Sorry to make some people think that they were not going to get the Fleet
Book from my distribution example, it was just an example ;-). AoG did
have something specific to say on the matter. The following was posted to the
B5 Wars mailing list by AoG in response to the inquiries from Canadian gamers
looking to find a copy of B5 Wars.
This is my 2nd try on sending this, the 1st try bounced :-/
Enjoy, Dean <dean.gundberg@bcbsnd.com>
-------------------------------------------------------------
AOG here...this is an across-Canada problem, and here's why. When we
went to ship our first batch of boxed sets, we waited a couple of extra months
(not weeks, months) receiving frequent promises from a certain miniatures
producer that shipments would begin "in a few days" or some such. Well,
problems of various sorts kept cropping up (like the UPS strike) that kept
pushing "in a few days" back to "next week." Eventually, when we finally did
ship, we learned that we still didn't have enough to fill orders, and the
miniatures producer had quit by that point. This forced us to scramble to open
our own casting house and also to hire another company, Reaper, to produce
more for us. The bottom line, though, was that we didn't have enough to fill
all the orders. Someone was going to have to wait.
Gaming distributors are very competitive, and have overlapping service areas.
If we shorted one distributor, but not another who serviced the same zone, he
would get irate, and we'd lose a customer (game distributors are the
manufacturer's customers). Unfortunately, almost all the US distributors,
except those in remote areas like Hawaii and Alaska, overlap. We discovered,
with the orders we had and the product supply, that the only way to handle the
situation was to reduce the size of all
the continental US shipments by the same percentage, and completely hold up
all the orders from Canada and the remote Alaskan and Hawaiian distributors.
So the result was: (1) we got the product out, (2) we didn't ship enough and
managed to annoy most of our US distributors anyway, and (3) we really, really
annoyed the Canadian and remote US distributors! However, this was really the
only possible solution because if we hadn't shipped
what we had, we knew it would have been 2 more months before more miniatures
would have been available, and our bills and debts would have caught up with
us by then! And the damage to our reputation to the Canadian and other
distributors was somewhat mitigated by the fact that
all of them were in the same boat, and didn't have to worry about one or two
of them getting product while the others didn't. We do owe an apology to you
Canadian folks for making you wait so long, but we really had no
choice: it was release what we had, or die. On the plus side, you guys are
first on the list for this new shipment we'll be sending next week.
The major lessons, if any of you are planning to open your own gaming company,
are: (1) Don't hire someone else to do work for you unless you
have no other choice, (2) If you do hire someone else, make sure they are in
the same city so you can inspect their work and progress, (3) Don't release a
product schedule with specific dates on it!
Hmm, I did not mean for this to turn into such a long essay, but it
appears that it happened on its own. --Agent One
- --
Agents of Gaming: Designing the Next Generation of Games New web site!
http://www.agentsofgaming.com
Agent One: Bruce H. Graw; Agent Two: Robert N. Glass
All this stuff about AoG having distribution problems is fine but what does it
all mean for us poor bastards in Oz where we got some of the early figures as
well as a few copies of the game. I hate to say it but to me this all sugests
that AoG won't be in business too long.
Tony. ps. Notice how the videos of second season where released here at the
same time as 5th season starts in the states.
> At 02:27 AM 10/22/97 GMT, you wrote:
On Tue, 21 Oct 97 10:01:31 -0600, "Dean Gundberg"
> <dean.gundberg@bcbsnd.com> wrote:
> And the damage to our reputation to the
Well, I find the decision understandable, and mostly agree with it. However,
this doesn't explain how one Toronto store managed to get two copies of the
game if none of the Canadian distributors were supposed to get the games.
Either that, or some Canadian stores use US distributors, thus messing up
AOG's well thought out plans.
I wonder if the problem has killed any demand for B5W in Canada. I suppose it
might have if the B5 RPG's Earthforce sourcebook had been released at
something approaching on time. But since there's no sign of THAT any time
soon, we're stuck.
> ps. Notice how the videos of second season where released here at the
Sorry, my mistake, it should read that as 4th season ends we get 2nd
season on video and have to wait until March-April to see season 4 on
TV. None of this would really have mattered if I didn't have clue what was
comming up, blame that on the web.
On Wed, 22 Oct 1997 11:32:29 +1000, Tony Wilkinson
> <twilko@ozemail.com.au> wrote:
> All this stuff about AoG having distribution problems is fine but what
From what I'm reading on the SF Conflict Sim list, it's looking like a number
of people are no longer so cheery about B5W. I'm hearing things like 10
minutes to resolve the gunfire of one ship on one turn. Yikes! Give me FT
anyday!
> ps. Notice how the videos of second season where released here at the
5th season hasn't started yet. We're just in the tail end of fourth season.
