Games Workshop is Dead! Long Live Games Workshop!

[Starke]

Edit: I forgot to mention the treatment the managers have been getting. Anyone else aware of the "BIIIIIIIG MOONNEEEYYY!!!!" sales training meetings?

I haven't heard any details...

 

[Aedwynn]

My poison of choice was always Battlefleet Gothic, I liked 40k well enough but BFG was my favourite game by GW.

Naturally they dropped all support for it.

I stopped playing Warhammer due to the insane turn lengths and the frankly insulting prices, I play the odd game of Warmachine now and I've got a new toy spaceship game with models easily as nice as BFG and half the price. My complete fleet will probably run me £200.

I, too loved BFG. Was gutted when they dropped all support. I get my toy spaceship fix with Firestorm Armada these days. In fact, Spartan Games (The makers of Firestorm amongst some other games) have pretty much replaced GW in my tabletop wargaming life.

I wish they'd remake the old Space Crusade board game. That and Hero Quest are the reasons I got into the hobby and the background and spent hundreds of pounds on Tyranids and Orks. The GW skirmish games were great entry points into the hobby. I saw more than one kid use Necromunda Gangers as Chaos\Genestealer cultists. Hell, I saw people use the Space Marine squads from Space Crusade as tooled-up Veteran Squads.

I think GW will be around for a while longer, although I am a bit of a jaded fan I don't really want to see them burn. I don't play the games or buy the minis anymore, but I do still like GW paints and brushes. Also, I kinda always felt bad for the store staff. Running a store on your own can't be fun.

 

[Atomic Spy Crab]

Well it was pretty obvious games workshop wouldn't die because 1/1000 of its money dropped (Price joke)
Also on the topic of prices, can we complain about something else for once? Such as the lack of a sisters or ork update?
(Even though $50 for tetto'eko is outrageous)

 

[Azahul]

Wow, I didn't know Warhammer was so cheap in the US! That a Tac Squad, Rhino, and 5 paints would cost me $135 here. I can't imagine why anyone in Australia plays the game.

It's been pretty fantastic for my local non-Games Workshop games store, which has been massively pushing Warmachine. A battlebox will cost you less than half what buying that unit combination in 40k will. Literally every 40k player I know has moved into the world of steampunk robots and giant monsters as a result.

 

[Lotet]

$50 for tetto'eko is outrageous

It's a bad deal, but I usually don't care much about how expensive a special character it. It's things that I want to use a lot like commissars that are a problem. $110 Aus for 5 Commissars

I think 3D printing will be less problematic than you think.

I for example do not have any desire to digitally sculpt a min then just print it out...
I'll probably still be the person that buys minis and kit bashes. or hand sculpt.

and I know there are a lot of people like that.

Projects like Hero Forge don't involves sculpting it involves customizing a character with the gear you want, they have a program from flicking between options till you get what you want. I wonder how much GW will charge if they let people order in commanders without any weapons aside form the ones you ordered.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Well it was pretty obvious games workshop wouldn't die because 1/1000 of its money dropped (Price joke)
Also on the topic of prices, can we complain about something else for once? Such as the lack of a sisters or ork update?
(Even though $50 for tetto'eko is outrageous)

I stopped playing due to lack of support for Orks. I would get seriously ruined by all these other players armies having all this stuff I don't know about and wrecking my shit with it. The prices over here are awful too, around $80-90 (That's NZD) for a pack of just 10 Space Marines? It's a complete rip off.

 

[ForumSafari]

I, too loved BFG. Was gutted when they dropped all support. I get my toy spaceship fix with Firestorm Armada these days. In fact, Spartan Games (The makers of Firestorm amongst some other games) have pretty much replaced GW in my tabletop wargaming life.

Same, I'm currently painting up the starter set and I've tossed a squadron of Murmillos and a Falchion carrier in as well. The Dindrenzi aesthetic is gorgeous but eventually I want one of most of the patrol fleets, the models are insanely good and very well priced. Also gotta love sword shaped ships named after gladiator classes.

I wish they'd remake the old Space Crusade board game. That and Hero Quest are the reasons I got into the hobby and the background and spent hundreds of pounds on Tyranids and Orks.

Hah same here, I loved Heroquest.

Running a store on your own can't be fun.

No they always look run ragged, bet they really hate their job by the end of the week. I used to staff an offie solo and that was no fun, at least there I could read.

