Game: Rocketmen: Axis of Evil

Thread: Re: Using the models for other games?

Cke1st — 2008-09-17T02:18:06+00:00

My own favorite set of starship rules is Red Chicken Rising. The rules are free at http://www.irvania.com/wargames/index.htm . They are somewhat silly in places, like the ability to take out enemy crew by spamming them to distraction. But the game is quick-play, easy to learn, flexible, and fun.

I'll add a shameless plug for my RCR fan page at http://www.cke1st.com/m_games2.htm , with game aids and rules enhancements.

Thread: Re: AoE & BoT spares for trade...

Cke1st — 2008-09-17T02:13:48+00:00

Here's an offer.

I give you:
AE 2 U Rebels Delta IV Sqdn
AE 32 C Mars Hammers Sqdn
AE 34 C Mars The Horde Sqdn
AE 43 C Mars Myrmidon
AE 46 C Mars Terminator
AE 48 C Merc. Solar Flares Sqdn
AE 68 R Venus Inana
AE 69 SR Venus Andromache
AE 83 C Terra Crew 2
AE 87 R Terra Ivana Folterung
AE 93 C Mars Crew 4
AE 102 R Merc. Empress Armada
AE 107 C Venus Foreign Legion Crew
AE 110 R Venus Engineer Phaon

You give me:
AE 18 C Terra The Skulls Sqdn
AE 20 C Terra Devastator
AE 22 C Terra Merciless
AE 27 C Terra Interociter
AE 37 C Mars Dark Angels Sqdn
AE 39 C Mars The Fist
AE 52 C Merc. Devil's Due Sqdn
AE 71 R Terra Stronghold Station
AE 91 C Mars Crew 2
AE 101 C Merc. Crew 4
AE 103 R Merc. Cdr Thompson
AE 108 R Venus Diana
AE 109 R Venus Aglaia McGrath
BT 46 C Saturn Silver I Sqdn
BT 47 C Saturn Samael
BT 85 C Saturn Crew 1

That's 12 Commons and 4 Rares for me; 8 C's, a U, 4 R's and a SR for you. What do you think?

Thread: Re: Decoder ring?

gleritte — 2008-07-25T16:17:38+00:00

Each letter is two glyphs, and that's what the decoder ring did.

In the files section is the font, and you just install it, and type.

Thread: Re: ship storage

liberor13 — 2008-07-08T22:32:59+00:00

I'm a uk fan of this game (the mini's if not the game itself) and I'm short of a way to store these guys. At the moment, they just live in a bookshelf in a nice display case but the faff of getting them out means that they dont get much use.

Anyone got any ideas on how/what makes a good safe storage space for em?

Thread: Re: The hidden meaning behind the measurement distances...

pigasuspig — 2008-05-07T23:39:11+00:00

dead jawa wrote:
But Rocketmen has the nice exact measurements of 7/4, 10/4, and 14/4 inches for the 3 movement lengths. I briefly wondered why the in-between measurement wasn't exactly in between, 10.5/4 inches, but didn't dwell on it.

CCG cards are 2.5" by 3.5" (10/4 / 14/4) The medium increment is the short end of a card.

Although...
I've gotten those measurements before, but now I wonder if they aren't actually some A or B size which is very close since the ratio 14/10 is so close to sqrt{2}.

Thread: Re: Using the models for other games?

Freitag — 2008-05-01T08:09:13+00:00

Starmada just got a new edition, so now they are selling Starmada: Admiralty Edition.

Thread: Re: Using the models for other games?

GaryP — 2008-04-25T21:58:10+00:00

Bwian wrote:
When it first came out, I bought a box of Rocketmen. I knew that even if the game sucked, I could use the pieces to play Hard Vacuum. The Mercurian ships make good German Totdiscs, and the Human ships make good American ships of various stripes.
Yup, I also picked these up specifically for Hard Vacuum. You can pick up the rules for HV at Thought Hammer for like $10.

Silent Death is fun to get folks playing quickly, but I prefer Hard Vacuum for small engagments. I need to go through the rules for Full Thrust, but that looks like fun for playing larger battles with capital ships.

Thread: Re: Decoder ring?

Petru5 — 2008-04-25T15:51:40+00:00

True, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. However, I want one in my Ovaltine cannister!

