Im a victim of being gateway’d - shadespire was a great game and now i’ve bought the books and battletomes to get invested in the lore - and finally buying the Age Of Sigmar starter box next payday before going on to starting my first army, Tzeentch Gateway games work - I am living proof 🙂
I agere, dont buy the the starter box, if you like Tzeentch and want to Paint and collect them. Because theres a lot models in the starter box, and not the ones that might interest you. Get the start collecting Tzeentch box 👍🏻
Yeah Shadespire got me into Age of Sigmar. Lots of War Hammer 40k, but wanted something easier to play with the kids. Tried out Shadespire at games workshop store and bought it. Now I have a Kharadron Overlords army.
My sister in law likes the Dark Souls board game simply because of it's co-op nature. She's not much of a tactician so being able to ask the party what to do makes it much more enjoyable for her.
I know there's been several different video game versions of Space Hulk since the 90s. Which could be a gateway to the board game... that is a gateway to the 40k miniature game.
The Walking Dead has a fold-out mat. Each expansion has a new one, too! Also worth mentioning that they can be played as a skirmish game or you could play the co-op/solo story missions in each expansion.
I'm from the video game world and just started playing Dark Souls and painting the models . Enjoyed it so much I am now looking for a place to start watching war games so I can start to learn how to play.
Conan & currently on KS for late backers Batman both by Monolith Games are two big IPs that non boardgamers would know and might be pulled in. Like you I’m old enough to remember the good old black and white TMNT comic. I grew up in NYC and got to meet the creator when I was a kid at a local community center after school art program. He came in to discuss an aspect of art and showed up some of his sketches and panels for the comic. It was a really cool moment.
loved TMNT back in late 80's erly 90's read comics, and played the table top rpg.. The all red bandannas changing was the least shocking thing to me. You forgot to mention they drank beer with the pizza, lived in harlum, and that most of the cast Apri, Casy jones, baxter stockmen ext. were black originally. when the Cartoon came out suddenly they were all white. Bothered me a lot. sighs..was a great RPG.
I painted a full set of the ninja turtles for a friend. Made them look like the cards that represent each character. My favorite comic that I still read, is fred Perry's gold digger. He started writing it during gulf war in the 90s, and it's still going to this day. I'd be excited if there was a boardgame for that. He did hand draw an anime movie of it as well.
A close friend of mine introduced me to a 40k game with him once a few years ago and it was pretty cool. Later I heard about X-Wing and got super interested in it - casually I'd buy a model here and there. I really enjoyed it. Playing that after a while got me interested back into 40k because of the painting aspect and well Tau just had some really cool models. So now I'm putting together my first army (slowly painting) and I'm really enjoying time to myself and feeling proud of finishing something that looks great.
I think most things that we enjoy in our genre and scene is on more than one medium, which is like most things in life. Lotr, has books, has movies, has heaps of games. Someone can find anyone of these gateways and then be able to go looking for other deliveries of the same topic. I love that theres always going to be more to look forward to and more gateways for people to join our hobby.
I got into war gaming through you and Miniac. I've been a D&D painter and DM for a few months but for some reason I preferred to watch people paint warhammer/warming pieces. I saw the chaos warriors in a video of yours and thought they were really cool for a set of antagonism I had planned. While I painted those I dived deeper down the GW rabbit hole, getting into 40k. I now have an Imperial Fist tactical squad ready to be painted, have began reading the Horus Heresy, and saving up for the Dark Imperium boxset
I think Puppet Wars is great gateway game especialy for the hobby part of things. They come in sprues and you need to glue them and paint them while still being a board game.
DOOM! the board game, just found it on Amazon while I was watching this. REALLY nice looking miniatures, so it looks like I will have something new to paint soon.
Heck yes. Very similar mechanics to Imperial Assault but it has this really fast paced feel and is very much like the video game from 2016. Glory kill system in the boardgame is fantastic!
I suppose you could look at Games Workshops Age of Sigmar Thunder and Blood set as an example of a double gateway, it can be a self contained game with everything you need to start playing but it also provides two armies with which you could add a couple of models and hey presto you have a full army and can play AOS with anyone, great video as always!
There is a new kickstarter for a game that I think fall into this category: www.kickstarter.com/projects/1821440755/street-fighter-the-miniatures-game It's Street Figher and it is a mix of board game, miniature game and card game, seams interesting for me. But I'm a fan of SF. Oh and TMNT Shadows of the past is based on current comic series published by IDW just FYI. Kickstarter version cames with turtles style based based on old Mirage comics also.
Sedition Wars is a great next step double gate way game. You get to build your force as well as focus on objectives. It doesn't have a license to make a great hook, so someone will really have to be in to the idea of the mechanics, or looking for that next step.
I’ve had fun with the DOOM tabletop game; the models are different colours so it has that factor and definitely a lot of “stuff”. I want to try tabletop Fallout in the future.
Monolith’s Conan & Batman fall into the double gateway category. Monolith have also acquired the Mythic Battles Game from Mythic Games. As a result there will be a reprint of the excellent Mythic Battles Pantheon on Kickstarter starting on the 7th June. Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower definitely pulled me into the world of Age of Sigmar.
Really enjoying these! I first go into board gaming then became interested in wanting to paint my miniatures then through watching youtube videos on how to paint became interested in war gaming. I also have Dark Souls and now Batman City Chronicles which is a gateway game foe sure. I am very interested in Age of Sigmar but may start with something a little smaller like Warcry.
