[DISCUSSION] GW 2024 Financial Annual Report (Prices, Production, FTSE 100)

[N1SB]

Brothers and Sororitas, it's that time again.

 

For those joining or returning to B&C (btw, welcome, one & all), we have this bi-annual thing where we look at GW's performance.  GW will, as required by law and bylaws, publish its financial annual report within the next week or so.  I'm about to buy, on PC/Steam, Rogue Trader the RPG by Owlcat games, so I won't be around much.

The mindset is, as a U.S. Midwestern farmer once said to me, "You should know where your food comes from."  We may look at GW's financial performance, but what we're interested in is the state of the Warhammer Hobby.  A farmer can glance at the clouds and tell if it will be feast or famine, these reports happen to be a barometer.

 

As usual, I'll try to keep this as simple, short & sweet as possible (though I fail every time).  Neither attacking or defending GW, I'm just cloud gazing, man.

 

(2023, due to political issues that we won't discuss here on B&C, really caused major disturbances in the UK economy, so sometimes I'll omit that year.)

 

UPDATE - It's out at https://assets.ctfassets.net/ost7hseic9hc/4A6d7aHhF0krxOJFnb8h04/92c5ad4e4eec0e68962c29c98a335c9c/2023-24_press_statement_final_-_updated_with_priorities.pdf and I'm taking the night to sleep on it.  I already read it through a few times and I love it because the CEO is smacking me upside the head...but I'm also looking at him like, "Thanks for correcting me...but I'm not sure you should've told this to everyone!"  Clearly he thinks honestly is the best policy.


+++ PRICES +++

 

 

Price increases suck, usually even for the producer.  GW announced price increases May 2024, after a similar one in Feb 2023...but they don't do it willy-nilly.  GW has an aberrant code of honour when it comes to pricing, like an assassin will say "no women, no kids" or a sniper considers himself a professional with standards.

 

We can tell if GW is following their own code in their 2024 annual report under Gross Profit Margin.  The number should be BELOW 70% (prolly around 65%).

 

What this means is that GW sets prices, as do many manufacturers, based on cost of production.  GW sells you a box, a Combat Patrol with some HQ, some Troops, a Vehicle or Monster, that costs you 100 pounds/dollars/euros/etc.  On average, that box cost them £/$/€30 of labour, materials, energy costs to make.  £/$/€70 is profit.

 

(What about things like the miniature sculptors, game designers, etc.?  That's not part of this.  You buy a miniature, GW charges you based on THAT miniature.)

 

 

"GW is a business," I've heard YouTube Warhammer channels say if you never knew that, "they charge as much as they can."  What they set this Gross Profit Margin at 70%, which is very high; Apple has theirs at ~40%, Microsoft and Google at ~60%, GW is even higher than tech.  But what GW charges is based on costs THEY have to pay.

 

(Important Edit - I was NOT talking about Brother Valrak, beloved by B&C, here.  There're tactical and painting channels misrepresenting GW.  Valrak reports facts.)

 

What is the increasing cost that's driving up prices, labour, materials or energy?  GW's miniature manufacturing is not labour-intensive; you know this because, if it was, they'd be made in China (like me)!  Materials, meaning plastic, GW uses high-end stuff...but it's a drop in the bucket.  GW's real cost, I have learned, is electricity bills.

 

Until recently, I thought GW's factories as this conveyor belt churning out miniatures, 24/7.  That's still true.  What I did not know was there's a giant heating vat they keep constantly on that melts the plastic to 200°C to 400°C CONSTANTLY.  Think of your electric bill with air conditioning...except 200°C to 400°C CONSTANTLY.

 

Why are electricity bills in the UK so high?  I'm not living there anymore, but I'm pretty sure it's because there are real wars happening in the energy producers, and the Europeans (France and Norway in particular) are actually the ones that charge as much as they can now that the UK is not in the European Union.

(Thanks to Timperial Guard, who worked in plastic mold injection, for telling me this...and telling me his in-laws in London are paying £500 in electric bills.)

 

Another telltale sign is what GW has NOT increased prices on...

 

 

Paints, magazines, books do NOT need to melt plastic at 200°C to 400°C CONSTANTLY.  Well, the paint pots, as in the container, do, but y'know.

 

We'll see in GW's Gross Profit Margin if their price increase was driven up, almost certainly due to this issue.  Speaking of melting plastic...

 

 

+++ PRODUCTION +++

 

 

I still can't find anything on the new GW website, I don't understand it, it confuses me.  Oh, except TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK.  THAT I find a lot.

