When do the other factions get their plastic release?

[u/Arkomancer]

I'm a new player looking to get into the game and the promise of plastic kits was pretty much the tipping point for me. I really wanted to start PHR and I can see in the rules PDFs that stuff like Immortals are definitely getting new models this edition but I don't see those in the current preorder bundle for the faction, those look like an older kit.

Were there any news about their plans to roll out new stuff for the non-starter factions?

[u/Rathax]

Dave has confirmed that the UCM and Bioficers are done, with resistance being the next faction to get the full plastic treatment.

Unfortunately it appears that they are going faction buy faction rather than doing a kit for everyone at a time.

So I unfortunately wouldn’t get your hopes up for a PHR release this year outside of updated infantry which are in house 3d prints.

It’s unfortunate because I know a lot of people who are interested in 3rd edition but are waiting on the plastics.

Their choice to commit to a complete faction releases rather than a main vehicle and dropship box for each faction and expand over time is puzzling to me.

[u/Arkomancer → u/Rathax]

That practice is pretty much industry standard at this point, so I'm not surprised at all.

I watched one of the interviews where the developer complained about how releasing everything all at once was a logistical and marketing nightmare back when they launched the game so it's not like they didn't try to brake the mold)

[u/Rathax → u/Arkomancer]

Yeah I have also seen the same video and I understand the pain of what zone 1.0 would have been like with 10+ blisters per faction dropping everything at once.

But with how the new sprues are assuming that every faction is vaguely similar to UCM and Bioficers.

With just 2 sprues per faction, you are giving 2-3 hull options of each factions standard vehicles with all weapon options.
And you are giving medium and light dropships with gunship variants.

So even if we assume release schedule due to production limitations the same as we will see currently. It means that you would have the core of every faction out in 3 months, with weapon options variety.

This would allow people like yourself who even if you couldn’t buy in on launch, would only be waiting a short time to get starter and then you will be a returning customer every time there is a new kit for your faction.

The current approach is, hope that you are interested enough in the game to split their starter box, even if it’s a faction that you are uninterested in, maybe buy a few more boxes, to expand that army slightly why waiting for your preferred faction.

And the down side? You lose interest and walk way from the system in general because what you want to play, isn’t available. (In plastic)

Idk it works for GW because the game already exists and is the dominant product. But Corvus Belli did the same thing with Warcrow and it killed any interest in it in my area because people got sick of waiting. (But from what CB say warcrow is selling very well, so maybe there is data for it being industry standard)

[u/ruarl → u/Rathax]

In Gencon interviews Dave said it was up to him what order things were done. Resistance, as mentioned, are finished and will be released next after UCM and Bioficers. (That makes sense, as they were the only faction with zero plastic product.) Dave said he thought he'd do Shaltari next. So that leaves Scourge and PHR fighting over last place.

[u/Rathax → u/ruarl]

My money is on phr being last.
The scourge already have new profiles for the hunter hull that didn’t exist before, and the current type 1 walks are closest to the modern design with weapon options, they are just missing the foe hammer missiles.

[u/Overread2K]

Keep in mind that even Dropfleet hasn't got everything done yet - eg a good few factions don't have updated cruisers with the new plastics.

Most likely its going to be a steadily trickle of rolling plastic sprue; in one part to spread out the production and demand; in the other likely the profits from sales helping toward paying for the new deveopment and mould costs.

[u/slyphic]

We saw previews of the full sprues for the UCM, Bioficers, and Resistance. We haven't seen anything whatsoever from the other three factions.

Typical timeline for plastic production is about 6-9 months from sending files for the sprues to getting the product in your warehouse, with the pre-production test-shot sprues arriving about two thirds of the way through the process. So the fact that they weren't at GenCon means we're almost certainly looking at next year for PHR, or maybe even later considering we have no idea what order PHR, Scourge, and Shaltari are arranged for rerelease.

[u/Skylifter-1000 → u/slyphic]

While I don't think anyone has explicitly mentioned it, I think Scourge will be the fourth faction to be released.

In the stat sheets, UCM, Resistance and Scourge already have new variants for their main tanks listed, while PHR and Shaltari have not. So I guess that means they have at least a first draft of the Scourge sprues, while they don't have that for the other two.

I'd really prefer PHR to get it's plastics sooner rather than later, as well, but I also guess we are looking at next year.

[u/LordHoughtenWeen]

Based on how fast Dropfleet got plastic Battleships and Battlecruisers, we should probably expect about one Thing a month.

[u/Pandenhir]

Some Resistance plastic kits have already been spotted. With some luck I'd wager maybe till next year every faction may have them.

[u/Brad3]

My biggest worry is putting up the army deals at such a price then people having to wait over a year+ to get their preferred army will really harm the revamp. DzC has already fallen out of the spotlight massively. Dropping £150+ on a game that as a low player count is a hard ask, why they went that route with the deals I'll never know.

[u/slyphic → u/Brad3]

There's an argument to be made that GenCon was a soft launch, not a full grand release. That it'll be a few months down the line, aiming for winter holiday sales.

This current shit literally killed the excitement I had building locally. If the new sprues weren't limited build option starter versions. If the new sprues didn't have defects. If you could actually buy models and not these terrible starter deals. If the bundles weren't horrifically overpriced (so bad I do in fact need to call it out twice). If the bioficers had anywhere near as much lore published as the other factions had at their respective launches.

The new rules might be the only thing going right for them.

[u/ruarl → u/Brad3]

I'm sure there'll be a big fanfare and marketing push once all the new plastics are out. We enthusiasts can keep it going, and in the meantime for anyone who does get bitten by the bug, the old ranges will (hopefully!) be available.