FFG: Runewars Designer Interview
Fantasy Flight Games talk shop about Runewars, their upcoming fantasy rank-and-file miniatures game!
Runeswars is a rank-and-file miniatures game that Fantasy Flight Games showed off at GenCon 2016. We got a sneak peek at the game there but FFG has just released an interview with the designer behind the game Andrew Fischer.
In the interview Andrew talks candidly about some of goals and reasons behind the design choices they made. One of the big goals was to create a game that scales well but was still flexible and fast to play. Plus they wanted the game to be both approachable for new players and hopefully enticing to more experienced players too. If that sounds like a lofty goal, that’s because it really is!
FFG is also known for using existing game mechanics and refining them into new and interesting ways. X-wing and Armada are clearly influences for Runewars in terms of movement and the dial system. Here’s what Andrew said about it:
“Andrew Fischer: We definitely wanted to take our lessons from games like X-Wing and bring them into RuneWars. The mechanic of pre-planned, hidden orders that we used for movement in X-Wing was a great fit for a fantasy battlefield where commands take time to be delivered to the troops. You always have to be projecting what will happen next and planning ahead! But, since marching and maneuvering is only a small part of what soldiers do on a battlefield, we decided to shift the functionality of a unit onto the dial. When a player looks at their dial, they see everything that unit can do with its turn.”
He goes on later to talk about how the dial kind of evolved in to what the end product is and he also touches on some of the challenges of creating the game. One of the biggest ones that he feels pretty confident about is the games ability to scale from smaller battles into larger ones without changing the game “feel” too much. I know of a couple other tabletop games that have had to combat that as the games have gotten larger so it’s good to think about that type of issue from the get-go.
The rest of the interview is certainly worth a read. Check that out right HERE. It’s good to know that Andrew is an avid miniatures gamer with a background most fans of the genre can identify with. I know I’m not the only person looking forward to this game. As a fan of their Decent universe, it’s great to see that world getting fleshed out even more and battles moving up to much larger scale. Runewars is slated for release in the first quarter of 2017 – keep an eye out for it!
RuneWars: The Miniatures Game
RuneWars: The Miniatures Game is a two-player miniatures game of battles between the great powers of Terrinoth. In each game, you and your opponent will gather armies of miniatures and lead them into battle—blocks of infantry will maneuver for position, cavalry wings will wheel and slam into a weakened flank, and monstrous rune golems or carrion lancers will smash through formations of lesser warriors. Innovative command tools, two distinct factions, and countless ways to customize your experience combine to offer an unparalleled miniatures gaming experience in RuneWars. Finally, with forty-eight beautifully sculpted, unpainted figures, you’ll be able to paint and customize your armies to bring an entirely unique touch to your games and enter the hobby of miniatures painting!
~I’m not sure which army I want to swear allegiance to yet…what are you most excited for with Runewars?
