Revision, re-package, reissue

[larry marak]

So far, in the years since PG has been out, we have seen the revision of PG into PG Deluxe East Front, 4 iterations of Edelweiss (I think), 3 versions of Airborne, and 3 versions of Arctic Front. We are about to see a kind of redesign of Beyond Normandy covering some of the same battles plus (if I'm correct) operations before and after.

Just wonder what your opinion is on the issueing of new titles replacing old ones. So far Dr. B. has managed to keep everything in stock except a few books and books with counters that would require re-composition for the new outside printer. An 8 mapper now has risen in price to $119 and maybe will be more with the new laser cut first print second means of production that we will shortly see in the new games I suspect we are at the breaking point in price for boxed game packages, and it may be necessary down the road to issue truncated versions of earlier games, or else abandon old games altogether (something that has occured over at Critical Hit with Tobruk, the core game of the ATS system which is now permanently out of print and being replaced by a series of new titles).

What are your cogitations on this issue, and could you accept Avalanche downsizing he product in order to keep coming out with new releases. An example would be dividing Deluxe Eastern Front into 2 boxed sets, one covering June 41 to May 42, a second covering June 42 to May 43. There'd be old scenarios, new scenarios, borrowed scenarios from other books, but fewer counters and 3 mapboards apiece, or even 3 in the first volume and 2 in the second. This is not something being considered by Avalanche by the way, just my speculation.

Are you interested or not in repackaging the product?

[vince hughes]

Larry,

I don't buy re-issues unless it is substantial. For example, I have not bought Airborne 3. I only got the new Edelweiss in a swap with Robin Rathburn. He collects all the books and he did not have the 'binded' Edelweiss. He offered to give me the new book and counters for the old book only and that seemed like a good deal. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bought that one either.

Lib 44 to be fair is not a re-issue. Its the same campaign in parts, but different battles. So that is OK by me.

I think, with his printing capability to hand he might have a look at developing books with 2 maps inside and counters. That would probably save on some costs and make things more affordable. It will also cut down on bloody marker counters. Other than that, not sure how the line can be expanded without box sets.

[otto]

I think a sword of Israel expansion with two maps (suez channel) and one countersheet would be the perfect example.
Ottavio

[vince hughes]

Otto,

The East Front, D-Day, Pacific and then the lesser theatres could all be expanded by a two maps + 176 counter-sheet expansion at a time. Kokoda trail is a good example of this.

I also think such items might be easier to sell and export to overseas game shops ? That's a guess though, I have no real insight into such a business.

[vince hughes]

Have to laugh though.

Here we are wondering about this expansion when just a few months back and for a time before then the game.co looked dead. Has to be one of the best recovery's in the history of wargame boardgame companies ?

[campsawyer]

Larry, with you questions about repackaging, I would say it depends on what it in the repackage. If it is just a re-hash of the existing game for those that did not purchase it new, then no I am not interested. If there was substantial change to improve its value then yes.

[larry marak]

The stream of new maps certainly invites redesign of scenarios.

[Matt W]

I have spent a good deal of time playing original and "improved" scenarios (not always in that order) and can provide some (e.g. Lions/AF/AFD, Tank Battles/Heroes/Red Warriors, PG/EFD, and, of course, Airborne). For reissues I can say without reservation, that the newer products represent substantial improvements over the original scenarios in most cases. There are some reasons to think that something like EFDx will be provided at less thean a full profit margin as an entry point to the system. Kind of a "gateway drug".

With Elsenborn Ridge taking over the role of the Intro game I expect its price will be moderated for quite some time.

As to repackaging to recover price points this certainly could be done but it will drastically effect the "playability" of the scenarios. I don't expect to see anything resembling EFDx in the future and would expect a price increase at some point. The current product releases are all in the 40-50 scenario range for boxed games with 4-8 maps. I expect these will be cornerstone games. Development off of these will probably be along the lines of the expected island war packs building off of Saipan. I also expect we will start seeing those next year as Avalanche will need to pay some attention to its naval series.

[Shad]

I don't like seeing all-in-the-box games become games that require 5 other games to enjoy! You're changing the nature of the game, and it gets needlessly confusing.

Given the breadth of material available, I also don't think anything really needs to be remastered at this point.

Let's see CHINA, SE Asia, and Sicily before we start messing with old content.

[Hugmenot]

Airborne - Remastered is not a boxed game, but rather a supplement with 1 board.

I am like you and would much rather new nations or battles before seeing remastered products.