Post by Nick on Apr 17, 2008 20:42:06 GMT -5
Next Step Gaming is the brainchild of Matthew Thomas and Nicholas Amarant, who, since late 2004, having been developing their own variant of tabletop gaming.
The first Step, was for us to fuse fundemental aspects of both Warhammer Lord of the Rings and Warhammer Fantasy, into a primitive, but playable format. I played Fantasy, and Matt played Lord of the Rings- both of us having a passion for the game. But by Warhammer's standards, we'd have to play the same system, in order to battle.
But nay, we said! Months of work led us to accomplish this Step, in mid-2005.
The next Step, was to fine tune the juggernaut that would soon become Next Step Gaming. Years were spent fine tuning, filtering impurities, and testing the game with other gamers. In mid-2006, we had a much more detailed system of gaming, and a set of functioning rules. Today, we are still ironing out kinks-nothing is perfect. But- we are happy!
With the skeleton pieced together, the next Step was to put flesh onto the bones. Matt and I, along with others, have been writing epic stories, histories, and have bringing life to the races. With this, came the Tome of Magic, the Magical Items Lists, and our very own races. This process has been ongoing, butwell worth the hours. This led to our next Step, the birth of this site in early 2008.
Next Step Gaming has been proved to work, and has totally engrossed, and converted, some Warhammer gamers. It was never our intention to "try and be better than" Warhammer, and Games Workshop. Far from it, in fact.
With confidence, having ironed out kinks, and written up 2000 point army lists, Matt, myself, and three of the test players entered Gamers Workshop early this year, eager to display what was then known as Warhammer Joint Rules.
No sooner had I told a staff member that myself and Matt had managed to fuse Lord of the Rings and Fantasy together, did he forbid us from playing it. Whatever happened to Warhammer and Games Workshop being the peoples' choice? What about it being a place of community?
"Do want you want at home, but this is store policy" we were told very matter-of-factly.
At this point, we had been setting up our minitures, and were told to play either one system, or give up the tabletop to other gamers, despite being invited to come and join in the fun "no matter what system you play!"
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you hypocrisy.
Worst of all, at this point, Matt wasn't even present. We'd been silenced before we could even state our case.
Of course, after Matt came back, we tried to pursuade the staff into allowing us to simply demonstrate a match, but we were told to play one of "their" systems, or else leave.
Furious, we chose the latter option. But no matter- the battle was played back at home- obviously where it belongs. In GOOD company.
The rejection from Games Workshop prompted us to keep going. Matt and I, went to a local games club, who play all kinds of tabletop games, but in particular Warhammer. What a great place to show off our work! Surely they wouldn't discriminate.
Matt had been a regular with the club, and in early 2008, I joined him to display.
We captivated many gamers there, so much so that some asked for a copy of the rules, the link to the site, and of course- they wanted to play. So they did. More good company!
The success of attending the games club led us to our next Step- forgetting Warhammer Joint Rules, and playing under the banner of Next Step Gaming.
We play with Warhammer's physical models, but we play by our own rules. Other than buying their models and paints, we choose not to affiliate at all with Warhammer or Games Workshop.
To this day, Next Step Gaming continues moving forward, and becoming more and more involved and unique, whilst still realising the importance of the gaming community.
Matt and I welcome ideas, and are currently looking for conceptual artists.
Follow the path of Next Step Gaming!
Nick
The first Step, was for us to fuse fundemental aspects of both Warhammer Lord of the Rings and Warhammer Fantasy, into a primitive, but playable format. I played Fantasy, and Matt played Lord of the Rings- both of us having a passion for the game. But by Warhammer's standards, we'd have to play the same system, in order to battle.
But nay, we said! Months of work led us to accomplish this Step, in mid-2005.
The next Step, was to fine tune the juggernaut that would soon become Next Step Gaming. Years were spent fine tuning, filtering impurities, and testing the game with other gamers. In mid-2006, we had a much more detailed system of gaming, and a set of functioning rules. Today, we are still ironing out kinks-nothing is perfect. But- we are happy!
With the skeleton pieced together, the next Step was to put flesh onto the bones. Matt and I, along with others, have been writing epic stories, histories, and have bringing life to the races. With this, came the Tome of Magic, the Magical Items Lists, and our very own races. This process has been ongoing, butwell worth the hours. This led to our next Step, the birth of this site in early 2008.
Next Step Gaming has been proved to work, and has totally engrossed, and converted, some Warhammer gamers. It was never our intention to "try and be better than" Warhammer, and Games Workshop. Far from it, in fact.
With confidence, having ironed out kinks, and written up 2000 point army lists, Matt, myself, and three of the test players entered Gamers Workshop early this year, eager to display what was then known as Warhammer Joint Rules.
No sooner had I told a staff member that myself and Matt had managed to fuse Lord of the Rings and Fantasy together, did he forbid us from playing it. Whatever happened to Warhammer and Games Workshop being the peoples' choice? What about it being a place of community?
"Do want you want at home, but this is store policy" we were told very matter-of-factly.
At this point, we had been setting up our minitures, and were told to play either one system, or give up the tabletop to other gamers, despite being invited to come and join in the fun "no matter what system you play!"
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you hypocrisy.
Worst of all, at this point, Matt wasn't even present. We'd been silenced before we could even state our case.
Of course, after Matt came back, we tried to pursuade the staff into allowing us to simply demonstrate a match, but we were told to play one of "their" systems, or else leave.
Furious, we chose the latter option. But no matter- the battle was played back at home- obviously where it belongs. In GOOD company.
The rejection from Games Workshop prompted us to keep going. Matt and I, went to a local games club, who play all kinds of tabletop games, but in particular Warhammer. What a great place to show off our work! Surely they wouldn't discriminate.
Matt had been a regular with the club, and in early 2008, I joined him to display.
We captivated many gamers there, so much so that some asked for a copy of the rules, the link to the site, and of course- they wanted to play. So they did. More good company!
The success of attending the games club led us to our next Step- forgetting Warhammer Joint Rules, and playing under the banner of Next Step Gaming.
We play with Warhammer's physical models, but we play by our own rules. Other than buying their models and paints, we choose not to affiliate at all with Warhammer or Games Workshop.
To this day, Next Step Gaming continues moving forward, and becoming more and more involved and unique, whilst still realising the importance of the gaming community.
Matt and I welcome ideas, and are currently looking for conceptual artists.
Follow the path of Next Step Gaming!
Nick
