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So here's the scenario, in 1999 3rd edition 40k bombed terribly so they let 40k die somewhere around 2000. Players drifted off to Warzone, War of the 5 Rings, Chainmail and other games and 40k disappeared but for a few lonely internet communities and the occasional 'hey do you remember' articles online.

Until now!

Somehow you, yes you, have been chosen to head the big 40k relaunch for 2017. You have total freedom to choose what elements from the original game to keep, change or throw out. It has to be a 28mm skirmish game, unpainted plastic figures, but everything else is up for grabs.

But resources are limited. GW has most of its time and energy invested in their highly successful Hunger Games and Chronicles of Narnia licences and will only produce 12 plastic kits for the relaunch. And you must have at least 3 factions.

Oh and you have to make money.

So what do you do? What do you change? What kits do you leave off with?

So 3 factions with 4 kits each but only loosely based on the first three editions?

 DeffDred wrote:
So 3 factions with 4 kits each but only loosely based on the first three editions?

Or y'know 10 Space Marine kits with 1 each for the other factions If you want to be realistic.

Space Marines:
5 Terminators (all options included)
10 Marines (all options included)
HQ set (all options included, makes 2 models 1 PA 1 Termie)
Landraider

Orks:
20 Boys (all upgrades included)
5 Nobz (all upgrades included)
HQ set (makes Boss/Mek/Dok)
Trukk/Buggy (makes 2 buggies if not used to make a trukk)

Tyranids:
20 Hormogaunts/Termigants
5 Warriors (all upgrades included)
Tyrant (all options included)
Carnifex (all options included)

Spess Mahreens(TM):
MEQ box for things like Tacticals, Stermguard, Assault Marines (no jump packs).
Terminator box with shooting and CC varients.
Tank box (Rhino, Razorback, Pred)
Upgrade Kit that is full of bits for Devastators, Jump Packs, Whirlwind, "Centurions" (heavy ranged weapon terminators), Librarian, Captain.

Orks:
Boyz - Can make shoota, choppa, kommando, burna boyz.
Nobz - Can make Nobz, Gitz, Mek and has one Bulkier Nob for a Warboss
Build-a-Wagon - Can make trukks, buggies, Ork tank, mek guns.
Upgrade Kit that includes Stormboy, Loota, Tankbusta, Painboy, Weirdboy, and upgrade plates for ard wagonz.

Tau:
Fire Warriors - Can make Fire Warriors, Pathfinders, a CC variant, and a Fireblade.
XV8 Crisis Suits - Normal assortment of guns as well as sword and shield for CC variant.
Tank - Devilfish, Hammerhead, Skyray
Upgrade Kit - Can make Broadsides, Commander, Breacher, and an artillery weapon for the Tank body.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
So what do you do?

Fire everyone, hire new employees from FFG/WOTC/etc that actually know how to write games that don't suck. If GW managed to kill off their own unique IP and sink to the level of licensing mediocre IPs as their only product lines it's a safe bet that whoever is working there is just as incompetent as the people GW has now.

What do you change?

I start by following a sensible design process. The first step is coming up with a detailed design document specifying what the game is going to be like, who it is going to appeal to, etc, so that any time a decision about something has to be made the designers can consult the original plan and ask "what is our goal in making this decision". This will ensure that the rules are part of a single coherent plan instead of whatever random nonsense a designer felt like including at that moment. What exactly the game will include is something that will be up for debate, the process is what matters.

Once this overall concept is designed the rules will emphasize clarity and balance. The rules will function "out of the box" as a competitive tournament game with, at most, a very minor FAQ in which 95% of the questions are answered with "do exactly what the rules say, this isn't hard". Anything that does not meet this standard (I acknowledge that mistakes occasionally happen and something slips through even the best playtesting efforts) will be flagged for fixing in the next edition. FAQs/ban lists/etc are all possible tools for fixing problems and will be used aggressively to make sure that the rules are up to date.

In the interest of allowing the rules to meet my standards and reduce barriers to entry I will give serious thought to making the rules available as free pdfs which can be updated on a regular cycle. However, I acknowledge that business realities may prevent this from being a practical option as GW's business model is (presumably) built on the assumption that people are buying rulebooks.

What kits do you leave off with?

