Games Workshop Hate Mongering Part 1

Lets be honest here, you go onto any forum remotely related to wargaming, and you will see the hate threads. So where does this hate come from. like most things on the Internet people follow a trend, and it seems as though most people follow a trend of hate when referring to GW. And for the most part I see the trend setters as those few who have been in the hobby since the start. the rogue traders amongst us. There knowledge and experience of the hobby make them the trend setters. The only issue is most of these people are blinkered to the rogue trader era. complaining about prices being too high, rules are broken. etc etc.

So lets put some things into perspective, first of all price. The main argument is that back in the good old days GW was cheap, you could grab 5 models for £2.50 and its true you could. But lets also take into account the average wage back then was £6000, not much is it. But that's not strictly true in today's terms, as we haven't added in inflation to that. And the average wage of the UK today is £19000 so that's a rise of 216%. So let's take the rogue trader space marine box set. 30 marines for £9.99 using the UK inflation rate available on most government sites, that would be £36 for 30 marines today. Now lets look at quality. Because £36 for 30 models is a great deal. when compared to today's price of £2.50 per space marine, 30 years ago a space marine would cost £1.20 so about half the price. However what about quality?

Rouge trader Era

Today's Era 

 

And that's where things start to fall off, Sure the hate trending rogue traders era wargamers remember the cheaper prices, but seems as though they forgot how much the quality has changed also. So this one could be classed as personal choice. do you A: have more models for your money, and live with the models looking like final fantasy VII characters with over sized heads and arms. Or do you B: go for less models for your money yet have models that are stunning to look at, when compared to the £1.20 space marine rogue trader era models?

Now some gamers will go for the cheaper nasty looking models, and these are what we refer to as the 3 colours or less gamers, the ones that simply want to play the game and don't care about the look of the models in the army, these are the guys that would not think twice about cracking out those Cardboard cut outs from 2nd edition. The ones that will proxy Books as land raiders and such. And then you have the collectors, the ones that prefer to fully paint a model before it is used on the table, the ones that will sooner loose than proxy a unit. And these will almost certainly choose the more expensive yet much nicer looking units.

So costing wise on a comparison to sum up this section, would see that wile our space marines are twice the price, they also have twice the options on the sprue and more than twice the quality. And what is also very strange is that people complain about paying £2.50 for a space marine that comes with every option in the box. But yet no one bats an eye lid at paying £4.60 for Forge World marines that are all stuck in generic poses and have no weapons included. With forge world its a case of you can afford it or you cant, so why do people treat gw any different, It would be like me hate mongering on car forums because I cant afford a  Koenigsegg and they don't seem to care at the fact I cant afford one.  

Then there is the competition as such. PP, Mantic Games, Battlefront miniatures etc etc. all of these produce great games and some great competition for GW. However people buy to much into these companies. PP are quickly trying to become the next GW and that's no mistake. Once they have enough customer base you will see the company change just like GW did, However PP are hardly cheap. Compare the game sizes to GW games and sure it is cheaper. But if you only played Kill team sized games of 40K GW would also be cheap, (cheaper than PP that's for sure) Then we have Mantic games, They make some great games they really do, Dreadball, Kings, Deadzone, Mars Attacks. But yet this company can sell games for very cheap for a few reasons, number one being the the fact they have no overheads what so ever they practically fund an entire run of games from kickstarters and nothing else. I wont get into why this is bad for kickstarter as I have done that in a previous blog post. There is also the quality of the models. Sure they look great on the website, but when you get your plastic miniatures in your little bags from mantic the casting is what is knows as sprueless. Its cheaper to manufacture but the quality suffers, want to know another example of sprueless casting?

   

Yup that's basically why Mantic games stuff works out cheaper. I wont get into the fact that Mantic games have the same rule set for every game in there company until Part 2, when I try to break a few myths about rules. So thanks for reading, And I undoubtedly expect some hateful comments below. As i don't follow the trend, Sure I don't like some items GW do and I don't like How they price stuff up sometimes. But that's not hate that's just observational disagreement. And because of this I may be considered a "fanboy" so be it.

Warhammer Visions & White Dwarf Weekly

Well.....................

Shall I start with Visions? Yeah lets start with visions.............

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And that's about as much content as Visions has in it. The book is a smaller format to that of the original white dwarf, roughly A5 in size. It's basically a picture book hence the Visions part, but its not a good picture book. For instance I counted at least 8 pictures that had been used multiple times, And that was before I got bored of counting. The repeats are slightly zoomed in or turned so its on a landscape orientation. Then there is the writing, literally nothing, hardly any information given at all, its like reading a child's book. "this is a Rhino" "this is a Harpy" "Z is for Zoanthrope" I honestly wish I could read in German and French as I would get more than one paragraph, as Visions has one paragraph in English one paragraph in French and one in German.

