Why not release reprints of 100 Years War, Scottish Wars, Goblin Marauders, etc.?

I'm a big fan of Fantasy Flight Games. As a rule, the components are very high quality, the rulesets are refined (and revised when needed) and the company supports its big games with regularly updated online faqs, downloadable rules and expansions. FFG's purchase of Battlelore was a smart move on their part as Days of Wonder had developed a solid fan base for the game and had several nearly completed expansions almost ready for release.

As an impatient and greedy gamer, I would have been ecstatic if FFG had released all the expansions at once - Heroes, Dragons, Creatures, oh my! However, from a business perspective, I understand why flooding the market all at once would be a bad idea. Even the most ardent fans of Battlelore might not run out and buy all the expansions at once (I would, but I suffer from extreme gamer OCD) and gaming store owners don't particularly like to have product collect dust on their shelves. Moreover, if multiple expansions were released around the same time, one or more might get lost in the shuffle. Every game (i.e., "product") has to create revenue to cover its production run costs as well as the previously-incurred costs of research and development. Ultimately, FFG is a business that exists to make a profit. I understand this.

All that being said, I don't think the foregoing concerns apply to or in any way justify FFG's failure to reprint expansions previously released by DoW. R&D costs don't need to be recovered (they were incurred by DoW). The molds (presumably) were bought by FFG and are just waiting for injections of plastic. There is no risk of any of the expansions getting lost in the shuffle as they are known entities. Battlelore players know what is added by the Goblin Marauders expansion; they know how the Hundred Years War expansion fits into the existing scheme; they also know that they WANT THEM NOW! FFG has a ready market of Battlelore fans who recently bought the base game and are more than ready to add new troops to their armies. Spend five minutes browsing the forums and this fact becomes readily apparent.

The Battlelore Heroes expansion is a risk for FFG. It represents a fairly dramatic addition to the existing ruleset and may not appeal to all players (see also Call to Arms, Epic and that Troll thing). Proceeding cautiously with that type of expansion makes sense. Let it catch one...then, a few months later, drop Dragons...then Creatures, etc. As for the DoW expansion, RELEASE THEM AND THEY WILL COME! We - the Battlelore fans - have done our part: the demand is here. Now, FFG, it's time to do your part - provide the supply. Please.

I received information regarding Hundred Years' War from a very reliable source who said, "We're not...declaring the game expansion dead - we're just putting off reprints at the moment as we concentrate on some of the newer expansions we're working on."

Being someone who owns all of the expansion, I appreciate this approach. I have been with the game since the begining, as such, I have all of the expansion. I am happy that FFG's priority is releasing new expansions instead of re-releasing old expansion. Once the game is well established as a member of FFG, I suspect that most of the expansion will be re-released in some form.

biomage said:

Well of course YOU are okay without a reprint...

Seriously, I appreciate the point you make. If reprinting the older expansions takes more time/money/effort than I imagine, certainly FFG is arguably justified in their approach. If this is indeed the case, I would be (more or less) content if FFG simply spelled it out. I'm sure FFG has a strategy for Battlelore expansions - present, past and future - I just want to know what it is.

Actually, I just want 100 Years War. I have everything else...

That stinks! I did not know they were out of print. I do not keep track, but it seems that BL expansions are always available whenever I go into a game store. Are they getting hard to find?

Not all the expansions are that hard to find. Call to Arms and Epic are readily available but the Dwarven and Goblin expansions are in relatively short supply (though I still occasionally see copies available online). The Hundred Years War expansion is the most difficult to find. I have found a few copies internationally (thanks to Bioware on the forums) but with exchange rates as they are (euro versus dollar) and shipping costs, I really can't justify the cost. If you are finding the Hundred Years War expansion in gaming stores, please let me know how to get in touch with that store so I can get a copy.

FFG is focusing on their new expansions for the moment - Heroes, Dragons and Creatures. Hopefully, they will consider reprinting the old ones once the new expansions have been launched.

er with the new heros exp you need 100 years war exp to play some of the advntuers

this seems a bit of a school boy error to me

come on FFG sort it out

ROO said:

As a sometimes optimist, this gives me hope that FFG will reprint Hundred Years War sooner, rather than later. In the meantime, Richard Borg (God bless him) posted an option for playing two of the Heroes adventures without Hundred Years War.

If you do not have some of the expansions, the following unit substitutions could be made and will still provide players with a challenging adventure. All of these substitution units can be found in the core game.

Adventure #57 "Season of the Witch" -

The Standard camp instead of two units of Arbalestiers (crossbowmen) should field two units of green banner archers. Instead of two units of red banner spearmen field two red banner human heavy infantry units.

The Pennant camp instead of one unit of mounted knights should field one unit of red banner heavy cavalry and instead of one unit of red banner spearmen (actually Halberdiers) could field one unit of red banner hobgoblin swordsman.

Adventure #58 "Grave Adventure" -

The Standard camp instead of one unit of mounted knights should field one unit of human red banner heavy infantry.

The Pennant camp instead of one unit of mounted knights should field one unit of human red banner heavy infantry and instead of one unit of Arbalestiers (crossbowmen) should field one unit of green banner archers.

Enjoy!

Richard Borg