Does anyone have any insight into when the new Kickstarter is due? (other than ‘2023’)
New models and rules drive interest and growth in a game, and the last Kickstarter was way back in July 2021, over 2 years since a Warcaster release. I worry that Warcaster will never get out of the ‘tiny niche wargame’ category without an ongoing visible investment into the game.
I know PP is busy with Mk4, but since the information about Lost Legion forever ago, there has been radio silence about models, which is disappointing. We’ve seen fluff and some great work on other bits and pieces (fluff, homebrew scenarios etc.), but nothing I can buy, put together and play.
Of course, I am hoping I am wrong and I’ve just missed something along the way. Wasnt there supposed to be a roaming monster or something equally random?
We know there are new factions coming out, but will there be new models or cadres for existing factions?
To say I am keen to see more faction models would be… an understatement.
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News would be welcome, but I’m in no hurry. I still have most of the “expansion” Kickstarter models unpainted. (I may have overestimated my painting speed when I decided to go all in with all factions…)
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At least two factions are known to be in development: the Lost Legion and (name forgotten).
Lost Legion has had model concept art shown in at least one Primecast.
Odds are very good that the developers have been drowning in MK IV for at least the past 18 months, and that the manufacturing technology change to 3D printing means things are delayed.
I am confident that PP will get back to Warcaster once they finally have Mk4 under control in term of production. They seem to be able to produce roughly 4 armies in total a year, so I am cautiously optimistic that Warcaster will get get their attention next (since they only added two “Hordes” armies for Warmachine in the ~2023 development cycle). They just don’t have the staff and energy to pursue both games at full speed – think about how Warmachine players were feeling with their new release cycle for a while in there during the Riot Quest phase of the game.
What I am wondering is whether the existing armies of Warcaster will get any new models, or if the approach to expanding the game will be mostly about whole new armies with maybe a Wild Card or two who works for the existing factions. While I very much want to see more Marchers and ISA and Emps, I kind of suspect that our existing armies may be “complete” and we will not get many new things there.
Sadly I think you are absolutely right. 
I have wondered the same, although if that was the original design philosophy I don’t think they would have bothered with cadres and just released the models.
Assuming cadres were long-term plans, i suspect it’s an easy way for them to sell complete box sets, I assume they will release more cadres over time, I just don’t know if they will this year.
I’m not against having each army ‘complete’, in fact I think I would prefer that honestly.
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Personally I agree with thinking the current armies are complete, with only occasional new releases mostly new heroes, or maybe an extra cadre.
It is good for faction to be ‘finished’ to maintain their identity and role for each unit. The alternative was in late war machine where you’d have like 5 choices for melee swarm units and ended always picking the ‘best’.
However with rumours of a rerelease (accompanying the shift to resin printed models), it would be a good time to rebalance units that arguably don’t have a role right now (eg witch hunters, some vehicles).
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Yeah, with the shift from metal casting to 3D printing, PP will need to first redevelop the existing models to be 3D-printable (which, luckily, shouldn’t be an insurmountable task because they’ve been 3D-sculpted from the start) before expanding on the existing armies.
That said, considering how their design philosophy for Warmachine has moved towards more limited, complete armies rather than the ever-expanding bloat of earlier editions, it stands to reason that Warcaster armies are, or will be, “complete” at some point. The current vehicles we have are “light” vehicles, suggesting that we might get “heavy” vehicles eventually.
I’m sure there’s still some design space left in the four factions to add a few squads and solos, and maybe Hero warjacks (in fact, maybe another cadre box’s worth of content), but I don’t expect them to grow very much from what we have already.
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I would like to see some cards rebalanced over more unit bloat.
But i do like models and options. I think every faction has 3 basic play styles and i wouldn’t be opposed to having a starter set for each playstyle + the starter.
And if PP was to drop a single unit per faction a year, i would be opposed to it.
Also hope that don’t do tye Cadre thing where you get to bring in a free unit. More units should mean more way to build your army.