I kinda think that FFG only bought the greatest table top war game of all time, to rape its potentional for their own version of the game "Battles of Westeros" they even used the high success of BL to promote it and stuck the BL logo on the box. It hasn't been supported since its move from DOW to FFG and the few token products that was released had a high sale price to even put off the existing players. They even made a half hearted attempt to cover this up by the sale of old stock (French Copies) to the english speaking market.  In all, the only reason FFG bought BL was to kill it. . . . . . . .

Mighty Martin said:

I think using rape as a metaphor for discontinuing a game line is crass, and painting FFG as a malicious villain has done the Battlelore line far more harm than good. Christian Petersen admitted in this interview that the classic Battlelore base set was essentially "non-manufacturable," and that this came as a surprise to FFG. As for the "half-hearted" attempt to make more copies of the base set available for players by translating the french copies, there are still unsold copies of this still available at discounted prices.

If retailers can't sell out of the old core set (which is an insane value for the price), how is FFG supposed to justify creating a "new" core set (which, even if it had half the content of the previous core set would still sport a price tag of $75-$80)?

I had considered buying the repurposed french edition myself (I had played Battlelore before, and enjoyed it), but the constant indignant Battlelore-related comments in Battles of Westeros posts had turned me off of the game entirely.

I appreciate the level of frustration you all must feel: you love a game, and the publisher of that game has been showing little-to-no support, and has been very silent about the future of the game. I got into Monsterpocalypse pretty heavily, and its the same story with that game: no new product for the game has been released in a long time, and the publisher won't comment on any future support.

It all boils down to the same thing: FFG is a business, and they need to make a profit. Based on the availability of the french edition, the "non-manufacturable" nature of the core set, and the classic expansions being sold in the holiday sale, it doesn't seem like classic Battlelore is a profitable line.

Will FFG come out and say that they're killing Battlelore forever? Of course not, a) because that would damage their relationship with distributors and retailers, who are still carrying Battlelore stock, and b) because it may not be true; at some point in the future, FFG may decide to invest in a "second edition," if they think the market can bear it, and they're confident it won't cannibalize the sale of their other products.

It sucks, I get it. But painting FFG as some malevolent, game-killing monster helps nobody.

My two cents.

 I think Dresden, you have hit the nail right on its head, when you mention that FFG is a business your 100% right and as a business it was a good tactical move for them - buying a game and revamping it into a new product to sell in a whole new line . . . be interesting to see if they see a profit in a reprint of their revamped battlelore game "BOW". Im sure they will. Businesses will always go for the highest profit margin they can make, certainly over making a slightly smaller profit that will support a product they promised to support. As a business I doubt they would have bought BL on a whim, research and reprint costs would have been taken into account before they took move to buy BL and for this reason Im convinced it was bought to kill it . . . .  . and push forward a whole new revamped line, maybe even for legal reasons. My opinion at least.

I'm actually not that bothered about the product BL coming to a end, I think the amount that has been released for it has been enough now, shame not enough effort on DOW and FFG wasn't put into some more races for the game, however I think there is enough fan based stuff around to cover this and getting mini's shouldn't be a problem. The game is perfect in so many ways from its simplicity to its tactical complexity and is a tough game to restyle in a better way, I doubt it will ever be achieved . . . . .

so say we all  

thank God I have all the products and even my friends bought a core set after playing 1 (ONE!) time. we can do epic now :)

i dont care about FFG,

its all in our heart right?

The only question I have about FFG washing their hands of Battlelore is this; if you are letting a game you own go extinct, what purpose does advertising your new game (Battles of Westeros) with the Battlelore logo serve? If anything, newer gamers will buy the Battles of Westeros products, see the Battlelore logo, and go "huh? What's that". And then think how frustrated they will be when they become interested in it only to find it's something that no longer exists?

In any event, I highly doubt FFG will sell Battlelore to another company; if they aren't producing the game themselves due to conflict with Battles of Westeros, they certainly don't want another game company detracting sales of Battles of Westeros with Battlelore.

It really is a shame what happened to Battlelore. I hope Mr. Borg can get his hands on it somehow and reinfuse it with his vision.

 One idea could be to remanufacture the original set in 2 or 3 smaller parts, like the extensions, and to sell them for cheaper.

After all, we now have 3 races: human, gobelinoide, dwarf. To own an entirety of the 3 races, you have to spend serious money - which many of use don't seem to mind. 

Since the basic BL box offers a *lot* of extras, including right away the Spider, some Humans, some Dwarves and some Gobelins, why not split that in 3 parts?

1- The basic core human set, with instruction and map, and perhaps the Spider. - this would be the new BL Base set. Then, as extension:
2- The basic Gobelin set
3- The basic Dwarf set

This may be a good way, if not the only way, to revive the basic set.