So what we basically have here is a wanabe be Coffee table book.  The images included in the book are just the same old same old WD style photography ones, occasionally they have cropped the miniature and added it to a different background, but that's it I'm afraid. This is the first, And probably the last ever one I buy, unless they so happen to do a special later on down the road, say an entire one dedicated to the Horus heresy then I might be tempted. Now you can go out and waste your money each month, and for those who thought they brought a White dwarf subscription I send you my full condolences, but for the most part Just click this link every month and save your money.

Warhammer Visions Free Edition


Now lets get back to the good stuff White dwarf Weekly............

They did it, they actually did it guys. Not long ago I did a WD classic series, I would give you a few pages from the classic White Dwarf's with a small write up. Back then White Dwarf was comic book sized and released on a fortnightly basis, but had more content than the ones we have been receiving up till last month. But now we have gone to a weekly format, there is info we actualy want, like new releases, painting tutorials for the new models, heck believe it or not there are flipping rules in this mag. I like the fact its comic book sized, this is great if they are going to be putting more rules in the WDW's as you can bag and board them like a comic, with a bit of tape written on it as to what rules it contains for future references.

I really like the weekly format and I personaly hope it continues the way it is, I have to be honest Visions is a total let down. They would be better to do a hardback Visions book on a quarterly basis, rather than what they are doing now. Just how many of these images are going to be re-used.


So to sum up

Warhammer Visions is Blind And white dwarf Weekly is Win!

Hobby Update.

So a little update of what I have been up to recently for those of you who don't check the Facebook page page.


First up is the Night Raptors for my NightLords Legion, Grabbed 10 of these when we went to Warhammer world Just before Xmas, was dreading painting them as it was a lot of brush work, And I get agitated if I cant use the Airbrush for everything :P

Also grabbed some Mechanicum on the same trip, Loved these models And actually very fast and easy to paint, Could happily Turn out a Full army of these Bad boys.

And I did it, I finally finished the the Proteus, It has been sat Built and Base coated for about 3 months. But I decided to pull my finger out now I have cleared some other units I wanted to get. And finished it off, weathered the same as the rest of my World Eaters. I'm looking forward to grabbing my self a Real of Battle board and building my little Istvaan III table, so all my World Eaters will look right at home. I'm not going to lie here though, I still have many, many, more models to finish off for the World Eaters.

 Also grabbed this guy my Local Hobby Store still has these in stock for the correct price, not the £50-70 i have seen people try to sell them for on eBay. The reason I brought it.......... Um its sort of a tester, And a practise piece to work on my Edge Highlighting and other techniques i try to get away with not using. So the model is all pinned and needs a quick dust coat, the dust coat will help me spot any bit that will need a bit of Milliputt or extra attention.

Also grabbed 3 Leman Russ Battle tanks from my Local Hobby Store, they where all ready built and Primed and who ever built them was lets just say a Cretin. But they came out OK with a touch a weathering, and now my Tyrants Legion has a nice heavy support squadron.

And Some more additions to my Dark eldar"ish" Eldar units. Got these Wraithguard painted up to match with my dark eldar. Im starting to like purple far to much. NO I'm not going to start Emperors children next.

Talking of what is next, Been thinking about what I do actually want to do next. I have thought about Elysian drop troops, don't get me wrong I love them to bits, same as I love Krieg, however I hate painting guard. So I may have to skip them. Renegades is also an Army I would love to do, But again the Hate for painting all things guard and the expense of having to buy both guard units and renegade upgrades for those kits makes it a rather pricey list, Almost on par with my World Eaters, And again its painting guard. I still have 120 Mantic Zombies I could paint pretty fast, just need 120 25mm round bases from GW. And i could start my Zombie Nurgle Army. But I have also thought about getting some good guys, I worked out on Battle scribe the units I would want for a fluffy White Scars army. And to be fair it works out pretty cheap if I brought everything brand new. So that is a big possibility.

But I'm sure my mind will change again after the next big FW releases. 

Warhammer 40k pay to win.

Its no great secret that the digital gaming world is fast becoming a free to play venture. But with most of these free to play games there is still a price attached. They sell off bundle packs and all the good stuff separately meaning they gain a revenue from the people willing to pay for items to increase there In game ability's and weaponry etc. the system works. People don't mined paying the odd £3.99 for a better weapon in the game. Using planet side 2 as an example. The game is vast, huge in fact. And it's totally free. And for the most part is playable without ever having to pay a penny. The issue with this is of course when you go up against a bunch of guys who all have purchased weaponry. You are going to come off worse in most instances. But the option is there if you are struggling that much to buy a decent weapon so you are more equipped to deal with those situations.

