AGPO:
:madAm I the only one who is really frustrated at the way GW is forcing up the price of collecting regiments by releasing boxes of 10 troops. Here in the UK a regiment box costs �18 (approx US$36), up from �15 (approx US$30) a couple of years ago. This to my mind is already unreasonable, as it makes collecting the core of an army more expensive. On top of this price hike though, has come the shift to producing boxes of 10 troops at �12 (approx (US$24) a go. You need two of these boxes to build a single decent sized unit, so the cost of a regiment is now �24 (approx US$48 ) an increase of �6 only two years after the last one!
The feeble excuse I was given by GW for this was that it made it easier for people who wanted to use small detachments. However, a) most Empire players who use detachments use more than one b) Big blocks of infantry are far more common, and indeed necessary to even field a detachment and c) Only the Empire can use detachments, and GW are now producing boxes of this size for Dwarfs and Greenskins! This really is just a pathetic attempt to disguise another price hike. And it is especially hypocritical as GW keeps saying how it wants to move the game more towards large numbers of troops and away from small uber-hard elites and characters! I normally use large numbers of troops, however when trying to get a new army on the field I now either have to field a small beardy force, or spend hundreds of pounds to get a battle worthy force.
I’m posting this on HoH as well, and I would appreciate anyone who feels the same way as me doing the same on other forums, and getting back to me if there is sufficient interest in further action. I propose that we mobilise support on the on-line community to ask GW to not release any more of these 10 man units. Be aware that one of the next books to be released is Vampire Counts, an army which needs massive numbers of core troops. Don’t be fooled by the 20 man regiment sets released - they are limited edition and are often even more pricy. The black orc 10 man box is �15, only a couple of years ago, you could get 19 orcs for this price! WITHOUT YOUR SUPPORT GAMES WORKSHOP WILL SOON PRICE MANY GAMERS OUT OF THE HOBBY!
P.S. To all those who posted on this thread on HoH, please post on it here to. If you are a member of both sites, please post on both. My eventual plan is to send an e-mail to GW with all the sites and the number of members on each one [/b]who support this action, thus if you are a member of two sites, your name gets counted twice!
Xander:
I don’t know how long you have been collecting, but in my day, a Regiment Box costed $30 Canadian. Now, they cost $45 CDN. A 50% increase in under 10 years, far exceeding inflation or anything else. Now with these new boxes, the price essentially moves to $50 CDN (2x$25).
All I can say is buckle your seat belt, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Ishkur Cinderhat:
It is true, the prices have by now reached a level where even I (though having a job and being able to earn enough money to finance all my expensive hobbies) have to rethink whether I want to go with GW miniatures at all or not; at least starting new armies is made quite hard by the slavers from Nottingham.
Problem is, I can’t actually think of any other tabletop system with the same high quality miniatures that costs a lot less really. Considering what you pay for a box of “Warmachine” or “B5: Call to Arms” miniatures, GW is pretty much in the standard level.
Still, what we are paying by now for a handful of plastic miniatures is of course totally unreasonable.
The Flying Beaver:
GW’s strategy is really odd- if they’re doing well and demand is high, they’ll raise their prices. If profits are down, they’ll raise their prices to make up for it. It alienates consumers and really is just bad business.
hobblin:
Also I’d like to raise another point that they should increce all unit boxs
that come with 16 guy to 20 because 5 now makes a rank and I dont think people want to order an extra sprue to make 20 so basicly the units of 20 cost $53CDN plus shipping.
wallacer:
GW's strategy is really odd- if they're doing well and demand is high, they'll raise their prices. If profits are down, they'll raise their prices to make up for it. It alienates consumers and really is just bad business.
The Flying Beaver
It really just shows a lack of imagination, I think.
The problem is that Games Workshop considers it's business to be the manufacturing and selling of miniatures.
This means that when they start suffering financially their immediate reaction is to raise miniature prices, or if that doesn't work to start closing down stores as well.
The problem is that their bean counters don't seem to realise that there is a symbiotic relationship between good rules/support/game background and what people are willing to pay for figures.
If all I wanted were pretty figues then i'd buy Rackham miniatures (which I increasingly am).�� If I buy GW figures it will not be because I prefer GW figures (which I don't) but rather that having GW miniatures enables me to immerse myself in the WFB gameworld and be a part of it.��In other words, when I buy their figures what i'm really paying for is to help support their Fluff and intellectual property and the creation and expansion thereof.��GW need to remember that when people buy their figures it's not just the figures they're buying.��Unfortunately GW seem to think that they can make money just by selling their miniatures, and that everything else which has a symbiotic relationship with the figures is of secondary importance.��I would argue that the reverse is actually the case.
@ the OP:��I sympathise with your concern about price rises, but there is nothing you can do about it.��If GW want to raise the price then they will.��No offence intended, but you're wasting your time (unless all you're trying to achieve is a cathartic release for your frustration)
Ishkur Cinderhat:
Also I'd like to raise another point that they should increce all unit boxs
that come with 16 guy to 20 because 5 now makes a rank and I dont think people want to order an extra sprue to make 20 so basicly the units of 20 cost $53CDN plus shipping.
hobblin
That is very true, the new regulation that requires 5 miniatures to make up a rank totally screws the boxes. Previously, you could make a unit of chaos warriors with three ranks from one box (12 miniatures), now you need to make an awkward two-ranks unit with 6 warriors in each rank. Who would ever do that??
