Almost a year ago, we posted an article reflecting on the story of Core Space so far, and looking into its future. With the production of Core Space First Born well underway, almost everything in that article has already come to pass. However, there’s one area we want to revisit in 2021.
Last year we released two new expansions for Core Space, Shift Change at MegaCorp and Rogue Purge, that included resin miniatures requiring assembly. We really wanted to maintain the excellent range of plastic miniatures from the game, but being such a small company we couldn’t quite make it work. You can check out the full article explaining what we did and why HERE.
Since then, however, the Shift Change at MegaCorp expansion has sold out twice and we’re down to the last few of our third print run! Clearly we should have had no cause for concern, and this success has affirmed that Core Space is big enough to support a range of plastics going forward. This is great news for Core Space players everywhere. So, what next?
At this stage it’s not cost effective for us to continue producing resin miniatures. It also doesn’t make sense to recreate the same minis in plastic this late in the product’s life. Many customers are happy with their resin versions and wouldn’t purchase the same figures again. Therefore, we cannot continue to print this expansion in its current form. However, we don’t want to leave a gap in the range – we want to make sure that Core Space players still have access to Workers and Scavengers to get the full sandbox experience.
Black Star Rising
Our solution is a brand new Core Space expansion. It’s called Black Star Rising and will be released this year – a little something to get you by while you wait for your First Born delivery!
From a rules perspective it serves as a replacement for the Shift Change set so players can still access the Worker and Scavenger rules (which are unchanged). However, it will add brand new miniatures and character boards to expand your collection of sci-fi civilians, and we think these are some of our best sculpts yet!
It wouldn’t be Core Space without a story, so you will also find a new three-mission narrative campaign to play through with your crews for plenty of gameplay content.
The new characters will of course come with all the usual equipment and other components. All the nano items added by Shift Change will be included, as well as some new additions including the Grapple Gun, perfect for a quick escape on a multi-level board!
Finally, we’ve taken the opportunity to make a bespoke die for the Workers with custom icons, so you won’t have to use the Chance Die and look up results on a table.
We will make the missions from the original Shift Change expansion available to download from the site a little later in the year, so new players won’t be missing out on any content.
We’re really excited about expanding our cast of characters with this set, and we are eternally grateful to our thousands of Core Space fans. You have made this possible with your support, so thank you.
A Note on Rogue Purge: This set is a little more advanced than Shift Change and as a niche product it’s not as widely used in game just yet. We still have stock remaining of this set and we haven’t yet made a decision about how to handle it when it sells out. We’ll review it nearer the time and we’ll let you know the outcome.
KOVAC
Name: Liann Kovac
Species: Human
Age: 34
Kovac is a lab technician who has worked in some of the most dangerous parts of the known galaxy. With no family or close friends to tie her down she is a brain for hire, ready at a moment’s notice to ship out to wherever she is needed.
Although mostly working within government contracts she has dabbled in freelance work for less savoury individuals or businesses. Over the years Kovac has developed a slight taint of corruption, common with those who work on the fringes of society. She is a talented technician who will turn a blind eye to the ethics of an experiment if it pays well.
A Price on Your Head
Black Star Rising isn’t the only new product this year. To further support the game, there is another brand new, non-Kickstarted expansion featuring Bounty Hunters, one of the longest awaited additions to the universe!
Wanted: Dead or Alive features two of these deadly characters, Nokura and Valian. When these new NPCs enter the board they mark their targets – the characters they have been tasked with hunting down – and will then pursue them relentlessly with a wide range of powerful weaponry. When they get close you’ll reveal your fate – have they been sent to extort you for an unpaid debt, to drag you off to prison, or is this a stone cold execution? It might be better not to find out…
The Bounty Hunters are supported by another new character type – Auxiliaries. These are not Traders in their own right, instead representing robotic drones and animal companions that assist NPCs and Traders alike to attack, defend or just to carry your gear! There are five Auxiliaries in this set ranging from the ferocious Attack Hound to the multi-purpose Utility Drone.
AUXILIARIES
No successful bounty hunter would consider taking on a job without backup.
Auxiliaries are used for reconnaissance, heavy lifting, extra firepower and sometimes even cannon fodder. They tend to be one of two types – beasts, highly trained attack animals, usually with cybernetic implants; or semi-autonomous machines, usually assigned a specific task, for example a gun drone.
