Update (February 28, 2024):
Now that the Song of Ice & Fire: Tactics Gamefound campaign is finished we have answers to several questions I posed in the original post.
Question 1: Will I make custom scenarios for Tactics?
I originally didn't think I would since CMON themselves are designing narrative scenarios for Tactics, but one thing that may be missing from their scenarios are lists of characters present at the event (they may want to keep it as generic as possible so that any faction can play any scenario). I may end up creating full Tactics scenarios or even just supplementary documents so players can match all the details from the books.
Question 2: Will I make custom cards based on Tactics characters if they don’t have an official TMG counterpart from CMON?
Happily the answer is no. CMON said they will be creating official TMG versions of most/all Tactics characters and it doesn't make much sense for me to put time into creating a fan-made version if an official one will be released in a year or two.
Question 3: Will I make Tactics cards for ASOIAF: TMG characters or units that CMON doesn’t create for Tactics?
The answer is no for the same reason stated above.
Question 4: Will I make historical scenarios for ASOIAF: TMG?
I've already started work on Robert's Rebellion and Dance of the Dragons scenarios and they'll be ready to go once CMON releases the TMG cards for those characters. I'm toying with different ideas to represent dragons in the Dance battles without using models. Luckily I have a year or two to playtest a bunch of those ideas.
My Tactics Wishlist & Final Thoughts
One of my concerns for Tactics was that it would focus too much on historical events and take away attention from missing main timeline characters in both Tactics and TMG. I think they struck a good balance with the timelines, but I have to admit I'm less enthusiastic about Tactics now than I was before the campaign started. This is mostly due to all the resculpts in the campaign that are very similar to versions of the characters we already have. For example, in the Riverlands set, why not have a sculpt of Gregor without his helmet since he was sent to ravage the riverlands in the guise of a brigand? Instead, we get another sculpt that's very similar to the two I already own from the Lannister starter sets.
The other thing I talked about was the Others themselves, and once again CMON ignored them entirely. There are a lot of discussions online about how to incorporate them into the game, or if they should be in the game at all, but the discussion from CMON's point of view should be pretty simple: Firstly, do we have permission from GRRM to add them to the game? They've said in the past that if it's in the books, it could be in the game. Secondly, will this sell a lot of boxes? I think the answer is clearly yes. You then have the design team be creative and do their best to fit them into the game.
Overall, I'm still excited for Tactics because I think the game looks simple and fun. The Targ and Driftmark troops looked absolutely sick as well. I hope CMON doesn't spend the next three or four years ignoring new Heroes boxes for TMG as they redo all the characters we already have in TMG for Tactics (like a Martell Tactics box that's just Oberyn, Doran, Hotah, Obara, Nym, Tyene, etc.). I'm still eager to get the first version of characters like Edmure Tully, Wyman Manderly, Willas Tyrell, Garlan Tyrell, Randyll Tarly, Young Griff, Harras Harlaw, Podrick, Lancel, all the Freys, and so much more.
Original Post (November 30, 2023):
2023 was a slower year for Board Man Gaming, but it was a slow year for the A Song of Ice & Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game in general. Of course, there has been one recent announcement that will radically change the direction of both the game and this website going forward, but before I discuss that, let’s look back at Board Man Gaming in 2023.
Break the Siege has just received a major update. I added a bunch of new castles and changed some point costs after further playtesting. I can think of a few more castles I might add in the future (the Shadow Tower, Eastwatch, Karhold, Horn Hill), but right now there’s a pretty large selection for anybody who wants to add sieges to a map-based campaign.
I’ve also added two new specialty units to a few different scenarios, including The Lord of Bones and the brand-new The Death of Ramsay Bolton. The idea behind these units is to get more use out of the models you currently own. The Bastard’s Boys is a character unit straight out of the books, replacing the Bastard’s Girls archer models with the 4 Boys from the Bolton Heroes Box. Rattleshirt’s Dogs, also from the books, is a unit that can be made using the Bastard’s Girls dog models mixed in with some Followers of Bone.
The Campaign of Thrones reached the original endgame with the epic Battle for the North. As I mentioned at the end of that battle report, I’m having a lot of fun with the direction the storylines have taken, so the campaign will continue sometime in the summer of 2024. I also hope to post a collection of writings from the entire Campaign of Thrones story in the next month or two.
Last year I mentioned my goal to eventually paint my entire ASOIAF collection. This year, I learned that will never, ever happen. As you can tell by the plentiful miniature photography on the site, I own every release in the game. That’s a lot of stuff to paint, especially when you consider that in 2023 I painted my second siege tower… and that’s it. Instead, I’ve decided to focus on painting two army lists for competitive play (Free Folk for now and Arryn when released) and leave the rest of my collection in their beautiful natural color.
