Building a Better Box Set

Over the years the BattleTech forums have seen a string of fan-generated threads discussing the merits of the current Introductory Box Set. Specifically, these threads revolve around the box set’s existing components and what improvements, if any, individual fans would make to the format. These introductory box suggestions, like all opinions, vary greatly.

Objectively speaking, subjective fan desires offered through a forum format are largely irrelevant. Forum users represent only a small—albeit active—portion of a game’s player base, and without proper sales and market research offer themselves a poor candidate for decision-making purposes. However, the fact that BattleTech customers do vocalize a regular opinion on the subject is relevant, and therefore worth exploring. In the interest of time and general target audience, this article will not delve too deeply into the subtleties of the niche game market, such as demographics, economics and other associated factors. Readers interested in the niche game market and the tabletop game market should get their feet wet by reading  Microeconomic Theory: Concepts and Connections, by Michael E. Wetzstein, which covers statistics and market sizing (e.g., top-down market sizing, families, adult casual, adult enthusiast, schools, etc.). Readers should also familiarize themselves with toy market statistics. Knowledge of general game theory is equally helpful.  

That said, before any possible box set suggestions for improvement are made, I’ll first need to frame the discussion with some common denominators.

BattleTech is a tabletop board game, not a tabletop miniatures game.

First, it’s important to establish a definition for BattleTech as it is being discussed in this article. In totality, BattleTech is a multi-faceted intellectual tabletop gaming property sold in a variety formats. For this discussion, however, I’ll limit the definition of BattleTech exclusively to its tabletop format. This format includes the various tabletop game rule sets (e.g. Total War & expansions, A Time of War RPG and Alpha Strike), components and products, but excludes fiction-only products—as offered by BattleCorps—such as novellas, novels or PDFs. In this fashion BattleTech is being restricted to its most playable version.

For reference of use, I’ll discuss BattleTech fiction separately and refer to fiction-only products as the BattleTech Universe or the BTU, unless otherwise stated. By definition, BattleTech is also a tabletop board game, not a tabletop miniatures game. Although some of the game’s rule sets stretch that description—such as Alpha Strike—BattleTech can be and is played using whatever proxy pieces are available to represent game-playable pieces. Defining BattleTech as a board game is an important distinction and one I’ll explore later in this article.

Now that I’ve established what BattleTech is, I want to touch on some of the peripheral components that affect the use and utility of the BattleTech Introductory Box Set, as well as some other factors that may impact the product.

One factor that may have an impact on the use and utility of the Introductory Box Set is the free quick-start rule guides. Catalyst Game Labs offers free quick-start rules for BattleTech, including Total War, Alpha Strike and A Time of War. Mentioning the availability of these free rules sets is important for a number of reasons. For one, it underscores BattleTech as a board game as opposed to a tabletop miniatures game. Secondly, freely-available rule sets are available to any potential customer without purchase. I’ll discuss their utility in relation to an Introductory Box Set later, but for now we need to acknowledge their existence and possible place in the game’s introductory hierarchy.

Another factor that may impact the Introductory Box Set is BattleTech’s Era System. The era system is designed to quantify BattleTech’s various products into easily organized groupings. These groupings are based on the fictional era the product is associated with. BattleTech currently has six primary eras and a total of nine sub-eras for product groupings. Why are eras important to the Introductory Box Set? For one, BattleTech is a game based on an evolving storyline, and the era presented in the Introductory Box Set may not be the current storyline or era.

Next, no discussion regarding the box set can be had without discussing the product’s intent. All products have an intended use and desired outcomes as determined—and hoped—by the seller. To determine the intended use for the Introductory Box Set a quick review of the set’s components is in order. Any successful product’s intended use will be easily discernable by the player, as should the seller’s desired outcome for their new customer following purchase and use.

In its current incarnation the Introductory Box Set is designed to provide players with the following game pieces:

• 24 unpainted, instantly ready-to-play plastic BattleMechs
• 2 premium BattleMech Miniatures
• 12-page full color quick start rulebook
• 36-page pre-generated Record Sheets
• 80-page full color rulebook
• 56-page universe background book
• 16-page painting and tactics guide
• two tables cards
• two 18” x 22” mapsheets, with four different maps
• two six sided dice
• one full color, poster-size map of the Inner Sphere circa 3067

Judging by the components listed, we can infer that the intended use of the Introductory Box Set is to provide players with miniature BattleMechs to play a quick start and introductory version of the game rules set in the fictional universe in 3067, along with information for miniature painting and game tactics.