I'd argue the case for Monolith's Conan the Barbarian board game. It cater's both to comics- and book-fans, and not only serves doubly as a gateway from Conan and Boardgame, but doubly to miniatures games and RPG:s. Plus, the art is by Adrian Smith; makes it easy to say "Oh, you like the look of it? The artist's also done a lot for this thing called Warhammer". Additionally, I believe the same guys are working on a Batman board game, building on the mechanics of Conan, but adapted from a heroes-vs-overlord to a skirmish format.
Love Dark Souls, loved the idea of the board game and backed it on Kickstarter on day one and I expected it to be just a okay experience with some fun looking minis and I think it was the reason I quickly got back into 40K after a near decade hiatus, about a few months after playing the board game. It seems like the perfect storm of a intro game really as it is board gamey, but it requires the coordination, planning, and strategy most war games require but without the tape measure and gets you used to working with your characters very limited tool set and the idea of dice roll odds and such. Also like war gaming they tell you in the rule book to home brew the crap out of it, if you want and encourage you to do everything from pre-set campaigns and "____ Only Runs", to making a whole different game with the minis.
I recently backed the Hellboy and Resident Evil 2 board games on Kickstarter-of course I haven’t played either of them yet, but they both look like great double gateway games!
I would recommend Games Workshop's starter-boxes for Age of Sigmar and 40K such as "First Strike" and "Know no Fear" (40K) or "Storm of Sigmar" and "Thunder and Blood" (Age of Sigmar). There you get dice, a ruler, all the rules you need, a few colored miniatures and in some cases a some simple terrain.
Wow... I still remember buying my first TMNT comic. I was 13 or 14 and a fan of the cartoon. I found issues 1 & 2 (reprints) at the local comic shop and bought them. I think it was one of my first early "holy $h1t" moments realizing how dark and gritty the source material was
Star Wars Legion: It's a 'light' wargame, you need to build the minis, but they are built very easily. You buy a 2-player box set and it comes with the special dice, measuring tool things, minis, and a little terrain. I've heard it's a fun time, especially for board gamers and Star Wars fans!
The TMNT role playing game was a gateway RPG for some in the 80s, and it was kinda for me, in the sense it was the first RPG I played with a modern setting.
The Warhammer Underworld, as it was already mentioned below, is a great way to move from board games to war games. The same happened to us (my kids and me) now we all play WH40K as we wanted to move to from fantasy setup to sci-fi
Dust 1947 (what was dust tactics) got me back into these types of games zombicide BP and massive darkness. Since then I have dabbled into warmahordes so I guess you could say it worked...
I think double-gateway games are fantastic because like in the case of the Walking Dead game, you're getting miniatures but no board. That's significant because the very next question after buying it would be, "so what do we use for scenery?" and also, "so can these be painted?...that of course can lead into terrain building and/or buying 3D printed terrain. Which then of course exposes you to wargaming terrain in general and ultimately things like Games Workshop's wargames and other companies. As Atom says when a game has miniatures but no board, yes they can be viewed as mere "playing pieces" and not wargaming figures. But to have no official board to play on puts the game into like a grey in-between category. Plus the game teases you with a kind of "scenery", the cardboard cutout junked cars and piles of wreckage and other things. But I think for a lot of people they would want to take that flat scenery and give the game at least some 3-dimensional quality to the battlefield. And of course the game would lead you to the TV show, or more likely knowing and watching the TV show would lead you to the game.
Have you had a chance to try the Conan board(gateway?) game by Monolith? There seems to be a lot of common warriors that are all alike in the box but it also looks like there's a handful of nice unique sculpts and a cool-looking giant snake that's really making me really whether I would have time to play this game.
Not necessarily a double gateway game but if someone is into fantasy i would highly recommend Battlelore 2nd edition as a gateway game. It has some army building aspects along with special abilities for each unit. Its played on hexes using the commands and colors battle system.
Infinity has some nice looking boards with 3d cardboard buildings that come with their skirmish game. Definitely the closest to war gaming without being a full blown war game. All you have to do is paint your miniatures but you can definitely make your own maps since the rules are that flexible, unlike some skirmish games that require specific types of boards. Infinity definitely appeals to Japanese style sci-fi, which is a popular topic I think.
I'm a lifetime video gamer who only got into board games--and minipainting--thanks to the CMON adaptation of Bloodborne (another game by the studio behind Dark Souls). I still play only "gateway" games, and I adore fiddliness, but sometimes I find myself researching 40K lore in case I ever decide to veer sharply into full-on wargaming.
I’ve had The rule books for Song of Blades and Heroes and Frostgrave on my shelf for almost a year now. I just can’t get motivated to paint. FYI that Turtles game is based on the newer comic series by IDW. It’s really really good
I had actually fallen out of the hobby, 10+ years, and it was gateway "boardgames" that got me back in the hobby. The Others & Zombicide Black Plague were a big push to get me painting again. And to give credit were credit is due RUclips channels like this one.
Also, not double gateway, but Blood Bowl is and always will be a classic, low cost on the miniature front, easy to learn, tough to master, plenty of variety. A great way into the hobby I’d say
Kingdom Death Monster is a great gateway game for wargamers. It has so good gameplay and miniatures that I already lost my passion for WH40k and AoS. I mean, I still like lore and miniatures of WH but mechanic is mainly roll fest and lots of conventionality provoking arguments on tournaments. Now I'm looking for Shadespire, Rising Sun, Blood Rage and other board games with great minis and mechanics.
