Please keep in mind this comes from a huge fan of LOS. The game is my favorite sci-fi blaster/tactical “SIM”. The old fluff is great. The old minis are near and dear to my heart. I have been playing and (mostly) collecting for a long time. I have company sized elements of all the factions. ...and because I am a fan, I am going to be brutally honest.
Legacy Players
Other than the ability to fill in gaps in our inventory, there is not a lot of money to be made from the “legacy crowd.” They can certainly drive the game at local cons. I can certainly show up at Adepticon with a bad ass table and display but the audience size and success is going to depend significantly on the Internet and getting new gamers to buy into the game....new gamers who expect new units, new content, scenarios etc.
The Rules
Comprehensive, Free, UPV calcs, Advanced Rules, Optional Rules. At your fingertips, available for download.
Fluff
Quite frankly, in order to make a splash of any sort you have to offer something new. The fluff has to be brought up to 2020. The brand’s sword has to be sharpened. Is this the original story of LOS or is this new?
• Was there some intergalactic battle and the Machine WON, eventually driving back the Alien races and launching a Planetstorm on Earth itself.
• Is the Machine pushing to wipe humanity from the face of the earth? Are the humans and their allies defending their last bastions of industry and military infrastructure? Are the human commandos the last line between from slaughter and disruption of the entire human race?
• Are the Humans striking back at Machine Drop Zones, Manufacturing Facilities and Resource Gathering Factories?
• Are the Aliens slowly returning to seize Machine Satellites in orbit in an attempt to reach their human allies? Do they care? Do the Infranites still share an affinity with the Earth Dogs?
• Or is it the same genre and story we have from the original game?
Compel me. Make me interested in the world again. Make me interested in the possibilities for other troop types.... Militia, Hackers, Ground Based Drones, Flying Drones you name it.
The Miniatures
The minis. I am 100% for the development of new basic models (UNE Troopers, Nightmares, Behemoth and Mark I) As much as I love the old minis, they suffer in the areas of scale, detail and modular nature of most modern miniatures. This is critical to generating interest (Kickstarter or not).
The UNE Trooper and Nightmare especially can be built in a modular way by a 3D artist. A single T-Model can be positioned in multiple poses and "equipped" with a variety of modular weapons. 3D printing can generate cheap prototypes...and a Scattergun, Deadbolt Launcher, all keyed to fit the same armature with very little manipulation.
3D artists are out there.
Stick with Metal, Offer Resin at a Premium, with limited runs.
Art
Art needs updating and should tie into the miniatures. The old tiles are just not going to draw in new players. Look at the tiles from Sedition Wars, Space Hulk, Aliens vs Predator etc. The box set should have new tiles 100%.
• The industrial walks and passages are the outer levels? What about the inner ones. What about those closer to the center of a Machine “Core”? Do those tiles look the same? Are the objectives the same?
Artists are plentiful. Corridors, Objective Rooms, Counters...
Feel - Im not saying it has to go “Grimdark” but it has to have an edge. It has to be as far away from the Art in the video game as possible.
Scale Creep
Scale creep has evolved into something of a standard. Look at the miniature scales for CMON, PRODOS, and even GW. The newer games like Para Bellum’s “Conquest, The Last Argument of Kings” – have thrown the idea of blending with everyone else’s scale out the window.
Detail
The simplistic (realistic) design can remain intact, but the level of detail has to be increased. Put a 1990s Nightmare next to a GW Necron. Puppet Wars (Resin) Wyrd (Plastic)
My fear is that a resurrecting LOS with a slow burn is going to be exactly that. Initial interest, that will subside with a lack of support.