But is this really the Box Set’s intended use based on its components?

A closer examination of the Introductory Box Set reveals telling pieces of information regarding its intended use and also reveals our first opportunity to talk about the seller’s desired outcomes.

Review of the set’s Record Sheets exposes that the 24 plastic BattleMech miniatures use technology found in 3025 rather than 3067 presented by the map and universe background book. The box set also fails to provide seller-determined paths for advancement and expansion. While the provided pamphlet titled “How the Core Rulebooks Work” is included in the box set, this handy little document spends most of its text detailing the differences between the Quick Start Rules, Introductory Rules, Standard Rules, Advanced Rules, the various Core Rulebooks, Scales of Play, Flavor Comparison as well as other important, yet miscellaneous pieces of information. There’s little if any direct or organized selling of additional BattleTech products in the current box set. That’s a major issue for the flagship product with an accessory product catalog as large as BattleTech’s.

Houston, we have a problem.

One of the main issues presented by the box set’s conflicting components is that it confuses its intended use. Some immediate questions jump to mind. Why provide game rules for an older part of the game universe’s background than the one provided in the set, or older still than the current era setting? Why provide era-specific materials like a print map if the map is already out-of-date by the initial printing? Why provide introductory rules, but not the standard rules, if standard rules are the “tournament-appropriate” rules? These rules are the “standard,” after all. Could the rule set’s oversight be a serious sales tactic, or merely an accident? Presentation of the box set’s contents would suggest otherwise, and creates more questions than answers.

If I were applying a psychological diagnosis to the Introductory Box Set solely on the contents of the current set, I’d say it suffers from a case of multiple personality disorder. To put it another way, the current box set makes determining the product’s intended use and the seller’s desired outcome—beyond providing a mish-mash of BattleTech—extremely difficult to determine or understand. The current Introductory Box Set is too generalist and confusing, attempting to do too much with too little while unnecessarily complicating an already-complicated entry point into a very bloated game.

That’s what the current Introductory Box Set does wrong, but what does it do right?

Well, the product is chock full of content. Compared to other introductory game packages, the current box set has high quality miniatures, game boards and dice. The current BattleTech box set can never be called weak on either quality or quantity, to which I tip my hat and say “kudos” to Catalyst. Even a great box set can be ruined by poor quality, which thankfully the high quality contents of the current Introductory Box Set do not have to contend with.

At this point it’s probably a good idea to offer a quick recap: BattleTech is a tabletop board game with numerous rule sets and levels, has free quick start rules, is high quality with a lot of components, is also overtly complicated in relation to BattleTech’s already overtly complicated eras and rule set advancement structure, is out of sync with the current storyline, and does not present tournament standard rules.

For the new BattleTech box set, I’m going to discuss ideas inspired by “fast failure” strategies from the tech industry. Generally speaking, fast failure means inventing ways to make cheap, accurate predictions about whether consumers will adopt your product without committing heavy resources to making it.

The practice tends to work for technology companies, because writing and deploying code is so cheap you can make and sell an actual, if minimal, version of your product, to see how consumers respond. If they don’t like it, you can quickly move on to the next iteration or next product. It doesn’t work in other industries, such as drug development, where a prototype can cost tens of millions of dollars and failure can result in manslaughter.

Game publishers, who are somewhere between these two extremes, already have methods to assess whether their games will sell, but there are better ways to do this.

For most game publishers, their evaluation processes is not as systematic or scientific as it should be. I’ve worked for publishers that will typically test a game internally with play-testers and if everybody likes it enough, and it satisfies some basic rules-of-thumb (having to do with rules simplicity, range of players, playing time, etc.) they will publish it.

But how predictive is that kind of evaluation? Game enjoyment by itself is not an accurate way to predict if a game will enjoy retail success.

