Tyranids and Necrons will be in first big expansion. I'm almost positive about it.

Actually, I wouldn't be super-shocked if one or the other, or both, formed the basis of a co-op expansion. As in, you can play against each other, or team up against this ridiculous tyranid deck! Or necron deck! Or whatever.

I think it's more likely that they'll be worked in as factions in the current 1v1 structure, though. Which I'd prefer anyway.

This is the point... they designed the game from "scratch" .. they didn't have to use this alliance structure. There was opportunity here to do it right and they didn't, it is that simple. The arguments of "ohh it wouldn't work with this wheel" is a complete fallacy. If Tyrinids didn't work and by extension Necrons with the alliance system they invented.. WHY USE IT AT ALL... invent something else.

7 factions is a strain to support in "over 200 cards." Something had to give. If it's the case that Necrons and Tyranids will be more limited in their alliances (which certainly makes sense), it's completely reasonable to include alliance eligible factions first. Those faction cards (barring loyal cards) see potential use in 3 different decks, whereas a race with more limited options to ally, or (especially) a race that can't be taken as an ally, means 30-40 cards (at a guess) useful to only one faction.

Objectively, it's jsqueezing more value into the box per card.

Subjectively, of course, everyone has their favorite factions. I'd suggest though, that FFG and GW probably have better market data than any of us.

We are not being given anything... we are being asked to consider investing 1000s of dollar and years of our time in their product. It isn't unreasonable to expect their customers to have some strong ideas of what they would prefer in that product.

Or possibly $40 and a few hours. A bit more money if you're overseas. Or maybe less if you try a friend's copy before you buy blind.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I don't think Guitarquero's advice to shut up and take what your given isn't the best in the world either -- fan objections seemed to result in a major course correct for Star Wars -- but there are a ton of unknowns here. It's been less than a week since the game was announced.

And it's probably also worth considering that since you seem to be in the minority in your objection to the very existence of the alliance wheel, you might be wrong on your notion that it's a "real problem with the core design."

Whether or not it's a problem for you , of course, is entirely up to you. And as others have suggested, you're free to vote with your wallet.

right cause 3 pages of people complaining about he faction pairing means that only I am upset by this. + 3 other threads. and another heap on other sites...

right cause 3 pages of people complaining about he faction pairing means that only I am upset by this. + 3 other threads. and another heap on other sites...

I wouldn't say you have no right to be concerned, but I do have a problem with the way those complaints are communicated.

I think the amount of crying on these boards has been somewhat funny, but funny sad. People are so wrapped up in this game already that they are getting into nasty fights over silly things that we know almost nothing about. It borders on trolling. No one is forcing anyone to play this game. If someone really hates it that much already, then they should consider not purchasing it. That's the best way to get what you want from FFG, or any other for profit company for that matter.

The internet- ultimate potential for sharing knowledge and connecting people in the history of the world. Used to share pictures of cats, and say things to people we wouldn't dare say to their faces. Wonderful.

right cause 3 pages of people complaining about he faction pairing means that only I am upset by this. + 3 other threads. and another heap on other sites...

I think a lot of people who've voiced concerns over the ally wheel have been more in the camp of debating which races belong adjacent to one another, rather than the existence of the wheel itself.

Me, I would've preferred to see Guard adjacent to Chaos rather than Orks, as I recall quite a few fluff pieces where marines put down local planetary governors who had fallen to Chaos. I admit I haven't followed it in a while. Likewise, rightly or wrongly, others have objected to Eldar/Dark Eldar being paired. I'm sure there are more.

Speaking for myself, at least, while I have a small quibble with the specific arrangement of the wheel, I'm interested to see what it does to gameplay and deck design. It's an interesting middle ground between mix and match a la Cthulhu or M:TG and games with more strict rules on factions mixing like Netrunner (where you have a very limited number of cross faction cards) or Doomtown (where you pay a premium for cross-faction cards).

I think the wheel is cool. While theme is important.. game play is way more important. A good designer knows when to sacrifice theme for there to be a game worth playing. Am I 100% happy with the wheel adjacency alliances? No, not really... but I do think that it is a really cool idea for factions in a card game that will lead to really neat deck designs. So I am unperturbed by any of the concerns in this thread, I think it will make little difference in the long run,

I fully expect to see more factions added

i'm pretty sure they won't add more faction.

In every lcg ffg made, the number of faction announced at start was the final number of faction.

Yes Agot, Invasion and SW had only 4 faction in their CS instead of 6, but the two remaining factions were known since the announcement of the game, and some cards from these faction were available in the CS.

Netrunner on the other hand had 7 faction announced, 7 faction in the CS, and still "only" has 7 faction and is quite enjoyable.

So if FFG decide to add Necron and Tyranid, it'll be either neutral cards or some kind of archenemy deck for a future coop mode.

If i'm wrong, great, i love necrons and Tyranids, but 9 faction might be a lot harder to balance, and some faction have a risk of feeling pretty much the same in term of gameplay

Cthulhu added a faction long after core set so yes it has been done before.

Also FFG CEO all but said to expect new factions at GAMA without actually giving anything away.