Re: Field Marshal Games Pieces Project Discussion thread

This emphasis on the colors is getting a bit ridiculous.  Can we all step back and moment and admit to ourselves that these pieces are going to be extremely high quality and that we’re all going to buy them regardless of whatever minor variation of color FMG decides to choose for them, and be happy that we’re even GETTING these high quality pieces?

@squirrelfox:

This emphasis on the colors is getting a bit ridiculous.  Can we all step back and moment and admit to ourselves that these pieces are going to be extremely high quality and that we’re all going to buy them regardless of whatever minor variation of color FMG decides to choose for them, and be happy that we’re even GETTING these high quality pieces?

This, right there!

And let’s also keep in mind, these are not to be marketed as “Axis and Allies” pieces, but rather Strategy/War Boardgaming pieces, so adhering to WotC’s colors would be, in that sense, slightly shortsighted imo.

Hear, hear!

Yoper has summed up my point exactly - I want to mix and match pieces to have a huge mix of pieces, light/medium/heavy tanks, or early/late war pieces. FMG’s current decision would leave me with a nice set of A&A pieces, and a nice set of FMG pieces that are not compatible - really, no different than Table Tactics or Xeno games.

It is all well and good that FMG wants to make pieces in iconic colors - but the main market will be for Axis & Allies players, and most will just want pieces that match. Us uber-grognards here (including me, by the way!) would have preferred that WotC make the pieces in Gray - but they didn’t. So, rather than throw away all the sets of pieces we have right now or will have (Spring 1942/Bulge/Europe 1940), which includes the best quality A&A pieces ever released and has some really nice pieces (Panzer, HE111, etc), let us have the ability to combine sets and have expansive armies.

Just a plea from a faithful supporter. I am willing to put money where my mouth is and help pay for molding pieces in black.

@Yoper:

@squirrelfox:

This emphasis on the colors is getting a bit ridiculous.  Can we all step back and moment and admit to ourselves that these pieces are going to be extremely high quality and that we’re all going to buy them regardless of whatever minor variation of color FMG decides to choose for them, and be happy that we’re even GETTING these high quality pieces?

While I agree that the high quality is a plus, the fact that the colors should match is also a top priority.

If the colors don’t match, then it means that you can’t use them in conjunction with the OOB pieces.  All the other powers will match up with the OOB colors allowing for the mixing of parts to get the variety that one wants for all A&A type games (Standard game, variants, etc.).

While I appreciate the constraints that my friends at FMG are under, I would suggest that in this case they need to match their colors to the ones we already have from WotC- Germany is black.

You can do an Axis Minor in gray later.

Agree completely here except that its not a “gamebreaker” for me either way. :-)

Ok Ok!  The people have spoken!

You all know this is a community project from the start.  Its failure or success will be determined by the community so this colour debate will also be decided the same way.

Please take part in the poll.  There needs to be a CLEAR victory for one side or the other… so…

If the poll reaches 100+ I will take it seriously.  If BLACK wins more than 51% of the vote, we will do BLACK.

If the poll goes down and there is not enough voters to make a call… it stays GREY.

Sound fair?

Fair is fair!

And let me be the first to say that no matter what color wins, I will still buy a ton of pieces!

@FieldMarshalGames:

Ok Ok!  The people have spoken!

You all know this is a community project from the start.  Its failure or success will be determined by the community so this colour debate will also be decided the same way.

Please take part in the poll.  There needs to be a CLEAR victory for one side or the other… so…

If the poll reaches 100+ I will take it seriously.  If BLACK wins more than 51% of the vote, we will do BLACK.

If the poll goes down and there is not enough voters to make a call… it stays GREY.

Sound fair?

Sounds fair either way- I will buy either way also. :-)

Well at least nobody can say that FMG doesn’t care, but rest assured I will buy them gray or black and gray and black if FMG does both.

They should be grey then, that way if you wan’t some special SS units you can paint them black.

@Danger:

They should be grey then, that way if you wan’t some special SS units you can paint them black.

By that token they could be black and you could paint the special units gray.

Exactly my point, BD.

Think of the “average” buyer of these pieces - they would never paint them! Some of us fanatics will paint them but we’d buy these pieces if they were purple anyway…

Make the product for them.

