The only constant is change.

— Heraclitus

The nature of the types of games we create here at Privateer Press means that they are in a constant state of change. Whether it’s a new book expanding our RPG line, new models that alter the meta, or a whole new edition that updates or evolves the rules of a game, we are affecting change on the play environment with everything we do. There is never a status quo because there is always the next release date.

The irony inherent in this existence is that we crave the next thing while instinctively resisting change. But it’s change that keeps things interesting and that improves on what has come before. And change is completely unavoidable in an environment that demands continual expansion.

In other words, if you want new stuff for your favorite game, you need to embrace the idea of inevitable and continual change.

This past year (and a few months more), we changed a whole lotta things. We forged ahead with a new edition of the WARMACHINE rules, we moved to an exclusively digital delivery platform for the publication of WARMACHINE materials, and we completely changed our manufacturing process. These changes were met with the anticipated level of resistance. But a year later, a remark we observe time and time again, is that MKIV is the best version of WARMACHINE that Privateer has produced.

We love seeing the comment, but please don’t for a moment think that we’re patting ourselves on the back or feeling smug about that validation. The level of change, and the risk we swallowed in staying our course, was a nail-biting experience. We didn’t ever allow ourselves to think everything was going to work out for the best. What we did is stay true to our values: we’re always going to do everything in our power to deliver the best quality product and the best possible game experience to our players. And we hope that if we do a good job at it, we will get to keep doing it thanks to your support.

Whether you thought we had lost our marbles or believed we’d deliver the goods from the beginning, if you’re here with us now on this WARMACHINE MKIV journey, we thank you for your support and your patience and your willingness to embrace change, because we’re not done yet.

For WARMACHINE, next year will bring with it new cadres, new leaders, colossals and gargantuans for MKIV armies, and whole new armies as well as a new faction. Every one of those releases is going to inject a level of change into the play environment, some that will be predictable and others that we could never see coming. But we’re kicking off the year with our annual update that will address the most important gameplay issues we have observed over the past twelve months, which again, will induce change, but that we believe will be for the best and that we hope you will embrace with some degree of confidence gained by your experience with MKIV so far.

We have updated our road map for MKIV, below. But at this point, having delivered on the entire backlog of Legacy rules conversions and released most of the originally planned features for the WARMACHINE app, there’s not a lot to include on it other than future releases. (Some of you will be excited to confirm the identity of next year’s new faction, though; the triumphant return of one of the cornerstones of the Iron Kingdoms setting.) As such, this might mean the end of our road maps in their current form, as the intent for them was to provide visibility over the coming changes and developments for the new edition. But as we have settled into our regular cadence of development and production, we will be returning to the customary monthly new release announcements to broadcast what lies ahead.

Privateer Press is not only WARMACHINE, though, and we know there are questions about the future of the other games that we produce.

Iron Kingdoms RPG

The current edition of the Iron Kingdoms RPG (5e) has been our most consistent and well-supported edition to date. We have conducted four successful Kickstarters that launched and supported this edition and enabled us to do things with the IKRPG that we had never been able to do before, and we are ever gracious for the support the backers of these projects provided.

Our next foray into the Iron Kingdoms RPG will be an offering that provides a stand-alone entry point into the setting or can be used to expand any existing IKRPG campaign. It’s something we have wanted to explore in-depth for many years, alluded to in the past and briefly covered in the late issues of No Quarter Prime: The Strangelight Workshop. Adventuring as members of the Strangelight Workshop, and using the proprietary Strangelight mechanika technology, players will explore nooks and crannies of the Iron Kingdoms inhabited by paranormal phenomenon. We like to describe it as a cross between Scooby Doo, the Ghost Busters, and of course, the Iron Kingdoms. If that sounds like something you’d like to jump in to, watch for our Strangelight Workshop Kickstarter launching early in the new year.