My plan is to start with the essentials of 40k as the downfall of the Imperium. So I need a solid Imperial core, and representatives from each of the ways in which the Imperium can die: the enemy within (Chaos), the rising threat (Tau), and the numberless horde (Orks). So that gives me:

Space Marines:
Tactical Squad (10 models)
Terminator Squad (5 models)
Rhino (including Predator and Razorback turrets)

Imperial Guard:
Infantry Squad (10 models, including command upgrades)
Chimera (including Hellhound turret and a new "light LRBT" turret)

Chaos:
Upgrade kit for the Space Marine and Imperial Guard models (spikes, traitor shoulder pads, Chaos icons, etc)

Tau:
Fire Warriors (12 models, including pulse carbines to make Pathfinders)
Crisis Suits (3 models, including Broadside railguns)
Devilfish (including Hammerhead turrets)

Orks:
Boyz (10 models)
Nobz (5 models)
Trukk (including parts to make some other vehicles)


That's five factions, each with a common infantry unit (which can also be used to make elite versions), a heavy infantry unit, and a transport/tank kit. IG miss out on the elites to pay for the Chaos upgrade kit, but they're the faction with the least interest in heavy/elite infantry and their basic infantry kit can make most of the non-vehicle models in the current codex. The obvious next step would be HQ kits for each faction. You can convert them from the generic models, but everyone loves customizing their unique characters so that's a pretty obvious place to go if the game demonstrates its potential. If sales are really high enough to justify it and my new game can accommodate them I can start making plans for heavy vehicles (Land Raider, LRBT, Battlewagon, some new Tau tank) and some fortifications/scenery.

So I've given this a bit of thought, what would be the most anyone could pack into an abbreviated 40k launch and have both a fun, playable game and make people want to come back for more.

Faction 1 - The Space Marines

I think Space Marines are a must. But mine would be bigger than the current, a head taller than a human. Fluff-wise they'd be the fast and hard hitting force, no tanks, they're either flying, dropping or teleporting in. In the rare event they need ground tanks they'd use upsized land raiders, more like rolling forts. Rules wise they'd be more like Deathwatch, a lot of flexibility in weapons and gear. And power wise they'd be more like Movie Marines, 10 of them would be terrifying, an easy match for 30, 40 or 50 orks or humans.


1 Tactical squad - 5 man, lots of options, optional bits for a Captain, Librarian or some sort of Lone Wolf/Black Shield/Renegade Who Plays By His Own Rules But Gets The Job Done type guy.
2 Assault Squad - 5 man, lots of options, optional bits for a Chaplain
3 Corvis Black Star - The only good looking marine flier

Faction 2 - Orks
Orks are a great counter point, the mindless hoard, and have a certain dark humor. Not much to change there. Since I want to make money I might drop the Kans for a Contemptor Dread for the Marines, but I think only giving the Orks giant robots in the start (and awesome robots made from garbage) gives them a unique feature to attract players.

4 Ork Mob - 20 orks, most of them monopose/push fit models to squeeze as many onto a sprue as possible. But 5 fully multipart ones for special/heavy weapons and boss.
5 Ork Killer Kans
6 Ork Nobs - 4 nobs bigger than an ordinary ork, and one ogre sized warboss. Bitz to make mekks, doks, or weirdboys.

Faction 3-Chaos Cult

You need to have some ordinary humans in there and these guys are more visually interesting than the Imperial Guard. I would play up the whole oppressive Imperium thing and play them as half freedom fighter, half nutjob demon worshipers. Rules-wise they'd be the infiltrate, hide, ambush army.

7 Cult Hoard - 20 cultists, 15 monopost/push fit but room for 5 multipart ones for making Heretic leaders, psykers, mutants, cyborg gladiator types. Maybe too close to orks? More shooty?
8 Warp Entity - OMG! C'thuhlu tenatcle mind control monster! Not a big guy with wings and an ax, something from the horrors we don't even want to think about. I see the kit having one big monster, and 2-3 smaller ones, Daemon hosts maybe.

Faction 4-Inquisition

To me the most interesting of the Imperial factions, and one that I can do in a single kit. Rules-wise a lot of options, from a pile of generic riflemen, to a handful of top-end specialists with a variety of skills, powers and weapons. It would be a tough army to play but would appeal as something small and diverse and get to build in a lot of 40k concepts. The goal would be to make the kit as flexible as the old Empire Militia set, any bit would work with any body. That might make it tough to include men and woman but that would still be a goal.

