WC is a "paper" Sectorial, they're not so much "new" as they are a new way to use existing toys. I remember back in 2018 when they had the 5 new Sectorials graphic they didn't count the NA2 merc sectorials like Druze, StarCo, and Ikari in that number.
Didn't Druze get released before that graph's sectorial count, though? One of those 5 sectorials were JSA, which of ocurse is the only "real" sectorial in NA2
The list went up on December 2017, but their book release was with Uprising so they're close enough that I included them. Bostria lumped them in with the other 2018 Merc NA2s in the Gen Con 2018 video about new Sectorials too and I'd watched that just before posting.
Maybe non-paper sectorial’s will become more common for NA2. They have JSA and Spiral Corps. It could be a way to bring more unique stuff without affecting vanilla sectorial’s balance. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
A lot of people assumed that O-12 would be an NA2 before they announced it'd be a full blown faction. There's definitely room for more smaller, independent, and unique forces in there.
The real problem I see is the SKU growth. Save for JSA, most other NAA use Brawlers, a handful of characters that are specific to them, and the rest of their list is filled with models drawn from pre-exisitng factions. Which allowed CB to release these NAA without major increase of SKUs. Which, IMO, was an excellent move from CB's point of view, allowing them to 1. increase the number of amries available, 2. make it very easy for many well-estabilished players to start a new army (as they already had a half of it). However, a full new faction, like O-12, can't take advantage of that. They need an entire new range of models, which in turn causes SKU growth, and also stretches the amount of armies CB needs to support, or risk players' dissatisfaction - I believe the Tohaa are a crown example of that. While they were obiously designed as a small, sectorial-like force (down to having Fireteams available), the players have invested into them, and at some point there were no new releases, or even resculpts. Spiral Corps came far too late to make a difference, I believe. Even if it could make one. To sum it up, I don't say there's no room for small, independent forces (well, or even major new factions) in Infinity. I say CB needs to tread very carefully here.
A full new faction, like O-12, can't take advantage of that anyways when they don't release the new units. We're how long in on the faction? There's been a grand total of...3 blisters and an exclusive model via the Paint Set. Everything else new is locked away in Defiance. This has nothing to do with SKU growth. This locking away via Defiance has to do with them deciding they need to make more $$$ directly. SKU bloat is, always will be, and always has been a problem of their own creation. Their continued refusal to enact better packaging methods and numbers of items in boxed sets or blisters plus their continued insistence on always releasing something model-wise each month has resulted in this.
They may have held back on the release of O12 models to ensure they roughly match up with the model selection for Code One.
They didn't hold back on them for Defiance. They didn't warn people "Hey, we'll be holding off on expanding this faction until our other game system comes out next year!". This really is not complicated and a lot of it continually comes back to choices they keep making. Communication blackouts and pushing release schedules that are frankly silly.
Oh there certainly are some missteps. My point was more that there can be some business decisions (good or bad) and not just apparently the thrill of irritating the customer base.
While I am disappointed in the release pace for O12, the only thing in Defiance that is not out so far is the Lynx units. Certainly we need the extra Delta's and an extra Gamma is nice, but I think you're vastly over stating the importance of Defiance to the O12. Likewise, those units are in Wave2 and won't be out until like December, so by then we may have Lynx's anyway.
I don't know that they have the process for it, but I figured they might merge O12 and ALEPH into one faction. Copperbots might be neat enough, but the ALEPH figures would have worked well enough. Then you'd have the O12 faction with the OSS sectorial, SWORDFOR sectorial, Steel Phalanx sectorial, et cetera. I imagine there'd be a lot of complaints, but there's always complaints for everything.
I think the more likely thing to happen is a Bureau Toth sectorial that combines Aleph, O-12, and Sforza designed to fight threats to Aleph and rogue AIs. O-12 look to be here to stay as a faction, especially as they're part of the Code One quartet with about a year's worth of releases planned out.
Yeah, like I said, I can't see them actually DOING it, but it does make sense to me thematically that O12 and ALEPH are the same faction. Bureau Toth and Noir could both be done under a larger umbrella, but don't really make as much sense if O12's force is already a Bureau. Easy enough to retcon, sure, but seems an odd start. Yeah, and I like O12, so I'm happy about it, but O12 would have had a head start if they'd used more ALEPH and less unique units as the core.
Here's the problem with what you're saying: People have been continually repeating a line that it won't be until after Defiance that these items will come out and they'll be alternate sculpts. That is absolutely wasteful for profiles that actually matter. Because remember that the Deltas and the Gamma aren't "extras". They're full profiles. It's the Gamma HMG and at least the Delta Forward Observer profile...plus Ensign Cho and the Lynxes. But please. Keep say that I'm "vastly overstating the importance of Defiance to O12". You might have a point if we had gotten, say, the Razors or something released.
We don't even know what profiles will be in common release, so basing decisions on it seems iffy, but you be you I guess. There was never a "we'll release stuff, but only after Defiance" quote, except for maybe Cho and I don't think that was definite. All I recall is them saying these sculpts would not be released outside of Defiance, not when or profiles. And as the subject began, they're releasing a sectorial box in August, so I'm thinking it'll be the O12 box for Psi, so hopefully it'll have a bunch of the missing profiles.
Isn't this exactly what CB has communicated, that O-12's roadmap included their first sectorial release shortly prior to N4?