Thread: Re: Decoder ring?

Bwian — 2008-04-25T14:49:50+00:00

Well, I assume it's just a straight substitution cipher, which means it shouldn't be too hard to reverse-engineer. I just like the idea of decoder rings!

Thread: Re: Decoder ring?

Petru5 — 2008-04-25T12:39:44+00:00

Which makes me want one all the more!!!

Thread: Re: Decoder ring?

OrangeCat X — 2008-04-24T16:00:16+00:00

Oh, yeah. There was.

I was doing tournaments and I had a couple to give away.

That alien language on some of the cards? See it?
The ring allows you to translate it.

Spells out things like. "He is a traitor."

It's kind of like the rings you could get in the 50s-60s for SF shows.

Thread: Decoder ring?

Bwian — 2008-04-24T15:46:32+00:00

Did I imagine it, or was there a decoder ring issued for this game at some point? I never saw one, and haven't seen one on eBay or anything, so I was wondering if I just dreamed the whole thing...

Thread: Re: Using the models for other games?

Petru5 — 2008-04-24T15:29:50+00:00

I second Full Thrust. Here's the link to the Ground Zero Games page for their free rules:

http://www.groundzerogames.net

If you wanted fighter-level action, then perhaps Silent Death? It isn't free, though and the ships would have to be adapted.

Thread: Re: Using the models for other games?

Bwian — 2008-04-24T14:45:07+00:00

When it first came out, I bought a box of Rocketmen. I knew that even if the game sucked, I could use the pieces to play Hard Vacuum. The Mercurian ships make good German Totdiscs, and the Human ships make good American ships of various stripes.

Thread: Re: Using the models for other games?

kentreuber — 2008-04-24T14:19:15+00:00

Check out some miniatures rules:

Full Thrust is a very popular system and it's now a free download. Starmada X: Brigade and A Sky Full of Ships (ASFoS) are popular rules as well, though they aren't free.

Also, check out the library of free wargames rules at: http://freewargamesrules.co.uk/

Thread: Using the models for other games?

NetSapiens — 2008-04-24T13:18:01+00:00

Now that these models are so cheap to come by, does anyone have any recommendations as to what other rulesets / systems that could use the Rocketmen models for play?

Thread: Three-way galactic mayhem!

Petru5 — 2008-04-23T20:14:11+00:00

The Mercurians, Venusians and Rebels needed training. Facing the combined might of the Legion of Terra, Mars and Ganymede brought to the Allied attention that tactics and training were paramount for success.

This session was played by two new players to the game (Ken and Jeremy) and a more experienced player: myself (Ted). I let Ken and Jeremy pick their forces first. Ken chose the Rebels and Jeremy picked Mercury. I decided to play the whale ships of Venus. Since all three forces are considered friendly (in game terms) to one another, we decided this was a training mission for plot purposes.

A small cluster of microids huddled around the rogue asteroid, so intership interaction was going to be quick and dirty. The Rebels, consisting of a couple of well-armed Cruisers, launched forward first, mining a couple of far-flung microids while edging closer to the central mass of much needed resources.

Meanwhile, the Venusian Cruisers also headed toward the resource stockpile. Their ships were large, but very durable. Special crew made navigation and defense a breeze, so they didn't deviate from incoming contact.

The Mercurian Cruisers and Rocketship, armed to the teeth as only the golden-skinned warriors could be, rushed to get their slice of the resources pie.

Ken went with a 75/25 lasers/shield pod mix. Jeremy went almost all lasers on his ships, hoping to knock his opponents out early. I went more defensive (only 1-2 lasers per ship) and when coupled with crew enhancements, could only be hit by natural 12s and could turn for 0 AP.

The Rebel Cruisers started loading resources into their cargo holds like sponges taking on water. This alarmed the Mercurians, who tried to match the frantic requisition pace, but couldn't quite get to the resources. The Venusians, farthest from the asteroid and its satellites, were fairly quick and were able to grab a couple of resources from under the Mercurians' noses before heading back to build reinforcements.