9 Inquisition warband - 10 humans, male and female, mix of robes, armor, cybernetics etc, tons of options.

Faction 5-Eldar

This is a squeeze but hey it's my daydream. The Eldar would get some serious changes, Guardians would go away (except maybe in a rare full mobilization scenario). Eldar would be supremely well-equipped psychic warrior princes jumping around, cutting people with their laser swords. A hard to play fragile army, but very very mobile and deadly. I think jump belts would be standard issue for most, and invulnerable saves. Unit-wide teleports would be wargear option. The warrior aspects might stay but I'd be more flexible with them. If they ever get expanded, Guardians would be replaced with some sort of Wraith Skeleton construct. Disposable wraithbone creations to bulk up numbers.

10 Eldar Raiding party - 10 multipart space elfs, with bitz to make a few heavy weapon troopers (Dark Reapers), close combat (Banshees), generalists (Dire Avengers) and psykers (Warlock).

Generic

11 Truck - Originally I was going to put in ork truck but then I realized I wanted a technical for the Cult and a limo for the Inquisitor so why not fudge it and put in a generic truck with detail bitz for the 3 factions. It won't be perfect but it would be acceptable. Can be built open topped or hard top, optional weapon mount.

12 Imperial city terrain - a cities of death type set, but no ruined buildings. Seriously, if you want ruins you can cut these up yourself! Why am I wasting a set on terrain? Because the look of the Imperium is so important to 40k, and it gives players a way to establish the setting right off the bat.

 Peregrine wrote:

Spoiler:

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
So what do you do?

Fire everyone, hire new employees from FFG/WOTC/etc that actually know how to write games that don't suck. If GW managed to kill off their own unique IP and sink to the level of licensing mediocre IPs as their only product lines it's a safe bet that whoever is working there is just as incompetent as the people GW has now.

What do you change?

I start by following a sensible design process. The first step is coming up with a detailed design document specifying what the game is going to be like, who it is going to appeal to, etc, so that any time a decision about something has to be made the designers can consult the original plan and ask "what is our goal in making this decision". This will ensure that the rules are part of a single coherent plan instead of whatever random nonsense a designer felt like including at that moment. What exactly the game will include is something that will be up for debate, the process is what matters.

Once this overall concept is designed the rules will emphasize clarity and balance. The rules will function "out of the box" as a competitive tournament game with, at most, a very minor FAQ in which 95% of the questions are answered with "do exactly what the rules say, this isn't hard". Anything that does not meet this standard (I acknowledge that mistakes occasionally happen and something slips through even the best playtesting efforts) will be flagged for fixing in the next edition. FAQs/ban lists/etc are all possible tools for fixing problems and will be used aggressively to make sure that the rules are up to date.

In the interest of allowing the rules to meet my standards and reduce barriers to entry I will give serious thought to making the rules available as free pdfs which can be updated on a regular cycle. However, I acknowledge that business realities may prevent this from being a practical option as GW's business model is (presumably) built on the assumption that people are buying rulebooks.

What kits do you leave off with?

My plan is to start with the essentials of 40k as the downfall of the Imperium. So I need a solid Imperial core, and representatives from each of the ways in which the Imperium can die: the enemy within (Chaos), the rising threat (Tau), and the numberless horde (Orks). So that gives me:

Space Marines:
Tactical Squad (10 models)
Terminator Squad (5 models)
Rhino (including Predator and Razorback turrets)

Imperial Guard:
Infantry Squad (10 models, including command upgrades)
Chimera (including Hellhound turret and a new "light LRBT" turret)

Chaos:
Upgrade kit for the Space Marine and Imperial Guard models (spikes, traitor shoulder pads, Chaos icons, etc)

Tau:
Fire Warriors (12 models, including pulse carbines to make Pathfinders)
Crisis Suits (3 models, including Broadside railguns)
Devilfish (including Hammerhead turrets)

Orks:
Boyz (10 models)
Nobz (5 models)
Trukk (including parts to make some other vehicles)