ASSAULT HOUND
Assault Hounds are bred solely as attack beasts. The organic component can be one of many different types of beasts engineered with the exact qualities of viciousness and obedience required. They will have a certain amount of cybernetics implanted depending on the client’s preference. The cybernetics help the beast’s coordination, strength and reflexes and also enhance its understanding of commands and ensure its obedience, with low voltage shock circuits if required.
The range of Auxiliaries will be further expanded on the release of First Born, as these new rules are used for the Autocam drone in the In the Line of Fire expansion, as well as Mixer – the loyal companion of Daric from Trading Post 5.
These two new sets will be released over the summer. We’ll get them up on pre-order on the store (and via your favourite FLGS) as soon as we get a shipping date from the factory. We’re hoping it won’t be too long but international shipping has been a bit of a minefield this year!
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Let us know what you think in the comments below. Until next time, happy gaming!
William Keyser
October 4, 2021 at 3:45 am
Hi How does the Grapple gun work I cannot find any instructions for it in the rules?
Stewart Gibbs
October 4, 2021 at 7:04 am
Hi William
The rules for it are on page 15. The gun shoots the nano grappling hook tokens. Choose a point in short range and place your Trader there, regardless of height or surrounding enemies. Great for getting you out of trouble!
William Keyser
October 4, 2021 at 1:42 pm
Thanks Stew did not see it I was looking for the orange picture of the gun!!!!
Edwin Cordero
June 28, 2021 at 3:07 pm
Gurnrit is he a beast of burden or another bounty hunter , a support class or a sidekick ; will this expansion sold by you before the retailors? And what will be the going Price?
Stewart Gibbs
June 28, 2021 at 3:11 pm
The Gurnrit is a beast of burden, it’s one of the auxiliaries. It should be available from us and from retailers at around the same time, and it will be at the same cost as our crew packs 🙂
William Keyser
June 16, 2021 at 3:46 am
Any word on when we might see these in the store?
Stewart Gibbs
June 16, 2021 at 5:52 am
Not just yet. We’ll announce a date as soon as they’re in transit. We don’t want to jump the gun when international shipping is so uncertain this year.
Cameron Schooley
May 23, 2021 at 4:34 am
I consider the resin an upgrade. Although the PVC is top notch, I wish all available minatures in the line had a resin option.
Mat Gui
May 22, 2021 at 10:18 am
I hope than The wanted: dead or alive extension will have more intelligent NPC, for example, if they target 1 member of a crew, and they reach him, if they see the rest of the crew, they won’t risk their life just for another contract, beacaus for now, Some Npc are like the purge : suicidal 🙂
Greg Lane
May 22, 2021 at 1:18 am
There’s still stock of “Shift Change” at a few websites, Goblin Gaming have some, and that’s before you check your LGS. I certainly wouldn’t want to buy the same product in plastic, and I wouldn’t be pleased if that meant I missed out on the dice. They’ve gone with the only logical solution in my opinion. More scavengers can only be a good thing!
STEVEN GREEN
May 21, 2021 at 5:57 pm
While I understand the reasoning behind not redoing Shift Change in plastic, I suspect your reasoning may be faulty. You are assuming those who own them in resin would not purchase them again in plastic. That may be true for some, but certainly not all of your customers. I own both of your resin sets, and would purchase both again to have them in plastic. I wonder how many others would do the same?
Perhaps you should figure out what it would cost to redo them in plastic, and then run a kickstarter campaign with that level of funding. If you reach it, then everybody wins. Those who want them in plastic get them. If you fail to raise the money needed to make it happen, then your decision not to redo them in plastic is justified.
But I suspect you would have a fully funded kickstarter campaign on your hands, and some new minis to add to your plastic lineup!
Mat Gui
May 22, 2021 at 9:54 am
I completly agree with you, as a hardcore player,I was planning to buy myself a set because it contain among the best equiment in core space range ( Nano-Grenade, Throwing blade,Comms unit,time and stim armours,Quell’s fury and the best weapon of the entire game : Cyclone rifle ( i have a combo with 10 dices))But I was waiting for a bit of money to buy this set, now i dont know what im gonna do …
Patrick Kortlevers
May 21, 2021 at 11:20 am
While I understand the reasoning behind not reprinting those resin sets in plastic, it’s still a big shame that as an all-in backer in both campaigns, I will never be able to use those minis and their components because of a resin wall. Can’t help but be very disappointed by this.