shelving means no longer in production. Getting moved to NA2 means they are no longer part of PanO (unlikely situation), but still in production.
I don't know, I am still wondering about Bostrias hyping last year where he said it will be bigger and more controversial than JSA secession... Is the daedalus gate closing that? Somehow I don't think so... something else is in the works...
In a recent interview, Gutier has said that the Daedalus' fall is not about the CA taking it, but the Cerberus!Tohaa closing the gate, in order to operate without any kind of oversight and "self justifying" this as preventing more Shasvastii infiltration (not that they asked anyone). This is in the Mas Allá de Mordor 404 podcast.
That certainly leaves enough wiggle room for resculpts/repacks to come a bit later...say in that Battlebox
There is no reason that the Tohaa half of the box couldn't be a Taagma, 3 Chaksa Longarms, a Kiel-Saan, and the last spot a Kriigel, Draal, or Kiiutan. Pure speculation because I have no idea what the Chaksa Longarms are, but they have to be awesome because they are Chaksa.
I think the "Big Deal That WIll Piss Off Everyone" has been pushed back on the release schedule. Or maybe they think Tohaa is more popular than it is. They just discontinued the Tohaa starter. Generates a firestorm of sales as those fence sitters finally decide to get into Tohaa. They release a new (better) starter at Gencon. That is the "Piss Off Everyone" thing. A blatant money grab by CB as they try and clear out old inventory.
It would be a bit weird to have that tied up into an operation box though leaving no lower cost Tohaa 6 unit starter while using 2 big boxes. Or is that just me?
The Operation Boxes are just two starters with an extra bonus mini for each faction. I wanted the Nomad and Pano starter boxes so I picked up Operation Ice storm.
ColdFront is still isolated and not available as individual ones. It would be safe to assume that the new one coming this year will be similar if it isn't a repack like the first two were. A repack seems unlikely for a number of reasons though.
Shas vs O12 could be a thing. I feel like its something bigger tho. Like a new Faction that changes the setting. Wasnt there some statement about 'Whole new way to play Infinity' though? They definately have been concerned with diversification of late, so another new game in the setting seems possible.
Whole new way feels more like a change of scale. Like 50 figurines on each side. I'm a bit worried. From the company perspective it makes all the sense in the world to encourage us to increase the amount we buy without them having to develop much. I am worried the game will become uncompetitive like 40k
Not interested in a larger scale, “dumbed down” version. Malifaux tried that recently, hasn’t worked out for that game. The complexity and the small scale are what appeal to me about Infinity.
Just a point of clarification... The two player battleboxes have came first in each instance of these products. After a randomly set period of time, the starters themselves were released individually. Neither Red Veil or Icestorm were really "repacks"--they just had the new, resculpted sets included before the actual bits came out by themselves. Complexity should not be confused with bloat. "Dumbed down" should not be confused as a bad thing. There are plenty of places where people have asked over the years for Infinity to have mechanisms made more user-friendly and for Infinity to be made less of a "lifestyle game".
Complexity should not be confused with bloat, agreed. Simplifying unnecessarily complex rules and mechanics within the current system, also not an issue with me. Two thumbs up. Making a dumbed down version to increase the amount of metal you buy, not a fan and won’t buy it. Your last point does not really concern me.
If you're okay with the nonsense they've done with the NA2s, then you're okay with them doing things "to increase the amount of metal you buy". If you're okay with the nonsense they've done with locking profiles in Army Packs or 2P Starter sets, you're okay with them doing things "to increase the amount of metal you buy". CB does a lot to "increase the amount of metal you buy". Them making a "dumbed down version"(what would this even be? A playable rules set that doesn't need someone to have a Wiki open all the time? Heavens forbid!) that draws more players in would be a good thing...at least until the players see the consumer unfriendly packaging for units and the like. It should. Infinity is a game that has a perceived "lifestyle game" label, meaning it isn't exactly a first choice for people.
I like what they've done with NA2 and I'm pretty happy with the game being complex too. I'm also not too bothered about them making me want to buy more metal. That is in fact exactly what they want to do, obviously, otherwise they'd go under as a company. Nobody holds a gun to my head and makes me get my wallet out mind, but I often do because I want to get stuff. Will I be splitting an Invincible Army Starter for the Zuyongs with my friend so I can use them in Dahshat? Yes. Does this particularly concern me? No, I want to do that. If I didn't I wouldn't do it!
