Crikey, another month gone. Here’s the results of May’s poll:
Will Games Workshop’s new computer based sculpting:
* 11% (6) Make plastic figures worse?
* 35% (19) Make the plastic figures better?
* 20% (11) Make the plastic figures cheaper?
* 35% (19) Change nothing?
Total Votes : 55
So it seems most people think things will stay the same or get better. An optimistic few think Games Workshop plastics might actually get cheaper! Given the amount of trumpeting GW have been doing about how the new computer aided sculpting solution will speed their production techniques and allow them to produce more unique sprues a year, they logically should.
Historically mass production lowers prices after all. Given GW have priced themselves out of my personal hobbyist budget, and considering that by day I’m a mid-30’s fully employed white collar professional, one wonders if their falling figures sales might simply have something to do with their products no longer representing good value for money to the average 18-24 year old? Still this is a niche market, which is GW’s traditional rationale for regularly increasing prices.
Continuing in the GW bashing trend that seems to have developed, I’m interested to hear if anybody has stopped playing GW games recently for another reason: because their games just aren’t that much fun compared to other alternatives?
I’ve been finding Flames of War is currently occupying a lot of my hobby and gaming time and despite my usual dismal dice rolling and regular losses I’m enjoying every game of it. Games seem to always be a close run thing, and I’ve only had one game (against German armor) that I’d classify as a ‘depressing round of exercising the rules’ because the game was a sure thing by the second or third turn – for the Germans of course. However in 40k and WHFB I find these kinds of games crop up with monotonous regularity.
Consequentially my WHFB and 40k armies are going back in the cupboard and any GW modelling I do in the near future will once again be Mordheim related.
I swear next month’s poll will be totally unrelated to GW.
My interest in 40k has dried up completely with the 4th edition rules, for those exact reasons.
I’ve been getting into specialist games bigtime as they’re far more interesting and generally quirky games. Mordheim, necromunda and BFG get played a lot. But blood bowl is played regularly because it is so easy to play ‘out of the box’ with no prep and still have a fun game.
The ‘big three’ just aren’t worth the cost in time or money.
Funnily enough I found 4th Ed 40k more enjoyable than 3rd. I don’t think the rules are too bad per se, but the Armies are the root of the problem for me.
Some seem ridiculously over powered or under powered compared to others and the game suffer so much from the ‘latest Codex is greatest’ it’s ridiculous.
Also WHY do we need a WHFB 7th Edition? What’s wrong with WHFB 6th? And GW’s great ‘buy a starter kit, get a free 7th Edition rulebook’ offer pales in comparison to Battlefront’s 2nd Edition rules offering.
Plus yes of course the vast expense required to field 1500pts these days in either 40k or WHFB. This was recently bought home to me when I calculated that my next Flames of War army will cost me around $250nz in total. IN TOTAL. $250nz.
Compare that to a WHFB army. You’re looking at $110nz locally for TWO core regiment boxes and another $140nz might get you a Special and a Rare choice if you’re lucky and by then you’re probably only looking at around 700-800pts tops.
Army cost is actually the reason I started playing Mordheim years ago and it’s just got worse since then, as we’ve been through two price hikes locally in the interim. Mordheim is actually quite an enoyable game too, although you should drop the silly I-GO U-GO scheme and use the playing card scheme instead, if you aren’t already!
Stu said: “Also WHY do we need a WHFB 7th Edition? What’s wrong with WHFB 6th?”
I have to say that is the thing that really bugs me. The last edition of 40k was flawed and the re-release was an improvement but current WHFB is perfect! (well I think so) I cant think of anyway that they can actually improve it all they’ll do is tinker.
I am curious to see what they do but I’ll definately not be buying the rules.
Having said that Im sure I’ll still enjoy playing the GW games I’ve got but apart from some trademe/ebay bargains I wont be commiting more money.
When I picked “Make the plastic figures cheaper?” I meant to say that it would make the figures cheaper for GW to manufacture.
’nuff said really.
Indeed, another example of this sort of GW carry on is the ‘Cities of Death’ expansion to 40k.
As far as I can tell this is essentially an extended modelling book with a few scenarios and ‘more than a dozen strategems!’ for playing on a City Fight style table.
These stratagems simply seem to be scenario modifiers or special rules an army can elect to play in a given game. Other than that CoD is played with the normal 40k 4th Edition rules, which you’ve probably already paid $95nz for.
I already know how to make terrain and I’m not terribly interested in using the new GW plastic building sprues BUT I would like to play the ‘updated’ City Fight. I’m sure a lot of people are also in this position…basically anybody that was already playing City Fight.
So why not make the scenarios and stratagems a downloadable PDF file? I’m sure they don’t occupy more than 5-6 pages of the rulebook. Or indeed simply publish them in WD like the ‘Kill Team’ or ‘40k in 40mins’ rules were in the past?
But no, instead we’re expected to shell out $50nz for a rulebook that essentially contains a set of re-written scenarios and some pretty pictures (which I could care less about).
Well yes Ben, that’s a given, and of course their other argument is that the new CAD system didn’t come cheap, but then one wonders how many freelance sculptors suddenly find GW are not returning their calls?
But in any other market, reducing your manufacturing costs would eventually lead to a reduction of the retail price so you could increase market share surely?
I guess the real problem is GW are essentially a monopoly at this point, being the largest player by far in such a niche market.