That's five factions, each with a common infantry unit (which can also be used to make elite versions), a heavy infantry unit, and a transport/tank kit. IG miss out on the elites to pay for the Chaos upgrade kit, but they're the faction with the least interest in heavy/elite infantry and their basic infantry kit can make most of the non-vehicle models in the current codex. The obvious next step would be HQ kits for each faction. You can convert them from the generic models, but everyone loves customizing their unique characters so that's a pretty obvious place to go if the game demonstrates its potential. If sales are really high enough to justify it and my new game can accommodate them I can start making plans for heavy vehicles (Land Raider, LRBT, Battlewagon, some new Tau tank) and some fortifications/scenery.

10/10, would kickstart.

The key would be not to do what we are currently doing, and to make it attractive enough to buy into it for old players.

I would give it a huge turn around to give the game a more of a science fiction feel while remaining in the 40k universe. My goal would be to make it feel more like planetary raids, boarding actions, and mining missions gone wrong like the ones we all know and love in the movies and rpg's and less like full planetary war that just happens to be fought between 10 dudes on wolves and giant robots. The focus should be on bringing troops down and cargo up with flyers.

Kit 1: Boxy imperial Flyer kit: can make a boarding vessel , cargo / troop hauler or an bomber. does include some crates as objectives or terrain.

Kit 2: sleeker imperial flyer kit: can make, personal shuttle, and 2 different fighters, does include some weapon stash options to be used as terrain or objective.

Kit3: Imperial troopers: Regular guys in 40k space suits. Think those genestealer hybrids.To be armed with mining gear, boarding gear or hunting gear. also includes 2 scientist bodies to be used as objectives or part of the army.

Kit4: Heavy imperial troopers: Power armored guys think your standard marines. To be armed with boarding gear (melta cutters shields, flamers, short ranged weapons), hunting gear (harpoons, gas grenades nets) or anti trooper gear (bolters). Includes some beacons to be used as objectives .

Kit 5: Imperial robots: Can be made into bulky servitors or full robots. To be geared with Have heavy weapons, mining gear or lifting gear. Does also include some spare parts to be used as scenery optional upgrades or objectives

kit 6: Imperial heroes: 4 sprues of upgrade gear in order to make all the commanders and heroes you ever wanted for your regular guys and 4 unique bodies plus some unique dug up argeotech and minerals as objectives or scenery

Kit 7: Imperial artillery and machinery: En-placed guns anti air guns, heavy weapons to make heavy weapon squads, small anti grav cargo hauler platforms, and aegis defense line like wall parts and some some bulky looking computers usable for objectives or as control panels for the atillery

Kit 8: Pirate /Rogue trader upgrade kit. Alternative heads, bodies parts, weapons etc. for the trooper and heavy trooper kits, some alternative symbols + weapons for the vehicles. Just to make them all look a bit more piraty. Also some bits of illegal cargo xeno tech stuff and some alien eggs etc. to be used as objectives

Kit 9: Choas / renegade upgrade kit: same as above except with a chaos feel to them and some warp artifacts as objectives.

Kit 10: Daemons kit: Makes all sorts of exotic warp beasties. To be used by chaos players as rare units but will also be lured onto the board by perils and in some space scenarios. Does also include warp portals / breaches.

Kit 11 Exotic fauna kit. Makes all sort of exotic xeno creatures. can be used by Rogue trader / pirates as creatures but are also used on some planet bound scenaros Does also include cages as objective or terrain.

Both Daemons and exotic fauna will have some control issues and go wild again if their controllers / beast masters etc die.

Kit 12 Space ship terrain kit. This kit will have anything to convert your board into a space ship interior.

The rest of the races, or ground vehicles will be added if this is a success. The Starting kit will be calth like with enough to make an army or 2 if you want to and includes a space ship terrain kit.

I'd much rather see an all-or-nothing approach to the level of protagonisting/viewpoint character/focus 40k is currently displaying. Either give an equal level of focus to all factions, or don't release them; none of this "You like Orks? Great! Here's your Codex! You like humans? Great! Pick one of these seventeen army books!" business.

Will elaborate on specifics later but I'd either set up 'factions' as meta-factions with sub-factions (the way Warmachine and Infinity handle it) to explore the xenos in more detail, or go dig deep into the details in one area, not both. I'd also try for a more focused approach as opposed to 40k's constant out-of-context problems that don't interact with each other.

