Wiley Games is a hidden gem for rules. It’s tough for small indie designers to find footing on a big battlefield. It’s a shame as the games from Wiley deserve much more attention than they get. Loads of fun and very approachable to new players. On the other end, deep enough for the more experienced gamer. A perfect blend IMO. So glad you put a spotlight on these great games. Like “Starfighters”, Wiley Games title “Battlesuit Alpha” is similar but different and it covers combat for Mech battles like Battletech. I find it to be a really solid game too.
I agree but here's the but. Wiley Games don't make it easy. US company, UK fan base with one advertised importer. Wiley has a minimum order size but the importer can wait years for a reorder to be profitable for him. So you are reduced to importing yourself, Starfighters is 16GBP for the printed rulebook plus another 28gbp for shipping, so triple the price (I've just taken it to checkout). I could download the pdf but then struggle to use it on my phone or need to have a laptop abvailable. Personally I like annotating hard copies with post it notes for personal rule changes or items to note. I hate scrolling through documents on electronic devices so this for me is the antithesis of having fun. I could print it out but more cost and effort and a lot of unbound paper. So I agree with the sentiment but if "small indie producers" make it hard for a willing player to access the stuff you can see why it stays as a small niche game. I can get Snarling Badger stuff via print on demand in the UK for "normal price plus normal shipping costs" but not Wiley Games. I don't know the quality of the print on demand stuff I haven't tried it but saw it as an option. Perhaps the issue is with the designer and what they want to keep control of. Ultimately I could take a punt on a ruleset, print it at home and see if it works for me at a cost and an effort to me or alternatively use the low effort route of using other rulesets with similar mechanics readily available via Amazon or Osprey. Guess what I do, I have several versions of Sfiligoi's games (Of Gods and mortals, Fear and Faith and Mutants and Death Ray guns) and they work for me, one hour skirmish by John Lambhead or 7TV from Crooked Dice. So sometimes the designers have to come to the party too if they want to break out from being indie suppliers.
We have tried for years to get a UK retailer/reseller, but they don’t order in quantities to make a difference or cost us on our end to have any profit. Take Caliver, our current reseller. He makes very small purchases from us. In fact, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t put in an order until he has a bunch in backoorders. He’s a small guy too so I don’t fault him. On the other end, big distributors won’t take our stuff because they want big orders (great) but we have to pay storage on them (bad). Printing over there has been a bust too because we have little control on quality. Wiley Games is my wife and me. That’s it. I write, design, illustrate, layout, she does all the order fulfillment, website, promotions, etc. supporting us little guys is the only way we get to be big guys. We’re not where we are because we want to make it hard getting our rules.
@@WileyGames UK doesn’t make it easy for a lot of things. They have great miniatures for wargames (ie historical) and the companies that produce them do not often use resellers in the US. That means that if you order from the UK the cost of shipping to the US can be double the cost of what you’re buying. Their answer to that is make a bulk order with your friends. Not always a great solution for those that don’t have many wargames friends and play solo like we see on this channel. At least UK folks can get PDFs from Wiley or Wargame Vault. On this side of the pond not so much for physical miniatures.
@@WileyGames Thanks for the response, I wanted to get hold of Arena of Blood and spoke to Dave from Caliver at Partizan. I am part of his backlog for yours and other stuff. It would appear that you need to get a lot bigger in the US before the rest of the world start pulling for your rulesets. Stay healthy.
@@billcedarheath387 If we group together as individuals in the UK, we mitigate the shipping as a percentage issue but run into import fee issues. Import duties for these products are zero/ near zero but we the tax man wants his 20% VAT (sales tax) which adds cost and then an import agent wants a minimum of 15gbp for collection. If it's books only then there is no VAT to collect but it is then dependant on the exporter filling in the right forms. And don't get me started of being unable to get GWs Blitz Bowl in the UK because of the English language licensing with the US. I've looked at this all ends up and it's hard to get a solution to work for all
Fistful of Lead got me to play with miniatures. Love using these rules with my Orc army (+200 28 mm figures). Going to set up 4 or 5 teams of 5 to capture 3 Unicorns. No I just have to clear my table in the back corner...
Oddly enough when I wrote Axles and Alloys a looonnggg time ago it was because I had Full Thrust but no spacecraft models and did want to play automotive combat. So ended up with A&A as a hack of FT.
Brilliant! I found Gaslands a bit too fiddly, but I love making Mad Max cars. Turning collisions into ram attacks makes things much easier. A Fistful of Chrome?
In a space combat game the 3rd dimension is less important than simulating momentum, in my opinion. In space the craft are pitching and rolling so we just need to know facing at the critical moment when weapons can come to bear. However, staying in the fight is kind of important to winning the fight. In an atmosphere I think a simple mechanic needs to be devised to account for which ship has the higher elevation and proximity to the ground. FYI, the spaceship minis from Hydra Miniatures are great pulp SF ships.
Игры
Wiley Games is a hidden gem for rules. It’s tough for small indie designers to find footing on a big battlefield. It’s a shame as the games from Wiley deserve much more attention than they get. Loads of fun and very approachable to new players. On the other end, deep enough for the more experienced gamer. A perfect blend IMO.
So glad you put a spotlight on these great games.
Like “Starfighters”, Wiley Games title “Battlesuit Alpha” is similar but different and it covers combat for Mech battles like Battletech. I find it to be a really solid game too.