Since a majority of the resources were either on or within 3" of the asteroid, it was inevitable that the three factions would end up nose to nose, guns out. Ken was able to snag a fair number of loose resources before bellying up to the main cluster around the asteroid. Jeremy's ship ranges were just short of what he needed to match Ken's pace. I was able to fly forward with a Cruiser, mine two microids that were literally within an inch of a Mercurian Cruiser and then turn around and make it halfway back to my base before Jeremy could react (0 AP turns are great!). I was set on cashing out my resources for a fighter squadron or another cruiser.

"Collect and fire!" was the Rebel order of the day, as one yellow ship gobbled up more valuable resources and ran, while the other fired on the Mercurians. Unfortunately, little or no damage was done to the saucer-like ships. The Venusians looked over their newly-collected cargo and realized that they didn't have what they needed to build any new ships. They turned around and fired on a Mercurian rocketship, hoping to take it out and use it for salvage. The Mercurian rocketship, wounded from the sudden Venusian attack, opened fire on the cruiser with fewer defense pods. It scored a couple of hits, blowing pods off the big blue vessel.

All the ships were in the mix by this point. Ken, who had the most resources, opened fire on Jeremy with one of his cruisers while the other made a mad dash for the Rebel base. Jeremy split his APs between collecting and firing on Ken and me. I took a couple of potshots at Jeremy's rocketship when I realized I was lacking a crucial resource to build any of my reserve units.

Mercurian ships were taking severe punishment. The Rebels were able to put some heavy pod losses on the saucer ships without their own ships taking much damage, while at the same time building new ships to join the fray. The Venusians finished off the the Mercurian rocketship and dragged it back to their base. They also built ships: a fighter squadron.

Ken and Jeremy were fighting full-bore. Jeremy's lack of shield pods were a telling point in the battle, as his ships were either incapacitated or destroyed outright. He had two ships get boarded and salvaged: One by Ken and one by me. I was able to build a fighter squadron, but Ken was able to build a rocketship and a fighter squadron.

Mercury was finished. All their ships were either space hulks or being assimilated into the Rebel or Venusian war machine. The Rebels started firing on the Venusians, but were unable to penetrate the defenses of their foe. The allies called off a continuation of the war maneuvers, much to the chagrin of the Venusians!

Jeremy was blasted from the table by Ken and me. He gracefully took the beating. Ken had deployed all his ships, but was having trouble hurting my big cruiser. I was able to deploy only one of my reserve units, but felt confident of my chances to persevere.

Final Tally:
Mercury (Jeremy): eliminated
Rebels (Ken): Totally deployed (60 pts). Had several ships with pod damage.
Venus (me): Partially deployed (45 pts). Had one cruiser with one defense pod and all others were without damage.

Impressions: We had a good time. Ken and Jeremy didn't like the building and tearing down of the ships, but they thought the game was very fun. We all agreed that there is an understated amount of strategy involved in all phases of the game: from unit choice, to crew options, to in-game decisions.

Thread: Re: Terrain idea

Petru5 — 2008-04-16T02:53:56+00:00

Very true about there being too much for a single game. I don't own the actual TI:A game. When I saw these puppies for $5 on Fantasy Flight's clearance sale, I knew I could use them for Rocketmen, sight unseen. I like to think of it as gamer's intuition, but I'll admit it was really just a shot in the dark. That means I have stuff for TI:A that I'll never use (the ship gauges come to mind).

Thread: Re: Terrain idea

GaryP — 2008-04-15T22:58:30+00:00

Great idea! I had missed the earlier thread. I still have yet to assemble and play with my Rocketmen boosters, but I already have Stellar Matter as part of my TI:Armada collection.

It comes with WAY more pieces than you'd need for either game, so maybe I'll dig it out and see about offering an assortment of what's in there.

Thread: Terrain idea

Petru5 — 2008-04-14T20:52:10+00:00

Somebody posted a while back about terrain ideas and I think I've found an answer. Twilight Imperium: Armada: Stellar Matter. Great assortment of planets, black holes, space debris, vortexes, etc. They even have space mines for defensive perimeters! None of the pieces are grossly huge, perhaps two asteroids lumped together at the largest. The smallest are about the circumference of a ping pong ball.

Thread: AoE & BoT spares for trade...

Petru5 — 2008-04-13T05:48:34+00:00

Hey all,

I have the following AoE BoT new, unplayed spares for trade. I'll include a pod card and an asteroid card for each ship, if you so desire.

