Discovering Polyversal. Can the Minis in Your Closet Find Happiness with a New Game?

The following is a guest post from my friend, Byron Collins. Byron owns Collins Epic Wargames. Although traditionally a wargame publisher, Byron's company will be publishing a science fiction minis game later this year. Byron describes the game below. 

Discovering Polyversal

Byron Collins

I've known Ken Whitehurst for a decent amount of time- roughly since 2007.  Early on in my path to publishing my first design, Ken offered to help do some play testing.  I didn’t even realize we lived about 30 miles from each other.  My first game that Ken helped me with got me started into publishing and has led to a pretty cool journey over the years into an industry I knew nothing about.  It has also led to meeting cool friends like Mark H. Walker (Really cool! -Mark), Uwe Eickert (Debatably Cool -Mark), and others.  At the time, I had no idea that Ken had been working on his own game design, a miniatures system he called “Multiversal”, for a number of years.  A local convention called the “Williamsburg Muster” had staff who were friends of mine looking for exhibitors and events.  I chose to exhibit with them and Ken chose to run his homebrew rules at the con.

At the Muster, I happened to be walking around when I noticed Mr. Teleporter.  Ken had bashed up a small Mr. Coffee machine and replaced the carafe with a “glowing orb disc” that once combined with Mr. Coffee looked like a science project.  I was drawn to it like a moth to the light. How cool it was to see a kit-bashed Mr. Coffee glowing with science and acting as a teleporter for a homebrew set of miniatures rules!  I asked Ken about the system and he said it was his own.  Watching, I saw multiple players at the table pick it right up and play on their own after a few turns of coaching by Ken.  They had a blast.  As a publisher, I was instantly interested.

It was May 13, 2011 when I sent Ken Whitehurst the following message on Facebook:

“Ken,

Are you interested in having Polyversal published? I may be interested in doing so- let me know what you think.

Byron”

Ken replied positively and we set a time and day to play through a game at Atlantis Comics and Games in Norfolk one evening with the rules he currently had for his game.  One of the strengths of the game is that it’s compatible with anything out there in the same basic scale.  It works with old models, new models, and includes a design system similar to a Dirtside II or Gruntz, but for 6mm.  This should appeal to people who have a lot of models in their closet that they may want to bring new life to in a different system. 

This photo was taken during that 2011 playtest
at Atlantis.

As suspected, I was hooked, which was a good thing.  I corresponded with Ken a bit more and we entered into a publishing agreement. 

The ebb and flow of development began in order to refine Ken’s game and get it ready for prime time.  The core was there, but it needed fleshing out, as does any game when preparing to actually bring it to the market.  My friend Mark Walker knows all about this and I have to say he’s really good at picking games and getting them ready.

Fast forward almost 3 years to the present day.  Ken and I have a refined 6mm miniatures system renamed “Polyversal” that has been presented to distributors and retailers at yearly GAMA Trade Shows.  I have agreements with multiple 6mm miniatures manufacturers and one terrain manufacturer to actually supply a sample of their lines in boxed games of Polyversal for which we will develop the artwork and share with them.  In addition to not competing with the manufacturers (since we don’t and won’t make miniatures), we get to mutually promote each other’s product lines.  They support us and we support them.  For retailers, getting samples of multiple lines in one game in front of gamers is golden- it can lead to sales of those lines to those gamers interested in them.  For example, if players really love the Plasmablast models in our game, they can ask their store to stock them or order some for them, and then stat them out using the Polyversal design system.

Through a grueling selection process, I’m extremely pleased to have hired an amazing artist to help bring Polyversal’s Combatant Tiles to life- Bruno Werneck- who works in the Hollywood film industry professionally and did the concept artwork for Tron: Legacy and the new Star Trek movies.  Bruno completed the box art for Polyversal early on and is currently working on multiple pieces of individual models.  Bruno has now been commissioned to do all of the game’s artwork for a consistent and amazing sci-fi look.

From the early stages of my interest in the game, to offering to publish it, to development over several years, it has been my privilege to work with Ken and help bring his game to the market.  Collins Epic Wargames will launch a kickstarter project this year to help fund the game’s artwork and production.  We’re really excited about it and hope that you are as well.

If you’d like to hear more about Polyversal direct from the designer, Ken Whitehurst, please listen to the latest podcast from Meeples andMiniatures.

Polyversal is a universal 6mm miniatures system set in a gritty near-future sci-fi storyline due to launch on Kickstarter this year from Collins Epic Wargames.  Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @CEWargames.

Mark H. Walker is the author of World at War: Revelation, a creepy, military action, with a love story, alternate history, World War Three novel thing. It's available from Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing right here. Just $3.99. Give it a try. What the hell?