So why am I mentioning this? Because the components I evaluated for inclusion in the new box set are proven sellers with a known positive return. Taking chances on a new box set with untested products is not only irresponsible, but also potentially fatal to a game publisher like Catalyst. The point of this new box set is to correct some of the fundamental problems with the current box set without creating all new problems in the process. The new box set is also an attempt to tackle some of BattleTech’s peripheral problems—such as poor marketing, player growth and player interaction—and by making use of pre-existing assets and resources. In most cases this box set is not “doing more,” but instead transformed into a more efficient product with a specific set of objectives.

As an aside, publishers might also benefit by thinking of themselves as a branding/graphic design/packaging design companies as much as game developers. A game publisher is selling as much as Starbucks is, and should remember that designer coffee was a “niche” product at one time.

Determine a little risk and reward with some scope.

Ok then, so what should be in the Introductory Box Set? To determine the contents of a new Introductory Box Set, my answer requires a little scope. I could easily spout off a hundred “I wants,” but this exercise in theory isn’t a hypothesis based in fantasy land. A product scope is integral in determining the risk and reward factors associated with any potential changes to the product. Part of this product scope is also decided by the product’s intended use and desired outcome(s). In other words, the contents of the box set should accomplish a specific set of objectives for the seller and the customer. The simplest way to outline a product’s scope is to list the objectives. For the new box set I’ll work with these main objectives. (In some cases a product’s objectives is dozens long, in conflict with the customer and seller, and can be overtly complicated.)

• Game (Line) introduction
• Repeat play
• Competitive wholesale & retail cost
• Follow up sales
• Incidental marketing
• Player retention

Using these objectives as guidelines I can frame the new box set’s scope. I’ll break each objective down in relation to my proposed box set.

My box set’s contents:

• 24 unpainted, instantly ready-to-play plastic BattleMechs
• 2 premium BattleMech Miniatures
• 72-page pre-generated Record Sheets
• two tables cards
• two 18” x 22” mapsheets, with four different maps
• two six sided dice
• 318-page Total Warfare core rulebook
• 4-page “Dig Deeper into BattleTech” expansion pamphlet

Game (Line) Introduction

First, I’m dropping the quick-start, universe guide and map from the original box set. I’m replacing them with the existing quick-start PDFs and a downloadable universe guide as a freely available avenue for the initial introduction to the game. These resources will be free to download from the BattleTech website and will allow potential customers to immerse themselves in the different game systems and the BattleTech universe before any product purchase. These free PDFs become the true introductory products to BattleTech.

Each digital PDF will also have suggested retail purchases so that potential customers will know what products to purchase after playing the quick-start rules (e.g. the new box set, accessory products, etc.). For brick-and-mortar retail, I’ll provide FLGSs with a single-page PDF marketing and sales sheet to help push players to the website and the free PDFs.

The decision to use the free quick-start and universe PDFs as introductory products is an easy one. Electronic PDFs are easier to update and cost significantly less to maintain than a print product. PDFs can accommodate changes to the quick-start rules and advances in the BattleTech storyline and eras with little difficulty. Electronic PDFs also travel easy, don’t require extraneous game aides like miniatures to play, and they can start or restart new, current and returning players to the same intro levels across game rule sets. By shifting the era-specific components of the old box set to digital, the new box set will remain largely independent of any BattleTech era and reduce the necessity of updated box set reprints or costly print changes.

Next, I’m renaming the Introductory Box Set to BattleTech: Total Warfare.

Not only is the new title catchier than the original, it’s also a more accurate representation of the new box set and BattleTech for a number of important reasons. The BattleTech game line is represented by the traditional tabletop game—i.e. Total Warfare-type play with standard and advanced rules—as well as the A Time of War RPG and Alpha Strike game rule sets.

Because this box set continues to focus on Total Warfare standard tournament play, and by shifting game line introduction to the free PDF series, this new box set is not the initial introduction to BattleTech as a whole. The new box set is about fully easing a player into a very specific BattleTech rules set: Total Warfare standard tournament rules.

Per the existing box set’s own words, tabletop BattleTech employs four different rules levels: quick-start, introductory, standard and advanced. Of the four rules levels, only two are actually utilized and supported in BattleTech products: standard and advanced. The first two—quick-start and introductory—are rule sets designed to facilitate a player’s transition into the complete Total Warfare rule set and other advanced sets as represented by TacOps, StratOps and Interstellar Operations. As such, these basic or truncated rule sets are of limited utility to follow up sales and customer retention, and to a lesser extent, game replay.