The dark souls game actually got me into wargaming. My brother who was a huge dark souls fan saw the demo at a game store so we tried it out. He read the rules for 2 hours and we never got to play but while he was reading it I looked around the store and found 40k models and got some because they looked cool and now I play a bunch of different War games.
Whats your thought Adam on painting the miniatures for OOP Gateway games? I have Battlemaster with Zero Paint on them and there is part of me that says "That would be cool to paint" part of me says "Oh No If I paint that the value goes down" and yet another part says "If I paint my set it would be different from the set my friend had as a child that got me into war gaming" My Friend and I used to spend hours on end rolling dice with Skulls Shields and Blanks on them as his Imperial Mighty cannon fired shots at my Orgre champion and hopefully blew itself up in the process. since this was the gateway for me I plan to use it as the gateway for my future children too. (Also I will never forget the random game of battle master one night on my college residence TV lounge where when rolling attacks for chaos warriors I shouted "KHORNE, Give me Strength", and all the non players in the room gave me some pretty odd looks.)
I wouldn’t call Star Wars: Legion a gateway game, as it’s pretty much a proper wargame. I could see calling Star Wars: X-Wing a double gateway, though. Thanks for watching!
I think Star Wars Imperial Assault fits the mold for a double gateway game. It appeals to the SW fan who picks it up wanting a board game where they can play a hero, but wait! there's more! There's rules for a campaign AND You can play a skirmish wargame if you want! And if you like that, guess what? There's this cool new game call Star Wars Legion that takes that skirmish right up to all out miniature war gaming!
IA did it for me. Had never played a game with miniatures like that before, had never painted before, I had never even played a game at the game store before. Not anything, not once. Now 2 years later I won 2 of the categories at our local Legion painting contest and am having a blast playing a proper wargame for the first time.
Shadows Of Brimstone would Be at least a gateway, but potentially a double as it can pull multiple groups in. It feels very much like a board game, but you have to build the Minis and you are having to measure out all attacks and movement and such.
I saw the other day that there's a kickstarter for a Street Fighter board game with miniatures. I'm not sure how wargame like it will be but it does have range so spacing will probably be a big deal if it's anything like the video game. It will be interesting to see.
This a complex issue and one with which every gaming company seems to struggle. As the Dude would say, "This is a very complicated case ... You know, a lotta ins, a lotta outs, lotta what-have-yous." A good gateway game should be well designed (concise/easy to explain rule set), smallish in size (ie maybe 10-15 minis at the most), generally interesting to a non-tabletop gamer (well established IP helps) and maybe most importantly, it has to have a large community of players.
Mmm...if its well built, concise and easy to pick up, I dont see a need for ANY community of players. Being able to break it out with friends and family would be all it needs.
Dungeons and Dragons board games are worth a mention simply for the miniatures. You get around 40 to 42 minis as cheap as $40.00 to $50.00, the minis are unpainted colored plastic, and can be used for the board game, the table top rpg, or for a skirmish game. I'm a triple dipper. The board games are a bit more expensive now, but you can buy about two dnd board games for the price of that sexy dark souls board game.
Some good crossover board games are the Civilization and XCOM board games that are based on the Firaxis video games. Civilization is pretty complicated, but super high quality and fun once you know the mechanics. XCOM is fast-paced and exciting and the integration with the mobile app is pretty great. The Civ board game doesn't really have "miniatures", though. And the XCOM board game has miniatures, but they aren't used tactically like in wargaming. Still, they might help to pull fans of the video games onto the tabletop!
I played both of those extensively. Funny about Dragonstrike- Remember the VHS story that came with the game? About 5 years after the game came out, I actually saw that story on TV. Some local station had edited out the bits about the board game and just aired the story itself like a half hour adventure movie.
That video became a running inside joke among my friends that I played D&D with. I don't know if it was our tape or if the guy had a lisp, but every time he said "Taraptus", it sounded like "Therapthupht". Hours of fun.
I am absolutely guilty of getting pulled into the minis hobby because of DS tbg. Researching how to paint these minis lead me to this channel. Also, Conan tbg is also a game with beautiful minis.
The original Space Hulk, the basic version of Space Crusade and Blood Bowl. Even my parents were happy to play them instead of monopoly on a game evening. I know GW are like the antichrist to hobbyists in many ways, but those games are/were perfect from the get-go as a way to open up a more complex hobby universe, whilst still keeping them easy enough to play with relatives on a wet Sunday afternoon.
Shadows over Normandie was a little bit more on the wargaming side of it all. But I tried to get some friends into it with that game. Was an interesting system but it's like 75% wargaming just with cardboard stuff. Zombiecide is great though in all iterations.
Wizards of the Coast does a few of these, Dragonfire and Betrayal at Baldur's Gate. Tough I suspect they are trying to get board gamers and miniature gamers who are not into D&D, into D&D. Evil Hat has a new RPG that is called Uprising and taps into those who like games like Resistance and Coup. Again, an RPG not table top wargaming but the principle is similar I think.