 

[Lightknight]

The cost for the mass produced plastic figurines has soundly kept me out of this game. I can easily pay the $40+ to buy entire boardgames that my friends play for hours on end over and over again but for figurines I put on a map? Not happening. I remember the first time I got Warhammer starter pack for a steal ($50) and took it home and opened it up but realised it was just figurines and little to nothing else. I sold it right back and bought the comics I would have purchases instead. What a scam. Yeah, the game is fun and it's neat to be able to paint and customize them. But holy hell is it cheap to make those but expensive to buy. Now with the number of high quality boardgames out there that are cheaper than warhammer products, I'm not sure I'd even start playing this when 3D printing becomes a viable household product. I suppose it's close from what I've read.

As for right now, making custom models for cheap seems to be working just fine. Even if every home doesn't have a 3D printer or casting set, someone you know does and is willing to make you a set for much cheaper. The laws of supply and demand is a heartless ***** when the everyman can create the supply side of the equation.

 

[thiosk]

I do not play the game. I buy the books, buy occasional videogames, and am interested in the backstory, because its pretty fun sci fi.

I went to a store in california, and there was nothing for me. No books to speak of, no aquilla stickers, nothing but long tables and the plastic miniatures and painting supplies.

I don't know how much of the business model I represent, relative to the miniatures, but I felt that paying zero attention to it was a major mistake.

 

[Sir Shockwave]

THE TERRIFYING NECRON MENACE OF 3D PRINTING
One day soon, 3D printing is going to wipe Games Workshop off the map. In that golden future, we'll print ready-made miniatures at home, copy Space Marines ad infinitum, babies will weep only diamonds and no one will ever fail an armor save.

At least that's what some disgruntled fans say.

I don't buy it. Look guys, GW execs don't have cotton balls stuffed in their ears. They know all about 3D printing and the Hero Forge Kickstarter. They realize 3D printing could be a business threat. But here's the thing - they could easily launch their own web UI that lets you design and print a custom Space Marine Captain. It wouldn't surprise me if GW's experimenting with it right now, and because they're GW, they'll buy the best printers and find out how to make the best 3D printed models in the business. Say what you will about their policies, but GW has been making high-quality miniatures for three decades and has continually improved their methods and technology. There's no way they'll let a cheaper, more versatile production method undercut their product.

This, right here. I agree wholeheartedly with the writer - GW would be at least preparing for the oncoming of 3D Printers. Not to mention the same system is being experimented with in the Hero Forge Kickstarter, and previously the Proxy War [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/proxyarmy/proxy-war-custom-3d-printed-miniatures] and ArcanEngine [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/330752914/arcanengine-build-and-3d-print-one-of-a-kind-table], it's spiritual predecessors.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

I stopped collecting the miniatures years back. It was, as has been stated, far too expensive in time and money. I kept buying and reading the novels though,a but I've even given up on those since it seems like there's a new one out every week, and there's no way I can keep up.

 

[DataSnake]

At this point, the tabletop game feels kinda like a vestigial appendage on the excellent Dawn of War games and Black Library novels. Unfortunately, it looks like it's developed cancer of the price tag.

 

[major_chaos]

And key here, while the Infinity guys are not actually cheaper per figure, they are far, far cheaper per army.

Which doesn't change the fact that to me and most of the people I game with, assembling metal is slightly less fun then driving bamboo splinters under your fingernails.

OT: As a big fan of WH40k I really hope that GW can see the writing on the wall and change their ways before its too late, becuase at this point I have yet to find another tabletop that has the fun building/customization, massive scale, and easy to learn rules of 40k. (Seriously, I sat down in a local Ma & Pa hobby store and read the Warmachine rulebook and all I got out of it was a headache)

 

[Terminal Blue]

I'd like to underscore this great suggestion. I loved Mordheim to pieces. The scale of it was perfectly matched to the scope of its story (competing warbands scavenging a devestated city for Warp McGuffins) and the games were frickin' lightning round fast compared to WH40k battles.

Guess what.

They've pulled the miniature ranges for Mordheim.

..and Necromunda.

..and Battlefleet Gothic.

..and Blood Bowl.

That's what finally did it for me. I don't have time or money to play a full game of 40k, but I loved the specialist games. I've decided at this point that GW don't want my money, and since I would rather gouge out my own eyes than play in one of their stores nowadays there's nothing to stop me from playing their games (using the third party living rule books, made by people who actually gave a shit) using all the exciting, and frankly more artistically pleasing models produced by better companies who do seem to want my money.

 

[matrix3509]

Ever since GW figured out they could force fans to buy a new army every year with their piece of shit codex writers, it was only a matter time until people started leaving. 40k fans are probably the most loyal fans of anything in the universe, and no other company regularly shits on its fans as spitefully as GW.