 

The demand for GW's products has grown faster than their ability to supply them.  GW has 3 factories.  In their half-year report, they're discussing Factory 4.

 

The 2024 annual report will show this under their discussion for Property, Plant and Equipment.  It includes other stuff, but it covers their factories.

 

 

GW HAS been increasing their Property, Plant and Equipment since the time of the Gathering Storm, etc.  It's more than 2x that, but...

 

 

Look at GW's top line, which is the Top Line, a.k.a. Revenue.  Their sales are 4x now from that same period.  GW just can't keep up with the players.

 

Just consider the above picture.  All this time, GW has been using the same facility in Nottingham.  Last 8 years, it just took off, but the same factories.

 

GW HAS been doing what they can.  They're upgrading their equipment, retooling and stuff, but they do need permission from the local government.  And I don't blame the local government either.  Just when 1 gets approved, those poor civil servants get ANOTHER stack of requests from GW.  They're sick of seeing GW.

 

GW's Revenue, Operating Profits, etc., are being anchored by their factories...they can't make more money if they got nothing more to sell.  Speaking of growth...

 

 

+++ FTSE 100 +++

 

 

So I was talking to Chinese acquaintances, talking about the world, including the UK.  I ask them what they like about the UK.  They reply, "Burberry."  That's not an indictment or insult or anything against the UK...but I do think it's an indictment on what my people have become, our culture has been reduced to loving luxury goods.

 

Games Workshop has overtaken Burberry in terms of company value.  You heard how nVidia became the world's highest valued company for a few days before Microsoft took that spot back?  The term is Market Capitalisation and it will NOT be in the annual report, but that WILL affect the company's valuation.

 

The UK, like other countries with stock exchanges, has Tier Lists of companies like how a YouTube 40k channel makes Tier Lists of units.  The top 100 companies are in what's called the FTSE 100 (pronounced "the Footsie One Hundred"), that's like Tier 1 units.  Burberry just got knocked off the list.  GW has JUST entered WILL enter it...soon?

 

 

It's NOT just bragging rights.  When the UK government is planning its economic policy, they want to talk to business leaders, by default they'll invite ppl from the FTSE 100 because it's some sort of system.  GW JUST got a seat at the table.  Maybe then they can FINALLY get help getting the building permits for Factory 4, 5 and 6. 

 

Heh, I was complaining about my own kindred being obsessed with luxury goods?  So am I, because Warhammer IS a luxury good now.

 

 

+++ Oh, right, I'm supposed to mention Amazon +++

 

 

I predict there will be a Memorandum of Understanding for a meeting to discuss writing ANOTHER MOU about maybe an Amazon series.

 

Seriously, Brother Valrak, we've known each other since before you were posting videos of Warhammer World Weekends on Facebook.  Do NOT just read Revenue increased by x% and Profit by y%.  Talk about Prices based on Gross Profit Margin, Production not keeping up with demand, GW overtaking Burberry even.

 

(Important Edit - again, not attacking Brother Valrak.  I was trying to show that I feel his pressure, trying to correct the rest of the social media ecosystem.)

 

You don't have hype up these reports, because the hype is there, you don't have to force it.  We each have our own stories, our life experiences that shape us into what we are, to serve society by the sweat of our brow and with that currency, we trade for miniatures made by GW employees with THEIR stories, THEIR blood, sweat & gears.

 

Do you know where the word trade comes from?  Tradeo, Tradere, to pass on.  We're passing what we are to each other, like geneseed.  That's what this is.

 

Edit - the Ayatollah of Rock & Rolla has rightly revoked my High Gothic privileges, I've agreed to a self-imposed 6 month penance period of no Latin.

Edited September 25 by N1SB

[RWJP]

Great start @N1SB As always I look forward to the rest of your analysis when the full report comes out.

Just in regards to your comments about electricity prices: Oh boy is it bad. Here in the UK energy prices for domestic customers like you and I for our homes is capped. That cap is currently set at £1568 per year. During the energy crises back in late 2022/early 2023, the price cap rose as high as £4000 per year... And that's just for normal people.

For businesses, there is no cap! Energy providers can charge business customers literally whatever they want and increase rates as much as they want. I have a friend who runs a brewery which, weirdly like GW, requires a lot of energy all the time as he needs to keep the beer at set temperatures at all times while it's being brewed. Post COVID, his electricity costs jumped from about £8000 a year to around £30000 per year. Since then, they have continued to creep up.