Zombicide was my gateway into wargaming...it was so boring but the minis looked cool so I ended up researching on the topic and found Kill Team. (I'd known of 40K for years but I thought it was big scale only)
great to see reference to the original Eastman and Laird black and white Turtles (Happy Days) - just don't jump the Shark.So got the Conan Board game from KS a few years back (the first Monolith Licence game) mostly for the fabulous minis - it pulls in a multitude of media streams firmly onto the table (Books, comics, films, video games) - would be fabulous to see a Kings of War in Hyperboria.I got into tabletop minatures and gaming (W40K) through Black Libraries Gaunts Ghosts written by a comic writer I was a fan of.Gateways can of course open both ways ;) and its great exposure for the original material to reach a brand new audience. I got into REH Conan through comics. So would that make it a Double Revolving Open portal Gateway Game* ......?* - delete where applicable
Being a fan of both video games and Star Wars, FFG has successfully roped me into this hobby with X-wing and the like, but the video game-themed stuff leaves a lot to be desired. I love the Dark Souls series and the board game models are indeed really nice, but the game just isn’t super fun without some added house rules. A lot of others seem to review poorly and feel like cash grabs for the video game fans who just want to collect something. I also just saw that Street Fighter is getting a miniatures game too, which just seems like an odd choice of IP to adapt to tabletop.
There’s a new street fighter game on kick starter that would be a strong candidate for a double gateway game. Also the Pacific Rim kick starter just finished which I’m not sure is a gateway game but is an IP that could get people into hobbying. It’s interesting that there was no mention of X-Wing. Now I know that’s not really a gateway game since it’s not a board game. It is though a good entrance to hobbying since the ships are pre painted and like the walking dead all out War it’s a big, attractive IP. Would be interested to know your thoughts UA on whether games like X-Wing are stealth gateway games to get people into hobbying? Are they wargames in disguise? Do they help get people into table top and hobbying? Interesting topic for discussion perhaps? Thanks for another good video and always making me think about what you discuss :)
Killteam might be a sort of double gateway game - you have miniatures to assemble (but can be unpainted) for a tactics game, but can also lead to the wargaming hobby. Also quick question,. where can I buy the kind of shirt you got?
Would be interested to hear thoughts on full-blown wargames that drawn on fandoms (e.g. Star Wars Legion, Marvel/DC universe miniatures games, Battle of Westeros, etc). Are they also gateway games? Or something else?
I’m not sure what to call them, but they’re more full-blown wargames rather than gateway games, so I wouldn’t consider them double gateway games. Thanks for watching!
They don't make them anymore but there was a game out called heroscape that had in a lockable terrain individual pre painted models and data cards for every model or unit you literally could open the box and start playing it right awayit did introduce mechanics like line of sight and on the datacards it had a picture and they. From where you took the line of sight from for each model it also introducedthe role-playing aspects where you could introduce your own missions. Unfortunately they were bought out by Hasbro and they shortly afterwards stopped making it...
Have you painted the Dark Souls miniatures yet, or are you going to? I'd like to see your approach on them, as they are rather dark in atmosphere. Would be nice to see how you interpret them, I think you got at least a little idea of the overall style watching other videos.
I personally don't see myself getting it currently. The scale is weird to me, and the models are well done, but not something I'm interested in painting, I don't think. We'll see how it sells. Thanks for watching!
Im a victim of being gateway’d - shadespire was a great game and now i’ve bought the books and battletomes to get invested in the lore - and finally buying the Age Of Sigmar starter box next payday before going on to starting my first army, Tzeentch
Gateway games work - I am living proof 🙂
Glad to hear it. Welcome, and thanks for watching!
Don't buy the starter box unless you want the armies, there's nothing essential in there other than the models.
I agere, dont buy the the starter box, if you like Tzeentch and want to Paint and collect them. Because theres a lot models in the starter box, and not the ones that might interest you. Get the start collecting Tzeentch box 👍🏻
Thanks for the concern guys but it's cool, storm casts are my Order choice 😀
Yeah Shadespire got me into Age of Sigmar. Lots of War Hammer 40k, but wanted something easier to play with the kids. Tried out Shadespire at games workshop store and bought it. Now I have a Kharadron Overlords army.
My sister in law likes the Dark Souls board game simply because of it's co-op nature. She's not much of a tactician so being able to ask the party what to do makes it much more enjoyable for her.
I know there's been several different video game versions of Space Hulk since the 90s. Which could be a gateway to the board game... that is a gateway to the 40k miniature game.
I think the first one was in 1993 for the PC.
That original one was so difficult. I remember dying a lot and giving up on it as a youngster.
Gameception
Space Hulk has much better mechanics than 40k so how can it be a gateway game for Warhammer? It's a step back.
Space Hulk was a fun video game, though very challenging to win. And an awesome board game.
The Walking Dead has a fold-out mat. Each expansion has a new one, too!
Also worth mentioning that they can be played as a skirmish game or you could play the co-op/solo story missions in each expansion.
I'm from the video game world and just started playing Dark Souls and painting the models . Enjoyed it so much I am now looking for a place to start watching war games so I can start to learn how to play.
Zinky picking try miniwargaming, strikingscorpion, or winters seo.
There is also a bloodborne game in the works now as well.
I started with Battlemasters in the 90's... got me into miniatures and wanting to build armies
Conan & currently on KS for late backers Batman both by Monolith Games are two big IPs that non boardgamers would know and might be pulled in. Like you I’m old enough to remember the good old black and white TMNT comic. I grew up in NYC and got to meet the creator when I was a kid at a local community center after school art program. He came in to discuss an aspect of art and showed up some of his sketches and panels for the comic. It was a really cool moment.
michael martell "lucky to meet eastmon or laird"
I collected their black and white comics back then. Just love em, still have them btw ;)
Gloomhaven got me into miniature painting. Bought a box of Stormcast eternals and painted my first retributor yesterday. Thanks for all the tips!