AoE Spares:
Rebels
007 - Firefly Rocketship
008 - Orion Rocketship
012 - Liberty Cruiser
076 - Rebel Crew 1 (x3)
078 - Rebel Crew 3 (x2)

Legion
015 - Sky Wolves Fighter Squadron
018 - Skulls Fighter Squadron (x2)
019 - Conqueror Rocketship (x2)
020 - Devastator Rocketship
022 - Merciless Rocketship
027 - Interociter Cruiser
028 - Barrage Cruiser
071 - Stronghold Space Station
085 - Legion of Terra Crew 4

Mars
037 - Dark Angels Fighter Squadron
038 - Heartsblood Rocketship (x2)
039 - Fist Rocketship (x2)
041 - Eradicator Rocketship
044 - Vengeance Cruiser
091 - Mars Crew 2 (x2)

Mercury
052 - Devil's Due Fighter Squadron
053 - Solstice Rocketship
055 - Centauri Rocketship
062 - Quasar Cruiser
098 - Mercury Crew 1 (x2)
100 - Mercury Crew 3
101 - Mercury Crew 4 (x2)
103 - Squadron Comdr. Tiff "Target" Thompson
104 - Engineer Fahim (x2)

Venus
067 - Oracle Cruiser
070 - Unicorn Cruiser
105 - Venus Crew 1 (x2)
108 - High Priestess Diana
109 - Aglaia McGrath

BoT Spares:
Venus
052 - Pegasus Fighter Squadron
053 - Halo Fighter Squadron
054 - War Muses Fighter Squadron
055 - Borealis Fighter Squadron
057 - Endeavor Cruiser
091 - Venus Crew 1 (x2)

Io
039 - Ticklers Harvesters (x3)
050 - Zener's Secret Rocketship (x4)
088 - Io Crew 1 (x2)

Ganymede
040 - Catapult Rocketship (x3)
041 - Lodestone Rocketship (x3)
042 - Dyson Cruiser (x3)
043 - Antaeus Cruiser
044 - Discovery Space Station
080 - Ganymede Crew 2

Mars
025 - Starkillers Fighter Squadron
026 - Screaming Death Fighter Squadron
031 - Decaptitator Rocketship
075 - Mars Crew 1

Legion
073 - Lt. Cyrus Doerr (x2)

Saturn
045 - Red V "Bloody Talons" Fighter Squadron (x2)
046 - Silver I "silverhawks" Fighter Squadron (x2)
047 - Samael Cruiser (x2)
048 - Thunderbird Cruiser
085 - Saturn Crew 1 (x2)
086 - Saturn crew 2

Rebels
064 - Rebel Crew 1
065 - Rebel Crew 2
067 - Chris Goddard, Agent of Earth (x2)

AoE Wants:
001, 002, 005, 010, 017, 023, 025, 031-034, 036, 040, 043, 046, 048, 050, 051, 056-059, 068, 069, 079, 081-084, 087, 088, 093, 094, 097, 099, 102, 106, 107, 110, 200-212 and any Limited Edition cards.

BoT Wants:
001-005, 009-013, 015, 016, 018-024, 030, 033, 066, 070, 072, 074, 077, 078, 087, 092, 093 and any Limited Edition cards.

Image

Viriato — 2008-03-25T14:46:24+00:00

Battle of Titans Boosters

Image

Viriato — 2008-03-16T17:00:08+00:00

Axis of Evil Booster Box - A rarity, by now...

Thread: Re: Someone wants to trade?

Cke1st — 2007-12-31T22:45:27+00:00

I've got some cards I'd be glad to trade. Send your list of haves and wants to mfischer7 AT verizon DOT net.

Thread: Re: Why do people hate this game?

Cke1st — 2007-12-28T00:32:53+00:00

Part of the problem may have been the name. The game is about spaceships, not rocketmen. And ever since President Bush used the term "axis of evil" to describe the nations he saw as a threat, anyone of a liberal persuasion probably shudders when they hear those words. That's no way to sell a product.

I bet if they made a new release and called it something like "Laser Blazers," it would sell better.

Thread: Someone wants to trade?

magarcia — 2007-12-13T21:50:56+00:00

Hello everyone, I´m from Spain and I´ve got some rocketmen cards to trade.
If you want to trade, please let me know.
Thanks

Thread: Re: Tractor Beams, Docking, rules, etc.

petermc — 2007-11-21T16:04:18+00:00

I've decided that tractor beams are totally worthless. So here's my house rule to get the most out of those purple pods.