The same goes for the dwarf warrior boxes that I used for my CD regiments. I actually had to buy two boxes plus two additional sprues to be able to field 2x 20 warriors. That sucks.
cornixt:
The good old unit filler comes in handy there.��A scenic 40mm base and you have a full 20 model unit!
AGPO:
the new regulation that requires 5 miniatures to make up a rank
Ishkur
You're kidding!! I hadn't seen that yet. Loads of my units have been designed to rank up 4 wide! I now have six completely useless CW units - the classic models are only available by mail-order, they won't rank up any differently because they were modeled to rank up a certian way. I'd need to add 4 models to each unit (24 models in total) just to use the units in games again! GWs strategy seems to make no sense. I've been a loyal customer for 11 years. When I was at school I used to save my lunch money to buy models instead. If the prices then were like they are now, I couldn't have taken up the hobby. If they were cheaper I would probably spend more money in their stores and I know I am not the only one. Our gaming group mostly plays with the same armies the players have had for years, simply because most of us had had to stop buying models.
cornixt:
Why not just turn you movement tray by 90 degrees? It can’t be that hard to add one extra model to the end of each rank
Uzkul Werit:
Having said that, you thought they could’ve thrown in an extra model to fill up the ranks.
Hashut’s Blessing:
That could be why they released those small boxes of 3-5 models… They were �5 for 3 CW, 4 Orcs or 5 skeletons. Now it’s �7!!!
LLV:
the ‘small boxes’ were a failed attempt to get GW product into toy stores.
GW are (and have been for the last 3-4 years) going after the ‘kiddie dollar’ in a big big way.
This is what is the silliest part of their ‘strategy’ if you can even call it that.
They are increasingly marketing their product for ‘Kiddies’ yet at the same time making their models so expensive only ‘vets’ with jobs and money can afford it.
Someone hit the nail on the head though earlier - the whole point of the 10man boxes is a cheaper 'entry price’
The spending patterns of the ‘kiddies’ is such that most of them dont finish or even plan to finish full armies.
They buy (or rather their parents buy…) random boxes of ‘cool little men’.
After 3 4 or 5 purchases the kid gets bored and now ‘mummy and daddy’ buy him/her pokemon or whatever the next fad is.
Never do the kids or the parents realise how much an actual army costs!
So yet again the ‘real’ hobbiest gets screwed.
Well done GW, well done.
Alas hope is not all lost. dwindling share prices has led to no dividend this year. with that shareholders will lose confidence and come end of June the share price will plummet again.
GW will either be bought out, or the idiots running things right now will be fired and someone who actually realises how to run a business will take over.
EE
Pyro Stick:
GW will either be bought out, or the idiots running things right now will be fired and someone who actually realises how to run a business will take over.
Exquisite Evil
This should of been done a long time ago.
Hashut’s Blessing:
One can only hope that no matter which path happens, we can afford the hobby afterwards…
It seems that, lately, GW has been employing people not overly good at their given job. E.G. WD has gone downhill, the running og GW is going downhill in the opinions of almost everyone in this thread…
wallacer:
the running og GW is going downhill in the opinions of almost everyone in this thread...
Hashut's Blessing
I suspect the poor sods who create WD are just obeying orders from higher up as to what the magazine should be trying to achieve.
Gav posted on Warseer saying that changes will be occuring in WD in the months to come, however.
fingers crossed....
Pyro Stick:
The only changes in it is the box near the front that has an increasing amount of price rise warnings.
AGPO:
I really hoped white dwarf would pick up, it seemed to be for a while, running painting lessons for vets and beginners and converting articles. Now though, they’ve gone back to just being a glorified catalogue.
Why not just turn you movement tray by 90 degrees?��It can’t be that hard to add one extra model to the end of each rank
cornixt
My units are 4x4, so turning 90 degrees isn’t much good. With six chaos warrior units alone, adding the models to get full ranks would be four extra models a unit. Thats 24 models as I said in my last post. Many chaos players ranked up warriors in 4x4 or 4x3 because the minimum rank bonus was by far the cheapest way of getting a decent rank bonus. A house rule which could work would be for units on 25mm bases only need four models in a rank to get a rank bonus. This gives them the same frontage as a unit on small bases which is five wide, so its only fair really
EDIT: The other issue with this is that GW now don’t produce a movement tray to fit a unit on 25mm bases that actually gets a rank bonus
The Slaver:
argh!! I must say as a young student working to make a converted army, GW isn’t helping! I agree that scenic 40mm filler bases are a good alternative. By buying a bag of bases, saving a bunch of random rocks and cool bits, you can fill up the units quickly. Its a good option but not great. The better one would be to lower prices ( i know im stating the obvious). And whats with GW publishing hexagonal campaign map pieces! I thought it was part of the hobby to make them yourself!! didn’t anyone else enjoy the Generals Conpendium?!?!
Khaosbeardling:
Back in the day. (Woot! I feel cool for being able to say this. Only 18 years old.) I could buy a regiment box of plastics for get ready for it:
$25!!! OMFG!!! :0
I know it’s hard to believe. I support this post 100%. Put me down in all caps!!!