 

[karloss01]

I've never played a GW game in my life, but reading that article makes me think they certainly deserve to burn. Hell, the whole thing comes off as a letter from an abused lover. Dump their asses; go out into the world and find someone new!

That's the thing, for a long time there was no one else that could compete with them. it's only till recently a bunch of miniature companies have been able to produce a similar quality to that of GW. I would like them the get a kick up the arse and reduce their prices a bit, but I'm fairly sure its not going to happen.

 

[BayouStalker]

GW has a very bad habit of refusing to adapt to the market around themselves, and they seem to think they are still the only wargame on the block. They have extreme competition around them, who have better customer service and interaction with their fanbase, and cheaper start up costs. I have been interested in starting up a WH40k army, but then I keep comparing their entry costs to Privateer Press's own things, and its like night and day. This is also not mentioning the tactics they used at one point to feel out a market, such as giving perks to gaming stores, seeing how well sales do before pulling out the perks and setting up their own shop, crippling the gaming store in the process.

I would like them to still be around, the orks are at least interesting for them, but overall, they have a track record of believing that the market should change for them.

 

[mattaui]

Warhammer Fantasy and 40k are one of the hobbies that, like was mentioned in the article, I loved to get into when I had more time, and I still try to keep up to date and even buy a few new minis for my Space Marines and Lizards now and then. But once I get it all out, paint it up a bit and then reread the rules, I remember how much time it's going to take me to go to the stores, get some practice in on games to learn the new edition, and then the day long tourneys (which is all I really used to do).

It's at that point I mournfully pack everything back up until another year or two later when I get the urge to repeat the process and wonder if this time I'll be able to spare the time, money and effort to get back into it.

I think some faster playing and better organized rules would do wonders for them, but the sheer expense is what's killed a lot of the interest for any of the would be younger players. All the stores around me (of those that haven't outright closed) seem to be primarily tabletop RPG and Magic places with some varied wargaming thrown in, but the dominance I saw for Games Workshop product a decade ago and earlier is just not there anymore, if it's played at all.

About all I can say on a positive note is that my initial investment is at least still functional, as long as I'm willing to shell out about $100 every few years to update the rules, maybe more if I want the new OP unit they introduced with that Codex.

 

[Augustine]

As much as GW would want us to believe that without it there would be no Warhammer, it is simply not true.

GW has long been in decline - not financially perhaps, but as a leader in tabletop hobbies. Warhammer, as a property, deserves someone better then they are.

 

[Vivi22]

After dumping about $6000 USD on Warhammer 40k, I quit. I had a large scale Chaos army at that time, packed it away in storage and forgot I had it for a few years. A hurricane later and over 2/3 of the army was destroyed. I was mad. A few months afterward I moved in with a friend from work who happened to own a gaming store... Aaaand the wallet cried. I almost started up my 40k army again, then WarMachine came out. After that, fuck Games Workshop. Privateer Press all the way for me.

Agreed. I was playing Warhammer for a couple of years with friends, had two armies, spent a lot of time and money, but then I found out about Warmachine and Hordes and a few of us picked it up, and started playing with some friends who also played. Better game balance, more consistent updates, they actually seem to give a rats ass about game balance and, of course, lower cost.

For less than what I spent on either of the starter boxes for my two 40k armies (neither of which actually provided a fully legal army without buying at least one more model to serve as an HQ), I was able to buy the Warmachine rulebook, the Khador starter box, the official faction paints, and the template set for the game. And my army was technically legal (for battle box games anyway, but toss in another $15-20 and I was at a legit 15 point army). And if we want to get really technical, I got most of that for less than the cost of the actual 40k rule book.

I just want to emphasize that again: I had everything I needed to start playing Warmachine for around the same cost as the 40k RULE BOOK. And with 40k you'd still need to spend another $50 on your army Codex, and a solid $150 or so for a legal army. By the time you're actually sitting down and playing 40k your cost to start playing is already three times that of starting Warmachine. And you've still got to deal with Games Workshop releasing a completely new edition every few years, new codices, and keeping to a release schedule which almost guarantees that even if they cared about game balance and wanted to fix things that are broken, it'll be years before it happens. And it also almost never happens.

Games Workshop wants to sell you as many models and books as they can, as often as they can. Privateer Press seems to actually want to have a fun game that people will want to play first, and let the model sales fall out of that. Basically, when I give Privateer Press my money, I feel like they have some respect for me and aren't just trying to get my money by any means necessary.