Photon Torpedoes (purple pods): Attack using the same rules as red pods, but are discarded after use.

A hit does variable damage, roll a d6: 1-2: 1 damage (same as red pod) 3-4: 2 damage 5-6: 3 damage.

One use only though, and they can't be built by a structural engineer (they may only be placed at start or with newly incoming reserve ships).

Thread: Re: Tractor Beams, Docking, rules, etc.

TGov — 2007-11-19T18:58:59+00:00

I bought a whole box of these things a while back... I have only opened them all up and sorted them. I need to get it out and play through it solo to see how it is. I mainly bought it because I like building the ships

Thread: Tractor Beams, Docking, rules, etc.

petermc — 2007-11-19T18:47:35+00:00

Preface: I like this game, probably more so than the average BGGer based upon the rankings. But the rules have some holes and issues.

1) Tractor Beam rules are barely a single sentence. I'm not sure how you could ever usefully use them, except to force a collision, which you could more easily obtain through movement (no dice roll to hit). Either I don't understand the rule right or Tractor Beams are completely useless. (so I never mount them).

2) Docking. Rules are pretty clear...except after you are docked. It doesn't cost an AP to un-dock, apparently. No problem from base. But what about combative docking and boarding? Nothing in the rules say the defender can't just move away in his turn (there is no "engagement" or disengaging rule). So you can ram, dock and board in one turn, but then the defender just moves away and you have to chase them again.

The rule I made up is that undocking from a hostile boarding attempt requires an 2AP and a roll of 7+.

(likewise, I guess, you should have to try disengage from a tractor beam, but that is way outside of the current rules scope).

3) 30 point games are fairly restrictive for building. Even going to just 35 points really opens things up. Most ships are rated 7-11 points, and crews are 1-3 points, mostly. With 30, even just two ships over 10 points means you have no crews or no third ship. I like 35 to start and 30 in reserve.

Thread: Re: Anyone try a Igo-yougo format?

petermc — 2007-11-19T18:35:48+00:00

Interesting reports, thanks.

My understanding of "igo-ugo" is the way the game already plays (one player does everything, then the other). Breaking it down into individual ship activations or impulses is the opposite of "igo-ugo", at least in wargamer world anyway.

But I agree it might be a great idea for this game. Tough to know how to implement it.

One note about "engaging first"...both players have the option of turtling or staying out of reach of a really big first strike. But the first player to get enough microids back to the home base for reserve purchases will have a huge advantage...so both players have to go microid hunting, drawing them together in the early game.

If you believe the "engage first" theory you will hang back, but then the other guy will get the microids first and win. So I think actually it depends upon how you do it (there are clumsy moves either way).

Some of the ships special powers are relative to other ships, so messing too much with it might be hard. I like the idea of activating 2 cards per player until you are out of ships for the turn. In a 30 point game that is likely to break down 2-2-1-1.

Since I mentioned it, if you have a lot of crews it might be more fun to play a 35 or 40 point game, that way each side can get 3 good ships and crews at start.

Thread: Re: ship storage

Ronin7 — 2007-10-31T00:27:10+00:00

I have a complete set of both Rocketmen releases. I use a plastic tool/screws/indutrial set up I found at Lowe's. For $20, I can see my ships, seperate them by compartment, store them fully mounted and carry them almost anywhere. I ran across these totally by accident but they are the best miniatures cases for the price that I have seen. I am not at home now or I would tell ypou the make and model. I can even send you pictures if you like. Tell you what, if you can send me the Rocketmen promo card that came in Scrye issue 89, I will send you one of these...and I will even pay for shipping.

Thread: Re: Anyone try a Igo-yougo format?

dude163 — 2007-08-01T17:59:19+00:00

Thanks for the quick replies guys ,

Im surprised a game that isnt too popular actually had some people watchng out on it.....

I like the idea of combat being simultaneous too! That would stop the fighters streaking in and blowing a ship to pieces while I sat there and ouled off pods , like it was a captured horsefly

coming from starfleet battles and ASL to this was quite a shock, but it was great fun!

