Interview: Martin Stever Date: June 28th 2002 by: Michael Burnaugh (Realmprotector)

Martin Stever is an Executive Vice President at WizKids the makers of the popular Mage Knight and Marvel HeroClix collectable Miniature Games and the upcoming MechWarrior and DC collectable Miniature Games.

GamingReport:
It's been a year now since you joined WizKids games. How do you feel about working for WizKids?

Martin Stever:
I'm having a lot of fun. I'm very lucky that Jordan and Don decided to bring me on board. We've got a great team at WizKids and the office has a very family feel. That makes it easy to come to work every day. Jordan is a genius when it comes to inventing games, and he has attracted a very strong team that makes WizKids go. I feel very fortunate to be a part of that team.

GamingReport:
What got you started in the gaming industry and what made you decide to hook up with WizKids?

Martin Stever:
I started hanging out with the guys that ran TSR when I was in high school, in the days of yore. So officially I got started in the gaming industry attending TSR's quarterly game conventions, which were really employee game weekends, and sleeping on Will Niebling's floor. (Will is now the CEO of Mayfair Games.) When I was in college I worked for a bunch of game companies. I did demos at game conventions, play-testing, some game development, and worked doing sales to Midwest distributors for Will Niebling & Associates. So I worked for Mayfair, Koplow, Grenadier, Pacesetter, and others all over two or three years. I also co-designed the Elfquest Board Game, along with best-selling author Troy Denning. To think, I knew him when. When I graduated, I was hired by Capital City Distribution to work in their customer service group. About six months after being hired, I was put in charge of buying and marketing games. We grew the game business substantially, and for a while we were the largest game distributor in the U.S. I hooked up with WizKids after returning from Europe, where I had been working for a couple very large telecommunications firm in The Netherlands and Italy. I got tired of living in Europe and really missed the U.S. So I moved back to the Puget Sound region, where I had worked for Microsoft before going to Europe. A few months after moving back, my friend Bruce 'Ace' Rabe suggested I give Jordan a call to see if he needed any help with his new company. I met with Jordan, Don (our COO), and Dawne (our Art Director) a day later and started work about a week after that.

GamingReport:
For folks not familiar with your games can you give us a description of them?

Martin Stever:
We make 3-dimensional collectable games. Each figure is about 1.5 or 2" tall. (MechWarrior figures will be bigger.) All the statistics needed to play WizKids games are built into the base of the figures. Each player chooses his army from his collection of figures. Each turn the player can move or attack with 1 or 2 of the figures in his army. Because the statistics are actually built into the figures, games go very quickly. A typical game lasts 45 minutes.

GamingReport:
WizKids has been not stop with the fantastic games being released. Where did it all start?

Martin Stever:
In the mischievous/mad genius brain of Jordan Weisman. He drew a great team together: Kevin Barrett, Jim Long, Jenny Trisko, Ray Wehrs, Lucas McWilliams, Dawne Weisman, and Mort Weisman. (I'm sure I've forgotten to mention at least one important person here.) They launched the company on a shoestring, and fortunately the first release was a huge hit.

GamingReport:
How goes the retail/play-test store and do you play-test games?

Martin Stever:
Our head of game design, Jim Long, runs a very tight ship when it comes to playtesting. It's my guess that we playtest our games more than any other company. We have dozens of groups testing specific aspects of our games every week. Jim's background is in software quality management, so he brings a really scientific, disciplined approach to playtesting that pays huge dividends for us.

GamingReport:
You have recently announced the Clan Cup Challenge can you tell us about it?

Martin Stever:
This is a contest being run by our largest fan site, MKRealms. We're providing the prizes, and they are running the pentathlon of gaming contests.

GamingReport:
Your Gen-Con schedule is quite extensive many gamers are excited about it. Do you have any surprises planned you'd like to share?

Martin Stever:
We're doing tons and tons of events at GenCon. We're launching MechWarrior, we're running the Mage Knight World Championships, we've got the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse event, we'll be previewing at least one 2003 release. I don't think we have room for any more surprises.