It is a great thing when a video gamer dips into wargames.
loved TMNT back in late 80's erly 90's read comics, and played the table top rpg.. The all red bandannas changing was the least shocking thing to me. You forgot to mention they drank beer with the pizza, lived in harlum, and that most of the cast Apri, Casy jones, baxter stockmen ext. were black originally. when the Cartoon came out suddenly they were all white. Bothered me a lot. sighs..was a great RPG.
I Love Walking Dead: All Out War!!! It got me into wargaming and is a great gateway game, especially for fans of the comic :)
I painted a full set of the ninja turtles for a friend. Made them look like the cards that represent each character. My favorite comic that I still read, is fred Perry's gold digger. He started writing it during gulf war in the 90s, and it's still going to this day. I'd be excited if there was a boardgame for that. He did hand draw an anime movie of it as well.
A close friend of mine introduced me to a 40k game with him once a few years ago and it was pretty cool. Later I heard about X-Wing and got super interested in it - casually I'd buy a model here and there. I really enjoyed it. Playing that after a while got me interested back into 40k because of the painting aspect and well Tau just had some really cool models. So now I'm putting together my first army (slowly painting) and I'm really enjoying time to myself and feeling proud of finishing something that looks great.
I think most things that we enjoy in our genre and scene is on more than one medium, which is like most things in life. Lotr, has books, has movies, has heaps of games. Someone can find anyone of these gateways and then be able to go looking for other deliveries of the same topic. I love that theres always going to be more to look forward to and more gateways for people to join our hobby.
Heroes in a half shell - Turtle Power! Right in the childhood, Uncle Atom. 🐢
Hi Adam. In the walking dead you get a fold out mat to play on and 2d terrain pieces. Everything you need is in the box. Cheers.
I got into war gaming through you and Miniac. I've been a D&D painter and DM for a few months but for some reason I preferred to watch people paint warhammer/warming pieces. I saw the chaos warriors in a video of yours and thought they were really cool for a set of antagonism I had planned. While I painted those I dived deeper down the GW rabbit hole, getting into 40k. I now have an Imperial Fist tactical squad ready to be painted, have began reading the Horus Heresy, and saving up for the Dark Imperium boxset
I think Puppet Wars is great gateway game especialy for the hobby part of things. They come in sprues and you need to glue them and paint them while still being a board game.
I'd really love for more video games to be adapted into board games. Like the x-com board game or the dark souls one you mentioned in the video
DOOM! the board game, just found it on Amazon while I was watching this. REALLY nice looking miniatures, so it looks like I will have something new to paint soon.
Joseph Bejnarowicz Im currently painting my doom set...beware...shits REALLY detailed!
Heck yes. Very similar mechanics to Imperial Assault but it has this really fast paced feel and is very much like the video game from 2016. Glory kill system in the boardgame is fantastic!
The old version or the new one?
leland dimmer the new one based on the 2016 video game made by FFG
I suppose you could look at Games Workshops Age of Sigmar Thunder and Blood set as an example of a double gateway, it can be a self contained game with everything you need to start playing but it also provides two armies with which you could add a couple of models and hey presto you have a full army and can play AOS with anyone, great video as always!
Great stuff Atom! Really dig the Grognard t-shirt by the way.
There is a new kickstarter for a game that I think fall into this category: www.kickstarter.com/projects/1821440755/street-fighter-the-miniatures-game
It's Street Figher and it is a mix of board game, miniature game and card game, seams interesting for me. But I'm a fan of SF.
Oh and TMNT Shadows of the past is based on current comic series published by IDW just FYI. Kickstarter version cames with turtles style based based on old Mirage comics also.
Yea but at $300 I pass which is a shame as I'd been waiting for it for a while now
You can allways took 140$ pledge. Not super duper full but at leasts 9 characters and all game modes included.
Sedition Wars is a great next step double gate way game. You get to build your force as well as focus on objectives. It doesn't have a license to make a great hook, so someone will really have to be in to the idea of the mechanics, or looking for that next step.
Twilight Creations Inc's "Zombies!!!" line may fight the bill.
My girlfriend loves X-Wing and Space Hulk but has no interest in a full 40k game. I'm hoping to get her to try Kill Team.
I’ve had fun with the DOOM tabletop game; the models are different colours so it has that factor and definitely a lot of “stuff”. I want to try tabletop Fallout in the future.
Oh my dear god... I didn't even realize that there was a Dark Souls boardgame...
Thank you sir!
The Walking Dead No Sanctuary is more geared towards the TV series, All out War is geared towards the comic book. Both use a play sheet.
Just bought Dark Souls few week ago and that is the reason I'm following you x)
Now let's paint those minions :)
Atom Smasher continues his quest to convert the entire to planet into war gamers
Monolith’s Conan & Batman fall into the double gateway category. Monolith have also acquired the Mythic Battles Game from Mythic Games. As a result there will be a reprint of the excellent Mythic Battles Pantheon on Kickstarter starting on the 7th June. Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower definitely pulled me into the world of Age of Sigmar.
Really enjoying these! I first go into board gaming then became interested in wanting to paint my miniatures then through watching youtube videos on how to paint became interested in war gaming. I also have Dark Souls and now Batman City Chronicles which is a gateway game foe sure. I am very interested in Age of Sigmar but may start with something a little smaller like Warcry.
the parts you talk about during the TMNT game my gaming group calls "fiddly bits"
All Out War is fantastic! It, Frostgrave, Gaslands, and 40k novels got me into wargaming
What do people think of Memoir 44 by Days of Wonder. Based around WW2 landings. Great gateway.