Thread: Re: Anyone try a Igo-yougo format?

unixrevolution — 2007-08-01T16:36:49+00:00

dude163 wrote:
I played last night , and we had 2 games that were mirror images of each other

it seemed like the person that got the first major attack in won the game, as the other was too far behind?

afterwards we thought about trying a version where:

1 person moved/actioned 1 ship , then the other player , and alternated until you were done, then it would give a ship a chance to fire before it gets blown to smithereens.

I did get a good deal on the game though, 1 dollar a pack ! it was still great fun, and my opponent bought 10 packs off me so he could play at home.

This is applicable to how we play Pirates of the Spanish Main, so you may want to try it here:

for equal numbers of ships on a side, alternate ships. for different numbers, break into chunks so you each get an equal number of turns (If he has 6 and you have 3, do 1-2-1-2-1-2.)

Each ship can do its action, moving or shooting. Keep track of which ones are actually going to fire.

In each round, fire is simultaneous. That is, if a ship was alive at the beginning of a round, it gets to fire, even if it's been destroyed. Any weapons it still had at the beginning of the turn fire as normal for that turn.

That way, you have more "real time" combat, and less "initiative screwage" in battle.

Thread: Anyone try a Igo-yougo format?

dude163 — 2007-08-01T16:16:05+00:00

I played last night , and we had 2 games that were mirror images of each other

it seemed like the person that got the first major attack in won the game, as the other was too far behind?

afterwards we thought about trying a version where:

1 person moved/actioned 1 ship , then the other player , and alternated until you were done, then it would give a ship a chance to fire before it gets blown to smithereens.

I did get a good deal on the game though, 1 dollar a pack ! it was still great fun, and my opponent bought 10 packs off me so he could play at home.

Thread: Re: Why do people hate this game?

emceekhan — 2007-06-16T10:03:45+00:00

I'll also go with the target audience and tag on that the game came out while space games were largely underplayed.

Pirates gets a giant pull in the market not because the game is good or fun, but because there's this huge PIRATES hype out there from movies and marketing that adds to the desire to own little plastic constructable ships.

However, since sci-fi hype is more focused on one sub-genre over another, not even Star Wars hype can really make a dent in helping Rocketmen.

Really, Wizkids under-marketed Rocketmen. I felt they only put half their energy into trying, so it was doomed out the gate. I own both full sets of ships, and some.

Thread: Re: Why do people hate this game?

UnluckyNumber — 2007-06-16T06:52:33+00:00

Personally, I really wanted to like Rocketmen because of how much I like its whole Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon sort of setting. But its polystyrene cardstock ships just didn't appeal to me at all.

Whether the gameplay was worthwile or not, I'd have bought some of it simply to get my hands on prepainted miniatures of retro looking starships and fighters. After all, I could have used them in other space combat games like "Silent Death". Unfortunately those Rocketmen ships just look very flat and very 2-Dimensional and very uninspiring.

Thread: Re: Why do people hate this game?

sherron — 2007-06-16T05:52:09+00:00

It looks like they are trying a second wave attempt with releasing Star Wars Pocketmodels. They dropped the cartoonish nature of Rocketmen and they must feel the Star War name will appeal to more gamers. It will be interesting to see how it goes over. I would think it will be more successful but since Rocketmen did so bad it won't take much to beat Rocketmen.

Thread: Constructable Strategy Games in general.

doganpc — 2007-06-16T04:56:35+00:00

I'm siding with the target market idea too. Although they did make an attempt, with a small production cartoon series, to get to the kids. The other problem I feel was they never put it into major markets like they do with Pirates now, you can find it at ToysRus, Fred Meyer, Target, Wal-Mart and that kind of broad customer base could've helped Rocketmen.

Then there's those overly critical miniature gamers who think every game has to be 'realistic'. Some things should be considered games and not strategical contests. (what else lets you play a mini game with $4 and 30minutes). As for Star Wars TCG . . . that's "trading card game" the miniatures are for stats and show and from what i've read it's basically a card game.

Thread: Re: Why do people hate this game?

HMTKSteve — 2007-04-02T10:47:41+00:00

Rocketmen is the game that Pirates should have been from day one.

They took the rules and cleaned them up to the point that the game is more enjoyable. We stopped playing Pirates because the game boiled down to only a few strategies. That and every ship that intended to fight HAD to have a captain!