Since the quick-start rules are freely available to potential players as the true “introductory” rules set, the new box set will only contain the introductory rules and the full Total Warfare core rulebook. The reasoning behind the continued inclusion of the introductory rules is twofold. One, the introductory rules offer an easy transition point to the standard Total Warfare rules set and are easy for new gamers and Demo Agents to navigate. Second, the introductory rules set offer the box set some incidental marketing in the form of a disposable teaching product. Players who become familiar with the standard Total Warfare rules can gift their introductory rules set to potential new players without impacting their box set’s play and replay value. If the option exists to reprint the introductory rules, this suggestion can be added to the printed text as a helpful marketing hitch. (Another fun option is to set up some sort of program where players can return their introductory rules to their local Demo Agent for some sort of discount code. In turn the Demo Agent can use the extra print introductory rules to market the game to new players.) The ability to pass on the introductory rules without impacting the box’s replay value is just one of the motivating ideas behind including the Total Warfare rules set in the new box set.  (Edit: In light of the new box sets being produced by CGL and some additional research, this paragraph is no longer relevant. – JP, 9/2018)

Another reason to include the complete Total Warfare book is the fact that the core rulebook is the “tournament standard” rule set for BattleTech. This makes Total Warfare the de facto rules “standard” for tabletop BattleTech. Including Total Warfare in the box set will allow new players to quickly reach the “standard” for BattleTech play and prime them for the purchase of additional BattleTech products (e.g. more advanced Core Rulebooks, Turning Points, Historicals, etc.). Moreover, including the Total Warfare rules set in the box set enhances the product’s overall replay value with the rules and unit expansion. New, current and returning players will be equally prepared for repeat tournament standard play with a single box set.

Repeat Play

As I mentioned earlier, including the complete Total Warfare core rulebook will make this box set suitable for new, current and returning players and afford each player the opportunity to engage in standard play over and over again with the larger array of gameplay options.

With that type of repeat play in mind I included two record sheets for every BattleMech miniature included in the box set. While BattleTech is not a miniatures game, the inclusion of plastic miniatures in the box set is mutually supportive of the Alpha Strike rules set, and a helpful selling feature. The first set of record sheets is the original set included in the current box set. These “low-tech” sheets are suitable for playing through the introductory rules set and represent the complete “introductory” package as presented in the new box set. The second set of record sheets should be fully compliant Total Warfare record sheets for play in any post-Succession Wars era. These record sheets offer a level of flexibility for repeat play across different era types. Between the two record sheet types, the box set can be used with other BattleTech products set in any era.

While I mention this later, cross-promotion of other BattleTech game rules sets can be offered for use in conjunction with the box set to help encourage deeper expansion into BattleTech’s product catalog.

Competitive wholesale & retail cost

Let’s review some of the current and proposed costs. The current BattleTech box set sells for $59.99 retail. Using some basic metrics I can safely assume the current box set has a wholesale cost that hovers around $22.00-$25.00 USD. In all probability the wholesale cost is possibly closer to $22.00, maybe even a little lower, but no lower than $20.00 USD. Between ancillary costs (i.e. international shipping, storage, tax costs, etc.) the MSRP of $59.99 would represent a gross margin between 60-64%.

Conversely, the wholesale cost for Total Warfare is probably between $9.00-$14.00 given the $39.99 MSRP. The hardcover, multi-color, high-gloss binding of the book is the likely reason for the higher wholesale cost per unit.

Purchased separately, a current box set and Total Warfare rulebook will set a new player back $99.98 USD. That’s almost $100 USD before a new player can reach tournament standard rules or play any of BattleTech’s other products. While a combined $100 may not seem like a steep purchase for a new player—especially compared to higher-priced game lines—it does represent a two-step purchase to fully invest in the game and to reach the standard rules.