I'd argue the case for Monolith's Conan the Barbarian board game. It cater's both to comics- and book-fans, and not only serves doubly as a gateway from Conan and Boardgame, but doubly to miniatures games and RPG:s. Plus, the art is by Adrian Smith; makes it easy to say "Oh, you like the look of it? The artist's also done a lot for this thing called Warhammer".
Additionally, I believe the same guys are working on a Batman board game, building on the mechanics of Conan, but adapted from a heroes-vs-overlord to a skirmish format.
nice shirt! I have to stop there one of these days.
Love Dark Souls, loved the idea of the board game and backed it on Kickstarter on day one and I expected it to be just a okay experience with some fun looking minis and I think it was the reason I quickly got back into 40K after a near decade hiatus, about a few months after playing the board game. It seems like the perfect storm of a intro game really as it is board gamey, but it requires the coordination, planning, and strategy most war games require but without the tape measure and gets you used to working with your characters very limited tool set and the idea of dice roll odds and such. Also like war gaming they tell you in the rule book to home brew the crap out of it, if you want and encourage you to do everything from pre-set campaigns and "____ Only Runs", to making a whole different game with the minis.
I recently backed the Hellboy and Resident Evil 2 board games on Kickstarter-of course I haven’t played either of them yet, but they both look like great double gateway games!
I started with Heroquest and Space Crusade which in turn got me into miniature gaming and still love to play them (when I get the chance)
***Conan the Barbarian by Monolith Games***
I would recommend Games Workshop's starter-boxes for Age of Sigmar and 40K such as "First Strike" and "Know no Fear" (40K) or "Storm of Sigmar" and "Thunder and Blood" (Age of Sigmar). There you get dice, a ruler, all the rules you need, a few colored miniatures and in some cases a some simple terrain.
Mini Gangs by Ramshackle Games has Gateway, Casual & Hardcore modes. Low model count, easy to pick up, I highly recommend it.
Wow... I still remember buying my first TMNT comic. I was 13 or 14 and a fan of the cartoon. I found issues 1 & 2 (reprints) at the local comic shop and bought them.
I think it was one of my first early "holy $h1t" moments realizing how dark and gritty the source material was
Yeah, I was a fan of the original comics before the cartoons came out, and when they did, I was disappointed. Thanks for watching!
Star Wars Legion:
It's a 'light' wargame, you need to build the minis, but they are built very easily.
You buy a 2-player box set and it comes with the special dice, measuring tool things, minis, and a little terrain.
I've heard it's a fun time, especially for board gamers and Star Wars fans!
The TMNT role playing game was a gateway RPG for some in the 80s, and it was kinda for me, in the sense it was the first RPG I played with a modern setting.
Came for the pachow
BrandonP You'll never leave disappointed.
The Warhammer Underworld, as it was already mentioned below, is a great way to move from board games to war games. The same happened to us (my kids and me) now we all play WH40K as we wanted to move to from fantasy setup to sci-fi
Dust 1947 (what was dust tactics) got me back into these types of games zombicide BP and massive darkness. Since then I have dabbled into warmahordes so I guess you could say it worked...
I think double-gateway games are fantastic because like in the case of the Walking Dead game, you're getting miniatures but no board. That's significant because the very next question after buying it would be, "so what do we use for scenery?" and also, "so can these be painted?...that of course can lead into terrain building and/or buying 3D printed terrain. Which then of course exposes you to wargaming terrain in general and ultimately things like Games Workshop's wargames and other companies.
As Atom says when a game has miniatures but no board, yes they can be viewed as mere "playing pieces" and not wargaming figures. But to have no official board to play on puts the game into like a grey in-between category. Plus the game teases you with a kind of "scenery", the cardboard cutout junked cars and piles of wreckage and other things. But I think for a lot of people they would want to take that flat scenery and give the game at least some 3-dimensional quality to the battlefield.
And of course the game would lead you to the TV show, or more likely knowing and watching the TV show would lead you to the game.
I actually like the gateway games more than the wargames. Love painting them. Especially the TMNT
Have you had a chance to try the Conan board(gateway?) game by Monolith? There seems to be a lot of common warriors that are all alike in the box but it also looks like there's a handful of nice unique sculpts and a cool-looking giant snake that's really making me really whether I would have time to play this game.
Not necessarily a double gateway game but if someone is into fantasy i would highly recommend Battlelore 2nd edition as a gateway game. It has some army building aspects along with special abilities for each unit. Its played on hexes using the commands and colors battle system.
Infinity has some nice looking boards with 3d cardboard buildings that come with their skirmish game. Definitely the closest to war gaming without being a full blown war game. All you have to do is paint your miniatures but you can definitely make your own maps since the rules are that flexible, unlike some skirmish games that require specific types of boards. Infinity definitely appeals to Japanese style sci-fi, which is a popular topic I think.
I'm a lifetime video gamer who only got into board games--and minipainting--thanks to the CMON adaptation of Bloodborne (another game by the studio behind Dark Souls). I still play only "gateway" games, and I adore fiddliness, but sometimes I find myself researching 40K lore in case I ever decide to veer sharply into full-on wargaming.
I’ve had The rule books for Song of Blades and Heroes and Frostgrave on my shelf for almost a year now.
I just can’t get motivated to paint.
FYI that Turtles game is based on the newer comic series by IDW. It’s really really good
I had actually fallen out of the hobby, 10+ years, and it was gateway "boardgames" that got me back in the hobby. The Others & Zombicide Black Plague were a big push to get me painting again. And to give credit were credit is due RUclips channels like this one.