@reloader-1:

Exactly my point, BD.

Think of the “average” buyer of these pieces - they would never paint them! Some of us fanatics will paint them but we’d buy these pieces if they were purple anyway…

Make the product for them.

Preach on, brotha :mrgreen:

Imp,

I really think that is the best solution as well.

FMG, what thinks thee?

@FieldMarshalGames:

Ok Ok!  The people have spoken!

You all know this is a community project from the start.  Its failure or success will be determined by the community so this color debate will also be decided the same way.

Please take part in the poll.  There needs to be a CLEAR victory for one side or the other… so…

If the poll reaches 100+ I will take it seriously.  If BLACK wins more than 51% of the vote, we will do BLACK.

If the poll goes down and there is not enough voters to make a call… it stays GREY.

Sound fair?

Poll?  Man, this is what I get for not coming on the forum every day……

No, no poll!  You wanna hear from the people?..Well, this people says, “FMG, you are right, they are wrong.  If Germany is made black, you will be abandoning this customer in particular.  My dice are Gray, I like Gray, Gray makes sense, Gray is better.  Black is stupid.  What’s the point of making a 1000+ piece WWII set if it doesn’t even match the dice?  Do you really want to deal with angry customers who want refunds?  Gray sells very well for the dice, it will sell well for the units set.”

Besides, who made Germany black anyway?

WOTC:

The same company that made Russia Maroon!  (of all things)

The same company that can’t even spell “Afghanistan” on their $100 game board, on top of making it shaped like Texas.

The same company that can’t even print Pokemon Cards correctly:

http://reviews.ebay.com/What-Pokemon-cards-are-errors_W0QQugidZ10000000001184987

Field Marshal Games, you are not Wizards of the Coast.

A poll?  Yeah, because we all know democracy is how to keep stupid ideas from becoming reality.

We have a while before the German pieces go into production.  Take your time to think about it.  Listen to your gut.  Not all of your customers visit this forum.  And besides, you have been the most responsive and open company I have ever seen.  You really do care about what the customers want; it shows in the pages of this forum, and it shows in your bottom line.  It shows in the fact you are consistently short of combat dice, even though such a shortage could be easily remedied by raising the price and increasing your profit.

Your combat dice are the Nintendo Wii of board gaming.  Don’t abandon that tradition.  You won’t loose a singe penny by making them Gray, but you just might by making them Black.  Let the vocal minority wine about black all they want.  They can cling to their WOTC unit set with their black Germans with crooked fighters.

I want my Russians Red, and my Germans Gray.  The colors look beautiful together.  I’m looking at the two dice right now.  Those were the colors I saw when I played Axis and Allies for the first time on the Revised board.  I want that on my 1940 Europe board.  I think a poem sums it up nicely:

Don’t be W-O-T-C, be F-M-G
Don’t be an X-Box 360, be a Nintendo Wii

@Upside-down_Turtle:

@FieldMarshalGames:

Ok Ok!  The people have spoken!

You all know this is a community project from the start.  Its failure or success will be determined by the community so this color debate will also be decided the same way.

Please take part in the poll.  There needs to be a CLEAR victory for one side or the other… so…

If the poll reaches 100+ I will take it seriously.  If BLACK wins more than 51% of the vote, we will do BLACK.

If the poll goes down and there is not enough voters to make a call… it stays GREY.

Sound fair?

Poll?  Man, this is what I get for not coming on the forum every day……

No, no poll!  You wanna hear from the people?..Well, this people says, “FMG, you are right, they are wrong.  If Germany is made black, you will be abandoning this customer in particular.  My dice are Gray, I like Gray, Gray makes sense, Gray is better.  Black is stupid.  What’s the point of making a 1000+ piece WWII set if it doesn’t even match the dice?  Do you really want to deal with angry customers who want refunds?  Gray sells very well for the dice, it will sell well for the units set.”

Besides, who made Germany black anyway?

WOTC:

The same company that made Russia Maroon!   (of all things)

The same company that can’t even spell “Afghanistan” on their $100 game board, on top of making it shaped like Texas.

The same company that can’t even print Pokemon Cards correctly:

http://reviews.ebay.com/What-Pokemon-cards-are-errors_W0QQugidZ10000000001184987

Field Marshal Games, you are not Wizards of the Coast.