We have a phrase for games like these. It's not free to play. It pay to win. And that's pretty obvious. 

Now wile I actually like some of these extra rules we are getting, and the supplements are great for fluff. It does seam as though GW are falling into the same trap with this pay to win. The supplements caused some upset, with some being just cheesy tournament lists. Farsights all suit lists, and 4 helldrake black legion lists. But they where not as common. We had the warriors code posted at the weekend, allowing is to use imperial armour, escalation, stronghold, data slates and practically any officially produced army list with exceptions to 30k lists. In all warhammer world events from now on. Now initially I thought this would be great. Elysian drop troop army's, chaos renegade army's, death Corpse army's. But just one little search of Games workshop on iBooks makes you realise just what is actually going to happen.

These data slates that where introduced mainly in the advent calendar that GW and black library produced at Xmas time are going to be the lists we will see at tournaments. Buy a data slate from iBooks and you can bring the best units from the new codex's without even having to worry about force organisation. 

And this is where the pay to win factor comes in, GW are producing a lot of these data slates now, I saw one today different from the tyranid one, allowing you to take 1-6 storm talons per unit. 

As long as you have a tablet PC you can purchase these overpowered lists for £4.99 and become the ultimate douche bag at you next GW tournament,  ok calling someone a douche for taking advantage of these data slate rules is probably harsh. But for the most part true.

And granted yes GW has always been pay to win of sorts. But it's getting worse and worse now. A box of 3 centurions, that uses less plastic than a tactical squad does for half the price. Hell 3 centurions are more expensive than land raiders. It has long since been a case of paying for a stat line over the model it's self. I think we all know this. So yes I personally think that GW is turning into a pay to win game system. The more money you can throw at extra rules the more games you are going to win. 

It is now legal to turn up to a GW tournament. With a space marine captain, two 5 man space marine squads and a Reaver Titan. Just as long as you have a copy of escalation and the latest FW updates.
Sure you cant grab many objectives using only two 5 man squads, but neither can you openent when his entire army has been wiped out by a reaver titan on turn 2.

But yet I'm not going to say any of this is Games workshops fault. At the end of the day all they are doing is producing more rules to keep a game system alive, And get people to buy more models. I applaud them on some of the rules, death worlds, and massacre being awesome little systems to play with. But if I am perfectly honest about this. the 40k game system has enough holes in it without having to add any more. 

I guess we will fined out just how bad things are going to get when the warhammer world tournaments start up again. 

Tabletop Tyrant figure cases.

So we have all spent hundreds, thousands in some cases on are miniatures, and countless hours painting them, to get them looking good, I have one friend who spends 8 hours per space marine 8 flipping hours!!! I paint 40 in that time. How ever the quality does show. But with that a side, no matter how long you spend painting or how much you spend on the models them self's, you want to protect them. Now when it comes protecting your minis we have a few options available to us. On the top of scale price wise we have battle foam, expected but yet the quality and versatility of the product is very high. Plus the option to customise each and every tray adds to the protection of you models. We then have the next big contender KR multicase. Now these are also very good the quality is not up to par with BF, but this shows in the price. Around £35 will get you a cardboard box with enough foam for say   A battalion box from GW. They also do aluminium boxes as well as ruck sack style bags that you can load the card board into. Then we have GW own......... Moving on.

So TT figure cases. Have a range similar not quite as big as battle foam. Different sized bags that fit different amounts of foam. But I'm going to be talking about 2 bags in particular, as in my mind they give both the best versatility and the best bang for buck. There is a £20 difference between each of these bags. The dreadnought bag offering hard plastic sides and multiple pockets for storing gaming supplies. Whilst the standard bag just offers storage for foam. The dreadnought bag weighs in at £65 whilst the standard bag is a mere £41. Now bare in mind both those prices include the bag fully loaded with what ever foam you. Can fit in it. On the gift for geeks website there is a tool to create your bag, and add it to your basket with the foam you require. You get 8 slots in total. That's 5 more troop trays than the £36 GW model.

The cases are well made With Zips that don't pull apart, this is my pet hate, and even on my very expensive Makita tools bags, this is an issue. The canvas is Waterproof so you dant have to worry about your army getting wet whilst walking to your local gaming meet. And the shoulder traps are not only strong, but the release catches are easy to use if you want to take them off for any reason. Foam wise You have as many options as you like as the TT cases hold Battlefoam, KR multicase, and GW foam. Making them a great Substitute for Heavy Aluminium cases or Cardboard cases. Whilst not costing you a fortune.

