #3 Results
Two weeks ago we ran our third ever game jam, which was pretty great. With 15 game submissions, it’s nice to see a lot of new faces taking part in the jam and get together as a community to be creative.
We’ll be back with the 4th edition in November, and you can sign up here!
Thanks for participating everyone! :D
New Army Updates
Today we’ve got a substantial update for the Alien Hives army, as well as some minor updates for the Duchies of Vinci and the Soul-Snatcher Cults.
We felt that the Alien Hives is a fun army to play, however they were a bit underpowered once they get into melee, so we wanted to fix that. We also felt that their large Tough(18) monsters were really cool to have on the table, but severely underperformed for being such huge units. Additionally we also added a few new bits here and there, just to spice up some of the units we felt were a little boring.
Alien Hives
All units have more melee attacks across the board
Snatcher Lords now have Tough(6)
Shadow hunters are now Quality 3+
Hive Swarms now have Poison
Synapse floaters now have Stealth and a ranged attack
Hive guardians now have Relentless
Grunts can now replace ANY Razor Claws
All monsters with Tough(18) now have Quality 3+
All monster ranged weapons now have more attacks
Carnivo-Rex now have a Vicious Jaws attack
Toxico-Rex now have Shrouding Mist and Stealth
Psycho-Rex now have Regeneration, Stealth and a ranged attack
Spawning Beasts can now choose to spawn Hive Swarms
Pheromones now allow units to auto-pass morale tests by taking wounds
Soul-Snatcher Cults
Added new unit: Snatcher Veteran
Snatcher Lords now have Tough(6)
Soul-Snatchers now have more attacks
Duchies of Vinci
Aerea Guard can now take 2x Claw Gauntlets
Aerea Slingshot now has Deadly(3)
New Warfleets: FTL Bundle
After getting a few requests for it, we’ve finally created a new bundle for Warfleets: FTL, which contains the full rulebook, all 6 fleets, as well as our space terrain. This bundle comes with a 30% discount, and you can buy it on WGV / DTRPG.
Today we’ve got just a tiny update for you, but we need your input. :)
Last weekend we ran the third OPR game jam, and it was a blast. Now it’s time for everyone to check out the games that came out of it, and vote for your favorites!
We’d like to thank everyone that participated, and hope you’ll join us for the next writing jam in August, as well as for the next game jam in November. :D
The OPR Game Jam #3 is now live, and the theme will be:
DUAL PURPOSE DESIGN
What does that mean you ask?
Dual Purpose Design is a principle of game design, where a mechanic has two or more purposes, giving the player more effects for each action, which can both be positive or negative (or neither).
This could be anything like a game where attacks deal damage but also leave an ice field that speeds up movement, or where taking powerful actions also throws the player in a random direction, or where using an item both lights up your path but also makes it easier for enemies to hit you.
If you want to watch some videos talking about Dual Purpose Design, check these out:
So, did those videos get you pumped up to design an awesome game?
The front page must contain all of the game’s core rules.
The back page may optionally contain rules on unit creation or special rules.
Every game must be submitted along with the following:
A visual moodboard for the game. We recommend using BeFunky (it’s free).
(Optional) Pictures of you playing the game, the miniatures, the table, etc.
Please make sure to submit your game in PDF format so that it’s easy for everyone to read it on mobile and desktop!
We have created an example game (not following the theme) for you to see what a correct submission should look like, and if you need more inspiration you can check out our one-off games to see how you can fit a full experience on just one page. Make sure to also take a look at our last jam’s game submissions for even more awesome examples!
Finally we wanted to remind everyone that the most important thing is to create a game that has interesting mechanics and an engaging core gameplay loop, and not a perfectly balanced grand strategy game.
You could focus on creating a small one-off encounter for example (like a rowdy bar fight, or an exciting airplane dogfight), or maybe make a game that follows a short linear story. Either way, just try to make something fun to play, regardless of its size. :)
I’m going to try and keep this update short so as not to bore you, but we’ve got some important content updates for you. Right now we’re focusing on bringing more value for our Games & 2D Rewards patrons, as well as to bring new and exciting game content for everyone. It’s been a busy week, but what we got is awesome. :D
Let’s get to it!
OPR Game Jam #3 – Starting next week!
The third OPR game jam is starting next week, so make sure to save the date!
The OPR Game Jam is a 48hr game making marathon, focused on creating one-page miniatures games. The game jam runs from May 14th, at 8PM UK time / 3PM ET time, to May 16th, at 8PM UK time / 3PM ET time.
Anyone can submit a game, and you may work alone or in teams. The games will then be judged by the public, and then we will highlight the top 3 voted games on the OPR website. There is no winner or prize, it’s all just for fun!
After last week’s reveal of the AI rules for FTL, it’s now time for the next reveal. :)
The campaign rules for FTL were designed to be a simply adaptation of our tried and tested campaign rules, but of course with a spaceship battle twist to them. These rules give you multiple ways to set up campaigns to play with your friends, including a leveling up system and lots of random events.
Combining the campaign rules with the AI rules is actually a great way to play narrative solo campaigns, so if you don’t have anyone to play with make sure to check those out!
This month we released the first mission pack on Patreon, with 4 brand new missions:
Grimdark Future – Storm Clash
GF: Firefight – The Dark Night
Age of Fantasy – Blood & Glory
AoF: Skirmish – Ghost Panic
These missions are focused on fun new ways to play, with interesting objectives and special rules to spice things up. We release new missions every month, so make sure to stick around so that you don’t miss any.
Note that whilst the missions are designed for each specific game, you can totally play them with the rules for any other game (with slight adjustments). This means that you have even more missions to play each month!
New Paper Terrain
To give players even more goodies, we’re now also permanently including paper terrain on Patreon, with new sets being released every few months. Right now we only have a sci-fi set available, but a new fantasy set will be released in May.
The terrain features 7 different pieces, with houses, containers and ruined walls, and it comes in 4 different varieties (urban, rusty, overgrown, snowy), so you get a total of 28 pieces to mix and match however you like!
The Bodyguards Gang Released
Speaking of 2D printing, we’ve also got a new set of paper minis on Patreon with the Bodyguards Gang and their adorable puppies!
New Physical Miniatures on Etsy
Don’t care for 2D printing or 3D printing? Well then we’ve got you covered, because now all of the minis we released in April have been uploaded to our Etsy Store.
New Patreon Release
For those of you that are into 3D printing (or that want to know what will be on Etsy next month), make sure to check out our full May Release Overview.
Painting Video
Last but not least, we’ve got a new painting video by Paintman Journeying.
That’s it for today, just a quick update. Make sure to sign up for the game jam, and we’ll see you next week. :)
