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Games Workshop Under Siege

2011-06-08T20:53:37Z

A lot of people are absolutely freaking out over the recent changes made by Games Workshop. Some of the reactions are constructive, some are... not so much.

My reaction... Well... Honestly... I'm sort of on the fence overall. Let's just take it one piece at a time.

Shipping Restrictions:

Games Workshop isn't allowing online retailers to ship orders across regions anymore. That means an online retailer based in the U.S. can't ship to, say, Australia or Europe. The reasons for this are a subject of debate, with Games Workshop saying it protects local retailers by forcing the clients to buy from them and not from a cheaper algternative on the Internet. Angry customers say it's just another way of squeezing customers. The truth is probably neither, or both, or somewhere in between.

Basically this is a reaction to a somewhat awkward situation arising from Games Workshop's business model in which their products are distributed both by their own storefronts AND by independent retailers. They need to keep the customers coming into their own stores in order to keep them operating, but at the same time they can't really afford to completely monopolize all the business so they sell through independent outlets as well. In the modern marketplace, the Internet and International business complicate the situation even further.

What makes this troubling is that the result is a MASSIVE price hike for players in places like Australia, who saw a price increase of as much as 40% or more in the wake of this thing. Would you buy a new Land Raider for $90? I wouldn't. I'm not sure how Games Workshop expects to keep growing their business in Australia. People were already complaining about Games Workshop prices before this. What is it about Australia that causes prices to jump so high? There's got to be a reason for it... Are import tarriffs so high there? Is there some kind of massive tax? Is there a law in Australia forcing a minimum wage so incredibly high that this is the only way Games Workshop can operate there? I'd really like to know. If anyone reading this blog can provide some insight on that, I'd like to ask you to head over to the Contact Us section and send us a message.

My non-expert solution to this: If these massive price increases are truly unavoidable in Australia under the current business model there, then I'd suggest Games Workshop re-examine their business model for that region. Maybe having Games Workshop stores in Australia just isn't a good idea, and they'd be better off distributing their products exclusively through independent retailers or through their website, charging prices comparable to what the rest of us pay. Games Workshop seems to take a very monolithic approach and tries to do business exactly the same way everywhere in the world, and maybe that's just not a wise idea.

Metal Models Now Resin:

I really have no strong feelings about this. Games Workshop is trying to portray this as a revolution in miniature model manufacture. It isn't. Are they nice? Sure, I guess. They're made from the same molds previously being used to cast the pewter models so the level of detail isn't really going to change. (They say the detail is better. I haven't seen the difference.) I'm not sure why we see a price hike on thiose. It costs less to make a model from resin than it does to make one from pewter. I've heard something to the effect that they have to import resin because some law or another makes it illegal to manufacture the resin material in England now... Um... Ok. Again, I see a need to revise the business model here, not just take more money from consumers and keep going as before. (Maybe Games Workshop is trying to emulate the U.S. Government?)

Price Hikes in General:

I was going to say a few more words on the general price hikes but I'm really not qualified to analyze it. I will say that Games Workshop is pricing themselves out of my gaming budget. Maybe they have no choice. I don't know. Either way I'll continue to play Warhammer, but my rate of army expansino is going to slow dramatically and switch to mostly eBay for growing my armies. I will buy the occasional item when I'm at the Bowie Battle Bunker. I figure if I'm going to go there and use their tables I owe it to them to spend some money, but I'm just not going to shell out hundreds of dollars with them anymore. In a world where there's Warmachine and Malifaux, why would I?

An Open Latter to Games Workshop

2011-02-15T05:31:17Z

Dear Sirs,

I'd like to first congratulate you on an excellent series of games and products to support them. I find them to be a lot of fun and generally well worth the pricetag.

Having said that, I have one thing I'd like to get off my chest.

We GET IT. The Blood Angels have been re-released. Thanks. I received the latest White Dwarf and the overwhelming majority of its pages are devoted to the Blood Angels Chapter. Guys, seriously... The BAs got their 'dex last year. By now, everybody who was planning to start a BA army has done so. The rest of us have decided either to get one or not, but I assure you, we haven't missed the fact that they've been re-done. We didn't miss it. I promise you. Nobody has picked up a copy of White Dwarf and said "Hey! The Blood Angels have new stuff out? I had no idea! I must g et off to the nearest Games Workshop and purchase this fine line of models! At this point people will do what they always do and trickle in starting BA armies as they want.

If you guys feel like you need to make your stuff more visible to get people to buy it, I humbly suggest an alternative: Put out more stuff for ALL of your fanbase, not just the certain segments who chose to buy the latest army re-release. Some of us (Black Templars players, for instance) are awaiting a new 'dex for our beloved armies but in the meantime you could release a little love for us too. I'm sure there are plenty of Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Black Templars, or even Necrons and Tyranid players who are just dying for some attention. Release a little at a time instad of these huge waves that take months and months in between so that we don't have these pulses of enthusiasm.

I can't remember the last time there was something new for Black Templars. I mean sure, I could in theroy convert some BA stuff but why should I? This is what gives rise to concerns from players that their army is being discontinued or the support is dropping out. Come on GW. We love your stuff, We're not demanding more products per se, just a smoother stream of releases instead of these huge pulses of stuff for one or two armies that completely saturate White Dwarf to the point where I feel like I'm subscribing less to a hobby magazine and more to a very expensive ad campaign that I'm paying for.

Thanks very much,

Your fans.

Casting Parts

2011-01-31T19:54:17Z

So this week I decided to start learning to cast parts from resin.

