Yeah, I have a hard time passing plastic miniatures as well... but then I just might need more fibre in my diet.
This is a tricky question, and I understand if you can't easily answer it - but if I want to collect and play SEF in Infinity, will I need to buy Defiance and cannibalize it for models?
I love the details of CB metal, but hearing that this KS will have "lots" metal figures, in a board game, makes me cringe. Boardgames are often carried to multiple play sites. Metal will be difficult to prevent breakage and chipping during transportation unless a tray system is designed to hold the contents. Loose metal minis with all the sharp edges will destroy paper/cardboard components as well. Trays designed to hold metal minis with action sculpts (will probably) take up a ton of room, preventing the game box from closing completely with all contents inside. I hope CB seriously rethinks the metal components stance if they plan to have a "lot" of minis on the boardgame (which is traditional the case with dungeon crawlers). CMON and AR have beautiful sculpts in their KS exclusives line and with the right planning this box could benefit from hd plastics like Aristeia has. Release the game with rules to use the white metal from other factions for those who play currently, but make this game easy to transport and play so we can use it to introduce others to the setting. I want to jump on board, but will probably hold out purchase on KS. I purchase this in metal it is only to scalp certain minis from, not to take with me to game nights not within my own home. I probably will have access to those minis via eBay scalpers and not have to support KS at all. If in plastic with option to expand using preexisting or future metals for the game I'm all in.
I think you make a point about the necessity to have a storage solution within the box if it's a board game. That is definitely something that have to be taken seriously into account. But plastic mini are produced in china, they take time to arrive and CB can't control the quality of the final product as they can do it with metal wich is made in their workshop in Spain. Personally I prefer a game with top quality metal mini made by local people (considering environmental and social impact). Even if that means less mini. I don't expect a kiloplastic KS. More likely between 20 and 30 mini.
Anyone who'd toss in metal pieces into a box loosely with everything else deserves all the damage to the components.
I'm kinda expecting a minis count on par with GW's Blackstone Fortress game. ~8 characters and ~35 various hostiles. If CB is smart, they will make the trays for the minis part of the box, like CMON did for the Rising Sun game (or like Soda Pop did with their Ninja All-Stars game), even though that makes for larger boxes. It can be hard to transport minis around if you don't have some kind of tray in the box already. GW games really suffer from that, at least GW games that aren't sold in actual gaming stores.
I would hope for the hostiles to be cardboard pawns, which you then can change for CA metal models already existing... Of course, nothing prevents the KS to add a pledge level to get the models in metal as well, but as an extra, so people with no CA models can get them for Defiance with some discount, while those of us who have a nearly complete CA collection won't have to eat duplicates...
So to save humanity we shall send 4 guys? GG, I guess if they fail, humanity is lost...can't see reason why Human nations would want to send more than '4 heroes' on mission of such importance.
In the history of war a great many moments of significance have come down to a tiny handful of survivors being in the right place at the right time.
Any chance for a miniature only pledge? I have a mountain of dungeon crawler games lying around and do not want to add another one. I would certainly be interested in the models though.
I was watching the video, and wondering what exactly does Defiance add, besides the miniatures, considering I already have Blackstone Fortress and Star Saga... Also, I found astonishing how Bostria said that all models were unique and different, with about 4 Nox in the exact same pose, and 2 twin gwailos... A mention of "these are stand-ins for now" would go a long way.
My guess is that it'll feature face to face mechanics meaning you're not just say with your thumb up your arse getting wailed on during the GM/AI turn, and that it's not as immensely boring and uninspired as Blackstone Fortress ;)