Also, not double gateway, but Blood Bowl is and always will be a classic, low cost on the miniature front, easy to learn, tough to master, plenty of variety. A great way into the hobby I’d say
Kingdom Death Monster is a great gateway game for wargamers. It has so good gameplay and miniatures that I already lost my passion for WH40k and AoS. I mean, I still like lore and miniatures of WH but mechanic is mainly roll fest and lots of conventionality provoking arguments on tournaments. Now I'm looking for Shadespire, Rising Sun, Blood Rage and other board games with great minis and mechanics.
The dark souls game actually got me into wargaming. My brother who was a huge dark souls fan saw the demo at a game store so we tried it out. He read the rules for 2 hours and we never got to play but while he was reading it I looked around the store and found 40k models and got some because they looked cool and now I play a bunch of different War games.
Whats your thought Adam on painting the miniatures for OOP Gateway games?
I have Battlemaster with Zero Paint on them and there is part of me that says "That would be cool to paint" part of me says "Oh No If I paint that the value goes down" and yet another part says "If I paint my set it would be different from the set my friend had as a child that got me into war gaming"
My Friend and I used to spend hours on end rolling dice with Skulls Shields and Blanks on them as his Imperial Mighty cannon fired shots at my Orgre champion and hopefully blew itself up in the process.
since this was the gateway for me I plan to use it as the gateway for my future children too.
(Also I will never forget the random game of battle master one night on my college residence TV lounge where when rolling attacks for chaos warriors I shouted "KHORNE, Give me Strength", and all the non players in the room gave me some pretty odd looks.)
Star Wars Legion, the ultimate double gateway game?
I wouldn’t call Star Wars: Legion a gateway game, as it’s pretty much a proper wargame. I could see calling Star Wars: X-Wing a double gateway, though. Thanks for watching!
I think Star Wars Imperial Assault fits the mold for a double gateway game. It appeals to the SW fan who picks it up wanting a board game where they can play a hero, but wait! there's more! There's rules for a campaign AND You can play a skirmish wargame if you want!
And if you like that, guess what? There's this cool new game call Star Wars Legion that takes that skirmish right up to all out miniature war gaming!
IA did it for me. Had never played a game with miniatures like that before, had never painted before, I had never even played a game at the game store before. Not anything, not once. Now 2 years later I won 2 of the categories at our local Legion painting contest and am having a blast playing a proper wargame for the first time.
Would you say the same about Armada?
Star Wars Legion is going to flop hard.
Shadows Of Brimstone would Be at least a gateway, but potentially a double as it can pull multiple groups in. It feels very much like a board game, but you have to build the Minis and you are having to measure out all attacks and movement and such.
I saw the other day that there's a kickstarter for a Street Fighter board game with miniatures. I'm not sure how wargame like it will be but it does have range so spacing will probably be a big deal if it's anything like the video game. It will be interesting to see.
What about Blood Bowl?...kinda a double gateway game..there is also Shadow Run...
This a complex issue and one with which every gaming company seems to struggle. As the Dude would say, "This is a very complicated case ... You know, a lotta ins, a lotta outs, lotta what-have-yous." A good gateway game should be well designed (concise/easy to explain rule set), smallish in size (ie maybe 10-15 minis at the most), generally interesting to a non-tabletop gamer (well established IP helps) and maybe most importantly, it has to have a large community of players.
Mmm...if its well built, concise and easy to pick up, I dont see a need for ANY community of players. Being able to break it out with friends and family would be all it needs.
Michael Linzenmeyer I should have phrased it better, you're right. Friends and family are a big part of the community I was thinking about.
Dungeons and Dragons board games are worth a mention simply for the miniatures. You get around 40 to 42 minis as cheap as $40.00 to $50.00, the minis are unpainted colored plastic, and can be used for the board game, the table top rpg, or for a skirmish game. I'm a triple dipper. The board games are a bit more expensive now, but you can buy about two dnd board games for the price of that sexy dark souls board game.
Some good crossover board games are the Civilization and XCOM board games that are based on the Firaxis video games. Civilization is pretty complicated, but super high quality and fun once you know the mechanics. XCOM is fast-paced and exciting and the integration with the mobile app is pretty great. The Civ board game doesn't really have "miniatures", though. And the XCOM board game has miniatures, but they aren't used tactically like in wargaming. Still, they might help to pull fans of the video games onto the tabletop!
Like Dragon Strike or Hero Quest.
Mr. Super Nintendo Chalmers oh man...my parents got me Hero Quest when it first came out
Good times.
I played both of those extensively. Funny about Dragonstrike- Remember the VHS story that came with the game? About 5 years after the game came out, I actually saw that story on TV. Some local station had edited out the bits about the board game and just aired the story itself like a half hour adventure movie.
Ock Su That guy was the Dungeon Master that I aspire to be. "Feeling brave? How brave?"
That video became a running inside joke among my friends that I played D&D with. I don't know if it was our tape or if the guy had a lisp, but every time he said "Taraptus", it sounded like "Therapthupht". Hours of fun.
I am absolutely guilty of getting pulled into the minis hobby because of DS tbg. Researching how to paint these minis lead me to this channel. Also, Conan tbg is also a game with beautiful minis.
Shadespire from GW is the one that will get a lot more people into playing AoS sense the models in the box can be used in both games
You where my gateway to the hobby :,)
"Triple dipple" would be a three way version of "double dipping", can anyone think of an example of this? Great vid as usual, Atom, thanks =]
Love the shirt Adam!