For my first project, I decided to make some Nemesis Force Weapons. If you don't know what a Nemesis Force Weapon is, it's the standard close combat weapon used by the Grey Knights, one of the chapters of the Space Marines in Warhammer 40,000. Now, the reason I chose this particular subject is because with the new Codex coming out soon for the Grey Knights, I've decided to start playing them. As it happens, my wife and I have 6 Grey Knight Terminators we got a couple years ago from an old friend. These are the OLD style Grey Knights from a time when the Nemesis was always a halberd and had a built-in single shot Bolter.

I want to include these classic Grey Knights in my army but of the 6 Terminators, 4 are missing their Nemesis weapons.

Good luck finding those bits. Metal bits are usually harder to find than plastic ones anyway and something this old... Forget it.

So I'd been thinking about getting into casting for just this sort of situation for a while now, and I got the kit and have started making the mold to create enough Nemesis Weapons to outfit the squad. If it goes well, I might add a "How To" on it. If it goes badly, I DEFINITELY will after I figure out the right way!

It's been here awhile

2010-10-05T20:30:57Z

Ok so the ForgeWorld stuff came in about 12 days after I placed the order. Woo!

Start the Clock

2010-09-07T20:37:44Z

Ok so I just placed my first ever order with ForgeWorld. I ordered a set of Thousand Sons doors for the Land Raider. Shipping price was pretty low so I'm guessing it'll be a while getting here, but I'll post again when it happens.

Magnus the Red

2010-08-12T15:02:28Z

I'm adding an article to the Modeling and Painting Miniatures section for the approach I'm using to convert a Games Workshop demon prince model to the Primarch Magnus the Red.

StarCraft II

2010-08-09T18:47:52Z

StarCraft II is out.

Yeah, I know you know that.

The question is: Is it awesome?

I don't know. It's StarCraft. If you liked the first one you're going to like the second one. Blizzard was smart enough to keep the stuff that worked and that's a big deal. Most of the time it seems that a sequel comes out for a game and they gut it to the point where it's like playing a totally different game. StarCraft II does feel like StarCraft, so it's immediately comfortable and makes you feel at home.

IF you liked StarCraft,

If you didn't, there's not much here to draw you in and change your mind. The micromanagement isn't any better, there's still no idea of unit formations and sometimes it's hard to find game balance. I'm not saying the game isn't balanced, but it may be too subtle to be obvious before you've spent time really getting to know the units.

One thing Blizzard did change that I find annoying to the point of being offensive is that there's no local LAN and even to play in campaign mode they want you to create an account and log in. I'm told it's possible to do this offline but I haven't yet figured out how. Better make sure your Internet connection is up when you go to play.

*sigh*

When did we get comfortable with the idea that these big companies are entitled to access our home computers?

New Games Workshop Content

2010-07-20T00:14:18Z

I've added the official GW RSS feeds to the main pages in the Warhamer Fantasy and Warhammer 40k Communities. They're both the same since GW at this time doesn't have a separate feed for each game, but if they ever do I'll separate them. Meanwhile, check them out and join me in praying for a new Bretonnia Army Book soon...

Modeling and Painting Miniatures

2010-06-08T01:46:22Z

So you may notice in the menu bar at the top there's a new page for tips on modeling and miniature painting. I invite anyone who would like to create a tutorial to do so and we can post it in this new section!

Attention Clerics and Paladins:

2010-06-04T14:44:49Z

Players who are running Clerics or Paladins in our campaign need to start thinking about the specifics of their character's chosen spirituality. This also includes special rules that are found in the Ith'Meireun Wiki in the D&D section. Also, players of other other character types are strongly encouraged to flesh out the spirituality of their character, as religion is very important to those who struggle to survive in the savage, frozen world of Ith'Meireun.

Additional Session?

2010-06-03T20:46:19Z

There has been talk recently of adding a weekly game session to the off weeks between the current sessions. I'd encourage everyone to share their thoughts, and the nature of the new gaming session schedule. In other words, would it be D&D? Who would you like to run it? etc.

Religion on Ith'Meireun

2010-05-22T13:48:55Z

The focus right now on the Ith'Meireun wiki seems to be on religion. This is a great thing because it's the element that's most often neglected. It can really add flavor to a role-playing campaign. Everyone is encouraged to jump in on this. Special thanks to Tom for taking point!

New Stuff

2010-05-04T18:11:48Z

The Ith'Meireun wiki is now up and running with lots of content already added and more coming on every day. This can be found in the Dungeons & Dragons community section.

EVERYBODY is encouraged to add content to the wiki, or add details to existing pages. This isn't just for certain people it's for everyone so don't be shy!

I also encourage people to check out the new message board under the D&D section for discussion on fleshing out the campaign world of Ith'Meireun.

The content is growing

2010-04-29T20:21:11Z

One of the things I hope to do with this site is to have public viewable content such as creative projects, more blogs, events, etc. Suggestions are, as always, welcome and encouraged.

We're online...

2010-04-23T14:23:37Z

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we are online and running.

*Trumpet fanfare*

The great Procrastinator has at last gotten the website exposed to the Web so we are good to go.

If you're a member of our group you'll need your own user account to access the features. This is how we protect our content and forums from the dregs of Internet society. Just contact Chris to get your account setup and you'll be good to go!

Launch

2010-03-14T13:37:53Z

The site is up and running, although at this point it's not yet exposed to the Internet so this blog won't be read by many people unit it's already history ;)