For sci-fi tabletop wargame fans, it often feels like it’s Warhammer 40k‘s world, and we’re just living in it – but original, non-grimdark miniature game concepts can come from the weirdest of places. Case in point: The Block War, a new wargame and 3D printable model range by two independent creators, based on a future conflict between high-tech armies of… spheres and blocks.
Artist Patrick “CatsoPatso” Wagesreither and 3D designer Johannes “Filamentio” Lehmann are collaborating on the project: a print-it-yourself, 15-20mm scale miniature wargame which, according to the pair’s Patreon page, “aims to combine a fun and easy to pick up rule-system with charming geometrically shaped miniatures in order to produce lots of hobby-potential”.
Far from the madding crowd of big-shouldered blokes and gribbly aliens among the diverse Warhammer 40k factions, The Blockwar’s striking visual style and personality comes from its bewilderingly simple concept of basic shapes. This is a game based on “merciless war between cubes and spheres”, and everything stems from that.
“Many people notice the RTS and Advance Wars or even Metal Slug vibe of it,” Wagesreither tells Wargamer – “all things that we deeply enjoy and we love to hear that that energy comes across.”
“We also liked how the rather simple concept of the miniature designs lends itself perfectly to Tabletop wargaming,” he adds. “There’s so much potential in creating stuff out of simple geometrical shapes, the old school scratch built bunkers of the 80s, 90s era Warhammer wouldn’t look out of place here.”
Wagesreither has been producing and sharing sci-fi vehicle and mech artwork for years – increasingly working in the ‘blocks and balls’ theme into various pieces. But the pair began working together on a real live wargame around two years ago, and launched a Patreon page in September 2024, selling access to the game’s original STL files via 3D printing site MyMiniFactory.
So far, subscribing at $9.50 (£7.50) per month gets you the STLs for two ‘core armies’ – one each for the Sphere Nation and the Block State – plus any other releases (two models so far) and a new 28mm vehicle STL or two new 28mm infantry models monthly.
The quite straightforward ruleset will be easy to pick up for anyone that’s played 40k, or OnePageRules’ simplified alternatives. But, even at a glance, there are some intriguing aspects here: most guns have you roll just one d6 to fire, and score multiple hits based on how high you roll, for example. And, reflecting Blockwar’s vehicle focus, many weapons have a ‘move’ stat telling you how far a tank can drive before firing the gun with a penalty, or not being able to fire at all. It’s not reinventing the wheel ( or the caterpillar track) but it’s fun-looking stuff.
For narrative fans, Wagesreither and Lehmann are also putting out beautifully illustrated and (mostly) well translated PDFs for subscribers, explaining more details about the bitter shape-on-shape conflict, along with encyclopedia-style exploded diagrams that make my brain happy.
Wagesreither tells us he’s very happy with the Patreon’s progress so far, and that the creators are targeting “slow and sustainable growth” for the game – but there is more on their horizon. “Our plan for next year is to finalize a solid basic game system and to add more exciting mechanics and missions that really make use of the 3D printers,” he says.
“So expect buildable, moveable, and destructible terrain features as well as more army building options.”
And if things go well, they hope to scale up, he says: “[w]e plan to use the funds of the Patreon to make more time free and to commission other sculptors to help us expand the Block War universe.”
I fell in love with these minis the moment I saw them. An original, sub-heroic scale wargame that’ll simultaneously scratch my 40k itch, and evoke the lovely visual brainfeel of classic Command and Conquer, at a more manageable scale than the utterly gorgeous, but absolutely miniscule Full Spectrum Dominance? Sign me up.
If you fancy trying out some print-at-home indie wargames yourself, but don’t have the equipment, check out our guides to the best 3D printers for miniatures and how to 3D print miniatures.
Or, if you prefer good ol’ Games Workshop, bookmark our Warhammer 40k news page for daily updates, or read our up-to-date guide to the next Warhammer 40k codex release dates coming up.
This article was updated on December 17, 2024 to include original quotes from Patrick Wagesreither.
Source: Wargamer
