Thanks for putting this together. What’s interesting to me is that given all the derision that Warhammer is usually greeted with among the posters here, it still ranks #2 and 3 (though it could be a different sample set with the voters?).

It’s also sad that GW LOTR has so little interest… even less than star wars minis prepaints — I voted for both so the two are on my playlist, but I had thought that given the LOTR franchise and the lack of general interest for CMGs here would have given it a stronger showing. Again the sample size isn’t huge, but it is what it is…

The poll was very informal, so the results are a very rough guideline at best.

I’d be more interested to see what the results would look like if they were weighted…eg a #1 vote is worth 10 points and a #10 vote is worth 1 point. But the question would have to be more tightly worded in that case.

given the popularity it was sure GW games will be in the top 10, but iirc they weren’t on the top of the list in many instances. AT-43 also seems to be quite popular in the poll, given how young it is.

I’m not surprised to see the major commercial games at the top of the list. They’re easy to obtain, easy to get into & also have nice miniatures. Nevermind if the rules aren’t great, most people can live with that, as long as they like the miniatures & can find other gamers to play with.

I must be on the wrong site.. not a single historical game among the top ten.

Its a big sci-fi and fantasy crowd here at TGN :-)

We’ve been working for some time to rectify that and bring in more historical news and readers but they are a tough crowd to budge :-)

Just some minor surprises. I thought that Blood Bowl should be higher than Necromunda and Space Hulk. Afterall, the online community is very active and someone is actually making another computer game for it on Xbox 360. I never imagined that AT-43 would be that high since the marketing and availability were quite poor. Flames of war should be higher and this is mainly a sampling bias. Void/Metropolis/UrbanWar should be combined together - slight difference but same universe and basically same models. I am really disappointed that DBA did not even make the list. It is way more popular than Warmaster.

Zac, this was a great idea. I suggest doing it annually, and leaving it up a bit longer so more people have a chance to vote. Not sure about doing a weighted vote though - I think top 10 or top 5 is sufficient.

Nice to see Hordesmachine up at the top. PP certainly deserves it. I think it was smart to make Hordes and Warmachine the same game instead of two different ones (like 40k/WHFB).

-Tim

Perhaps 3 polls: Your Top 5 Minis Games/Rules (all genres); Your Top 5 SF/Fantasy Games/Rules; Your Top 5 Historical Games/Rules.

I think it would be nice if with the next chat people would expalin their choices a bit more, and if the question was a bit less general perhaps. The top 3 hardly tells us anything we didn’t know already ;-)

I would just like to point out that although I voted for 40K as my number one, it wasn`t the dreary game of today, it was the Daddy “Rogue Trader”.

The current versions wouldn`t even rate in my top twenty!

Nice idea Zac, now how about a most popular line of miniatures (plastic and/or metal) poll?

Cheers

SW

I love that both Mordheim and Necormunda are in there. GW can make a good game. Too bad that, as pointed out already, they didn’t generate large mini sales and as a result were dropped. They were awesome games and for the investment you got a box full of good stuff.

Wow, no love for WarLord?

Perhaps there is less overlap with the traditional mini gaming market?

I know when I was at GenCon that the people there for Heroscape were only there for Heroscape and didn’t seem all that interested in much of the rest of the show.

How many people actually participated?

The GW games are there because GW produces quality minis and can produce some good games - everyone gets worked up when they stop supporting or fiddle with the games. People, in my experience, feel they tend to play around with rules that work, or radically change the game (40k 2nd to 3rd for example)

Zac, it’s a shame they couldn’t have stuck with 28mm scale for Inquisitor when it first released. That was the closest I think GW can ever get to the fun and detail of Rogue Trader. IMO it was a big mistake to make that a 54mm game.

In 28mm it would’ve been just another skirmish game. It’s the large figures that set Inquisitor apart, not the rules which are basically rpg combat rules.

But enough about that. Let’s throw another heretical claim on the table: WH40K Rogue Trader is a pretty average game too. At least when it comes to rules design. Yes, there’s detail, but that isn’t what makes a set of rules great. You need innovative & elegant design for that. RT was never more than an a plain average, and therefore instantly recognizable, game. There’s nothing in it you didn’t find in plenty of other 80s games. What drew people in was the fluff, artwork & miniatures, as well as the DIY attitude it seemed to encourage. Not the ho-hum rules which may have reassured the unadventurous, but didn’t offer anything new or interesting.

I doubt you’ll find anyone who will claim that there was anything revolutionary about the Rogue Trader rules but it is very pivotal system in that it did make an attempt to provide a rich and dark background the game to be played against.

Sure, but the background has only become richer & darker since then, yet people seem oddly nostalgic for the actual game. Which is something I don’t get. I mean, I’d happily play Superfigs or Void or any of the better gamles of the past decade in the WH40K universe with GW miniatures, but RT or any edition of the WH40K rules? No way! Let’s get beyond nostalgia when listing the top 10 games.

I mean, I’d happily play Superfigs or Void or any of the better gamles of the past decade in the WH40K universe with GW miniatures, but RT or any edition of the WH40K rules?

People like what they like. No real way to argue against preference.

Of course your causing controversy (you always do, its just how you are :P)

Rogue Trader is a fuzzy term because when i think of that system to me its all 40k pre 2nd edition, something like a minimum of 7 or 8 books I believe (RT rulebook, the Compedium, Book of the Astronomicon, Vehicle book, the Chaos Duo of the Lost and the Damned and Slaves to Darkness, ‘Ere We Go and Freebooterz - I think). That is a ton of material, with a tone that is sorely lacking from the current GW line. Even just comparing the two rulebooks I own, in physical form, you can see a huge shift in feel to the game, from the Game Mastered form of the original rulebook to a more Army based version in the Compedium that provides the first Army lists.

Rules wise the early stuff definately shows how it drew a ton from the Roleplaying games of the era for the complexity. However I think too many people assume simple rules are elegent rules and vice versa. There are alot of rules in RT that are not elegant at all (the rules for Robot Maniples jumps to my mind since Bell of Lost Souls managed to create a superb modernday incarnation and trim page count, not counting counters by about half) however there are some rules I think are pretty elegant and fitting the fluff.

The ratio of vehicles and support weapons to Techmarines in a marine army was a nice limiter considering how powerful some of those pieces of equipment could be, you are forced to prioritze equipment just like a real world commander would. The prereqs in the Imperial Guard list fits a certain image that the fluff maintains too.

All said I think RTs real claim to fame, besides starting the juggernaut of 40k going, is planting ideas in other designers minds. While the execution of some ideas was sloppy the ideas themselves are pretty sweet.

Im looking to get the Vehicle Book this weekend - if its still there
that leaves me with just one more book to be able to play my Marines in RT and 3 books short for my Chaos Marines

I have three gaming stores I visit, one for RPGs, one for Minis, and one for Old and secondhand stuff