After a first read over the ITS 17 doc I think its fresh and new but looks a bit complicated.. I see definitive a hint of BAMS. Maybe the cut is too steep, but now we have a season with a lot of new missions, I see no big problem here. As a veteran player I collected enough HVT, most of them even painted. Friends of me 3 D printed a lot of civis from another range (Unit 9) for a tournament. New players indeed are more or less confronted with extra spends, that they more likely invest in new troopers. You can use stand ins from other miniature ranges etc. I agree that it would be a good idea to release a Sacha regular troop before the season starts. But its also clever to set on selling 45 € ITS packs ;-) I think I will proxy (though I did not like to do so) it and wait what they offer in the big ITS pack later.
My first post on this I acknowledged that. But what new player is going to buy HVTs that don't belong to their army and in expensive boxes again with figures you my not want both or at all? Only the Dragon Lady looks like she could go with almost any army. Phnemarch not so much lol. Sure you can possibly convert some, if you can find it on it's own. I'm not saying any of that can't be done. I'm saying that CB has missed an opportunity to sell something. It's Marketing 101 stuff there. They could have sold this one figure to everyone fairly easily. Instead they made it difficult. I highlighted the main problem above. As a veteran player. Vets have no problem. New players don't have that. CB has to make Infinity easily accessible to new players. This can't be a game of veterans only. The game will die out.
Its not. No, it wont. Just look at the discord, the new player chat is alive and well. New players aplenty herein my area, you said yourself you have new players in your area as well. If you want to play in ITS tournaments you need hvts, and those need to be CB models. You get hvts from dire foes mostly. People buy them, I did, as did most of the folks in my meta. You may not care for it(I dont really) but putting a much needed model in a more expensive box is also marketing 101. Yes, you end up with models from armies you may not play...yet. Its all by design. Unfortunately its the same with the Sacha, why sell it for $15 when people will surely pay $45 for the ITS pak? You might not, but enough will...
Funny thing, I see all pages of the ITS document as black text over gray background (similar to the cover)... What you describe is an exploitative, opportunistic and antagonistic business that cares not for their clients, just their wallets. A shame that a company so lauded because of it's client-friendly attitude is now being celebrated for this, and quite strange to see people happily listing such traits as if they were good ones. My answer to anybody asking me what faction to play is to simply buy the best box in money per model they like the minis, paint it as cohesive, and proxy everything. You like Sacha? Get one at some point (worry not, in six months it will be on resale for 15 bucks or less because all of those who want it will have not one but two or three) and use her as whatever. Same for the HVTs, yours will be armed ones, like those used in some ITS missions.
Because then you have an HVT figure after. Not so great for vets but it is for new players. But again, i don't care about that. You guys are all thinking of yourselves and what it does for you. I'm thinking of CB and how they can sell figures. I've been in marketing/advertising for over 25 years. It irritates the hell out of me when they do things like this. They have something I want to buy but they make it difficult to buy. In the US prices are going up more and more. I've talked to new players and it's a concern. I guess it's good so far it's up for all games. New players cant' afford to buy things they can't use. So you make it easy for them to buy things. Again, as I say above. Im thinking about the marketing. You don't put walls up for people to buy your stuff. At least not this this. A case can be said for creating rarity to make something seem "premium" or "exclusive". But I don't think many would pay for those things in this case.
I have a feeling that, ahem, contemporary politics may have a part in that. Which is going to make stuff more expensive for the players (which is bad for them), and therefore reduce the market demand for the manufacturers (which is bad for them, too). We're talking about, after all, effectively luxury goods. Perhaps the manufacturers can lower their prices to keep the product as affordable as possible and thus keep the customers, but there's still a level below which that would become unprofitable (and after all, there are other costs in the business than solely manufacturing the product). So, sadly, I'm afraid I don't see bright future on that horizon.
then threw your CV to corvus, enlight them with you vastly experience Is difficult to buy? You have money, they have a product. You can exchange your money for their product. Is not limited to conventions or events. Anyone can buy it. AND, is the prize for tournament winners. You want it? BUY or WIN. Miniaturing is an expensive hobby. Always has been and always will be. New players need HVTs? They are available in the store. "But selling the Sacha for all will allow new players to easely have 2 HVTs..." You still need 3 to 6 for some missions, selling the sacha to all players fix nothing...