By removing the current box set’s print 3067 map poster, quick-start rules, universe primer, and painting and tactics primer I can probably reduce the total wholesale cost of the box set by $2.00-$4.00 per box set for a new wholesale cost of $18.00-$21.00 per box. If Catalyst has really decent margins, removing those extraneous items could move the wholesale cost as low as $17.00 per box set. Conservatively, by adding the hardcover Total Warfare rule book and the extra record sheets to the new box set, the wholesale cost for the new box set will sit comfortably between $26.00-$32.00 per box. Using the same margins to calculate a new MSRP the new box set will retail between $72.00 and $88.00.

Within this range I’ll set my box set’s MSRP at $85.00. Why $85.00? For one, $85.00 maintains a similar margin and markup to the originally-priced products, and remains competitive when compared to comparable BattleTech accessory products. For example, the new Alpha Strike Lance Packs retail at $25.00 for four ’Mechs. This box set contains over six Lance Packs worth of ’Mechs alone for a fraction of the retail price.

The MSRP for the new box set also compares favorably to other high quality introductory game products such as those printed by Games Workshop. While 40K is undeniably a miniatures game, the current 7^th edition print hardcover copy of the Warhammer 40K rulebook MSRPs at $85.00. This three hardcover book collection probably wholesales between $18.00-$25.00 (I padded their wholesale numbers a little lower given GW’s historical wholesale pricing structure.). The new BattleTech box set’s margins are comparable for the quality of the contents, and a better deal with the additional game playing pieces. Remember, to play a game like Warhammer you also have to include the purchase of game pieces, army books and the prerequisite game aides. This can add up to hundreds of extra dollars. At $85.00, the BattleTech: Total Warfare box set is a steal. (This is especially true in light of the $140.00 full introductory box set produced by GW. – JP, 9/2018)

Including the Total Warfare rulebook in the new box set will also reduce the necessary stock and wall space FLGSs will have to carry and use. Catalyst will also save money by using product it already manufactures and sells in creating the new box set and may also save money when shipping to retail outlets.

Follow up sales

So I’ve built a new box set that is predominately era independent, standard rules compliant, competitively priced, and replay friendly. However, BattleTech is an evolving game line with a large catalog of accessory products. As a company I don’t want a customer to purchase a single box set and call it quits. By priming the player with the new BattleTech: Total Warfare box set I can ease a new customer into a position where the game line’s entire product catalog is now available and accessible. To follow up the sale of the box set I’ll turn to BattleTech’s era system and other rule sets to create “upgrade packages” to help player advancement into BattleTech’s product catalog.

The first upgrade package is fairly straightforward. After a player masters Total Warfare they should move to expand their rules knowledge with the remainder of the pertinent Core Rulebooks: Tech Manual, Tactical Operations, Strategic Operations and Interstellar Operations. This package is not designed for a combination sale, but it’s organized and explained as a linear expansion of the Total Warfare rules found in the new box set.

The second packages are alternative game rule set groupings for A Time of War and Alpha Strike. Since a box set for either game rule set is unlikely, I would create a purchase bundle for each rule set for group sale. While the overall profit margin will be slightly lower (I calculated it at 5-7%), they will serve the same function and purpose as the box set for each game. For example, the A Time of War package set would include the Core Rulebook and Companion, while the Alpha Strike set would include the Core Rulebook, Companion and two lance packs for immediate play. As both game sets grow, each individual game package can be expanded or separated into multiple packages to encompass the new product additions.

The third set of packages would be era-specific product groupings, and in my opinion, where the real genius of the era system shines. With BattleTech’s era system I can provide a list of suggested purchases per era to a new player to help expand their BattleTech library and interest. Era packages could be broken down further by sub-era and complication. For example, The Succession Wars Era could have a “Succession Wars Starter Package” that includes TRO: 3039, Starterbook: Sun and Dragon, etc.; “Early Succession Wars Starter Package” that includes Historical Turning Point: New Dallas, etc.; “Late Succession Wars Starter Package” that includes XTRO: Succession Wars I, Historical Turning Point: Galtor, etc. I can also associate era packages with corresponding BTU fiction from either BattleCorps or available ebook-friendly novellas. Competitive pricing and package creation will also assist in investing new, returning and current players into new BattleTech eras.

