”1490 Doom, a dark fantasy miniature game that focuses on skirmishes instead of grand battles and ruined cities instead of the dead void or an epic fantasy cavalry field”
“Within miniature wargaming, Warhammer reigns at the top of the list. If you’re real cool you might know about Bolt Action, but the vast majority of people who show interest in little plastic figurines are going to either encounter space marines or fantastical Nurgle cultists”
“Both Age of Sigmar and 40,000, the major Games Workshop games, are very neat, but they are also a big commitment—you need an army. Their smaller, more tactical games like Warcry and Kill Team have a level of fiddly rules knowledge required for them that make them lightly hostile for even the interested player”
“unlike some other miniatures games, it’s simple to get rolling with 1490 Doom. Buy the rulebook, follow it step-by-step, and you’re on your way”
“the supply hurdle (how many little guys you have) and the rules hurdle (how much little guy knowledge you can remember) are a huge block to getting people to play games like this”
“1490 Doom asks players to prepare exactly three miniatures so that they can create a Doom Company that fights against another player’s Doom Company for control of a round, two-foot-diameter board”
“What takes the game over the top is that it is pretty specifically geared toward getting you, the player, to engage in some creation yourself. There are official 3D printable miniatures for the game, but it seems like the vast majority of players will source their own miniatures by either crafting them or grabbing what they like from other games”
“This experience of creation and fiction craft is just as important to me as any actual gameplay experience, and 1490 Doom prompting players to construct specific things to make the gameplay experience complete is crucial to the whole package”
“if you want to do some solo play, you can get a campaign book like The Fall Of Rothenburg. It might even guide you towards the bigger world of indie skirmish games, like Kill Sample Process, Forbidden Psalm, and the excellent upcoming diorama skirmish game Necropolis”