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| GROPOS http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=1834 |
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| Author: | Gandalf the Grey [ Mon May 16, 2005 3:56 pm ] |
| Post subject: | GROPOS |
Well, I never really got into Babylon 5 and had no interest in the games I saw involving fleets. I thought that some of the GROPOS minis looked cool, but thumbing through the Master Book didn't impress me, and neither did the cost of the minis. So what do I do when I see a whole bunch on sale 50% off at the local hobby store? Well. . . I BUY THEM! Agents of Gaming went out of business and I like to buy OOP games with zero chance of support. I figured that I would buy a few minis, paint them up, play a couple of games, and then put them into a box and move on. So I grabbed some Earth and Narn blisters and have to admit that even though the vehicles tend to be out of scale (the infantry is 10mm, but there is no way the vehicles are), I really think some of them are awesome. I think the Narn scout vehicles are really cool, and love the Centari Hexus tank. It looks and feels like a bad-@ss. I hate when minis are out of scale though, but whatever. So when I finally get the Master Book and see how the forces are made up, I just had to laugh. They really aren't practical army lists and are hard to explain. You essentially build companies made up of specific platoons, and while you pretty much get a full platoon in each blister, there aren't any extras that you end to need for HQ units for instance. Ex- The Earth Command and Recon Pack includes 1 Command vehicle. The Earth Baldur Infantry Set includes 4 Baldurs, and you use all four in Platoons most fo the time. Well, just about all of the Companies state that a Command Vehicle is teamed up with a Baldur! How do I get that extra Baldur?? That being said, the mechanics are very detailed and it reminds me of the early days of Epic. Agents of Gaming went out of their way creating a ruleset that was unique and a pain in the ass too. I don't think anyone will borrow much from the Maxim system, and I am beginning to see wht Agents of Gaming went out of business. I have another one of their games, called Rebellion. Everything fits into a nice sized box for me to store, but the minis suck and the game mechanics are weird too. Again, nice to have as it is different, but not a game I would ever invest much in, hense the reason I think why Agents of Gaming went out of business. Anyway, not knowing anything about Babylon 5, I bought about a company's worth of minis. The stands the infantry come with to be mounted on are lame. AoG tried to be nice to provide stands that were already flocked, but they aren't cut even and sometimes not even in the right angles. I would say that just under half of what I got didn't meet my requirements to work with. One of the irritating things I have found so far are the remote gun turrets. Included in the infantry packs are various machine guns and missles mounted on tri-pods. Well, in order to be moved they have to be dragged by an infantry stand and it limits their movement to 2 inches!!!!!! It could take 4-5 turns just to move it into position. Also, infantry (remember this is 10mm scale figures) can only fire their small arms 6 inches! Starting out at 32 inches apart, I feel like my guys are going to get wacked by the big guns as they try to move around the battlefield. Anyway, anyone actually play this? It's not Epic, I'll admit that, but for being on fire sale everywhere it's probably worth a few bucks to try out. . . |
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| Author: | Reaversbane [ Mon May 16, 2005 6:06 pm ] |
| Post subject: | GROPOS |
I got sucked in and bought some figures and rules at the bring and buy at Gen Con UK last year. I do like the figs (those Narn Scout vehicles are very cool!), but I aint touched them since I bought them. I still have in mind to paint them up and come up with simple E:A army lists for them so I can play...I would still be hard pressed to resist getting hold of some more if I saw them 
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| Author: | Gandalf the Grey [ Mon May 16, 2005 9:40 pm ] |
| Post subject: | GROPOS |
Did you play the game then? How was it? The system seems very detailed with recon teams, orbital barrages, and different degress of morale and so forth. I wasn't planning on building anything but a company sized army, so I was wondering how you felt the game play would be using small armies and only a few platoons. . . mostly infantry at that. |
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| Author: | primarch [ Tue May 17, 2005 12:55 am ] |
| Post subject: | GROPOS |
Hi! Any chance on some pictures of those minis Gandalf? Primarch |
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| Author: | MaksimSmelchak [ Tue May 17, 2005 2:34 am ] |
| Post subject: | GROPOS |
Hi Guys, I never got a chance to play this game although I was interested. AOG went of business pretty darn quickly. I saw them at two gaming conventions in the space of a year and *POOF* they were done for. Shalom, Maksim-Smelchak. |
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| Author: | Mojarn Piett [ Tue May 17, 2005 7:38 am ] |
| Post subject: | GROPOS |
I don't think anyone will borrow much from the Maxim system | |
| Author: | Reaversbane [ Tue May 17, 2005 8:59 am ] |
| Post subject: | GROPOS |
Gandalf, no, I never managed to play it, just buy the models... I had enough trouble convincing anyone where I live to have a go at B5 Wars, once Id done that no-one would touch AOG 'cause they thought it was too complicated...I only got hold of about 2 infantry blisters and 6 vehicle blisters, in a mix of Narn and Human. If I ever convince anyone to try it I'll let you know... Some of the army structure did appeal to some of the historical gamers I knew, as apparently its reasonably realistic. Cant confrim that myself, but the structure is certainly similar to that used for Flames Of War, for instance. As for pictures... http://www.agentsofgaming.com/ogp.htm Thats AOG's shop section for GROPOS. Not great pics, but you get the idea. Most of the MBT's are roughly the size of epic SHT's (maybe a little bigger), for comparison, although the 2 Valyrie Gunships I have (ha! ) are about 2.5" long!Its possible some of those figures are still available at the prices listed there too, as one of the AOG guy's got hold of a massive load of stock and is selling it off. But he was doing it through www.b5wars.net , which has been down for quite a while now, so Im not sure if thats still happening... |
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| Author: | Gandalf the Grey [ Tue May 17, 2005 1:49 pm ] |
| Post subject: | GROPOS |
Well, when it comes to army lists, realism doesn't necessarily translate into easy to play army lists. GROPOS army lists might look good on paper, but I think army lists like those for Epic A are the easiest to set up and play with, not to mention buy! Primarch, the pics on the AoG site really don't do the minis justice. Being 10mm too, you can do more with the figures than you can, lets say Epic. I don't think it is my favorite scale, and the shot weapon ranges of small arms baffle me considering the size of the figs. But I do think they are worth the limited investment. I absolutely love the concept of the command vehicle and the recon and scout vehicles. Actually, I made sure those were the first things I picked up. I think it's pretty cool to be able to have one vehicle teamed up with one infantry stand who don't have to keep within a certain distance of each other. |
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| Author: | primarch [ Tue May 17, 2005 2:34 pm ] |
| Post subject: | GROPOS |
Hi! Thanks for the link Reaversbane. Primarch |
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| Author: | Reaversbane [ Tue May 17, 2005 4:29 pm ] |
| Post subject: | GROPOS |
>realism doesn't necessarily translate into easy to play army lists I completely agree. But round here I use any leverage I have to get people to actually play games  Its possibly Googlable, but I suspect the limited success of Gropos may mean there aint many sites with good pics out there. It is a shame, I do like the figs... |
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