There is no indication of what is to happen to the CHA and MRRF. None at all. So, I'm just letting out a wild idea here ;) Then again, it would be interesting to combine a Franco-Scottish sectorial. Politically, on Ariadna, they'd be more as an idea to counterweight the Cosack dominance (TAK - and also Kosmoflot being predominately Cossack in vibe). Especially following the blow the loss of De Hell Group was to the Merovingians during the Kurage crisis.
From the PoV of YJ player- White Company can go the way home. It was the less flavourfull NA2 and just mix of the Kaltström box sprinkeld with Kaplans. Boring but a good way for players (like me, but never played WC) that collect both flavors - orange and blue. WB as the newest sectorial which is now in good shape, was never meant to leave. If a YJ sectorial was on the edge, it would be ISS. And Koreans? They have the potential to be a sectorial sometimes in the feature, we don´t need every asian nation to be a sectorial thats against what Yu Jing should be! I have two which are kinda sad (almost angry) with the decisons made. Which I can understand very well, I have all Varuna ready to paint. I also expect that Pan O will keep four. Another one skipped Varuna on the most part but has NCA + MO and some new stuff from SWF. I not asked him, but I think he will just go Vanilla with his NCA stuff. But will be dissapointed from the loss of Squalo #1 (he has two, very old and old). I do not understand why they kick the Kamau. After the rework it was pretty good unit. Yeah proxing them in V as Nisses are the best way ... but for that I don´t think I will paint them up.
I think the original title presents a bit of a conundrum. The question being, "Should I buy an army before it gets popular". The only honest answer is....maybe. If an army is popular, it will likely gain support from CB as many models will be sold. If it is unpopular - as determined by sales figures - it will likely go away. I don't pretend to know the CB sales figures, nor what dastardly plans they have in store for the future, but I'd be willing to bet that high sales factions are going to get more love than niche factions. And while it may suck for those who purchase an ill-fated faction when it disappears...that doesn't render the models useless. So I think that the better way to look at it is that if you think a faction is cool, BUY IT. Get neck deep in that faction and hope others catch the fever as well. So far as I can tell, the only "faction" that has disappeared is TOHAA..and they're not really gone. A few sectorials have gone away...but lets face it, Infinity is getting bloated!! With all the mercenary units and so on, the unique flavor of the factions is being diluted. You can field viable armies with a single faction model and the rest Mercs!!! How is THAT embracing the faction?? I'm in favor of paring back the lists to make them more individual and less bland. But I digress... If you think they're cool, buy them. If you wait because it might not be "successful" then it most assuredly will not be. M.
Whether an army is/will become popular is of no concern when I buy into it. The only consideration for me, is whether I like enough of the models in that faction.
The title of the thread is rhetorical. It's to point out that Corvus Belli has a bad habit of intentionally causing bloat and then absolving themselves of the need to support what they release by doing you the favor of removing the bloat. They did this by adding Bit and Kiss to all Combined Army factions and then removing the bloat. Releasing new sculpts for factions like Caledonia or Tohaa but then leaving that project unfinished to release new factions that would take in some cases 2 years to finish and in some cases are still missing sculpts for profiles. Morats getting double reculpted. Releasing mercs and adding them to all vanilla factions and even some sectorials to get the models sold, but here comes N5 to clear up the bloat. All of Tag Raid, featuring extremely take-able profiles, now in all factions for your purchase. Might be a bit of bloat there though. All the reinforcements units are suddenly in the factions at the N4, is that because the armies needed them? Or because they need to be sold. I'm sure you can think of even more examples if you've been around. Basically the Caveat Emptor - "If you like the models buy them" but don't buy them based on the fact that they exist in the fleeting rules of the game. Corvus Belli is a miniature company, they are here to sell into the hype and move on to the next big hype, but there is no promise they will finish that faction you bought or to continue to support that faction with rules. Simply the models exist as proxies for you to play the rules of factions you like best. If however, you like to play with models that will have longer term support (support btw that might maintain their value on a secondary market as well) and might even be expanded upon, it might be worth waiting to judge their relative popularity to determine if CB sees the possibility of future hype with them. Popularity is not fool-proof though, and we don't have access to their sales data. But Im honestly shocked that Varuna sold poorly enough even on the back of their insane power in N3 to get pruned in the HYPE-BLOAT-PRUNE-HYPE cycle. Which is why chromedog is right when he says just buy the models you think look cool.