To present follow up sales after purchase of the box set I’ll turn to a combination of print and digital solutions. The original box set provided a “How the Core Rulebooks Work” pamphlet that offered some player-purchase direction, but did so poorly. The new BattleTech: Total Warfare box will include a “Dig Deeper into BattleTech” pamphlet designed to rectify that issue. The pamphlet will briefly outline the Core Rulebooks package, BattleTech’s alternative rule sets and the era packages. The goal of this sheet is to introduce avenues for expansion and push players to the website for additional information and purchase. The pamphlet will also include a set of generic reusable discount codes for the era packages to be redeemed through BattleTech’s ecommerce website. The discounts codes will have a small impact on the gross profit (again, I calculated it at 5-7%), but will be offset by the greater chance of future follow up sales, secondary purchases and larger single item/cart purchases through the package system.

The print pamphlet will only contain basic package descriptions. Primary emphasis will focus on the website. Concentrating on the website will extend the print pamphlet’s utility, reduce the need for reprints and save money, while also offering the company a greater means to provide information to the player. Providing specific URLs in the print pamphlet is unnecessary; the print pamphlet just needs to point to the website’s home page.

By stressing the website as the source for more detailed era package and product information, Catalyst has the opportunity to deliver tailored era packages to players as new product is created, more information about each package and product at no print cost and a way to collect desirable purchase metrics from code use. Digital real estate is cheap, powerful, easily accessible almost anywhere and can evolve alongside the game.

Unless otherwise unable to do so, the print pamphlet will offer a brief description and link to the MUL, CamoSpecs Online and Ironwind Metals as accessory sites. However, their full utility to a BattleTech player will be detailed through web content on the main BattleTech website.

Incidental marketing

The new BattleTech: Total Warfare box set will also offer the BattleTech game line some targeted marketing. With little use of resources or expenditure of energy, this incidental marketing is broken down into two types by exposure: Player-to-Player marketing and Catalyst-to-Player marketing. Some of the marketing mentioned above includes the box set’s capacity to pass along the attached introductory rules set to another potential player. Instead of offering a single avenue to attract new players through the free quick-start PDFs, the new box set presents a second possible transmission point.

Of more immediate importance is the new box set’s emphasis on the BattleTech website. By emphasizing the website as the source for more information the company is offered the opportunity to present new, current and returning players important sales and game information that is current, pertinent and easy to update. Moreover, use of the website as the primary means of disseminating sales and marketing information affords the kind of marketing real estate print simply cannot match. By facilitating and directing customers, the company increases the likelihood of new and repeat sales as well as expansion into different game rule sets.

Player retention

The new box set’s components and website-driven direction will assist in customer retention. First, the inclusion of the introductory rules set and Total Warfare ultimately places a new player in a position to access and use a large part of the BattleTech product catalog after their box set purchase. There is no interim step between purchase of the box set and the “tournament standard.” Players who purchase the new box set can immediately access advanced rules and game supplements. Inclusion of Total Warfare also provides players with rules for a larger array of BattleTech unit types. This larger array affords players the opportunity to play more and varied scenarios, make the best use of TROs and increase the likelihood of immediate accessory purchases from licensed manufacturers like Ironwind Metals. Use of generic discount codes for era package purchases will likewise help retain new, returning and current players.

Players who purchase the new box set will be able to participate in tournament-standard events at their FLGS or at national conventions. The new box set is event inclusive and event friendly and requires no additional products to utilize. With the new box set, Catalyst can create national and local events for play-through Demo Agents or FLGS with no other product requirement other than the box set to participate. Similarly, Catalyst can use the new box set, website and company-generated events to help transition new, returning and current players from one era of play to other BattleTech eras with an eye towards increasing overall sales and player retention through new exposure.

The Fin…

 

In summary, the new BattleTech: Total Warfare box set is a competitively priced, tournament standard-ready, era-independent box set that is designed to be reduce costly reprints, support player replay, offer exposure to different BattleTech eras and other game rule sets; assist in player retention while supporting web-driven upgrade and purchase initiatives, game line marketing, and company-sponsored local and national events.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to comment. Follow up articles will take a hard look at the BattleTech website, new Alpha Strike and AToW box sets, forum and digital marketing initiatives.  The potential and pitfalls of national events, new player conscription and the subscription-driven fiction website: BattleCorps.