Some good episodes, too!
> All this stuff about AoG having distribution problems is fine but what
As AOG have told us on the B5Wars list, negotiating the distribution rights
for Australia (an Europe) is currently a real pain in the bum, so it has taken
a back seat to getting the game fully released in the States and Canada. They
fully intend to market the game in Europe and Oz, but they need to negotiate a
contract with Warner Bros. Europe and Oz for distribution here and over there,
so don't be too critcal. They are
2-man
operation making a product that everyone wants right now, so they are
supplying their immediate market.
If you see the chance to get copies of the minis and the game here in Oz, snap
it up if you like B5! Its illegal to sell them here and I can say that the
game is pretty good. I snatched up my copy!
> Tony.
Yeah. I noticed that too. Trying to keep the masses happy I guess.
Hiya All,
From Allan Goodall
> From what I'm reading on the SF Conflict Sim list, it's looking like a
I'm not entirely sure, I think the rules for B5 Wars are a tad on the complex
side, but then it could be argued that I have been spoilt by the speed and
simplicity of Full Thrust. I think B5 Wars is going to become the game I enjoy
playing for a good scenario, with *high* amounts of detail in ship damage and
so on, but FT is going to be the game I play with a bunch of friends over, a
few drinks, and just have a LOT of fun. I'm an arts student, so having to work
out all those fractions in B5W takes up a lot of brain power:) And FT
attracted me in the first place because you can have a 12 ship apiece
engagement in a few hours. B5 Wars appears to be more of a 4 ship engagement
in a day! Not sure though, I have yet to play B5W where all parties involved
could be said to have a mastery of the rules. But my initial impressions are
that it does have a few flaws inherant in it, not the least of which is game
flow. The only problem I have with FT at the moment is getting abig enough
board to put the ships on: having 40 odd ships on a 4' by 8' board gets a tad
crowded.... not that that many survive all that long.;)
Anyways, just my 2 cents on why FT is such a great game.:) Needless to say, I
am eagerly awaiting the next Babylon Project sourcebook.:) Oh and the FTIII
book, and the FT Fleet Book... I just have to figure out a way for the games
industry to remember that little old Australia actually exists.......
> Kelvin wrote:
> >ps. Notice how the videos of second season where released here at the
Oh, Yeah. Right. *You guys* get B5 videos. JMS has said he can't get them
released here in the states because Warner Bros. has said there isn't a big
enough market to make it profittable (last I heard anyway).:)
BTW Where do you apply the damage done by the Narn Energy Mine if your in the
hex where it goes off? (Randomly to a hex facing or to the hex face facing the
firing Narn ship's hex) Also, the rules have you remember the range that it
was
fired at - why? if there is no range penalty.
Thanks
It's not that bad at all, actually. One thing I REALLY like about B5 Wars is
that it gives a ship a more complex feeling. It's not anywhere near as bad as
SFB as far as record keeping and I like the individual feel of the toughness
of separate systems on a ship and the ability to play really tactically with
small numbers of ships. A fleet battle system, it's not. But we've done 10
capital ships plus
6-8 fighter groups in a few hours. As opposed to the SFB 6-10 hour
games....
> > From what I'm reading on the SF Conflict Sim list, it's looking like
Yikes!
> > Give me FT anyday!
> >ps. Notice how the videos of second season where released here at
Just fyi, Columbia House is *supposed* to be releasing videos here in the
States very soon now....with 'very soon now' being possibly December.
> BTW Where do you apply the damage done by the Narn Energy Mine if your
I figured you'd use them against the side of the ship in which the EM came
screaming in (treat it as a direct-fire weapon in this case)
Mk
> Chan Faunce wrote:
> Kelvin wrote:
< Big Snip>
> .
> From what I'm reading on the SF Conflict Sim list, it's looking like a
Personally I'm waiting for the B5 rules that will appear in the supplement to
the B5 role playing game. I hope that it will provide all the setting that B5
has to offer with the playability of Full Thrust. I will buy the miniatures
that go along with the B5 Wars game, especially the Narn and Centauri ones.
Enjoy,
> From Allan Goodall
Yikes!
> >Give me FT anyday!
Sheesh.... Education must really be in decline if it takes 10 MINUTES to
reslove a B5 Wars combat. My group can do it in less than 2 minutes. A turn
can be resolved in 10.
Later, Mark A. Siefert
"Joel, what chance do we have in a world that keeps presenting us with vivid
images of Hell?"
"Well there's personal liberty, strength of conviction... Those have been
known to work. Then there's the time the country rallies together to beat back
Hell. Like the time we as a nation said `no' to Yahoo Serious."
--Tom Servo and Joel Robinson
MST3K "Eegah"