Monsterpocalypse

The current edition of Monsterpocalypse is nearly six years old, and it’s in a great place, with an abundance of content available to play with. We have what we feel are a few holes we want to fill next year for a couple of factions, specifically the dedicated buildings for the Savage Swarm and Elemental Champions, as well as a monster and some units to round out the Subterran Uprising. We will also be releasing an annual update with a few changes to model rules after the first of the year to help maintain balance in the play environment.

What Monsterpocalypse does not need, however, is an endless deluge of new monsters and units. We could make them, don’t ever doubt. But we can see by the way new monsters or units are adopted that, even though there is enthusiasm around these new releases, the community for Monsterpocalypse at large is not clamoring for more of the same kind of content.

Monsterpocalypse, as we had anticipated, is ready for a change. We had hoped that the boardgame version of Monsterpocalypse, licensed to Mythic, would propel Monsterpocalypse to a new level of excitement. Unfortunately, despite the success of the crowdfunding campaign, that new version of Monsterpocalypse has disappointingly not yet come to fruition. While we await news from Mythic and are hopeful they will find the ability to move forward with delivering their project in the new year, we must move forward with a new event for Monsterpocalypse that doesn’t simply add more content to an already extensive library. So, we are working on a new expression of Monsterpocalypse that will add to the existing experience while providing a new entry point and a new way to enjoy our vision of giant monster miniatures combat. While we can’t put a specific date on these new developments, we hope to have an update later next year.

Warcaster

We launched Warcaster into the mouth of the pandemic, and it never got a great chance to thrive on the tabletop. It’s a game and product line we’re very proud of and intend to keep producing. In its current state, the factions are well fleshed out and balanced in their offerings with enough options to support a variety of force builds and play styles. No one is waiting for anything unreleased, and there is a healthy amount of lore and background for the setting. But we didn’t embark on Warcaster to create a finite experience, and we have more we want to explore within the Hyperuranion. We’ve shown concept art for the Lost Legion that we want to produce and we have hinted at the Exiles faction that will eventually appear. We have a lot of territory we want to cover with Warcaster and intend to do so, but it will take some time for us to get there.

Our plan for Warcaster is to produce the Lost Legion and the Exiles at the same time, which we hope will provide a new and invigorated entry point for new as well as existing players, promoting increased tabletop play of the game. For now, we hope those who currently enjoy Warcaster will continue to do so and will introduce new players to the game because we have so much more we would love to do with it.

Riot Quest

For those that have played and enjoyed Riot Quest, we have so much love for you. We believe it’s one of the most fun game experiences we have produced, and we have an endless well of ideas that we hope to bring to it. But to thrive, we realized Riot Quest really wants to be a bona fide boardgame experience, and in order to deliver that, we’re going to need to present it in a fashion that gets boardgame players onboard. We hope to do this sooner than later, but realized after a somewhat hastily offered version previously that we need to design the new offering more specifically to appeal to boardgame players to get them onboard.

For now, Riot Quest is in a great place for playability, and we hope that those who currently enjoy our version of loot-based dungeon delving will continue to share it with others.

The Privateer Press team is small and dedicated to our craft. We have at times been larger and capable of producing product more rapidly, but we feel that we are at our best when we can focus our full attention on a few projects rather than spreading it out over too many. This past year was very much dedicated to the new edition of WARMACHINE, the very product line that built Privateer into the company it is today. By staying focused on it, we have produced what we feel is the best edition of WARMACHINE yet, from gameplay to the models to the ongoing support and content delivery.

What may not be immediately obvious is that many of the new procedures and methods we developed for MKIV — from the digital content delivery to our new manufacturing process — will have benefits for our other product lines in the future. We look forward to continuing our exploration of these games and settings we love as well as finding ways to evolve and improve your experience with them. We thank you for your support and hope you’ll be as excited for the changes to come as we are.

All the best in the new year,

Matt Wilson

Chief Creative Officer

The post A LOOK BACK, AND A LOOK AHEAD — 2023-2024 appeared first on Privateer Press.