Well I'm a complete newbie in the whole Lore and game but I swear I've read somewhere that the most likely factions to win the Galaxy wide war would be either, Necrons, Orks or Tyranids (I can't remember if IoM were mentioned in this) (I also don't know the majority of units off by heart so please forgive me if I can't name stuff properly) so I've followed that path...

But my initial releases would be something along the lines of the following;

After years of bloodshed, billions of lives lost and severe territory losses, the IoM has had to unite all there current factions into one remaining army, where every being able to hold a weapon now being conscripted and Space Marines are in short supply and as such are now relegated to Heavy Support/ Elite roles.

Kit 1 - Basic Infantry - 10 x Imp troops with extra bits to make a sergeant
Kit 2 - Transport - 1 x Rhino with extra bits to add weapon or smoke launchers (rhino or other human equivalent) or maybe some futuristic type open topped jeep so they can shoot out of
Kit 3 - Elite - 5 x Space marine squad with extra bits to add different weapons, make a chaplain or librarian (Only one chaplain & one librarian per army)

Orkz

Kit 1 - Basic Infantry - 15x Boyz with extra bits to add shootaz instead of choppaz
Kit 2 - Transport - 1x Wartrukk ta' get to da fightin' (open top so they can be fired out of)
Kit 3 - Elite - Mega Armoured Nobz with extra bits for Warboss (only one Warboss per army)

Tyranids

(This is where people are going to butcher me)

Kit 1 - Basic Infantry - Gaunts with extra bits to make them into which ever variant you wish
Kit 2 - Transport - I wasn't sure if Nids have transports so a Tyrvigon to produce more units
Kit 3 - Elite - Warriors with all the extra guns

Necrons

Kit 1 - Basic Infantry - Necron warriors
Kit 2 - Transport - Ghost Ark (again open topped so they can shoot out of it)
Kit 3 - Elite - Triarch Praetorians with extra bits to create an over lord


Should this initial release do well, slowly expand on the unit choices for each faction, then bring in a new faction every now and slowly building it whilst going through with continuous game testing, taking in community feed back and hope to the high heavens it works.

I'd release starter kits consisting of 10 troops, 1 HQ, a transport or a walker for the following factions

Sisters of battle
Imperial guard
Orks
Eldar
Tyranids
Forces of chaos(demons, spess mareens)
And then I'd probably release another kit for each of the factions with 10 troop models and a transport/walker. I'd then flesh the armies out in the next edition, promise to release non chaos marines but not do so for 100 years. Oh and in the starter sets there would be an option to get like 3 paint colors and a codex. Each set sold separately, batteries not included, and we would accept souls as payment

You have to begin the process by answering the following questions behind every collectible game on the market ("collectible" meaning WYSIWYG non-proxy game pieces):
1. How can the game be playable and affordable for the intended player base?
2. How can the company continue to make money over time?
3. How do you deal with a game environment where game pieces never really leave the gamespace?

Card and Clix games have already answered these questions with a business model that works well enough for them. They release game pieces in batches, and artificially "retire" sets to different tiers of competitive play over time. Also because of the relatively low cost of a playable set, this lends itself to sealed/draft events where players can purchase new product for immediate play.

40K currently answers the above questions by forcing players to chase the meta through constant rules changes, and a creeping increase to the size of the game (lower points values, super-heavies, etc). It's probably safe to say that the majority of players see this either near or at a breaking point. It also has a damaging side effect of railroading players into one faction since the price of entry into other factions is so steep. How do we fix this?

