I think that’s the problem. For the most part the sectorial that are supported have the majority of what is required to play them. However if you want to play a less supported sectorial like Acontecimento or MRRF then you’re going to have to proxy. I’ve always been an advocate of more agnostic poses/weapon loadouts so that it is easier to proxy minis that look like they could be from the faction/force you want to do. One of our player group recently wanted to add some fusiliers to his Varuna but was unable to as the only basic fusiliers available were from the Winterfor set. The minis ostensibly existed but they would look very out of place. Being able to proxy is very useful especially if there are certain minis you like and want to use in place of others. For other players who want an army that feels complete and looks uniform however, they will have to make do with supported forces for now or rely on eBay and other sellers to complete their collection. Which is where I think a lot of salt is coming from. (It’s also why I buy as much as I do, just in case the minis get discontinued quickly. I’m still upset about missing the acontecimento box set…)
That's a really odd claim to make. It's 2023, players starting a wargame - already one of the more "hardcore" tabletop experiences out there - will absolutely be doing research online, they're not just coming across the game for the first time in a physical shop and buying a box they see. Even if they did, Infinity is notoriously dense in terms of clarifying what a new player really wants model-wise to start playing. This forum, the reddit and discord are constantly bombarded with questions about it, about the lack of pictures on the army app, the lack of immediate clarity in vanilla vs sectorial, what's actually supported, whats unplayably bad. New players will 100% want to get into factions based on what looks cool from pics online - kilt-wearing scots, space werewolves, broccoli aliens - and if there's one blister or box available for these then they'll buy it before they know their choice already isn't supported. Hell right now from quite a few retailers you can buy a modest USA collection without realising they're most likely at the end of their production, you could've spent triple figures before learning how many crucial models are no longer available.
Gotta disagree. My entire player group go by what’s in books/army builders. Not what’s shown in a store. We often pick things to play that aren’t currently the front runner army.
and that's is a problem. Not all players decide the faction they're gonna play by the figures in the shop. Some choose the fluff they like. And if they like MRRF or Acontecimento, well...
I also think that is not a very well supported opinion. Going by how many times I see people on reddit ask if they can play a certain faction (only to be told the models are hard to get) I would have to agree with the others. To be honest, I sometimes get itches behind my eyes when I see CBs release policy. It would be so easy (in my ignorant opinion at least) to release one Action Packs for every army and sectorial and two or three boxes on top. Cull all the single blisters. Consolidate generic stuff into boxes that work well across sectorials/factions. Have all armies supported. Maybe I don't see the forest for the trees. But it doesn't seem so hard to me.
Personally, I'm more into the artist side of the hobby, and sometimes it's disgusting me to keep buying. When you're a collector interested by almost the whole range, but you're only motivated to paint 30/40 miniatures per year, and you're accustomed to buying progressively to avoid having a disproportionate pile of shame like some people who have whole rooms dedicated to their stocks, every Last Chance you have to buy as a priority becomes a frustration, because you're forced to go for it when you had other desires. At this rate of painting, with over a thousand miniatures in their catalog, it takes 25 years to paint them all... 1 time, while I sometimes have 2/3 wishes for schematics or conversions.
I'm gunna like this because I feel your pain on the frustrating FOMO (I've got it right now for that USA bundle of models I absolutely do not need or want, but don't want to decide I should've gotten in a years time), but damn painting 30-40 models a year and calling it "only" is impressive
Same energy. It’s why I buy so much when I really shouldn’t. I hate missing out. That acontecimento box set will haunt me. Damn Pokémon syndrome. I’d love to devote more time to painting my minis to an exacting standard but I also want to play with them and our player group doesn’t allow anything unpainted… when I can though I will focus on a single mini. Due to my FOMO my pile of shame is rather astounding. I’ll get round to it one day. Maybe.
Nowadays if I feel like FOMO is my main motivator for buying, I try to just not buy the thing. I tend to regret buying something like that far more often than I regret not buying it, and drumming up FOMO is a predatory business practise that makes it easier for me to dislike a company and not want to give them my money. Of course, just deciding this doesn't make it stop bothering you
Absolutely agree. I really do try to abstain from buying just because I’ll miss out but it is very hard to do so. Edit: I am currently missing nesaie Alke for example and am scouring the interwebs for her but if I don’t find her I can make do with a proxy as she’s only one mini. It’ll still annoy me but far less than it would if, say, I hadn’t got the remaining Aleph minis I wanted.
Since I watch the reddit, I do not find the amount of people asking this question dramatically high, except if we talk about another reddit, I do not know about the discord. One can reasonably ask for each one asking about oop sectorials how many simply buy what is available and not bother with all this? we know C1 players who do not bother outside C1 are a sizable community on their own and they hardly interact with anyone. What you theorize about is complex and complicated question to answer than needs a lot of data not publicly available, including, perhaps more importantly, the future release schedule.
When miniatures are available for years before being discontinued, can we still talk about FOMO as a sense of urgency? I understand the feeling, but it's not like we have to preorder a miniature in the very first minutes of the announcement in order to have it before it's gone forever. So, it's still possible to plan our purchases ahead. I don't think the Pokemon syndrom is a normal way to consume too, even if that's kind of my case. About OOP armies, it seems there is no good universal solution. - Keep them all alive and you have an unsustainable catalog. - Remove some of them with their rules and you have angry customers unable to play their army anymore. - Remove some of them and keep their rules and you have angry customers unable to buy the miniatures. etc.
Very true on all accounts. I used to buy my minis as needed/wanted. My FOMO has only really kicked in recently and not just with Infinity. Some minis though aren’t available for years and seem to literally exist in an ephemeral state where you have a small window to get them. This is not only with CB but has happened in almost all other manufacturers lately save for those who have a purely historical catalog. In these cases where the minis seem only available for a short while I rationale that having the minis I want now is better than not getting them at all. Totally agree that Pokémon syndrome isn’t a normal way to consume, but I never said I was normal :p. Most people will buy as the want/need to play and be fine with what’s available. The average consumer may only be buying into a game to try it too so they won’t necessarily mind what army they get as long as they get to try out the game. Completely agree again that there’s no good universal solution for the issue. Somebody will inevitably get upset. It’s nice to discuss things like this though and as far as I can see, so far we’ve all managed to do so in a respectful manner.
Really? You’re on the internet and this is the most idiotic thing you’ve ever heard? You should head on over to Reddit. Our group prefers to play with painted miniatures. It increases our immersion in the game.
Preferring something vs. thinking you have the right to dictate it to your opponent are two very different things. They can play with as many painted minis as they like, but if they think they can tell you you can't play with unpainted minis, there's something seriously wrong with them.
Not if the entire player group has agreed to it in advance. If we play others outside of the group we don’t enforce it. In our own group where we’ve all agreed that we’ll play with our toy soldiers as long as they’re painted I don’t see the problem and neither does the rest of the group. Edit: Exactly as @csjarrat said. It’s an agreement between friends. We play this way but we don’t make others do it. It’s not like we’ll go to a local club/store and demand that only painted stuff gets used.