 

And the cost is something that needs a comparison. So below is a list of the closest Product for product comparison.

 

 

 Battlefoam P.A.C.K 720:   

 

Holds 9  troop tray's, Pockets for storage, hard side walls Cost £148

 

Games Workshop Large troop Carrier:

Holds 6 25mm troop trays, No pockets for storage, Hard plastic case, Cost £61.50. WARNING! chance of being beaten up whilst walking to a game, due to the huge Warhammer or Warhammer 40k stamped case.

 

KR Multicase Kaiser 2: Holds 8 troop trays With pockets for storage, Soft side walls, cost £76

Tabletop Tyrant Dreadnought Case: Holds 8 Troop trays, Hard side walls, Pockets for storage, Cost £61

Tabletop tyrant Tyrant case: Holds 8 troop trays, Soft sidewalls, No pockets for storage, Cost £41

Tabletop Tyrant cases closer look....

 

 

 

The front pocket on the case is large enough to carry bags of dice, tape measures, all the normal gaming items you need with you.

There are side pockets on eaxh side, that fit the 40K templates,

Inside a selection of foam, currently holding my Dark Eldar army.

In this foam tray I have:

• 20 Warriors
• Archon
• 10 Jetbikes
• 10 Scourges
• 5 Helions
• 2 Raiders
• Razorwing Jet Fighter.

High quality zips, mean that the bag will stay shut during transport with out the zips splitting apart, and the quick release catches for the shoulder straps are secure yet easy to operate.

Inside of the case, there is a Pocket big enough to carry a new style hardback Codex, even when full with foam.

To sum up, I think the TT cases give you the best bang for buck. With strength and durability, plus nice soft foam to protect your mini's. If you are looking for a new Figure case then head over to http://giftsforgeeks.org.uk And click the Build Your Case Now button, to start customising your TT case.

 

  

Hobby Update

Well I have been slightly inactive on the blog for a wile. In truth, I have had so much Hobby time available I have made good use to it. But now the Xmas holidays are far gone, And Its back to work time for me. (well maybe next week) 

So i will be slowing down on what gets painted, in some ways that's a good thing, as sometimes you speed increases but your skill does not. So its good to have a slow down for a wile.

I have practically stopped doing the world eaters at the moment, and concentrating on other army's. Its not that I'm bored of them, its more the fact that I have done the bulk now. All the troops are done, and a few key units. I expect once they release Kharn I will get back to them. But they are staying in there sealed zip lock forge world bags for now.

I have been getting on with my Eldar allies for my Dark Eldar of late, apart from doing a Farseer on a Jetbike conversion I'm practically done with them. Even picked them up a Revenant Titan that I can now use in games of Escalation.

Actually been playing the game as of late as well, had a great game of Escalation (was more apoc than escalation) at Warhammer World with some friends to end a great hobby year, and I think all 4 of us went home with empty pockets. used twice as much fuel on the way home as the journey up to Nottingham due to the weight of all the resin we had to carry back home with us.

Also been getting ready for my Local clubs Badab War campaign. And randomly decided instead of using my world eaters as a chaos army. I would just do an entire new army. So went out and brought all the models I needed for a Tyrants legion Army. and then was greeted on twitter by a tweet from Forge world with a link to the new Tyrants Legion Army list, so that worked out rather well.

I have about 2000Pts worth all in so far with most of that painted and ready bar some 40 imperial guard. but they will be done soon, and ready to shield the Astarte's of the Astral Claws from incoming fire.

Looking forward to the Campaign, I'm not to worried about winning any games, hence the nice fluffy list rather than a 120 zombies and 3 helldrakes.

Talking of the campaign We need to figure out some sort of Fortress wall to use in the end game. Would love to have the funds available to spank £800 on the forge world imperial fortress. But don't see that happening. 

So anyway, A few Pictures of some models I have been doing. Also have a 2 in 1 review of Table Top Tyrants Figure cases, And Gifts for Geeks own brand of Foam trays.

Codex: Inquisition sample pics.

Here are some screen shots from the latest sample up on iBooks. Codex: Inquisition

GW are no longer giving any thing rule wise away in these samples now, so all we are left with is a few pictures, and a bit of fluff. Not really worth the 20 seconds it takes to download these now. At least with Eldar sample we actually got a few snip bits of rules, that made a huge buzz around what the rest of the book held for us. I hardly think giving away 1 or two little rules will cost you sales GW, if anything it will raise sales.