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Yeah I don't see it that way either. The vast majority of those kids will drop GW before they become adults. Out of those few that stay in, some will eventually migrate to other games; of those a handful will become interested in historical games (probably WW2 ).
I can see why the OP asked the question but Warlords similarity to Games Workshop in that there was that enthusiasm for the hobby and also the engagement of the news letter and (originally the forum) was part of the initial attraction of the company to me in the early days.Unfortunately I don't find the quality of their products matches the hype around them. They sell a lot of stuff but I find it to be of variable quality. Even with their plastic box sets for bolt action, I find that one does not necessarily have the quality of another. The blitzkrieg Germans and the Fallschirmjager plastics are quite good imho. The grenadiers box set, not so. I have also heard others say that they find US airborne plastics are fairly ropey too.There seems to be a lot of inconsistencies in the size of their figures even across one range and even within their box sets. The plastic grenadiers are an interesting mix of sizes which wouldn't matter so much if they didn't all use a standard set of arms. Let's not get onto discussing the casting issues with some of their metals...To sum up Warlord okay - but could do better...
I just don't think we're seeing a "new" decline in future customers, etc.
That's the problem in a nutshell.
That has been the nature of tabletop wargaming as long as I've been doing it though - that isn't something new.Look at any wargaming convention that isn't based around a GW style event, and you'll see (at least in the US) it's 80% people above the age of 35-40. The few younger people who are there tend to be friends or children of the older gamers, etc.The transition from "kinda sorta" wargaming, aka playing 40K when you're a teenager rarely does convert into a lifelong hobby. That's not something new though. Even before the internet, video games, etc., it's simply not a mega-popular hobby. It's always been propped up by most manufacturers being rather small.Now I agree with you, there isn't room for several companies of GW's size right now - I don't think the market would support that. Smaller companies need to be extremely frugal and realistic with their expectations, and they need to be putting out a solid product now, as there is quite a bit of competition in a variety of genres. I just don't think we're seeing a "new" decline in future customers, etc.
I can't see the photo.
Count yourself lucky!