Hi all!
I listened the new Primecast and they say there that later this month, the preview battleboxes will be available again??
Like, sure? Again? Does @MattWilson know this? 
It would be awesome to have more details, maybe they are hidden somewhere else? The most important is if this will be an available SKU that acts globally as a entry point to the MKIV Armies, instead of a web exclusive, because that would be totally great (specially for those of us overseas!!)
Iâm assuming until we hear otherwise from an official source that these will not be sent to distributors. If they were to do so theyâd need to make retail packaging for them and it would mess with the whole âlimited distribution SKUsâ plan.
That said, individual stores can set up an account with PP directly and order things like the individual models and alt torsos with a retailer discount so that should still be an option for the preview boxes either way.
While this was not part of our original plan, over the past year, and particularly at Gen Con, we heard from enough people in person that were interested in the game but looking for a lower price point entry product that we were convinced that making the contents of the preview battlegroups into a staple offering was the right thing to do.
These will have dedicated packaging and will be available to retailers and distributors who wish to carry them. Adding a sku to each army does not inflate the line to the point of dangerous bloat, so we should be safe there. But hopefully these lower cost starters can provide more accessible entry points for people interested in Warmachine but not yet ready to plunge into a full army. Beyond this, we are continuing to develop future products that will provide good starting points for new players.
Iâm pushing that hearth icon so hard that the website will need a dedicated cardiologist 
Awesome, nice to be wrong on this one 
I am glad to see the preview boxes return as a permanent SKU. They will provide a great starting point for people interested in trying Warmachine but not quite ready to drop the money for a full Core box.
One other thing I would suggest is a beginner friendly webpage for each army similar to the introducing Dusk one that is very quick to find from the main PP page. A short bit of backstory, pictures of painted models, how the army plays (and the associated leaders). Itâll make it easier for a potential new player to be able to see what each army looks and plays like. (This is the Dusk one I was referring to: Introducing The Empire of the Eternal Dusk - Privateer Press)
We have a web page overhaul in the works in an effort to make things more accessible for new players. Totally agree!
Blockquote
Beyond this, we are continuing to develop future products that will provide good starting points for new players.
Blockquote
A beginner battle-group starter set with only one set of arms/head/appendices per cohort model would be great! Cost would be reduced and need of special seperate packaging for magnets would not add up.
pip
That is very much inline with what we are working on. Eliminated magnets from the starters helps with cost and complexity.
Speaking as a community organizer (someone whoâs shepherded dozens upon dozens of players into Privateer games over the years) and as someone fairly familiar with the whole product cycle from all perspectives:
This would be awful for new players, considering the way MK IV Cohort models work. The customer would be paying for and purchasing half a product (less than half a product, really) and Privateer would, presumably, need to make the missing part sets available for purchase. Otherwise, the beginning player immediately has a second âDay 1â purchase just to make what they already own functional.
That is 100% antithetical to MK IVâs current product strategy.
The âGenCon styleâ starters actually make sense, because they include (presumably!) Faction Caster #3 (the caster not in the Starter box or Expansion box) and two additional Cohort models, which neatly fills in the model gap after purchasing an armyâs Starter Box and Expansion Box. The third caster and two extra Cohorts allow a player to field a legal 100+ point army with a grand total of three purchases.
Edited to add: well, looks like Matt beat me to it, with an answer that isnât what I was expecting!
(I still stand by my analysis, though.)
I disagree with that. The cost of a few magnets is pretty negligible and being able to build a jack in multiple ways is one of the key cool features of MKIV. Not including magnets means that a new player just gets one version of a jack and canât experiment around, or that they then need to get their own magnets.
I will share the perspective from a brazilian with limited hobby dolars, striping magnets from products like modular jacks/beasts/who knows what you guys have in store for us great move,i got for give or take 30 bucks 500 3Ă2mm(1/8) and 200 5x2mm(3/16) and it will last far longer than 6 jacks/beasts,so reducing the price pays itself off for me.
Removing from startes bad move, in my humble opinion a starter should come with everything neded within reason so magnets and options for the warjacks,/beasts are a must on starter, given i subscribe to the good design scholl of thoght.