Thread: Re: Why do people hate this game?

KingCroc — 2007-03-25T02:53:03+00:00

There's also simply the economics factor. When Pirates came out, it was the first game of its type. This helped it compete in the market. When Rocketmen came out, it was instantly in competition with Pirates. In any Collectible format, players always must decide whether to stick with a game that they know with rules they already understand and players that already are willing to play the game VS. a game where your collection starts from scratch, where you must learn new rules, and where you have to hope that it will catch on with other players in your area.

I don't know if people "hate" Rocketmen so much as aren't motivated enough to give it a shot. I liked the game, too, but could never find anyone to play it with, so it wasn't something I could get into.

If Rocketmen had come out first, it probably would've fared better. And then Pirates probably would've crashed and burned.

There's only so much money to go around. I respect WizKids for trying something new, but it only makes sense to pull a low selling product whose biggest competition is another one of your games.

Still, I've got my ships and my rules. Maybe one day, I'll play a game.

Thread: Re: Why do people hate this game?

dilettante — 2007-03-25T02:07:17+00:00

I think part of the problem was that Rocketmen had the wrong theme for its target audience. CCG's are targeted (mainly) for the 13-15 year old. But Rocketman's appeal is more for the 40+ year old. It's basically recalling the old Buck Rodgers/Flash Gordon comics and serials. What 15 year old has even heard of them?
Now me, I loved the theme, but I am a 48 year old who does remember 'the good old days' of Saturday morning movies. I hope to further my collection of ships from the game, especially from the Titans series that I completely lack.
I think that the games mechanics are both better than Pirates and more believable within the game. (ie. No wind rules bugs me in Pirates; but it doesn't bother me that spaceships can stop on a dime-thats how it 'works' in the Buck/Flash universe!)

Thread: Re: Why do people hate this game?

Smilinbrax — 2007-02-26T12:27:58+00:00

I think it is more a reflection of the company who made it. Wizkids has a long history (considering its rather short life as a compnay) of creating a game and then slashing/burning it when the profits drop. This results in people being less likely to want to get in on a game that will be dead next year.

Also, they have a reputation for horrible play balance, messed up rarity schemes, and errata. This is also not very encouraging. Add all this up and you would want to think twice before buynig their product.

Howevere, considering constructible CCGs are a niche market and Rocketmen is a niche within a niche, it may be that there just wasn't enough interest in building plastic spaceships.

As for horrorclix, I can give my personal opinion on that one. I was sorely tempted to get into it, but remembered what happened with MK and MW. Also, the abilities were often the same ones cycled through every single click game they make. I'd love to see a game without the "roll 1D6 and deal that much damage to your opponent instead of normal damage" ability. The new "noncollectalbe" sets look cool, but it it too little too late. I'll leave their games for someone who knows little about their business practices.

Thread: Re: ship storage

The Prince Of Araby — 2007-02-26T04:23:17+00:00

If your not willing to drop the cash on some Sabol transport cases then I suggest a standard cardboard card case. They're supposed to be used for Magic The Gathering and other games like that, and cost around a dollar. Then stuff 'em in with some good ol fashioned Kleenex and get on the road!

Thread: Why do people hate this game?

The Prince Of Araby — 2007-02-26T04:20:26+00:00

It would seem too me that people really dislike this game. It has an above average BGG rating for a game of its type, but all the local WizKids gamers in my area detest it. When Rocketmen came out I was really impressed, it had a semi-sophisticated (for the type of game it was) resource mechanic and it focused primarily on combat (which is what I dislike about Pirates). I still play this game semi-often and on occasion will pick up booster boxes (or cases, depending on price) when they come up on ebay. I really think that in the future (maybe another couple of years?) people will look back on this (and Horrorclix another sadly under appreciated game that also fixed all of the problems with its parent game, in this case Heroclix and Mageknight) and go "These were the good games that Wizkids made, and no one appreciated them at the time!".

Lets hope that the new Star Wars Wizkids game picks up where Rocketmen left off and has a glorious run.

I would also appreciate if someone would tell me what the common complaints are with the game, I suspect one of them might be the really offbeat theme (which I love) that some people might not get. These are the kind of people who fail to enjoy Buck Rodgers and Flash Gordon .

