Ex Illis...I want to know more, but whuuut?

[Keltheos]

http://ex-illis.com/en/

New minis game incoming from France? Uses a board/grid and some sort of computer interface for 'zooming in' on the action.

Honestly, from the website I have little to no idea what this is all about. The art and minis look nice, but not if I need an iPhone as a 'play aid'.

Interesting to see how they're going to mix tech and tabletop.

[Morf]

http://ex-illis.com/en/

New minis game incoming from France? Uses a board/grid and some sort of computer interface for 'zooming in' on the action.

Honestly, from the website I have little to no idea what this is all about. The art and minis look nice, but not if I need an iPhone as a 'play aid'.

Interesting to see how they're going to mix tech and tabletop.

Actually, you are FAR from the truth It's Canadian.

Some facts we know:

- huge starter boxes (54 minis)

- you register bought miniatures and they get experience registered on Ex Illis servers etc. No chance to play with proxies (unless you bought Ex illis stuff) as you need the software. They are I believe not transferrable from the account to an account so no resale value.

- gameboard is (few) squares, units move from square to square

- all in plastic

- low fantasy

So unless you get yourself an IPhone or drag your laptop with you OR have a buddy with either of above, you can get them Dan to proxy in other games.

[Xenon_Wulf]

The owner of a LGS intends to ask them to come by for a demo day "some time soon".

I'll keep you guys informed if it ever DOES happen.

[Malebolgia]

For me, the game removes most of the charm and fun of a regular miniatures game...rolling dice and doing all the math yourself. I still get the feeling this game will be mostly a game with a gimmick and I'm interested in the future of it. But if it works and innovates the industry this way, that's only cool to see. But only if dice will remain

[Morf]

The owner of a LGS intends to ask them to come by for a demo day "some time soon".

I'll keep you guys informed if it ever DOES happen.

I can't place my finger but I got the feeling that with a huge investment (programmers, software, plastic minis, starters that will barely return their price) they will have to go PP or GW big from the start. I'm curious to see that and wish them to succeed - pioneering is a hard thing to do!

[Peterdita]

"you'll pit armies of 60 to 100 warriors against each other in epic combat"

I'd need a computer to keep track of all that. Sounds interesting though. It's only a matter of time before skynet takes over. (can you tell I'm excited about terminator?)

[supervike]

Mixing Tech and tabletop is an interesting idea, and one I hope gets explored more often.

I'm not sure about this particular one, but I hope we see more hybrid games!

[Keltheos]

Actually, you are FAR from the truth It's Canadian.

French, Canadian, French-Canadian...what's the difference? :usa2:

[Morf]

French, Canadian, French-Canadian...what's the difference? :usa2:

Ask Xenon Wulf.

I don't know. I'm 100% Slavic.

[Moavoamoatu]

Interesting idea but....I give them 6 months before they vanish from the web....

[Xenon_Wulf]

French, Canadian, French-Canadian...what's the difference?

Same difference between a Brit, an American and a Scot. They all speak the same language (accents aside), but the culture of each will be rather different.

Interesting idea but....I give them 6 months before they vanish from the web....

Reste a voir, Moa, reste a voir...

Part of me wonders how they'll pull it off, the rest of me wonders if they'll manage to survive long enough to give rise to a new king of technological support/game medium I have heard one of the bosses at Asmodee talk about (ie.: yeah, the major players are looking into ways to head in this direction, so get ready guys, this is only the beginning). And all of me hopes it'll be a wonderful game and a cool thing to play.

[Morf]

Time will tell. Now they have a lot of controversy up and not many miniature examples to appeal to the miniature crowd. The angel looks spiffy but that peasant... oh well, Arkaal's paintjob does wonders. I'll be passing my judgement when I see more plastic.

[MadNes]

Interesting idea but....I give them 6 months before they vanish from the web....

Yay!!! You were wrong

Not to give you all my life story, but I've been involved with this game since last gencon. So far it highlights everything I

enjoy about mini war games, and removes everything I don't like so much.

Here is a link to the wiki if you would like to find out more

http://ex-illis.com/wikien

[Serigala]

A friend at our local club has bought into this game, but has found it difficult to play on his own. You really need to have two players set up on the software to make it work. Each actual pack of models has an electronic ID which allows you to enter them into the software so you can't proxy other models, but I think you can swap/trade between players (though I think I read that the manufacturers want to charge 10% to do this).

Interesting concept though....

[Melnibonean]

Hmmm... From what I've read so far, I don't think this is for me.

The minis are not my cup of tea at all. They remind me of the plastic knights my mum use to buy me back in the 70's when I was a young'en.

Maybe it's just me but my expectations (mini-wise) are higher now.

[DangerousBeans]

From what I know this doesn't appeal to me at all. If a computer's doing all the work then what's the point?