I'm going small. Kill Team is the new 40K and it's going to fight its way back into FLGS dominance. This is my new flagship product for 40K, a small boxed set that includes:
- Basic rules...basically Kill Team and a stripped down mini-book (also available FREE online)
- Single-faction Kill Team box of 200 points, *push-assemble models*
- Datasheet with relevant unit rules
- Cardboard templates, d6, measuring tape
- Price point around US$40

The set includes everything that 1 player needs to play the game. I'm going to release 2 sets bi-monthly as store events with prize support. Marines vs Daemons! Tau vs Orks! Chaos vs Blood Angels! FLGSs can run these as "sealed" events, while running bring-your-own events other weeks. By doing this I'm giving new players an entry point into the game, while allowing experienced players to start a new army with a playable force, or add to one they have. The boxes will have to include push-assemble or some select pre-assembled models, but a lot of these already exist, and new ones shouldn't be too difficult to make for basic Troop/Elite choices. They will be bare models, but that's fine for small games. Stores could hold painting events or players will paint them up to their standard later. (I'm going to consider pre-painted models too great a heresy.) Going by the "rules" of the thread my starting 3 forces for launch will be the classic Space Marines (balanced), Eldar (elite), and Tyranids (horde). Faction releases can rotate through, or repeat with new force builds.

Seeing as that will be wildly successful in revitalizing the game, I can then build back up to a full rules set that will allow people to start pulling models out of the closet. First to 1000 points, with 1850 being reserved for the really big tournaments. The main differences being that the core mini-book rules will be a free download (people can still buy the big one with the fluff), and codexes will be single faction and cheaper. I'm also going to sell Black Library annual subscriptions either by faction or in-total that will allow players to have "living" rulesets. (I can't really speculate how much those would have to cost.)

Ultimately the game is going to have to grow, instead of trying to squeeze blood from a shrinking base of high-rollers. To do that the point of entry has to be cheaper and more accessible, as well as something that can be easily demoed and played. People entering tabletop gaming these days just aren't going to drop $500+ on a starter army and arcane rules set, then sit in the basement for weeks modelling. That's why X-Wing is eating GW's lunch right now, and why MTG and Pokemon are keeping many FLGSs alive at all.

Oh, I'm also closing all GW brick and mortar stores. It just no longer makes sense to try and run them as one-man shops selling a single product line...much less in competition with FLGS owners that are more invested in their community. I want to own the online space, but also give FLGSs a reason to showcase my product (and make money) instead of sticking it in a corner while everybody plays X-Wing. Honestly if GW is staying in business now, I'm not sure how that plan could fail.

Well, first of all, we have to ask ourselves in this hypothetical scenario, "Why did it fail?" If it was an internal problem, such as inability to manufacturer quality models, if we were unable to maintain steady enough supply, or if our cost structure was too imbalanced and we just weren't making money, then we need to ask ourselves if we have these things fixed before continuing. I'm going to assume our internal structure is at least O-K, as we're producing other licensed products just fine right now. If it was an external factor, such as being too small a market, or our IP didn't resonate with the market, or a group of competitors just put us under, then we have to ask ourselves if that is still the case.

For the scenario presented, let's say it was a combination of mostly external factors, and we had an internally unbalanced cost structure. Our competitors weren't massively out-powering us, but because we didn't have as large a percentage of the market, our cost imbalances caught up with us and we weren't able to keep profitable. Our Space Marine IP was resonating, but nothing else was really "clicking" with the general public.

With 40k gone, GW decided to close its own branded stores, and that helped to vastly improve our cost structure. Now, after many years, we've started having more and more success with our brand through other entertainment mediums. Novels and Graphic Novels are up, and the recent video games, including the very strategy-focused Dawn of War series, have put Space Marines up front and centre. Our IP is definitely resonating well. Some of our old competitors have not aged well, and the new Star Wars Attack Wing game has taken the world by storm. Warmahordes has definitely grown, but it still feels like a skirmish game.

It looks like there's a good space here for our IP to take root. We should be able to compete with Warmahordes for skirmish-sized games, but squad-based combat is where there's very little competition.

Now, you've said I've only got space for 12 kits for 3 factions. This isn't a huge relaunch, this is just getting our feet wet. We're testing the waters. If we take my assumptions above to be true, we need a few things:

#1 - Squad-based Kits. These are going to be units or squadrons acting in unison. We're going to cut out any single-model infantry/character kits. Boxes have to either be a vehicle, group of vehicles, or a unit of infantry.
#2 - Space Marines. This release is going to be lopsided towards Space Marines, because they're what's carrying the IP right now. Instead of doing 4/4/4 pattern, we're going to do 5/4/3 pattern.
#3 - No GW Stores. We make it clear to our retailers that we will not be competing with them, but rather working alongside them. Our website will be offering direct sales, but will never have any discounts or exclusive offers.
#4 - Free basic rules. The basic rules set is going to be freely available. For now, at least, the specific abilities of each unit will be contained on a unit dataslate that comes with each box.