I dread to think what GW's energy bill must be each year and how much they must have increased. If a tiny company like my friend's brewery can see a multiple hundreds percent increase, I can only imagine GW saw worse.

[ZeroWolf]

I do look forward to your reports @N1SB and how your able to parse the information for an idiot like me  Hope you enjoy Rogue Trader, heard good things about it.

[Focslain]

I await the full report and these are always an interesting read to see under the hood so to speak.

 

Also with power being the main driver i wonder it they looked into installing solar either on the buildings or to give cover to their car parks. Could help in lower their overall costs. They definitively use more then they could generate, but would lower their cost a bit after the upgrade. 

[Joe]

I think they had installed some solar panelling a while back, but I can't recall what the end result was. I do know that they've become more expensive the last few years, however.

[Karhedron]

It looks like GW have covered all their south-facing roof-space with solar panels already. I am sure it helps a bit.

 

[Emperor Ming]

Is 70% an average in the world of business or are they being robbing you know whats

 

Gross profit wise. 

[Focslain]

14 minutes ago, Karhedron said:

It looks like GW have covered all their south-facing roof-space with solar panels already. I am sure it helps a bit.

 

 

Ok, that is awesome in general. 

[darkhorse0607]

A question for clarification for myself (I had blood drawn this morning, so things are a little fuzzy).

 

"What they set this Gross Profit Margin at 70%, which is very high; Apple has theirs at ~40%, Microsoft and Google at ~60%, GW is even higher than tech."
 

The 70% Gross Profit Margin is an arbitrary number they set themselves correct? A "this is what we consider to be successful" type of thing?

 

If that's the case, then couldn't they lower the number, blame the rising electric costs, and do without the price rises?

(yes I know that this would be very altruistic and not feasible for a large, publically traded corporation, it's just to clarify for me)

[Brother Captain Vakarian]

4 minutes ago, darkhorse0607 said:

A question for clarification for myself (I had blood drawn this morning, so things are a little fuzzy).

 

"What they set this Gross Profit Margin at 70%, which is very high; Apple has theirs at ~40%, Microsoft and Google at ~60%, GW is even higher than tech."
 

The 70% Gross Profit Margin is an arbitrary number they set themselves correct? A "this is what we consider to be successful" type of thing?

 

If that's the case, then couldn't they lower the number, blame the rising electric costs, and do without the price rises?

(yes I know that this would be very altruistic and not feasible for a large, publically traded corporation, it's just to clarify for me)

Very likely, allowing the Gross Profit Margin to slip below 70% would seriously hurt GW’s ability to give employees raises (and bonuses, which they do very frequently), and would also imperil their factory 4 expansion plans, which must require a significant amount of debt. Most likely, they’ve ran the numbers again and again, and 70% is what they need to avoid taking on serious debt and still be able to grow. 
 

Gross profit margin does not account for staff salaries, R&D, investment in new facilities, etc. It only accounts for manufacturing costs. They are not actually making 70% net profit. 

[firestorm40k]

Thank you, once again, for your insightful analysis and breakdown of this @N1SB 

 

Something that tickled me is seeing GW higher on the FTSE than ITV (for non-UK Fraters, that's one of this country's biggest TV networks)  No wonder none of the UK TV producers can afford to do the 40k TV series..! 

[TheBladesAurus]

Thanks for this! Really interesting and useful. 

[Chapter Master Valrak]

4 hours ago, N1SB said:

Seriously, Brother Valrak, we've known each other since before you were posting videos of Warhammer World Weekends on Facebook.  Do NOT just read Revenue increased by x% and Profit by y%.  Talk about Prices based on Gross Profit Margin, Production not keeping up with demand, GW overtaking Burberry even.

 

You don't have hype up these reports, because the hype is there, you don't have to force it.  We each have our own stories, our life experiences that shape us into what we are, to serve society by the sweat of our brow and with that currency, we trade for miniatures made by GW employees with THEIR stories, THEIR blood, sweat & gears.

 

Do you know where the word trade comes from?  Tradeo, Tradere, to pass on.  We're passing what we are to each other, like geneseed.  That's what this is.

 

Mate, I have no idea what you mean? Do you mean not to talk about the Amazon stuff or something, btw who are you, not to sound nasty but I don't think I know you. Maybe you went by a different name back then? 

[TheDarkApostle]

2 hours ago, Brother Captain Vakarian said:

Very likely, allowing the Gross Profit Margin to slip below 70% would seriously hurt GW’s ability to give employees raises (and bonuses, which they do very frequently), and would also imperil their factory 4 expansion plans, which must require a significant amount of debt. Most likely, they’ve ran the numbers again and again, and 70% is what they need to avoid taking on serious debt and still be able to grow. 
 

