Friday, July 7, 2017

MERCS 2.0 - Free Rules PDF and MERCS singles available!

After an extended hiatus from MERCS, Megacon Games have made the MERCS 2.0 Rules available for download as a PDF file, and made the entire MERCS miniatures line available for purchase as single models.



MERCS 2.0 PDF Rules
This is great step forward in making MERCS more accessible! This allows gamers, in an overcrowded miniatures marketplace, the opportunity to check out the game before diving in with any financial commitment.
With many other gaming companies also making rules available for free, this PDF from Megacon Games helps bring MERCS to a more competitive position.


Single MERCS Miniatures Available
This allows those wanting to upgrade from MERCS 1.0 to MERCS 2.0 the option to just pick up the models they need.
It also gives gamers with the MERCS Recon boardgames the option to finish off their factions, and jump into the MERCS 2.0 tabletop game!


Both these actions from Megacon Games are very positive for the future of MERCS - but after their  extended hiatus, this long-time MERCS fan is hoping that it's not too little too late.
Sync out.



12 comments:

  1. Unfortunately, it's not much of a sale, because the individual minis have been available at that price on their store for more than a month now. I'd love to bump up my Mercs: Recon squads to full 2.0 armies. But at five dollars a pop, it'd cost me $25 a squad, and $300 for a complete set. Do the singles come with the stat cards and a faction card? If not, I'd probably have to throw those in for each squad, too (unless I wanted to just print copies of the cards from the PDF, I suppose). So now you're looking at $360 for a complete set. That's crazy. At that price, I might as well just get the 2.0 sets, which you can find for about $25 or less if you look around. I'd save money in the long run.

    All this also assumes that you get all the products complete with no defects and missing items. Unfortunately, my Recon sets came without a few components, and I STILL can't get Megacon games customer support to answer me on whether I can get some replacements. All of which makes it hard to justify throwing more money at them, which is a shame, because I really love this game.

    Complaints aside, I really enjoyed your painting guide, so thanks for that!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, I wasn't aware that MERCS singles were already USD$5 each prior to this announcement - but I think the purpose of the announcement was to say that *ALL* MERCS models were now available for single purchase.

      In regards to the $5 price tag - I honestly think this is the lowest they could go without devaluing their miniatures.
      Shopping around and looking at other miniatures lines, I would consider USD$5 for a single plastic miniature a great price!
      I think it's only when you compare the USD$5 price tag to the MERCS 2.0 faction boxes that buying the singles seems expensive - but I feel like that's because the faction boxes are such fantastic value!

      I agree on your gripes regarding missing items and defects from Kickstarter - I have had some issues with both Myth and MERCS Recon.
      My Myth pledge arrived over a year after other Australians (and required a lot of chasing up), and MERCS Recon had a few minor issues with missing parts and miscast models - though I believe these were resolved within a reasonable timeframe.
      In my limited experience with Megacon Games retail (way back in MERCS 1.0!) I had no issues though, but this was when MERCS was their only product line.

      Delete
  2. I can identify with the complaints, more so the communication of Megacon Games. For me it's the idea that you can get singles at $5 or the entire friggin' faction for $35. For those who only need 4 models to fill out the faction that is $25, for $10 more you get 6 models on top of that - granted they'll be duplicates of what you own, but that speaks to the value of the faction boxes. Not a lot of minis games out there let you get their entire miniature line for $420. Now that the rulebook is downloadable that is one less purchase for absolutely everything the game offers. So although filling up your existing lineup isn't much of a bargain, purchasing it wholesale is.

    My issue is that Megacon has had many great opportunities to break through the gaming community and it dies on the vine with their operation. Their forums have had history with bad press and bad decisions, their customer service has had bad experiences, their kickstarters have made backers lose faith, their quality control - such as your example with missing components - is consistently inconsistent. They've spread themselves thin with expanding their range into areas that you may want to withhold until you get solid footing, such as dice games, dungeon crawlers, books, and getting new IPs. For a company that's thriving this is a good thing as it diversifies their lineup and business, but with a small company like themselves it can pull them in too many directions at once.

    I think the company would benefit more from a year of straight promotion rather than the direction they're going. The issue I keep running into is that players don't know the game exists, if they do they don't see it played, the merchandise is hard to get a hold of outside of their online store, they don't have a support system for promoting their game - I remember applying for Black Ops status a while ago and never hearing anything about it.

    I really love MERCS, it is by far my favorite shooter style miniatures game (I love it way more than Infinity due to its approachable nature). I want it to succeed. But it's been out this long, gone through two editions, has a die hard fan base, and it's still not nearly as available as other games even comparable or smaller in size. Guild Ball has a similar structure of limited models in faction and they are having more success. The interest for a game like MERCS is definitely there, and it has the guts of a game that can succeed in the market, but I feel like they're making big-company decisions rather than thinking of what they're realistically capable of and thrusting demand on themselves that they aren't able to handle.

    In the end, it's a great game, I just wish we were able to get a local community together to play and it's just not happening with their current structure. They need to move from their current behaviors - doing big releases then radio silence - to fostering growth on their biggest impact games.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, and I should have said $20 for 4 models... bad math.

      Delete
    2. I think my biggest issue is that, while these are decent prices, they aren't new prices. The Megacon store has been selling the singles for $5 for quite some time now. While uploading the rulebook is an awesome gesture (and a little annoying considering I just bought the limited edition hardcover), putting a sale sticker on something they haven't tweaked the price of reeks of desperation, especially when you compare the cost-to-item ration to buying the faction boxes (either at full retail price or discounted like on Amazon, you're still getting a lower price-per-mini than $5). Again, it's a nice gesture, but it needs to be more.

      You're right that the game has very little visibility right now. Wouldn't it be a great strategy, then, to let the die hards (the only people who really seem to know about the game right now) pimp out their 2.0 factions at a cost and then bring other players into the franchise through them? That seems like a much stronger long-term strategy than whatever it is they are doing right now.

      Delete
    3. @ Ryan Cruz
      I agree with your issues in regards to the support for MERCS - it's a great game system, that just doesn't have the required support behind it.
      The above two actions are great first steps, but MERCS will need strong and sustained support to allow the game to carve out a place in the overcrowded miniatures games marketplace.

      Delete
    4. Exactly. The support comes from the company first, and it seems like they're relying on the community to germinate on its own. Granted, sometimes this can happen, but it's a rare thing. Success of a great game comes from those who create it then spread the word and foster the community, but I don't know if Megacon is regularly appearing at conventions, creating support for tournaments (which is one of the best ways to foster growth), holding events for the community (they had one that I know of), putting product out for the top supporters, painting competitions, channel/video content, etc. It's these items that create the buzz - and they had it going well for a while when they were featured in Beasts of War. But the momentum has gone, and they've got to work even harder to gain trust with previous mishaps in the community and getting interest from those who aren't exposed to the game.

      It's such a shame, because this is by far one of my favorite systems out there and still inhabits a very unique space in the tabletop genre. I really have a hard time identifying any game that offers what MERCS offers, and those that do probably aren't as approachable as MERCS.

      Delete
  3. Also...have they taken their official forums down?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The forums are certainly down at the moment - the plot thickens?

      Delete
    2. Wow, that sucks. It's quite literally the only place to discuss this game.

      Delete
    3. Currently, the 'MegaCon MERCS Community' group on Facebook is the most active place for MERCS discussion I'm aware of.

      Delete
  4. Hey, I'm looking for the 2.0 rules since I'm trying to dredge up some stuff about this game from the depths of the internet. Do you have the files?

    ReplyDelete