The LAF Games Workshop Discussion Thread

[Mr Brown]

I saw this in the local post office yesterday. £2 for a hardback 40k heresy novel seems pretty good. I tend to pick up books for reading in e format now as it's a pain trying to cram a few novels into carry luggage for travel with work etc. and as I have the paperbacks for the heresy series I gave this a miss. I also try to give collectors series and such like a miss as the 'completionist collector' in me takes over.

Still, if you have a long shelf which could support the weight of the series, this is quite a good quality product. With all the free gubbins like tankards and note pads as well, it's not a terrible price for what you get - especially for the grim dark fanboy. Shame that the books don't follow a linear plot but I guess cherry picking titles means that there is always a jump on point for folk to pick up hardbacks or special editions of something they want. In saying that though, the cover would seem out of place.

Anyhoo, overall not something for me, but can see the appeal.

[zemjw]

I was fast forwarding through adverts last night when the 40k advert caught my eye. I briefly thought they were bringing Battlefleet Gothic back, given the space battle scene. It was a little disappointing to discover it was just for books.

The link to the subscription site and fluff is http://warhammer40klegends.com/, in case anyone's interested.

[Elbows]

The Battlefleet Gothic scene was likely from the recent computer game.

[zemjw]

Fantasy Flight Games and GW parting ways - https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2016/9/9/a-new-path-forward/

Hopefully a friendly breakup, and not till Feb 28 next year, but that's a lot of titles that will be disappearing

[Elbows]

Yeah that's brave...considering that their biggest source of income this year was from IP payments (ie. farming out the IP to video games, board games, cell phone games etc.).  Part of me thinks it's coming from FFG's side (I wouldn't want to work with GW if I was another company).  That or they're going to start bringing all of their boardgames in house - which doesn't bode well for the consumer. 

[beefcake]

I'd better get some of those talisman expansions I've been wanting then.

[Tactalvanic]

hmm as of March 2018 - should we expect announcements of future releases under the resurrected "specialist games" of "new" imaginings  of all those boardgames?

Limited editions of course...

[Modhail]

So, in one stroke GW got rid of their most/only competent game designers?

[The Voivod]

Was expecting this ever since Fantasy flight announced their fantasy massed battle game.
They're part of a much bigger beast now, Asmodee, and probably less likely to accept rules on what they may and may not produce.
Fantasy flight also currently has the biggest selling miniature game in X-wing.
It makes sense that they want more freedom in what the can make and the GW property is not as big a part of their profit as it used to be.

And as said GW is moving in on the boardgame market and will likely want more focus on their own products.

I don't really see a reason to see this as a parting on 'friendly' terms. They both stand to gain.

[Connectamabob]

In fact the movie is actually built using a game-engine as opposed to normal CGI (I'm not sure how much of a difference there is).

Basically trading higher-end animation complexity (muscle simulation, fluid simulation, and the like), advanced lighting simulation ability, and some workflow efficiency for massive time/cost savings when it comes to rendering. Rendering can be a budget and schedule killer even on big studio productions, so this is a huge leg up for indies. In terms of trade offs, using a modern game engine for rendering can sort of be compared to shooting a live action movie on digital instead of film circa the late 90s/early 00s (the Canon XL1 era).

It's also a bit more accessible. A pro Hollywood/TV CG studio uses task-specialized programs costing tens of thousands of dollars in combined licencing, and often some percentage of in-house custom software too. A well kitted out and properly trained pro studio can do the same low-cost rendering a game engine can, and with better workflow efficiency, but that involves a much larger up-front investment of both money and training. A game engine has a much lower barrier to entry. Several of the big ones (like CryEngine and Unreal) offer some form of free hobbyist licencing. They have large support communities populated by both hobbyests and pro devs. And as a result of the things they need to do for games, they're decent all-in-one animation, basic physics sim, and rendering platforms.

There are free options (like Blender) which can technically do more and often better, but free programs tend to come with their own hurdles. The best ones are made by Sheldon Cooper/Maurice Moss types who don't have to satisfy paying clients, and thus can indulge their odd whims on what makes a good interface or system: powerful, but very dry and difficult to get into. Blender's a bad-ass piece of software that can do almost anything, but learning it kinda feels like learning to drive a Soviet submarine. Most however are perpetually half-finished and not a good working alternative unless one has literally no money. There's also some esoteric licencing conflicts that come into play when mixing pro and free software, which is why you don't see the likes of Blender used much in pro game or movie studios, despite it being feature-competitive with it's pro equivalents.

So for a hobbyist or fan doing an animated film in their spare time, a modern game engine is a great off-the-shelf solution for animated filmmaking, provided you're not going for 100% photorealism (they can get close enough to look pretty realistic in isolation, but not close enough to mix with actual live action elements). You can do the entire thing with basically a handful of apps on a single high-end gaming computer, with your biggest cost being the hardware for said computer.

[bound for glory]

I'm looking forword to Blood Bowl in December.

I have very nearly 2,000 blood bowl/fantasy football figures. I love the game.

[The Voivod]

Bloody Hell!!
One thing I like about bloodbowl is that you need relatively few figures and here you have a BB collection rivalling my entire mini collection.
 

I'm not sure I'll buy it since my living rulebook print and old pitch work just fine, but if it's extremely good looking I could very well be tempted.
I love that stuff like that is coming back. I'm not coming back strait into 40k and AoS is strait out, but GW might be able to get some of my precious, precious hobby money if they keep this up.

[Elbows]

If anyone is bored this is worth a look:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/579936.page

A really talented painter doing a beautifully unique Incan/Aztec based Space Marine force.  One of the best Space Marine forces I've seen in a long time.  Really, really cool attention to detail, not over-done.  Just exceptionally cool.  Worth a look.

[beefcake]

I hope they do a good job. I think though it will end up all too serious and not the fun looking game it was. I must get some more metal goblins for a goblin team. Love those guys.

[Vanvlak]

If anyone is bored this is worth a look:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/0/579936.page

A really talented painter doing a beautifully unique Incan/Aztec based Space Marine force.  One of the best Space Marine forces I've seen in a long time.  Really, really cool attention to detail, not over-done.  Just exceptionally cool.  Worth a look.

Very nice. I'd toyed with this once, using lizardmen bits - this one is far less over the top and thus much better! Nice colours too.