In the end it is the question of your income vs the price. Dire Foes always were a mixed bag for me, that is why I never got any and only got the characters or HVT's from them from second hand market, one by one. Miniatures are indeed a luxury hobby. You spend a lot of money and time even before the games. I started in late 2018, and only in late 2025, I am finishing my two sectorials. It took me seven whole years to get to this stage of my hobby with Infinity. Models are a marathon. It never was a race. A lot of people who want to jump here and now simply can not, because they lack time, skills, or simply drive to go through all the process. I see a lot of lots on second hand market of half assed coloured models. People simply did not had the time, or will to push through, or they did not like the models or the game. Whatever the reason behind it, a lot of people do not get into Infinity for a lot of different reasons. And the price is seldom the major factor. Most likely, the price is the second sieve. The first being the looks. To tell you the truth, we also have a lot of new people. And they buy models. Of course they ask of "what is better to buy to start the game cheap". And we give them answers. Starter boxes. Essentials boxes. Sectorial packs. They are a good, really good way for new players to come in. Dire Foes? ITS packs? HVT's? Alt Sculpts from Aristeia? Booster packs? They often come long after those first purchases. They nearly never are the first or even the second buy. They are indeed for a veteran players, who have the solid core and want that little bit of extra "bling" in their army. As for my own Sāchā, I will be proxying with one of my existing models, most likely, Robin Hook, as I lost her in the N4->N5 transition. A little bit of bling on her, and we will have an android treasure hunter. Cheers.
Out of all the things I thought people could whine about with the new ITS….this wasn’t it. Never change OfficiaInfinityForums. Just get someone to 3d print whatever or just proxy or use painted bases. Creativity has really taken a downturn.
You can't use models not of CB's make in official games (ITS recorded in the tournament manager), so that would not be an option there. I suggest looking into Loot Studios for excellent options in any other situations. Unit9 also has some very nice items (including scenery and objectives). It seems you value the cost Vs enjoyment for such packaging decisions as OK, while for others the feeling of paying for something that comes with extras they don't want removes said enjoyment. To me it's more of looking at the models and deciding they are simply not worth the price they claim. I suppose it's, as many say, the value of a luxury good that was before made by hand (sculpting) and managed to make me feel something, versus the new mass produced recycled assets in the usual poses failing to elicit any emotion aside dissapointment for what is no more.
I will agree with the sentiment that a lot of poses are lacking ambition these days. We don't need to go back to the days of the Wall Wulver, but it'd be nice to see a bit more thought going into giving more inferrable identity to troopers through their posing. The amount of troopers stepping on a rock with their knee raised, main gun in the air, and offhand holding a sword/pistol/pointing is getting a bit much for me. It's a ubiquitous enough pose that it actually makes lining up some of my armies awkward, as they're all doing the same pose.
While contemporary politics are forbidden in the forum, as long as it is restricted to "many things are going on right now and everything has become quite expensive because of this" I will allow it, but do not deviate more. I would also suggest what everybody before said, use whatever model to proxy a Sacha, they are not a coordinated uniform unit, but a loose association of individuals. More importantly please remember.
While I don´t like the concept of a new sectorial of humans in shas-gear, I like the new variety of the line troopers. AP MMR with BS-3, utility FO with SMG, Hackers with VSGs. On a side note, they are better protected than most linetroops with ARM and BTS. The jump unit with mimetism on BS12 is a mild Tiger with short ranged weaponary but more burst. Interesting it has PH10 what makes it more bad at doding. So yes there are still some minor variants between the troopers of different sectorials. I still wonder, why SWF has no AD at all - what about Valkyries CB? I also wonder - a lot - why there is only one Liu Xing minature? We want the multi rifle please! But hey there is a random new YJ miniaure in the pipline. While its true that the Gui Feng is a bit dated, above mentioned Liu Xing with MR is a lot more important. K2 dossier looks very cool - robot in fancy clothings - i did not expect this. The Haq copter looks surpringsly well in color! Now the spanish parts: If i get it right we will see the lost sectorials in army around octobre and we will also see updates to VCA, MO and TAK as well to the main rules and its rules.
Check the Cliff Jumper's profile again. They get Dodge+3. Between that and CJ=13, they're effectively PH13 without paying for PH13. It only matters for glue.
