It depends how similar the protective gear used by the metal casters is to the gear being snapped up by people worried about the virus. Basically, if CB casters need N99 masks and they're sold out everywhere that might affect production, not saying it will, but it's a scenario that can be imagined.
What's weird about the code one strategy for me is that it goes against years of advice for this community when a new player is choosing a faction: Rule of Cool. Now, it's vanilla of these 4 options, or wait to see what comes out next year, or jump straight into the full game. Not the on-ramp I was envisioning is all.
Having see the models casted we can say that the caster don't need anything beyond their two hands (actually one may be enough), sharp eyes and knowledge of the art.
CB: "C1 will be a new way, easy to learn, toned down way to play and get into Infinity for beginners, easier on stores and N4 is the full update right after." Literally "the whole customer base" (actually just ... uhm two random forum people?): "MISLEADING INFORMATION, BAD COMMUNICATION. HOW DARE YOU NOT INCLUDE THREE EDITIONS OF PROFILE BLOAT ON THE DAY ONE C1 RELEASE. OUTRAGEOUS TO EXCLUDE ME AND MY ARMY FOR THE BEGINNER WAY TO PLAY NOT INTENDED AND INCONSEQUENTIAL TO ME." Rest_of_the_forum_minus_two_people: ... Me: "Anyone else getting Uprising PTSD Flashbacks?"
I was already regretting cross posting the first Koni message to FB 20 minutes later. What started off as a couple people being a bit bummed, turned into others completely misunderstanding/representing that attitude and well I washed my hands shortly after that point as I've got better things to do with my time.
Don't really get the appeal of C1, I'm here for Infinity and I'd like to keep it that way. If C1 is just a goofy vehicle to get my girlfriend or non-ttg gaming friends to push some metal and dice around on the table, whatever. That's fun and all but doesn't really have lasting appeal or any legs to stand on itself. I don't really see C1 as something worth investing myself into. To me it sounds comparable to the 2-player starter box booklets, which of course have limited factions/profiles for obvious reasons.
If memory serves it was originally pitched as a bridge between the Battleboxes and full N4. I'm excited for it as a tool to help build up my local from the handful of infrequent players we have now into something a bit more stable and larger. If we only get people interested in C1 that is still more games to play without changing to another company for me so a net win.
IMO one of the things about any miniatures game is that it’s logistically challenging for a working adult with a family or social life to get much time in for games, and a full 300 point N3 game requires a lot of logistics: A minimum 4x4 table, which is larger than most home or restaurant tables, and a lot of terrain, plus your minis and assorted paraphernalia. Then you have to block out time to meet, find a venue with large enough tables, travel there, find a table, set up, and play, which for casual folks trying to get in an afternoon game is a surprisingly big set of hurdles. Contrast that with other games that are even slightly more casual, and it starts to create this situation where your opportunity cost to play full Infinity games is really high and not “worth it” after a long, tiring week. I’m taking this coming Sunday to play a local ITS three-rounder because it’s my best chance to get any games in for the next few weeks, not because I’m hungry to dive into the tournament scene. Meantime, my wife will be home with my son for basically a whole day, and if I want to go play again in the week or two after that, I have to explain why I’d rather spend four hours playing with toy soldiers than enjoy my family’s company. And they’re amazing. I literally do want to spend that time with them, if I can, and it’s not a chore. If I could do both at the same time I would, but our house isn’t big enough to accommodate a full game, much less with a curious seven year old underfoot. I see Code One as both an on-ramp to the full game and as—hopefully—a compact way to play when I want to get my Infinity fix but can’t arrange a full N3/4 game. In that sense, I’m hoping it fills the niche currently occupied by small-table house rules or the RECON+ rule set, but with the weight of being Official Game Rules(tm). If it lets me play some form of the game I love with my equally-busy friends in the little windows of time when our schedules line up, I will absolutely buy and play Code One as a supplementary hobby and add the minis to my N3/4 lists where I can, so they can do double duty. Hell, if it gives me a low-cost way to experience other armies besides my current preferences, all the better. If a friend bought Operation Wildfire and wanted to play that with me instead of full N3, I’d absolutely use it as a way to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of some O-12 and Shas units, which seems worthwhile. If I can have fun with a friend while doing it, great. In the meantime, I hope players who are feeling let down by their favorite army’s initial exclusion from Code One don’t walk away from a perfectly good hobby. Given that playing the beginner boxes was already an option for smaller games when you can’t get into a full game, I’m optimistic that C1 will just take over that niche and some of the gameplay that currently uses RECON+, and we’ll see N3 going strong up until N4 drops later this year.
yeah, but it's just that: a bridge. You don't live on a bridge. you buy the battle box, you play those games, you play C1, you graduate to full infinity. I don't really see how C1 armies that don't come in current battleboxes fit into that mould. Like I get it, you're using C1 as a stepping stone to get people interested. But for the most part it sounds like people want to skip that step of buying the 2-player starter and JUST play what will ultimately be a half-baked and unbalanced ruleset. If you're already committed to buying and collecting Nomads it sounds like C1 may not be for you, as you've already committed enough interest in full infinity. (I'm not saying specially YOU, but in a more rhetorical way)
I have a substantial number of gamers locally who bought Operation boxes, played through the missions and then completely stalled when it came to trying the full rules. They tried replaying the Operation missions, but it wasn't quite enough to keep them interested, so the models were sold on, or are sitting gathering dust on a shelf somewhere. Those players will be happy with CodeOne, as it will give them enough variety in units/missions/factions/writing actual army lists to keep them involved, without much interest in playing the 'full' game. It won't be a bridge, or a stepping stone, for most* of those players: instead it will be a game in it's own right. *Some of them will end up playing N4, if it's not too complicated, but of the players I'm thinking of, it would be maybe a quarter of them.
Unfortunately I think that the split in the already small community may kill the game out here. I don't think we'll be getting enough new N3/4 players through C1 to make up for the split.
This is what I also felt with Code 1. I heard about MTG players who only play limited or LOL players who never play ranked but only play against AI or ARAM mode. Most people here are used to the full N3 ruleset, but it can be a lot of load for the new or lite players. I hope Code 1 to be a good place for them.
I'm excited about C1 because it is a way to bring new people into the hobby in a way that will not alienate veterans by being paper-only. That only 4 factions are available at launch will make the launch less exciting, but once all main factions are in I'm hoping we'll be able to do that newbie tournament we're planning.
this kind of touches on my point that non-operation box armies don't have a big place in C1. I can only speak from my own point of view and from what I can assume from those around me. There's plenty of half-baked game ideas out there that float somewhere between kitchen table game and miniatures game. it sort of sounds like C1 will be something along those lines, which imho never have much of a lasting power or dedicated player base. Due to lack of content, diversity, and/or updates.
I strongly advise waiting until you see CodeOne before making judgements like that. It's a full-blown miniatures game in it's own right.
Yea..they'll be competing directly with Warcry, Kill Team, and some other simplified skirmish games. Unfortunately they will be the only one people don't already have models for. I hope it works, but I don't see people who want something simple transitioning, and all that means is that to play more we stop playing N3 or N4 to accommodate them.