Now that we got this baseline, let's go ahead and take a look at which units & factions we'll be offering on release:

Faction #1 - Space Marines;
These are our bread & butter. They will be getting 5 of the 12 boxes.

a. Tactical Squad
- box art to be an Ultramarine Captain leading a 4-man Ultramarine Tactical Squad.
- box to contain cape and Iron Halo to turn Sergeant into a Captain regardless of which kit it is attached to, along with rules for weapons included in box (bolters, flamers, missile launcher, plasma gun, heavy bolter).
- box to contain rules for Tactical Squad and Captain.
- box to contain fluff story on reverse sides of rules detailing the Ultramarines, and their Chapter Master, Marneus Calgar (along with his iconic equipment, making it clear that he's not in this box)

b. Devastator Squad
- box art to be group of 5 Dark Angels blasting away foes with all manner of weapons.
- box to contain two of each heavy weapon and special weapon.
- box to contain rules for Devastator Squad, and all the weapons contained therein.
- box to contain fluff story on reverse sides of rules detailing the Dark Angels, and the Deathwing/Ravenwing.

c. Assault Squad
- box art to be group of 5 Blood Angels jumping into the fray, wielding close combat weapons.
- box to contain two of each close combat weapon, and two pistols.
- box to contain rules for Assault Squad, and all weapons contained therein.
- box to include reminder that Captain can be equipped with one of the contained Jump Packs.
- box to contain fluff story on reverse sides of rules detailing the Blood Angels, the Black Rage, and Captain Tycho.

d. Rhino Transport
- box art to be a Space Wolf Rhino, with Space Wolves wearing pelts charging out from it.
- box to contain parts to make a Rhino or Razorback.
- box to contain rules for Rhino and Razorback.
- box to contain fluff story on reverse sides of rules detailing the Space Wolves, and their Primarch, Leman Russ.

e. Terminator Squad
- box art to be 5 Imperial Fist Terminators battling all sorts of aliens.
- box to contain one of each special weapon
- box to includes reminder that Captain can be equipped with one of the contained Terminator Armours
- box to contain fluff story on reverse sides of rules detailing the Imperial Fists disgorging from a Land Raider


Faction #2 - Orks
Orks vs Space Marines are the core fighting concepts. The elite versus the horde.

a. Ork Boyz
- box art to be a sea of greenskins, being led by a large Nob
- box to contain pieces for up to 11 Orks plus one Nob or Mega-Nob, with bits to make a Mekboy or Mad Dok
- box to contain rules for Ork Boyz, Shoota Boyz, Nob, Mega-Nob, Mekboy, and Mad Dok
- box to contain fluff story on reverse sides about Orks, Ork Ecology, and their greatest warboss, Gazghkull Thraka

b. Ork Trukk
- box art to be a Trukk and a Buggie sweeping around a corner
- box to contain pieces to make either a Trukk or a War Buggie
- box to contain rules for Trukk and War Buggie
- box to contain fluff story on reverse sides of rules about the Cult of Speed, Looted Wagons, and the Battlewagon

c. Ork Warbikes
- box art to be 3 Ork Bikerz reving their engines while spraying area with bullets
- box to contain pieces to make 3 Ork Warbikes
- box to contain rules for Ork Warbikes
- box to include reminder that Nob body (but not a Mega Nob, Mekboy, or Mad Dok) can be put onto Warbike to make him a Biker Nob
- box to contain fluff story on reverse sides about the crude inventions of the Orks, and their mockery and enslavement of Imperial worlds

d. Ork Deff Dread
- box art to be an Ork Deff Dread ripping things apart
- box to contain 1 Ork Deff Dread, with lots of arm and kan options
- box to contain rules for Ork Deff Dread
- box to contain fluff story on reverse sides of rules about Ork constructs, and the mighty Gargant


Faction #3 - Followers of the Dark Gods
If Orks vs Space Marines are the combat core of the game, Imperium vs Chaos is the spiritual core.

