At the last count I had 749.5 painted 28mm fantasy figures ready for gaming. This does not include medieval humans and other historical figures that might be utilized in fantasy army. Most of these figures have never been in a game. I have many gaming interests and while fantasy mass battles is one of them, it's not above others in priority.

This is partly because I still haven't found the right rules for me. Lately the search has not been feverishly active, but I do keep looking.

I want rules for my figures. I understand companies want to sell miniatures. But on the other hand I have literally hundreds of miniatures all ready, it would be pretty dumb to throw them in the trash and start all over again, now wouldn't it? It's not like I'm not buying new ones all the time anyway, so what's the big deal? Just put out nice stuff and I will buy it -- not because it's required, not because it has good stats in the game, but because it's a good miniature I want to paint and play with.

Thus any game requiring specific miniatures is an instant turn off for me.

I stopped following any "official" basing schemes long ago and adopted my own that I use for all figures. Many games either require a specific basing scheme, require all players to use the same scheme or produce skewed results if differing schemes are used (typical example being figure-based games where cramming more figures into the same frontage usually conveys a significant advantage). I can do trays or larger element-bases for entire units, but I certainly won't be rebasing my miniatures.

Thus any game requiring a specific basing scheme is an instant turn off for me.

I also like to build and convert my own miniatures, like this War Turtle. I'd like to play with them too, sometimes. I've no problem with abstractions, I've no problem with "counts as", but I do have a problem with stifling list restrictions and such. I stopped playing Warhammer over 20 years ago when my Pan Tangian tigers couldn't be added to the game. I would have accepted any stats or rules for them, but no, not on the list, can't be done. Well, I don't need to play either...

Thus any game not letting me play with my miniatures is an instant turn off for me.

Like most gaming grognards I have my preferences and pet peeves, but these are the big three for me. These are the things that will make me drop a ruleset pretty much instantly.

I've been looking at Mantic's Kings of War for some time now. I read the first edition rules, but it didn't seem quite fully developed and was pretty much tied to the Mantic line of miniatures. I missed their Kickstarter mostly because when I heard about it, it was already closed.

I even bought a pile of Mantic miniatures about a year back. They're still in the painting queue, though... but I am definitely interested in the new 2nd edition rules. Could these be the rules for me?

Maybe I should buy the new rules and try them out...

P.S. In case you were wondering, I have one painted halfling. For a detailed listing, see the figures inventory section.

maxxon