GamingReport:
The Mage Knight Gatehouse one of you newest pieces is super work! What other pieces/figures can gamers look forward to?

Martin Stever:
Mage Knight Conquest goes on sale this month. It's a whole new way to play Mage Knight, with larger armies and inclusion of all our big figures. Our next "Conquest" figure will be the Iron Giant coming out in August. He's got one massive axe and carries dwarven gunmen on his shoulders.

GamingReport:
MechWarrior: Dark Ages will be released soon can you tell us about it?

Martin Stever:
It's the most awesome science fiction game I've ever seen. It's a visual delight. It is really fun. It is highly addictive. It will be on sale the first week of August, and I can't wait. I'm so thrilled by this game that I can hardly contain myself. It just rocks. Marines, tanks, 'Mechs, giant chainsaws, blasters, missile racks, articulated figures--it is just incredible.

GamingReport:
What are some of the rules differences between Mage Knight and MechWarrior?

Martin Stever:
There are actually more differences than similarities. There are some similarities with regard to the combat dial lay-out and the basic action point game mechanic, but other than that it's a totally different game. It's a little more complicated than Mage Knight. MechWarrior is a game of combined arms, in which you need 'Mechs, infantry, and vehicles balancing your force to win. The Heat Dial adds a very important strategic element to the game that must be mastered to win. There is more firepower in MechWarrior. We've never trusted a Mage Knight figure with more than a single rocket. In MechWarrior there are dozens of missiles on single figures. So in terms of sheer destructive force, we're raising the bar with MechWarrior.

GamingReport:
In your F&Q; for MechWarrior: Dark Ages it states that their will be novel support. Do you have titles already planned and what authors will be writing them?

Martin Stever:
Yes, there will be a new series of MechWarrior novels launching later this year. We'll be making official announcements in August. Michael Stackpole will be one of the authors involved.

GamingReport:
What other support is planned for MechWarrior: Dark Ages?

Martin Stever:
We're doing a massive in-store organized play program for MechWarrior. MechWarrior Campaign launches in September, and we expect more than 500 game stores that participate. For players, there are prizes for everyone who participates, plus special figures for the winners at each store. In addition, the aggregated results of each month's battles will actually change the map and the ongoing story of the MechWarrior universe. Players can see these changes on the interactive map that's on our website. Check it out, the interactive map is live now and it's cool.

GamingReport:
Does WizKids have any plans to do a Science Fiction ala Star Wars/Star Trek?

Martin Stever:
MechWarrior is our science fiction game.

GamingReport:
What other games might be or are on the horizon for WizKids?

Martin Stever:
We're working on a lot of new stuff. The only thing we've publicly mentioned is a new version of Crimson Skies is in the works.

GamingReport:
Marvel Hero Clix has made an incredible release. It's one HOT game. Did WizKids expect it to take off so well?

Martin Stever:
We expected Marvel HeroClix to do very well, but it has done better than we expected. Our distributors and retailers have really gone out of their way to push this game, and I think that's one reason it has done so well.

GamingReport:
Will you be covering all the Marvel heroes/villains?

Martin Stever:
There are about 5,000 Marvel characters, so I don't think we'll get to all of them. However, I will not rest until we've done the vampire cow from the pages of Howard the Duck. I'm sure that figure would cause nightmares for the children of Wisconsin for years to come.

GamingReport:
What other Adventure packs for Marvel Hero Clix's will there be?

Martin Stever:
The HeroClix Adventure Packs are an experiment. We're going to see how they are received before planning more.

GamingReport:
I also see DC Hero Clix will be released in September. Can you tell us about the this new game and what support gamers can look forward too?

Martin Stever:
DC HeroClix uses the exact same system as Marvel HeroClix, with a different Special Ability Card. It features many of DC's top characters and the figures are looking great. Plastic Man and Batman with Kryptonite Gloves are especially cool.

GamingReport:
In closing how do you see the future of WizKids and where would you like to see the company go?

Martin Stever:
We're going to continue to make games with the accessibility of toys and toys with the depth of play of games. As long as we do that, we'll continue to grow and have fun doing it.