The LAF Games Workshop Discussion Thread

[Cubs]

If it goes down I imagine there will be sharks in the water to snap up chunks here and there. A big player might take WHFB and WH40K perhaps, with all the peripheries being nibbled away by others.

If rumours are to be believed (are they ever?) Warlord isn't cash rich enough to be buying up anything else major and are having enough trouble keeping their heads above water after having bought up a lot of other small companies and spent a fortune on making a range of models and rulebooks, so it'll be a while before those investments make back the expense.

Perhaps some of the sculptors could buy back the licence for some of their own works - the Perry's spring to mind of course - and the GW real estate and various bit of hardware will attract plenty of buyers, not necessarily from inside the industry.

Honestly, I do think GW need to seriously think about getting rid of all their GW stores and running it as an internet-only company with independent stores carrying their lines in the high street. It's where they came from originally. Whenever I've asked in their stores why the products are so expensive they say it's because they have to support the stores. WTF?! Shouldn't the stores be supporting the business? That must surely have rung some alarm bells before now.

Cut it back to what makes money - directly and indirectly - and get rid of what you don't need. You can still keep the clubs running and still keep the hobby alive, by supporting your local independent stores and their own clubs. Try relying on the superiority of your product to sell the models, not a writ or a court-order to stop people playing the games with 'unauthorised' toys.

This turned into a rant didn't it? I'm seeing that now.

[Gibby]

Lower prices. Bring back metal (or use a decent resin at least!). Return the aesthetics to earlier days (pre-big silly toys). Tighten the fluff again - the "anything goes" approach hasn't turned out to sell more models, so stop de-valueing the IP by breaking its own internal consistencies!

That'd do it for me!

[Damas]

I hope the IP gets bought up by Disney so that:

a) Disney can finally do what Lucas has ignored for years and produce 28mm stormtroopers en masse (hur hur hur)

b) Turn all the Sisters of Battle and gender confused Dark Elves/Eldar into Disney Princesses (Mwahaha)

 

[beefcake]

If it goes down I imagine there will be sharks in the water to snap up chunks here and there. A big player might take WHFB and WH40K perhaps, with all the peripheries being nibbled away by others.

If rumours are to be believed (are they ever?) Warlord isn't cash rich enough to be buying up anything else major and are having enough trouble keeping their heads above water after having bought up a lot of other small companies and spent a fortune on making a range of models and rulebooks, so it'll be a while before those investments make back the expense.

Perhaps some of the sculptors could buy back the licence for some of their own works - the Perry's spring to mind of course - and the GW real estate and various bit of hardware will attract plenty of buyers, not necessarily from inside the industry.

Honestly, I do think GW need to seriously think about getting rid of all their GW stores and running it as an internet-only company with independent stores carrying their lines in the high street. It's where they came from originally. Whenever I've asked in their stores why the products are so expensive they say it's because they have to support the stores. WTF?! Shouldn't the stores be supporting the business? That must surely have rung some alarm bells before now.

Cut it back to what makes money - directly and indirectly - and get rid of what you don't need. You can still keep the clubs running and still keep the hobby alive, by supporting your local independent stores and their own clubs. Try relying on the superiority of your product to sell the models, not a writ or a court-order to stop people playing the games with 'unauthorised' toys.

This turned into a rant didn't it? I'm seeing that now.

Yep. getting rid of stores and such could be a good start. Might bridge that northern southern price difference as well. Apparently that is because they need to pay to keep stock in warehouses or some such thing. I'd happily (in the past) buy from the UK and pay postage rather than buy from inflated south prices.

[OSHIROmodels]

I can see the tournament games with the original Disney characters now...  

Mickey, with a WS of 9 will take his deamon sword of +3 and attacks Goofy who has a WS of 7 but gets help from a shield of everlight conferring a +5 bonus or some shit like that.

Actually, that might be quite an interesting venture...

 

I do agree about the independent shops though because if they would only see that helping to support the hobby as a whole it would do them good in the long run  

cheers

James

[Modhail]

All I'm hoping for the future is that Warhammer, 40k, but especially, especially the Specialist Games will be revived and developed into sensible, enjoyable rulesets, accompanied by a good quality and stylish (aka less overwrought and skull/toiletpaper-fetishistic) range of miniatures by a company that honestly cares for the games and setting and has a good contact with their customer base. For me, this needn't necessarily be GW...

(Mental aside, if GW are making a point of sueing everyone who damages their IP, when will they begin autolitigation? Seeing how they are molesting their own settings to enable dodgy sales-driven design and tacky gimmicks... Just saw the new Space Wolf Santa sleigh, am a bit baffled.)

[matthais-mouse]

Lower prices. Bring back metal (or use a decent resin at least!). Return the aesthetics to earlier days (pre-big silly toys). Tighten the fluff again - the "anything goes" approach hasn't turned out to sell more models, so stop de-valueing the IP by breaking its own internal consistencies!

That'd do it for me!

Very well said, I could not have said it better myself

[beefcake]

Not a fan of the new space wolf dreadnought character ether, murderclaw or something like that. It has a head.

[Dr. The Viking]

Not a fan of the new space wolf dreadnought character ether, murderclaw or something like that. It has a head.