I thought the 40k tech-board someone made a while ago was quite cool, but that's as far as it should go.

[Wren]

We looked at this briefly at Gen Con last year. The computer part looked interesting, but I wasn't super jazzed by the figures.

[Blank]

Interesting. I like the look, the feel, and the gameplay of this. There is definitely some potential in this type of game. I, honestly, like that the computer handles all that info, especially with that many models.

However, I can see a few problems with it:

1. All plastic models

2. I have to paint all said plastic models

3. Because of the technology, you are somewhat restricted in being creative with models and the game itself.

4. The models are very unappealing and need to have more variety, more creatures, animals, demons, etc. In other words, not enough fantasy for my tastes.

So I agree with all of you, I like the concept, but it's just not enough.

[ispep]

After looking at their website, and watching the demo video, I'm not impressed. The concept sounds interesting at first, but the implementation is poor.

You need a computer or iPhone. Not only that but yo have to have an internet connection too. Carrying an iPhone with all your gaming stuff isn't that big of a deal, but that is a tiny screen for two player. There are plenty of gamers who will bring their laptop with them, but once again, not the greatest for two people to share. This could be somewhat resolved if each player could have the software on their own device and have it linked, but I don't get the impression you can do this.

The idea of an online database of your army is neat, and being able to access it wherever you might be, but not everywhere has wi-fi. This makes it difficult to get in a pick up game down at the hobby shop. Or suppose you and a friend decide to meet up for a game, you download the info before you leave the house, and get to the store, and they have some new unit you want. You pick it up, but you don't have net access so you can't add it to your army.

The table top portion doesn't seem to be all that important strategically. You toss a unit in a square, and thats that. It doesn't really matter where in the square you put them. Part of the fun of mini games is the depth you get from "should this guy be here, or will he be better a few inches over?"

This is all just my opinion from what I've seen online. I haven't played, or seen their software. Maybe it works, but it isn't something I'm going to invest in to find out. If I want to play a mini game, I'll play a mini game and if I want to play a computer game, I'll play a computer game.

[Loki]

I had a demo at the LGS and found it to be a terrible system and implementation. The figs seemed almost more like an afterthought. (At one point it was three of us starting at the screen saying ok...what happened ?!?)

It really resembled more of an RTS than a table top wargame.

Perhaps I am becoming a grognard, but the most technology I want in my gaming is an army construction software (at most).

[MadNes]

A friend at our local club has bought into this game, but has found it difficult to play on his own. You really need to have two players set up on the software to make it work. Each actual pack of models has an electronic ID which allows you to enter them into the software so you can't proxy other models, but I think you can swap/trade between players (though I think I read that the manufacturers want to charge 10% to do this).

Interesting concept though....

You're friend can make a second account, and swap models between his two account in order to loan friends an army.

The game really is most fun with two people who have their own armies. Reason being the units level up and can be spec'd differently. So you're crossbow unit can play different from mine based on how you spec them out when they level.

Also, a feature will soon be deployed where gaming groups will be able to loan models between each other. This feature will be activated post GenCon.

[MadNes]

P.s. - there is a rumor that a proxy / trial system will be available soon. Will keep you posted on that.

P.p.s loaning models between gaming groups and brothers in arms is / will be free. After market transactions will cost a nominal fee to cover the administrative cost of permanently transfering troops on the server.

[Wyrrn]

P.p.s loaning models between gaming groups and brothers in arms is / will be free. After market transactions will cost a nominal fee to cover the administrative cost of permanently transfering troops on the server.

Hmmm.....that could cause an interesting issue when people start selling used pieces on eBay.

[Magno]

So to years in a row I've demoed this game at GenCon and two years in a row I just fail to see how this game would be enjoyable.

You spend more time looking at the screen, waiting for things to load and and you really do nothing on the actual tabletop except move minis around in 16 different quadrants and remove minis.

I mean, I want to give this concept a try and I like the idea of having a mainframe do probabilities and have the statistics be more refined into better equations rather than simple add and substractions, but I just can't get behind playing between two different gaming types. Its not really the best of both worlds, its the idea of two worlds and they are sharing a lower common denominator.

[thetang22]

MadNes, I appreciate your enthusiasm and support for a system you've been involved with. I think its kinda neat at the idea of the software keeping track of leveling up your characters/units. Does it have the option of resetting those units' stats in the event that you want to revamp your army?

Aside from that feature however, I'm sorry to say that everything I've seen so far looks like a very clunky and inconvenient system. Lots of the things we take for granted in miniature gaming and collecting are lost with this game. Its looks like it could be fun and easy under the perfect circumstances...but thats it...under ANY other circumstances it becomes too much of a hassle to really have fun with.

This is our hobby after all...it shouldn't be made more complicated than necessary...its all about simple fun.