Battle Masters - How much would buy it for?

[DaGobbo]

Hey Guys,

First off I'm not trying to sell a copy of Battle Masters, but looking at perhaps buying a used copy that I've found.
I located one used for sale in good condition and for the life of me I'm trying to work out just how much is my nostalgia worth.
The setup time will reduce how often it will be played, not too mention very few friends who would be interested in playing it.
I doubt my wife will go 6ft near it, lol.

I had heard that the models are good replacements for HQ and it comes with a huge amount of miniatures.
My searches online have found varying prices from new AUD$360 to used AUD$200.

Just after a second perspective. He's after AUD$150 and mentioned that some models are still in sprues.
NB: I'm in Australia, so keep in mind what currency you mention.

Cheers

[DungeonDwarf]

DaGobbo,

I like Battle Masters. I purchased mine brand new a couple years ago on EBAY. I think it was around $80 USD. Today, I think around $100 USD ($140 AUD) is reasonable for a complete set in good condition. I’ve never cared about minis being on the sprue, as I play my games.

I think it’s worth getting. They aren’t making anymore... and 10 years from now you’ll be glad you bought it. I know I am.

[lestodante]

Well, I am not a great fan of Battle Master and probably I am still remembering the price of about 10 years ago when BattleMasters was around 20 or 30 usd worth.
I remember I bought an UK HeroQuest as a gift to my aunt for 20 gbp plus shipping cost and also DragonStrike I payd 20 euros! Battle Master had the same price or even less. SO considering how the prices rised through the years I guess 80-100 is the price you could find it, but for me is a game that is still worth about 20-30 euros.

[DaGobbo]

Thanks for the perspective. I always have to stop myself with the item purchases from my nostalgic childhood.
I might offer the guy $100 see if he's interested or not, trying not to collect to much at the moment as I just started clearing out and selling a whole bunch of my Warhammer 90s models.
Don't want to recollect a bunch of new stuff for the sake of it and not play it. My wife will kill me lol.

Cheers

[Kurgan]

I just picked up a full used set for $85 off ebay. It claimed to be "complete" but was sadly missing a few parts.

Lost from the roster were: 1 Orc, 1 Goblin, 3 Wolf Riders (the goblins that go on top of the giant wolves, that is), and a single red unit tile (which I can easily print myself).

The Goblin and Orc would run me $6.85, but I can't seem to find the wolf riders I need. Yes, you can buy some, but not on their own, mostly you'll get one or two plus double that number of unaccompanied wolves. I'm not counting the many metal versions from Warhammer fantasy which are more expensive and not guaranteed to fit.

Several of the lances are broken, as well as a man-at-arms lost the tip of his halberd, an Imperial archer lost half his war bow and a goblin lost the blade of his sword.
One Chaos Warrior had the edges of his standing tab "trimmed" so he'll probably need some sticky tack to fit him securely in his slot.

At least half a dozen stickers (which appear on shields or lance banners to identify the group) are missing (which I shall print off and re-apply).

The box was also in bad shape (the edge separating on two sides, and split). One of the terrain tiles had a small patch of the art ripped off (maybe from sticky tape, once upon a time), sadly right in the center. Otherwise, it should be perfectly playable.

In the end though, none of these is an issue if I just want to play. The wolves stand in for their units even without riders, there are enough banners and shields to identify groups without each one being present. There are enough actual parts, that if I wanted to use bluestuff to clone them for repairs (never tried that before), it would be possible.

The units are interesting compared to HeroQuest, because while they obviously have stylistic similarities and use the tab/slot system rather than bases, they tend to be thicker/stockier (which is good, to resist damage) but still many have long, spindly parts (spears, lances, bows). They come in variety of colors which helps (mine had dark brown and tan bases, instead of the green bases seen in the EU versions) which help distinguish the groups (many shades of gray, black, etc). The Ogre is rigid, unlike his smaller HQ counterparts with their movable limbs, but I must say he looks great.

The huge "battle mat" was better than I expected. I was imagining one of those thin plastic sheets, like a kid's place-mat or those "play-doh fun mats" from my childhood. This thing was heavy duty, has more of a satin finish and reminds me more of a piece of a raincoat or shower curtain than those things. It was heavily creased, but not cracking or splitting, looking like it could hold up to many more gaming sessions. There are only five battles included, though I see you don't have to play this "campaign" as you can just pick the two horizontal or vertical sides and begin placing your armies.

I also like that despite it being an explicitly 2 player game, you can still incorporate other people into the "teams" by assigning them specific units.

I'll have to find a good opportunity to play it (need someone who has the floor space to play with!), if the remake release doesn't distract me too much, that is!

PS: Thanks to StratosVX for posting those scans of the various stickers, I plan to use those, much obliged!

[Kurgan]

The seller offered a partial refund, and I'm using that money to buy the missing parts (and reprint the missing stickers).

Only thing is that some bits have broken off a few pieces, but I decided I could use some plastic coated paperclips as spear/lance replacements! (just put a little bit of green stuff on the end for the "spearhead" and then paint to match). The hands are so small though I may have trouble drilling down into them like the HeroQuest figures I fixed, so may have to come up with a creative solution. Sticky tack can be used to get the goblin boys back on their wolves.

[Kurgan]

Now the question is... does anyone have scans of the alternate artwork that appeared in the European versions? I mean specifically the sticker art, although I see other things are different like the Instruction manual cover...


Or am I confused? Are the only "alternate stickers" for the "Reinforcement" packs? (Imperial Lords and Chaos Warband). They must have been pretty rare, as I don't see scans for those...