Was curious why Pressgangers weren't mentioned in the WM video, this explains it thoroughly. I had never heard of the other programs, even Outriders. Good stuff, thanks for making this
Glad to see "B" is back. Is always an interesting topic to listen the history of games and the companies that produce those games. I live in Argentina, and the hobby of miniatures gaming is extremely niche. The cost of imported products made a luxury to owning a set of miniatures. Lets don't talk about games that require lots of models, such as 40k. The coming of 3d printing is helping, but it is more used for printing rpg character models (few main characters and a bunch of bad guys). Again, on wargaming, I started playing Battletech during 1999 with a friend that brought a 4th edition box. Then, until 2008, We thought that we were the only ones playing the game until we found two more guys involved on it. Few Years later, like on 2015, I went to a community library and watch 8 people playing WH40k. Two of them had a complete original army, while others used paper counter or bottle caps. They enjoyed the game, but also their community was small. Sadly that library had to close and they had to look for other place to game. Today, social networks helped to increase the siZe of the various game communities. Getting some imported models is expensive as hell, but many guys are expanding their 3d (either PLA or resin) armies. In conclusion, here, the communities raised on social network are increasing their size. But getting into games is hard as hell. And the large distance between some communities make difficult to even arrange games. Most of us had our models only on display. And we are lucky if we have 4 or 6 games on a year.
I came over following the link you posted on your Fall of PP video. Don’t know if you’re aware, but the CB volunteers (points and all) were heavily modeled after the Pressgang. I remember one Gencon I ran demos for a few days, and we estimated I’d gotten about 25 people to purchase one of the starter boxes they’d just released. I got points equaling ~300 USD in product. As for the cultural currency GW has and it’s ability to weather the killing of the Outriders program, especially in relation to the Pressgang, you said it yourself: size. Even at its height, PP was nowhere near GW, and was so ubiquitous, they didn’t *need* the Outriders (for good or ill). PP was doing great (odd vanity projects notwithstanding), and you could make the case they were a medium sized (or at least growing) game company (especially with the exposure in the US). Killing the Pressgang meant killing, at a minimum, all that exposure, as ambassadors. Relevant to above, as well as the knicking references, I’d never got wind of anything like that: a lot of the other PG (including myself occasionally) would simply forget that we even had those points. Sometimes we’d use them, but my GenCon experience with the demoing was more an exception. What soured so many Pressgangers (myself included) wasn’t that we wouldn’t get compensation for our time, it was that we were being flat-out told we weren’t getting support anymore to spread this game that we all loved. Support to run demos, leagues, tournies, etc. it was absolutely a result of the WotC suit, but instead of trying to modify the Pressgang’s official role in some way, or even staying the course, they unceremoniously pulled the plug. That was that. No more support. And, at least from LA through Santa Barbara and up into San Luis Obispo, where we had dozens and dozens of dedicated players and (off the top of my head, including me, something like 6 or 7 Pressgangers to run demo days and tournies) all that lack of support led directly to the death of Warmahordes in the area as people turned to other games (including Infinity). Tl;dr I’m salty the PG was unceremoniously axed, and as I see it, was a major contributing factor towards the downward trend of PP. Also, keep making great videos!
The troublesome business of having to make a living has put a dent in my ability to keep making videos, unfortunately. But I'll be back with more very soon!
As a no longer active demo agent for SJG I found this topic interesting, if only because it allowed me to reflect on what I volunteered to do, and why I no longer actively demo SJG products; long story short I only ever wanted to demo Ogre/GEV, and I'm not interested in Munchkin or other SJG products to spend my time demoing them for quite frankly rewards that only have value if one enjoys what one is doing.
Excellent video, and very eye-opening. I remember when Privateer announced the end of the PG program. By that point, I was already on my way out of WM (it had started drying up in my area, anyway), but it really felt like a bigger nail in the coffin than a lot of the other stuff did. For what it's worth, though, I don't think PP ever intended to alienate their players and fans. Nothing ever felt as deliberately jerk-ish as GW; it always seemed more a series of unfortunate circumstances or bungles. But, yeah, great video.
