Now this may be just me,
But the Medieval themes need some change.
Playmobil needs to sway one way or the other,
And at this rate, it looks like they are swaying twords the way I am about to suggest.
Here's what I am talking about:
Playmobil Ancient systems have been... intresting lately.
For me atleast, because they try to put some civilian things in, but just not enough.
And then when they add warrior sets, they are ok, but some have alot of unneeded stuff.
(In my very humble opinion...
)
So here's the deal.
I think Playmobil
(since they are leaning twords non civilian themes anyways)
should change their Ancient themes completely.
In another topic I mentioned Medieval 2 Total War. But that is one game in a series of games.
They have Rome and others, but this is slightly missing the point.
The point is their unit selection.
If Playmobil based their Ancient sets of the unit selection from the Total War series
I think it would not only be really cool, but also beneficial to Playmobil.
(See where Im going with this?
)
That's right, I am calling for a reform!
Lemme explain this to you in a little more detail.
The Unit Selection in the Total War series goes like this,
The unit selection has certain units listed in rows.
(Infantry, Archers, Cavalry)
But they go further by "customising" each group...
And even after that, each person.
So instead of... Heavy Cav and light Cav;
You get Mailed Knights, Scouts, And Generals body Guard. (+ more)
The Mailed Knights are heavy,
But not as well dressed/armored as the Bodyguard who are also heavy.
The scouts are light, but there are other Light Cav units, all different and special.
The infantry and archers are the same.
Infantry = Axmen, Swordsmen, Spearmen...
And each of those catagories delves in even further by:
Axmen- 2 handed Axmen, Viking Raiders, and others.
Swordmen are split by heavy and light...
Though again there are variations of each. (Dismounted Knights are a type of heavy swordmen.)
A picture says 1,000 words:
There are tons of units to choose from,
And that is in a way what I think the Ancient sets should look like.
Think Addons, groups of three right?
What if every set were a group of 3, or maybe 5?
Think of it like this.
Ok, a medieval theme could have:
A General's Bodyguard set,
2 other Cavalry sets,
2 or 3 different Infantry units,
and an archer unit.
In addition there could be a siege unit.
4 men with a catapult or something.
And each faction could be different units!
Ok, for the new Palymobil Medieval factions we have Lions and Eagles.
Lions might prefer to weild Axes, while Eagles prefer spears.
So the Lions Could have 2 Axmen units
(one 2 handed Axmen unit, and one 1 handed with shield)
And a sword unit.
While the Eagles could have 2 Spearmen units
(one pike unit, and one sergent unit)
And a sword unit.
The Cavalry could be different too, with heavy or light Cav.
Lions may like really Heavy Cav, so they get 1 heavy cav unit and a light cav unit.
In addition to the Generals Body Guard which is heavy.
The Eagles may prefer light,
So two light cav units plus the Heavy Body Guard unit.
Archers may prefer Long bow, short bow, cross bow,
Or no bow and give them a light infantry unit instead.
Or a faction could prefer siege equipment,
So give them 2 siege engines in exchange for another unit. (Probably infantry.)
This also leaves room for 1 more set, as the Ancient factions generally have 8 sets in each.
How about a castle?
Or better yet, A castle made of steck?
Think of it this way too...
Instead of both factions having a castle, make a nutral castle with no men, and no markings.
Then either faction could have the castle, or both could have one if you buy two!
You could have one faction attacking the castle, and another defending it.
But that's not all!
If its steck they can keep adding, and make the castle bigger for their expanding armies.
Or if both factions want a castle,
With steck you can keep the same castle, but the buyers can make it different.
Now some of you may think... But there is something that I want there.
Something I forgot to list? Something Playmobil forgot to add to a set?
That is where the Addons would come in.
The Addons are not gone, in fact, I think addons are even more important now!
If you want houses, look to Addons.
They could have a house, or maybe two with the extra space that the lack of figures provides.
Want civilians? Look to Addons.
They could add a few civiliant sets, maybe just two, and there would be enough variety there to make a small town. Maybe a peasent set and an noble set.
Market? Look to Addons. Playmobil could continue selling the market stands,
But instead of an all around market stand, why not have just a market stand?
And then have spare parts like weapons and jewlery, and rugs, and and and...
ALL in Addons!
Now if you can picture it,
You may be able to see how helpful this can be for collectors.
I myself can see alot of potential.
But how can this be beneficial to Playmobil?
Well as you collectors may see,
It could deffinatly make building armies easier, and easy alot of the time means more cash.
Parents may buy their children several of these smaller sets as opposed to one large one.
Why?
Because parents are unlikely to pick up just one of these 3 or 5 figure sets.
Even if they think their child would like the 5, they might buy another from the other faction,
Or a Generals Bodyguard to lead them.
They may buy two castles, and continue to buy them to make their castle bigger.
Plus if they are nutral, they will need men to fill them.
That's more money to be made.
And with all the spare part Addons, Playmobil could make quite a bit on those too.
Parents may want their children to have a little market,
And they could buy them a stand or two.
Along with lots of Addons to fill them.
Alot of people may want civilians still,
Add a set or two of civilian figures in the Addons
And they could go mad buying as many to fill a town.
I know my mom would have bought me tons of Civilian sets if there were more to choose from!
What do you all think? Do you like the idea?
Would Playmobil like the idea?
I hope you like it.