Ha! I just saw the new wolf-driven electro chariot space wolf lord character heman.


I haven't been following the GW factory lately but it seems they're still heading the same direction as when I left. 

[Gibby]

Murder Claw !

[Nord]

I will be sad to see GW struggle. On their current course the iceberg is dead ahead and plain to see, but the captain continues to ignore and steer the same course. It's sad.

I know it's fashionable to slag them off, and they have put out some real turkeys recently. But, I do think that the quality of their plastic and metal products is second to none. And when you compare them to other sellers, their prices are not always as insane as the doomsayers speak. I have spent the last couple of years making a transition from GW-only to the whole hobby spectrum, and it's been an eye-opener. While I now enjoy playing historical games, I do struggle to find models that are of a similar quality to GW, in fact they just don't exist. Many of the historical product available is unchanged for 10, 15 even more years. It's stuck in a warp, though the owners of the companies are happy to move along on the coat tails of big fish and pump up their prices.

The jewels in my collection are nearly all GW figures, my growing historical collection sometimes come close to what GW did 15 years ago, but they are streets behind in sculpt and casting quality. Price wise, GW range from about £1.50 per figure upward, if you pay full price, while historicals are about the same or higher, for lesser quality product in my eyes.

Grim dark times ahead. In the future, their is only....bankruptcy? Buyout? Re-organisation?

[Momotaro]

I know it's fashionable to slag them off, and they have put out some real turkeys recently. But, I do think that the quality of their plastic and metal products is second to none. And when you compare them to other sellers, their prices are not always as insane as the doomsayers speak. I have spent the last couple of years making a transition from GW-only to the whole hobby spectrum, and it's been an eye-opener. While I now enjoy playing historical games, I do struggle to find models that are of a similar quality to GW, in fact they just don't exist. Many of the historical product available is unchanged for 10, 15 even more years. It's stuck in a warp, though the owners of the companies are happy to move along on the coat tails of big fish and pump up their prices.

You seem to be comparing GW plastics with historical metals.

De gustibus and all, but have you looked at recent historical plastics from Perry, Gripping Beast and Warlord/Victrix (plus others)?  The most recent Perry sets in their Wars of the Roses range are much, much better than GW's Empire or Brettonian range, and you get 40 or more in a box compared to GW's 10 for a similar price.  Check out the plastic army deals on the Perry Miniatures and Warlord Games (and for WWII models, Wargames Factory) websites.

GW has plenty of high-quality opposition these days, at prices that make GW look silly.  And GW retain a lot of really old models at those daft prices.  Twenty Dreamforge Eisenkern for £26, or twenty GW Cadians (more than ten years old) for £36?

On the fantasy side, Mantic produce a range of very nice plastic undead  that I find almost as detailed as the GW models but certainly more characterful (IMHO) and half the price.  Wargames Factory produce some very nice "Jason and the Argonauts" style skeletons for a third the price of GW's equivalent models.  The other fantasy ranges from these companies I would class as inferior (others may disagree), but again vastly cheaper than GW.

I agree that GW's most recent plastics still lead the field, but the opposition is snapping at their heels, and beats them hands down for value for money.

As for character models, I'd say that GW are no better than many of their competitors - Hasslefree, Reaper, Malifaux, Warmachine/Hordes, you name all the boutique lines that now do small ranges of beautiful models - and are significantly more expensive.  Many of the models I'm proudest of are from those other companies.

GW do good vehicles and monsters, although the monsters in Reaper's Bones plastic range re easily as good and a fraction the cost.  

I want to love GW (I do like their paints), but they're just too expensive - even with a decent disposable income, I can't justify buying them to myself, or spending several hundred pounds for an army.  There are reasonably priced sets I have happily bought - the Tau Pathfinder team is a skirmish force in a box, and has a good range of weapons options.  But the old adage that GW has cheap models but expensive armies is no longer true.  They're both expensive now...

All very much IMHO, of course

[nic-e]

I hope the IP gets bought up by Disney so that:

a) Disney can finally do what Lucas has ignored for years and produce 28mm stormtroopers en masse (hur hur hur)

b) Turn all the Sisters of Battle and gender confused Dark Elves/Eldar into Disney Princesses (Mwahaha)

 

You joke , but look at what Disney has done with marvel. I saw guardians of the galaxy on Thursday and it was one of the best movies I've seen in a while, and whilst warhammer is different, the point remains that Disney know how to give fans what they want and run a business.

[OSHIROmodels]

You home, but look at what Disney has done with marvel. I saw guardians of the galaxy on Thursday and it was one of the best movies I've seen in a while, and whilst warhammer is different, the point remains that Disney know how to give fans what they want and run a business.

Let's see that happen with Star Wars then...

Oops, too late...

cheers

James

[nic-e]

Let's see that happen with Star Wars then...

Oops, too late...

cheers

James

What are you talking about?  the movie is no where near finished and all rumours have to be taken with a create of salt. They've denounced the extended universe (which was crap)  and ate focusing on the classic the films to expand . Yes they have crappy games and people in costumes at Disney land, but games workshop has made some appalling games of 40k (chess regicide anyone? Or the now abandoned warhammer online?) Disney know their markets and what to target to who.