GW News: BIG N' SMALL WAAAGH! COMIN'

Extracting a larger and larger sum of money from a relatively small consumer base, rather than building a larger consumer base.

 

I hate to pile on, but after seeing all of these new Lizard models, the price hike news does take some wind out of my sails.

 

The only way things change is if a large enough percentage of people say NO.

 

Luckily I've decided to change brand of spray primer, even though I will be having to get it delivered to my sister's shop where she works at.
A pain where I was hoping to play some games at one point but the local store is a GW one, next nearest is further away and it contains a certain person I don't wish to communicate with (if he still goes and plays there)
Well will probably have to go feed their profits and order some bits that is still missing/needs bulking before the price increase. Cause wanting more Warplock Jezzails are the only ones that are the overpriced metal ones on ebay. Or what I like to call 'Bidwars'
Or just convert them... yeah I will do that instead.

Or just not do anything but I know well they won't backtrack

 

And that's why I've shifted more and more to collecting historicals (along with the fact that my Warhammer armies are getting close to the sizes I planned them to be).

I'd much rather they'd increased the price on paints a fraction instead of plastic kits, as I personally buy a lot more of their paint than their models now.

 

I get along fine just by using standard black spray paint you can get from a sell-anything shop like Wilko's, achieves just as good results as GW spray for less than half the price.

You could certainly convert them, or Mantic makes a nice set of 5 Jezzails for less than GW charges for two:
https://www.manticgames.com/games/kings-of-war/ratkin/ratkin-clawshots-troop/

 

Yeah, GW's black does it's job well. Forgot to write it's more their white primer, have seen tips about getting white primer to work but then others just recommend other brands, like the Wilko one you said. I did had my eye on Colour Forge sprays as the colour variation is interesting but then I feel like sticking to black, grey and white.

Makes me wish I can buy them, I have a few of their miniatures. Sadly will only be display as it's a Warhammer store so can't bring them in.
I did order some of the Skitarii ranger rifle parts, got plenty of leftover Skaven spares so it just be a cheaper kitbash. Can't justify £35 for Jezzails.
Maybe one day they will open a new non-warhammer store that is relaxed about these model rules. There is a new boardgame shop that opened up but they don't arrange Warhammer games even though they sell it.

Edit: Unless I go get more info from them because their schedule has D&D some weeks.
Problem when I have no friends haha

 

3D printers will change the market landscape in time.

 

meh, I wouldn't count on it any time soon. Maybe if they finally find a way to make consumer printers usefull for normal households so they become a much more common sight in general.

 

I think so, too. 3D printing has already shifted several small mini companies to offering both minis and stl files. Look at the increase of 3rd party companies and individuals on My Mini Factory & Patreon.

Yes and no. I mean, let's face it, GW has some good designers, sculptors & painters, and their proprietary plastic printing allows them to make beautifully detailed and delicate models. So much so that, despite the price hike, I'm still thinking about getting some these cool-looking Seraphon. But I really think the main reason GW updated Seraphon is due to the HUGE boom in 3D Lizards over the past several years. I think that's also why GW is becoming more assertive with their model requirements at events. While I agree that 3D printing may not be dramatically affecting GW's bottom line, yet, I think it's forcing them to step up their game. If it's one thing that can shift quickly it's the consumer market.

 

Agreed. Also consider that 3d printing is still relatively new, especially at the household level. Take a look at what cell phones were like just 15 years ago. Now couple the rapidly evolving 3d printing technology with a consumer market that can shift on a dime, and you have the recipe for huge changes.

 

Is your Beastmen army just about finished too? You just started building that (somewhat) recently.

 

I don't think that's due to homeprinting though. More due to the fact that smaller companies can actually provide decent models without needing a massive factory nowadays as commercial 3D printers are becoming cheap enough for a small studio to actually produce something decent. There's a whole bunch of smaller studios now who either make their own models, or rely on those 3D printing services. They're all still high-end commercial printers, but it's massivly more competition than there was 20 years ago.

 

That's the one exception really, I haven't got particularly far with them at all at the moment due to all my other projects getting in the way - just got the SC Box (of which only the Bestigors and Shaman are assembled and painted), my big conversion idea (which is only partially built right now as it's in need of a correct rectangular base and greenstuffing) and the Grashrak's Despoilers Underworlds figure set, which I got this Christmas just gone, at the moment. I've managed to grab both the 7th Edition and 6th Edition army books at decent prices and in good condition as well.

But that means there's something to look forward to working on in the future, and at the moment the core Beastman stuff is still from the proper era pricing conventions

 

That's true, gives you something fun to work towards!

 

Just for fun (with our tinfoil hats on), why not peer a little further down the line than the 3d printing we have today. A.I. can already "draw" beautiful pictures, "research" and write articles; so what's to say that in 10, 15 or 20 years it can't digitally sculpt 3d models that can then be 3d printed. Imagine being able to give a program instructions until it tweaks and creates a model to your exact preference. Furthermore, it would be easy to get it to copy existing models, either directly or altering them to better suit the users' need.

Of course, nobody will have a job and the robot revolution won't be far behind, but until then, it would be an interesting time for wargamers. Limitless models across any mix of styles and genres.

Where would GW be then?

 

That's fair. I guess my comment was more about 3D printing in general (both home and small studio prints). If I can buy, or print, a Slann proxy for half the price (or less) of the official Slann... that's a "SOLD" for many people.

 

Doubly so when you need many multiples of the same unit or model. The 3D printing price is upfront (the printer itself is the big one, followed by the smaller cost of purchasing the stl files), but after that, many multiple copies only cost you resin.