As for House Arryn, this year I added 5 new units to the faction and solidified the commanders and NCUs. I’m very happy with its current state, so I don’t foresee many changes in the future. With the news that the Stone Crows are coming to the game, I also created a House Arryn News page to follow official CMON releases and compare them to my custom faction. I know Carly from Goonhammer recently commented on a Facebook post that House Arryn was confirmed to be coming, but I’m not sure where that information is coming from. Still, there’s a lot of talk around House Arryn and I would expect them to debut in a year or two.
The other project I wanted to tackle in 2023 was a sourcebook that collected all custom scenarios from either the War of the Five Kings or Battle for the Wall, just like Games Workshop does for Middle-earth: SBG. I was waiting for a few more releases (specifically Edmure, the Brotherhood, and Freys), but then life got in the way, and I didn’t get started on either of them. That was probably for the best as the recent big announcement will likely change those sourcebooks and everything else on the site moving forward. Which brings us to…
I know this conversation is extremely premature since the product won’t be in people’s hands until mid-to-late 2025, but it’s fun to speculate and the upcoming Kickstarter campaign will likely give us a lot of info. Here are my initial thoughts on how Tactics will fit into Board Man Gaming.
Will I make custom scenarios for Tactics?
Probably not. There are so many scenarios I’ve already made based on small skirmish events, including:
From the little that we currently know, Tactics releases will already be structured around scenarios like the previewed Battle of the Trident box. If that is the case, there is no point in me spending time making a scenario that will be obsolete in a year or two after an official CMON release. I do think it’s funny that the first skirmish scenario they teased takes place during a battle where there are tens of thousands fighting on each side (but I get that it’s focused around the duel in the river).
The other thing I’ve been wondering about is the tile system. I don’t think I’ll be able to design custom tiles for each event, so we’ll have to wait and see how that works.
I may design Tactics scenarios for events from the TV show, such as:
All of these would work better as skirmish battles (the Targ fleet battle on 3D ships would be awesome), and I don't have to worry about CMON creating something similar since they only have the rights to the book material.
It is also possible that if CMON releases a Tactics skirmish scenario that is great, I’ll just get rid of the TMG version from the site (The Bear and the Maiden Fair is a good example).
Will I make custom cards based on Tactics characters if they don’t have an official TMG counterpart from CMON?
Most likely. For example, if the Battle of the Trident Tactics release does not have corresponding TMG cards, I will make a Battle of the Trident custom scenario that will contain a Bobby B commander card, a Rhaegar commander card, and commander tactics cards for both. The biggest hurdle for me in creating these things has always been finding good artwork, but I assume I’d be able to grab the artwork they use for Tactics and slap it on a TMG card. This includes the stupidly big Drogon if they don’t make a TMG unit card for that. Of course, I’m hoping everything in Tactics has an official CMON TMG counterpart and this will end up being a moot point.
Will I make Tactics cards for ASOIAF: TMG characters or units that CMON doesn’t create for Tactics?
Possibly. It would mainly depend on 2 things. 1) How difficult it is to make a Tactics card using my current Photoshop techniques and 2) Is there a chance CMON will release their version and mine will be obsolete after a few months? I think we’ll learn a lot about Tactics at the Kickstarter launch, but if I’m capable and there is a demand I’m open to doing it.
Will I make historical scenarios for ASOIAF: TMG?
I’m happy to make scenarios from any ASOIAF era. That wasn’t possible until Tactics, but if they release characters from The Conquest or The Dance of the Dragons I’ll make all the custom scenarios I can from those periods.
My Tactics Wishlist
I know a lot of people are excited about the historical characters, but I hope most of the Kickstarter and future releases are focused on the main ASOIAF timeline. My biggest concern is that if you start doing a ‘best of’ from all the historical periods, a lot of the great minor characters from the main timeline will be overlooked. That being said, if we are getting a few historical boxes, I hope one of them has Dunk and Egg.
I also hope that the Others and undead are in Tactics. I know a lot of people don’t want them to be their own ASOIAF: TMG faction, so this might be the best way for CMON to get their zombie fix without creating an overly complicated TMG faction. Sam and Gilly versus the Other, the massacre at the Fist of the First Men, and Bran and the Children of the Forest versus the wights would be great skirmish boxes.
2024 definitely has a lot of excitement in store for tabletop ASOIAF. I’m really looking forward to the Kickstarter and all the character reveals as the lore and characters have always been the main focus of this site. My hope is that with the release of Tactics I’ll be able to expand every scenario and make them as close to the book/TV show as possible.
Thanks again for the support and all the best in 2024!