A poll?  Yeah, because we all know democracy is how to keep stupid ideas from becoming reality.

We have a while before the German pieces go into production.  Take your time to think about it.  Listen to your gut.  Not all of your customers visit this forum.  And besides, you have been the most responsive and open company I have ever seen.  You really do care about what the customers want; it shows in the pages of this forum, and it shows in your bottom line.  It shows in the fact you are consistently short of combat dice, even though such a shortage could be easily remedied by raising the price and increasing your profit.

Your combat dice are the Nintendo Wii of board gaming.  Don’t abandon that tradition.  You won’t loose a singe penny by making them Gray, but you just might by making them Black.  Let the vocal minority wine about black all they want.  They can cling to their WOTC unit set with their black Germans with crooked fighters.

I want my Russians Red, and my Germans Gray.  The colors look beautiful together.  I’m looking at the two dice right now.  Those were the colors I saw when I played Axis and Allies for the first time on the Revised board.  I want that on my 1940 Europe board.   I think a poem sums it up nicely:

Don’t be W-O-T-C, be F-M-G
Don’t be an X-Box 360, be a Nintendo Wii

Very persuasive argument! Got me to think twice…

@Upside-down_Turtle:

No, no poll!  You wanna hear from the people?…Well, this people says, “FMG, you are right, they are wrong.  If Germany is made black, you will be abandoning this customer in particular.  My dice are Gray, I like Gray, Gray makes sense, Gray is better.  Black is stupid.  What’s the point of making a 1000+ piece WWII set if it doesn’t even match the dice?  Do you really want to deal with angry customers who want refunds?  Gray sells very well for the dice, it will sell well for the units set.”

uh…  ok.  Let’s not make this about personal inflammatory opinions, because your singular opinion is no more important that mine, or anyone else’s.

But since YOU said it, here’s my rebuttal.  If the units don’t match or get close to current release colors, I know I’m not buying them.  I so rarely play, these figs will be a complete luxury and unnecessary expense.  Thus, it all comes down to aesthetics and cleanliness of the board for me.  When I do play I would intend to use FMG figs in conjunction with OOB figs for tech and variety.  I can’t imagine playing only with FMG pieces considering that as FMG intends not to remold the OOB units, and why would I want to play Britain without a Spitfire or the Japanese without an A6M?  I’m just not interested in having figures with 3 (or 4) shades of gray out on the board: OOB “black”, FMG figs, OOB ANZAC “slate” (and FMG ANZAC, if they’re made).  That is visually displeasing to me, and confusing to anyone who hasn’t played extensively and can’t identify german planes, tanks and ships on sight when compared to Anzac planes, tanks and ships.

Personally, I’d prefer the dice match my AA50 game colors, but they don’t as they were made before AA50 was released.  Ok.  Fair enough.  But FMG dice aren’t going to be mixed in with black dice with an iron cross and only on a bad roll do they end up bouncing into the units they supposedly color match. The dice are completely distinct as a game element and because of that, are not as strong  of a case for matching unit colors than the mold colors of units the OOB AA50/AA1942/AAE40 releases that they supplement because that’s what they sit next to (not replace, at least, not to those of us who like the Yamato class, Bismark class, etc etc etc).

That said, our personal opinions do not render the poll illegitmate.  If the poll wins for gray, they should be gray.  If the masses prefer black, then they should be black. Either way, one of us will be disappointed, but the majority of the people here will still buy either way.  So let the masses speak and treat them with the civility they deserve.

But, as an appeal to black units, I submit this:  As a thought experiment mix in some ANZAC figs in with your German units in your next AA50 game.  That would give an approximate impression of what the game will look like should you use FMG gray w/ OOB german pieces.  If you are still satisfied with the aesthetic ramifications of this, then so be it.

(edited for clarity and spelling errors)

@Upside-down_Turtle:

Don’t be W-O-T-C, be F-M-G
Don’t be an X-Box 360, be a Nintendo Wii

But X-Box 360 is so much sweeter! :lol:

Wow, there are some strong opinions regarding whether the Germans should be black or grey.

Paint your pieces…I started doing that and they look sweeeeet!