This smaller cheaper product with less options should interest me withe my PJVROOQ surprise plan, but it dosnât, i still rather pay more on more complete battleboxes for my friends(PJVROOQ is a hobby/RPG hangout/retreat me and my friends do for a week, this year edition ended today, the surprise was planed to buy an MKIV army box for each of my friends, than ot changed in the near futere for a battle box with the anouncement of their return, for the sake of my wallet)
With all that said, im just a moron on the internet, so if you guys have market research that shows the need of this product great, i would hate to see Privateer fail, i love what you guys do, so in short hope all goes well
Personally, I see getting a really great list between a starter box, expansion, and âpreviewâ. And a big part of that is getting 2 of each warjacks with all weapons. This is also core to the design philosophy of mk4, and having the âpreviewâ box being fixed builds undermines the fun.
Iâd much rather have all the magnetic options in that box, even at a higher price.
From there, the variant warjacks without arms are good: to make more out of your existing options.
Currently the Warmachine Advocate in my local meta and I agree with this due to how Mk IV cohort models work. I also see alot of âwow!â and âthatâs a really good ideaâ when new players realise the modular nature of the given warjacks in MkIV armies. If the new Battlegroup Boxes consist of a fixed loadout, I can imagine the turn off these players would give once they realise they arenât getting this cool feature for the cheaper buy in option.
The preview battlegroup consisting of Warcaster C and full loadouts of Warjack A + Warjack B is actually in a good sweet spot already. It would be even better if Warcaster C was replaced with the scout Warcaster A instead but I digress as that would require a full repackaging of Starter (Warcaster B) and Expansion sets (Warcaster C) which is unthinkable at the moment.
I strongly recommend sticking to âgencon styleâ preview battlegroups. If possible, set this as an evergreen SKU stores could stock up. If that loads the SKU count too much, then leave the single SKU Warcaster C, Warjack A and Warjack B as a PP online store product (which stores could order and stock up if they wish as per usual).
What youâre not taking into account is that the magnets actually do not (because they canât) come in the starter right now, especially internationally. They must be managed by distributors and retailers as separate items, and while we provide them for free with their orders, they create a friction point for new players when those new customers donât realize they need to ask for those magnets if whoever rings them up at a cash register doesnât remember to include them. So, removing the magnets reduces cost and friction. We can do this in a way that will not undermine the new player experience but gives them uniquely useful cohort models tailored to battlegroup play and a new player experience while setting them up for more to look forward to if they take the step into collecting a larger army with customizable warjacks.
Interesting points. Nothing much can be done if the magnets canât come in the box sets for various reasons Iâm sure. Since thatâs the case then a tailored offering does indeed seem to be the way to go.
Thats a great point, removing failure points that are outside your control is always a good move, i was taughtthat a unsatisfied custumer will complain to whoemver lends him an ear, a satysfied on the other hand only recomends when its relevant to the situation.
But i already magnetize my(and my girlfrends) legacy multikit jacks/beasts and play the IKRPG regularly(once or twice a month) the modular are simply a more interesting buy for me so yeah.
Although if this new product allows for a better entry point to the game without bloating SKU or cloaging production lines too bad, it probably will work(assuming there is demand).
For what itâs worth, I trained* the staff at my FLGS on the magnets, so I donât think theyâve forgotten any yet. 
* Well, I supposed âtrainedâ is a bit too strong of a word; I explained the magnet situation to the owner and the manager/lead staff, and they know whatâs up. I realize that thereâs not someone like me in every single store, butâŚ
Every single store needs a Michael. PP should start cloning you and distributing to retailers.
I like the Mk4-style multi-kits a lot, but I understand the point that if you canât include the magnets due to children in some countries being more likely to swallow them, buying a box and then realizing you should also have bought magnets can be annoying. Especially if you donât have a local game store and are buying online, and the online store doesnât realize they shouldâve included the magnets.
I dont have a FLGS that caries warmachine(hello from Belo Horizonte Brazil), so i either have to import frstraight from PP or buy from a 3rd party importer (only just last week spent 170 buck in models from PP, well actualy only 125, the other 45 were in taxes/shiping/profit for the importer, adendum if i tryed to import by my own, i would need to pay 240is brazilian taxes for physical person are no joke) so i my risk of runinig in the âmissing magnetsâ problem would be the incredibly low, and negated bu the fact i have around 300 5x2 (3/16) and 500 3x2 (1/8). and my other option would be smuggling trough a friends family in france, and he prefers to buy straight from PP because the store in france that he found that sells warmachine uses a shipping company that he hates.
My friends would be in a similar boat since i would offer to teach/magnetize their models for them.
I dont belive it has to do with likelyhood children are dumb( i myself ate a coin and shoved not one but two nails in a eletrical socket),and PP has nothing it can do as in many countries loobing is ilegal(as itt should be)