I agree but here's the but. Wiley Games don't make it easy.
US company, UK fan base with one advertised importer. Wiley has a minimum order size but the importer can wait years for a reorder to be profitable for him. So you are reduced to importing yourself, Starfighters is 16GBP for the printed rulebook plus another 28gbp for shipping, so triple the price (I've just taken it to checkout). I could download the pdf but then struggle to use it on my phone or need to have a laptop abvailable. Personally I like annotating hard copies with post it notes for personal rule changes or items to note. I hate scrolling through documents on electronic devices so this for me is the antithesis of having fun. I could print it out but more cost and effort and a lot of unbound paper.
So I agree with the sentiment but if "small indie producers" make it hard for a willing player to access the stuff you can see why it stays as a small niche game. I can get Snarling Badger stuff via print on demand in the UK for "normal price plus normal shipping costs" but not Wiley Games. I don't know the quality of the print on demand stuff I haven't tried it but saw it as an option. Perhaps the issue is with the designer and what they want to keep control of.
Ultimately I could take a punt on a ruleset, print it at home and see if it works for me at a cost and an effort to me or alternatively use the low effort route of using other rulesets with similar mechanics readily available via Amazon or Osprey. Guess what I do, I have several versions of Sfiligoi's games (Of Gods and mortals, Fear and Faith and Mutants and Death Ray guns) and they work for me, one hour skirmish by John Lambhead or 7TV from Crooked Dice. So sometimes the designers have to come to the party too if they want to break out from being indie suppliers.
We have tried for years to get a UK retailer/reseller, but they don’t order in quantities to make a difference or cost us on our end to have any profit. Take Caliver, our current reseller. He makes very small purchases from us. In fact, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t put in an order until he has a bunch in backoorders. He’s a small guy too so I don’t fault him. On the other end, big distributors won’t take our stuff because they want big orders (great) but we have to pay storage on them (bad). Printing over there has been a bust too because we have little control on quality.
Wiley Games is my wife and me. That’s it.
I write, design, illustrate, layout, she does all the order fulfillment, website, promotions, etc.
supporting us little guys is the only way we get to be big guys. We’re not where we are because we want to make it hard getting our rules.
@@WileyGames UK doesn’t make it easy for a lot of things. They have great miniatures for wargames (ie historical) and the companies that produce them do not often use resellers in the US. That means that if you order from the UK the cost of shipping to the US can be double the cost of what you’re buying. Their answer to that is make a bulk order with your friends. Not always a great solution for those that don’t have many wargames friends and play solo like we see on this channel.
At least UK folks can get PDFs from Wiley or Wargame Vault. On this side of the pond not so much for physical miniatures.
@@WileyGames Thanks for the response, I wanted to get hold of Arena of Blood and spoke to Dave from Caliver at Partizan. I am part of his backlog for yours and other stuff. It would appear that you need to get a lot bigger in the US before the rest of the world start pulling for your rulesets. Stay healthy.
@@billcedarheath387 If we group together as individuals in the UK, we mitigate the shipping as a percentage issue but run into import fee issues. Import duties for these products are zero/ near zero but we the tax man wants his 20% VAT (sales tax) which adds cost and then an import agent wants a minimum of 15gbp for collection. If it's books only then there is no VAT to collect but it is then dependant on the exporter filling in the right forms. And don't get me started of being unable to get GWs Blitz Bowl in the UK because of the English language licensing with the US. I've looked at this all ends up and it's hard to get a solution to work for all
We have played several linked scenarios where the Starfighters game leads to a ground battle using Galactic Heroes.
Nice! Great to see these rules reviewed. Noticed a lot of chaps on the Lead Adventure Forum praising them.
Love it, especially that you use a set of rules as guidance and basis for doing something similar and adjacent
I was looking at this the other day. Thanks for going over it! I'll be buying this and the mech one I think after I get done moving.
Fistful of Lead got me to play with miniatures. Love using these rules with my Orc army (+200 28 mm figures).
Going to set up 4 or 5 teams of 5 to capture 3 Unicorns. No I just have to clear my table in the back corner...
Great video. Once again I am inspired
Oddly enough when I wrote Axles and Alloys a looonnggg time ago it was because I had Full Thrust but no spacecraft models and did want to play automotive combat. So ended up with A&A as a hack of FT.
You did that? I loved those rules. I tried the same thing and never got result worth sharing.
just wanted to say - love your channel! love to see so many small-circulation games get love
Thanks, man! Damn glad to have you.
Brilliant!
I found Gaslands a bit too fiddly, but I love making Mad Max cars. Turning collisions into ram attacks makes things much easier.
A Fistful of Chrome?
Remember Castles in the Sky? The big ship rules here are how you get airships playable
Already on the docket. But it needs fighters, which are also in the queue.
Our next title is Victorian SciFi. It will include everything from small scale skirmishes land, sea and air to fleet scale airship battles.
In a space combat game the 3rd dimension is less important than simulating momentum, in my opinion. In space the craft are pitching and rolling so we just need to know facing at the critical moment when weapons can come to bear. However, staying in the fight is kind of important to winning the fight. In an atmosphere I think a simple mechanic needs to be devised to account for which ship has the higher elevation and proximity to the ground. FYI, the spaceship minis from Hydra Miniatures are great pulp SF ships.
100% agree.
We have a WW1 playtest on the Facebook group that uses altitude.
That sounds nice! What about posting it on youtube?
cool