a. Chaos/Imperial Cultists
- box art is 7 Cultists armed with lasguns and a Heavy Weapons Team being led by a Cult Champion
- box to contain pieces for a special weapon, and heavy weapons
- box to contain rules on using models as either Cultists, or as Astra Militarum Zealots (Imperial Cultists)
- box to contain fluff on the four Chaos Gods, and their worshippers

b. Chaos Possessed
- box art to be 4 Possessed being led by an Aspiring Champion
- box to contain pieces for multiple mutations, and an upgrade to make the Aspiring Champion into a Chaos Sorcerer
- box to contain rules on using Possessed, the Aspiring Champion, and a Sorcerer
- box to contain fluff on the Horus Heresy, and the mutating powers of Chaos

c. Chaos Battle Tank
- box art to be a corrupted Leman Russ Battle tank that's been repurposed to fight alongside the forces of evil
- box to contain pieces to make a Leman Russ Battle Tank, now called a Chaos Battle Tank
- box to contain rules on using Chaos Battle Tank, but also how it can be used by Imperial Cultists as a Leman Russ Battle Tank
- box to contain fluff on Renegade Imperial Commanders and their role in the Black Crusades

Lots of good deep thoughts on this thread, here's another.

Remove the restriction it has to be a 28mm game. You can choose the scale, 6mm, 54mm, space, other...

But you still only get one shot, 12 kits and you're looking to make money.

How do you do it? Would you stay with 28mm or would another scale be better for 40k?

A Space Marine kit could be made versatile enough to be both SM and CSM for little effort (different heads and backpacks, basically). Same deal with the Rhino and Terminators - really, any SM kit could be CSM kit with some additions. That would stretch your 3 factions to 4.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Lots of good deep thoughts on this thread, here's another.

Remove the restriction it has to be a 28mm game. You can choose the scale, 6mm, 54mm, space, other...

But you still only get one shot, 12 kits and you're looking to make money.

How do you do it? Would you stay with 28mm or would another scale be better for 40k?

It really is kind of a hard question, as it's too easy to overthink it with making lots of assumptions about why it failed, what the marker would/should be like now, etc.

In short, if I were to roll out an all new 40K in today's market, I would go with 10mm mass battle. There are already enough skirmish games around (quite likely your aforementioned Hunger Games and Narnia games produced by this fictional GW would be 28mm skirmish). Making it 10mm means we don't really have to worry much about a HQ/leader unit model, so that frees up some more options. Being 10mm also means lots of extra stuff can fit onto a sprue, or even be able to just produce multiples of the same sprue for a single kit. I would go with three factions.

Space Marines, they're the poster boys, can be the easy to use beginner army, resilient and equally good at shooting and assault.
1. Marine Squad Kit. Include heavy weapon models and assault variants (remember, 10mm means more space for more options on a single sprue). Can even include the parts to make a leader unit.
2. Tank Kit. Rhino, Razorback, and Predator variants. Should get at least two from a single sprue, if not 3.
3. Speed Kit. Bikes and Landspeeders, maybe even a flyer if we're lucky with sprue space.
4. Big Model Kit. Couple options here: terminators + land raider, iconic Thunderhawk, or even an Imperial Knight. Since we want something big and cool to get attention on the tabletop, I would either go with the Thunderhawk (if we couldn't fit a flyer in the Speed Kit) otherwise the Imperial Knight (which also serves as a hook for other Imperial factions).

Orks, the horde army, really good at assault.
1. Boyz Kit. 'nuff said. Maybe even squeeze in a simple trukk onto the sprue(s).
2. Wagon Kit. Battlewagons and trukks
3. Speed Kit. Bikes and a flyer (deffkoptas, too, if space permits).
4. Big Model Kit. Stompa, of course

Tau, the shooty army.
1. Fire Warriors Kit.
2. Tank Kit. As many Devilfish, Hammerhead, and Skyray models as can be crammed into the sprues (the Skyway will negate the need for a flyer).
3. Elite Kit. Crisis suits and broadsides.
4. Big Model Kit. Riptides or Stormsurge.

Even with that I feel like I'm making too many assumptions about what can be done with a 10mm scale sprue as far as options go. I wouldn't go with Chaos at first, as they would be too similar to Space Marines, but if the game proves successful, Chaos options (rules, upgrade sprues for the Marine kits, and even Demon models) could be a new faction.