The original Space Hulk, the basic version of Space Crusade and Blood Bowl. Even my parents were happy to play them instead of monopoly on a game evening. I know GW are like the antichrist to hobbyists in many ways, but those games are/were perfect from the get-go as a way to open up a more complex hobby universe, whilst still keeping them easy enough to play with relatives on a wet Sunday afternoon.
Shadows over Normandie was a little bit more on the wargaming side of it all. But I tried to get some friends into it with that game. Was an interesting system but it's like 75% wargaming just with cardboard stuff. Zombiecide is great though in all iterations.
Wizards of the Coast does a few of these, Dragonfire and Betrayal at Baldur's Gate. Tough I suspect they are trying to get board gamers and miniature gamers who are not into D&D, into D&D. Evil Hat has a new RPG that is called Uprising and taps into those who like games like Resistance and Coup. Again, an RPG not table top wargaming but the principle is similar I think.
Zombicide was my gateway into wargaming...it was so boring but the minis looked cool so I ended up researching on the topic and found Kill Team. (I'd known of 40K for years but I thought it was big scale only)
great to see reference to the original Eastman and Laird black and white Turtles (Happy Days) - just don't jump the Shark.So got the Conan Board game from KS a few years back (the first Monolith Licence game) mostly for the fabulous minis - it pulls in a multitude of media streams firmly onto the table (Books, comics, films, video games) - would be fabulous to see a Kings of War in Hyperboria.I got into tabletop minatures and gaming (W40K) through Black Libraries Gaunts Ghosts written by a comic writer I was a fan of.Gateways can of course open both ways ;) and its great exposure for the original material to reach a brand new audience. I got into REH Conan through comics. So would that make it a Double Revolving Open portal Gateway Game* ......?* - delete where applicable
Being a fan of both video games and Star Wars, FFG has successfully roped me into this hobby with X-wing and the like, but the video game-themed stuff leaves a lot to be desired. I love the Dark Souls series and the board game models are indeed really nice, but the game just isn’t super fun without some added house rules. A lot of others seem to review poorly and feel like cash grabs for the video game fans who just want to collect something. I also just saw that Street Fighter is getting a miniatures game too, which just seems like an odd choice of IP to adapt to tabletop.
There’s a new street fighter game on kick starter that would be a strong candidate for a double gateway game.
Also the Pacific Rim kick starter just finished which I’m not sure is a gateway game but is an IP that could get people into hobbying.
It’s interesting that there was no mention of X-Wing. Now I know that’s not really a gateway game since it’s not a board game. It is though a good entrance to hobbying since the ships are pre painted and like the walking dead all out War it’s a big, attractive IP. Would be interested to know your thoughts UA on whether games like X-Wing are stealth gateway games to get people into hobbying? Are they wargames in disguise? Do they help get people into table top and hobbying? Interesting topic for discussion perhaps?
Thanks for another good video and always making me think about what you discuss :)
being a magic the gathering player for over 13 years... magic the gathering arena of the planewalkers was my technically first gateway into war gaming
This may not be a double Gateway Game, but D&D is a great way to get someone interested in miniatures and tabletop games.
Killteam might be a sort of double gateway game - you have miniatures to assemble (but can be unpainted) for a tactics game, but can also lead to the wargaming hobby.
Also quick question,. where can I buy the kind of shirt you got?
patchaw didn't work? I didn't see the link for the gateway games video.
Street Fighter miniatures game was just funded on Kickstarter.
I need to get out my TMNT #1 reprint and reread it now.
Mythic Battles Pantheon. if it wasn't for the "spaces" on the boards its basically a skirmish wargame.
AHHHH!!! YOU SAID THE WORD OF THE DAY!!! DOUBLE DIPPING!!!
There are no 'z's in licensed...
Enjoying the video so far. :D
Mutant Chronicles siege of the citadel, blood berets, fury of the clansmen, all lead to warzone and the reboot is coming !
Hero Quest or Battle Quest were the old school gateway games I wish they would release them again
Original heroes quest opened the door to dnd and war hammer for me.
Would be interested to hear thoughts on full-blown wargames that drawn on fandoms (e.g. Star Wars Legion, Marvel/DC universe miniatures games, Battle of Westeros, etc). Are they also gateway games? Or something else?
All those things just make me want an Elder Scrolls wargame
I’m not sure what to call them, but they’re more full-blown wargames rather than gateway games, so I wouldn’t consider them double gateway games. Thanks for watching!
They don't make them anymore but there was a game out called heroscape that had in a lockable terrain individual pre painted models and data cards for every model or unit you literally could open the box and start playing it right awayit did introduce mechanics like line of sight and on the datacards it had a picture and they. From where you took the line of sight from for each model it also introducedthe role-playing aspects where you could introduce your own missions. Unfortunately they were bought out by Hasbro and they shortly afterwards stopped making it...
My dad brought home Heroscape one day when I was like 8 or 9, it was a done deal after that
Have you painted the Dark Souls miniatures yet, or are you going to? I'd like to see your approach on them, as they are rather dark in atmosphere. Would be nice to see how you interpret them, I think you got at least a little idea of the overall style watching other videos.
The old hobbit one, think it was called goblin town. Always good to pull in LOTR fans
I’ll be really interested to hear what you think of Crisis Protocol. Speaking of comic book fans.
I personally don't see myself getting it currently. The scale is weird to me, and the models are well done, but not something I'm interested in painting, I don't think. We'll see how it sells. Thanks for watching!