Thanks folks!

Thread: Re: ship storage

TeknoMerk — 2007-01-11T18:01:08+00:00

I used the Plano 3701 plastic tacklebox with 15 compartments. They are available at sporting goods stores and online fishing sites. These boxes are 3" deep so your ships can remain assembled. IIRC, I got mine for about $3.50 each (discounted). Full retail is about $5 each.

I use the same thing for Pirates of the Spanish Main and miniatures.

You can go one step further by getting a soft, zippered tackle box that can hold several of these boxes for transport or storage. The Deckplates I put in plastic baseball card collector sheets in a three-ring binder -- all available at any office supply store.

Good Luck!

Thread: ship storage

talhoffer — 2007-01-11T04:38:19+00:00

Has anyone found a good storage device for assembled ships? I have a booster cast of ships and need somewhere to put them. Thanks

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dodonna — 2006-11-03T04:24:27+00:00

Venusian Fleet

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dodonna — 2006-11-03T04:24:23+00:00

Saturnian Fleet

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dodonna — 2006-11-03T04:24:21+00:00

Ganymede Fleet

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dodonna — 2006-11-03T04:24:18+00:00

Io Fleet

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dodonna — 2006-11-03T04:24:14+00:00

Mercurian Fleet

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petterw — 2006-08-06T12:22:39+00:00

Assembled contents of one pack (Mercury).

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petterw — 2006-08-06T12:22:31+00:00

Assembled contents of one pack (Legion of Terra).

Thread: Re: Is this game going to continue at WizKids?

Sagrilarus — 2006-07-12T19:14:38+00:00

    I think the key is to actually get a good game. You can blow $50 on these things without even trying -- comparable to the price of a Shadows Over Camelot or Warrior Knights. But that's only if people want to play. In fact with a $4 entry price I think this game should be a lot easier to coax people into.

    But that only counts if the game is any good . . .

             Sag.

Thread: Re: Is this game going to continue at WizKids?

sdiberar — 2006-07-12T18:33:41+00:00

There's only one reason these games get cancelled.. and that's because they don't sell well enough. Collectible games in general have managed to elude any kind of "perfect" marketing formula, so buying into a new one is always chancy. On the other hand, if you don't take that chance, that makes the game's demise a near certainty...

Thread: Re: Is this game going to continue at WizKids?

franklincobb — 2006-07-12T16:26:23+00:00

cscottk wrote:
To be fair, Mage Knight had a firly long life.

Oh, absolutely. In fact, Mage Knight was one of those "core items" I was referring to--they should've been focusing on that, the game that brought them to the dance, rather than these other poorly thought-out efforts.

I played Mage Knight originally but never could dig that ruler-based movement. Heroclix with its grid maps and great characters, I got into immediately. Of course, then you had a lot of negative things happening there, so I moved over to Sportsclix. When they bungled THAT, I was done with them.

Thread: Re: Is this game going to continue at WizKids?

cscottk — 2006-07-12T16:22:42+00:00

To be fair, Mage Knight had a fairly long life.

Thread: Re: Is this game going to continue at WizKids?

franklincobb — 2006-07-12T16:13:34+00:00

Rocketmen players have seemingly received the patented "Wizkids Shaft".

Really, though, this organization should do them some good. They should've been focusing all along on making their core products better and not branching out into seventeen different things, doing them poorly, and watching them fail.

Seriously...their product graveyard is HUGE for such a relatively young comapny. It's larger than Decipher's, a company that has been in the CCG business for 12 years.

Creepy Freaks, Shadowrun, Mage Knight, Mage Knight Dungeons, Sportsclix, Rocketman, Race Day, Crimson Skies, High Plains Drifter, Tsuro (or their board game "line" in general)....kind of scary.

Plus, they made one half of their Heroclix fanbase angry with their set retirements, and made the other half angry because Wizkids keep releasing figures that unbalance the environments.

Thread: Re: Is this game going to continue at WizKids?

Smilinbrax — 2006-07-12T15:25:00+00:00

This is not uncommon with Wizkids. Every year they seem to "reorganize" and dump half their product line. You just got lucky and had yours dumped this time. About the only thing they keep going with is heroclix and mechwarrior. It's sad really.

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2006-04-25T21:03:12+00:00

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