Gross profit margin does not account for staff salaries, R&D, investment in new facilities, etc. It only accounts for manufacturing costs. They are not actually making 70% net profit. 

It would help if GW wasn't wildly inefficient in their use of staff. As per interviews with ex-staff like Peachy departments like Packaging (box art), White Dwarf, Website etc etc all thave their own photographers taking the exact same pictures of the same mini from the same angle because all the departments refuse to share photos with eachother.

 

Also per numerous ex-employees the salaries are abysmally bad.

[Brother Captain Vakarian]

2 minutes ago, TheDarkApostle said:

It would help if GW wasn't wildly inefficient in their use of staff. As per interviews with ex-staff like Peachy departments like Packaging (box art), White Dwarf, Website etc etc all thave their own photographers taking the exact same pictures of the same mini from the same angle because all the departments refuse to share photos with eachother.

 

Also per numerous ex-employees the salaries are abysmally bad.

Sadly I’m not surprised to hear any of that. But if the Gross Profit Margin fell significantly those issues would get even worse. @N1SBhas shared some specific info at times, I believe, but GW doesn’t just offload profits to shareholders. They reinvest a lot of their margin and don’t typically take on large amounts of debt. 

[Firedrake Cordova]

27 minutes ago, TheDarkApostle said:

Also per numerous ex-employees the salaries are abysmally bad.

Whilst it's true that GW's salaries aren't high, it's probably worth knowing (for those overseas) that wages in the UK are lower than in Europe and the US - the median full-time salary is £35,800 (hopefully it makes making comparisons easier).

Edited July 23 by Firedrake Cordova

[Focslain]

5 minutes ago, Firedrake Cordova said:

Whilst it's true that GW's salaries aren't high, it's probably worth knowing (for those overseas) that wages in the UK are lower than in Europe and the US - the median full-time salary is £35,800 (hopefully it makes making comparisons easier).

that makes it around $46K US, which is more then I make by a bit.

[caladancid]

6 hours ago, N1SB said:

You don't have hype up these reports, because the hype is there, you don't have to force it.  We each have our own stories, our life experiences that shape us into what we are, to serve society by the sweat of our brow and with that currency, we trade for miniatures made by GW employees with THEIR stories, THEIR blood, sweat & gears.

 

Do you know where the word trade comes from?  Tradeo, Tradere, to pass on.  We're passing what we are to each other, like geneseed.  That's what this is.

 

What does this part mean? Sort of came out of nowhere.

[Nova-V]

The problem GW are having (and they are by far not alone in this) is that taken on internal metrics their price rises are quite reasonable.  However externally they are increasingly seen as unreasonable as people in a lot of their core markets have in real terms become worse off.  GW thanks to their meteoric growth have a buffer against this.  It doesn't matter if a certain percentage drop out when demand far out strips supply.  You are still selling out and making your 70% gross.

 

Using myself as a sample size of one.  I work for a manufacturing company facing a similar set of problems to GW.  When I started in the hobby in 2019 my mortgage was just under a third of my take home, other bills combined were another 20% or so.  So let's say I had about 45% left after essentials.  Thanks to the mortgage shooting up to just over half of my take home and the rest of the bills taking up most of the rest I now have very little left for discretionary spending.  This despite the fact that I have changed nothing, I haven't moved, I don't use more energy or eat more food, etc.  I'm not on the breadline, far from it, but importantly from a  GW point of view my hobby budget is a shadow of its former self and I need it to go further.  I am far from unusual to be in this position at least in the UK.

 

This is where the problem of GW pegging price rises to gross profit enter.  I play guard, in 2019 when I started building my army a Chimera cost £22.50.  According to the Band of England's inflation calculator that is £28.60 (more accurately it's £23 as the calculator only works in whole £). The cost in 2024 for a Chimera is a staggering £37.50.  So despite internally based on increased costs this new price accurately reflects the 70% gross GW are looking for it totally ignores the market it is sitting in.  That Chimera is in relative terms taking up significantly more of an inflation adjusted hobby budget and that's if the hobby budget was keeping up with inflation.  I need my £1 to buy more hobby than in 2019 or at least keep a pace but GW's price rises means it buys quite a bit less.

 

This is the tightrope GW and many manufacturers are having to walk now.  You need to put up prices to offset costs but as incomes are squeezed putting up prices shrinks you market possibly to unsustainably low levels.  GWs demand currently provides them a buffer but I'll be very interested to see how well sales volumes hold up.  I could well see after a period of massive expansion we start to see more people leave the hobby than join it and others stay in the hobby but with much reduced purchasing.

 

As always thanks to N1SB for his analysis.   Particularly eye opening  was the keeping the plastic constantly melted and churning, very different to how I understood the plastic storage system worked.

[phandaal]

35 minutes ago, caladancid said:

 

What does this part mean? Sort of came out of nowhere.

 

Yeah, probably for the best if we could just keep our geneseed to ourselves.

[N1SB]

11 hours ago, RWJP said:

Just in regards to your comments about electricity prices: Oh boy is it bad. Here in the UK energy prices for domestic customers like you and I for our homes is capped. That cap is currently set at £1568 per year. During the energy crises back in late 2022/early 2023, the price cap rose as high as £4000 per year... And that's just for normal people.

For businesses, there is no cap! Energy providers can charge business customers literally whatever they want and increase rates as much as they want. I have a friend who runs a brewery which, weirdly like GW, requires a lot of energy all the time as he needs to keep the beer at set temperatures at all times while it's being brewed. Post COVID, his electricity costs jumped from about £8000 a year to around £30000 per year. Since then, they have continued to creep up.

 

Thank you for such valuable insight.  I got this horrible thing where they show a new mini on Warhammer Community, even with statline and special rules, and I turn to my friend Tourney Tony in Toronto and ask him if it's good for me to get.  He's like, "I can't tell, because they don't tell us the points value, it's meaningless until then."

 

You just gave me points values.  From £8k to almost 4x with £30k.  Oh my cog.

 

Please pass on my regards to your friend.  It's not just about money, it's never just about money, it's just so unfair.  It sounds like he's doing everything to optimise, choosing the ideal equipment, hiring the best guys that he trains up, the best quality grains and hops...but he can't choose his electricity provider.  It's so unfair to the UK.

[N1SB]

12 hours ago, Emperor Ming said:

Is 70% an average in the world of business or are they being robbing you know whats

 

11 hours ago, darkhorse0607 said:

The 70% Gross Profit Margin is an arbitrary number they set themselves correct? A "this is what we consider to be successful" type of thing?

 

If that's the case, then couldn't they lower the number, blame the rising electric costs, and do without the price rises?

(yes I know that this would be very altruistic and not feasible for a large, publically traded corporation, it's just to clarify for me)

 

This is exactly the type of discussion we should be having, not only do I have answers, I might have a solution.

 

70% is an absolute anomaly.  Lemme show you by a spectrum, and it's not exact, it's like fluctuating within bounds:

 

• 10% to 20% is like garments or a supermarket chain
• 40% to 60% is considered luxury goods, Apple or LVMH (Luis Vuitton, Moet, Hennessy)
• above 60% you're talking about high tech, Microsoft, Google, nVidia

 

These numbers are a ratio, like Mathhammer; we use it to compare things.  There is a SINGLE other company I know of that also aims for 70%, and it was our own Brother Schlitzaf that told me.  It was LEGO.  I know they're totally different companies, but they both manufacture pieces of plastic you got to build yourself.

 

That's not the only difference between GW and LEGO.  When I think of LEGO, I think of LEGO Batman, LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Marvel, LEGO Star Wars.  What LEGO makes in 1 hand they pay out in the other to Warner Brothers, Marvel and Lucasarts (now both under Disney) for their IP.  GW owns its own IP, but it has its own costs.

 

So what is GW paying out to?  GW has STOPPED disclosing more information, so this is an old chart, but it's like this:

 

 

Operating Expenditures, also in annual reports, are GW's costs of running its business.  They've since stopped breaking it down this granularly.

 

You see that tiny sliver called "Design to Manufacture"?  That's the bit the Gross Profit Margin issue lies in, and it's JUST Manufacture, doesn't even include Design.  The point is it's tiny.  And you know how try to paint something tiny, like eye pupils on a miniature, a tiny little flicker can completely ruin the whole thing?

 

11 hours ago, Brother Captain Vakarian said:

Gross profit margin does not account for staff salaries, R&D, investment in new facilities, etc. It only accounts for manufacturing costs. They are not actually making 70% net profit. 

 

Brother Vakarian is exactly right.  Brothers, take another look at the chart.  Half of that is "Retail", which means Warhammer Stores.

 

It's kinda like GW sells miniatures at these prices, to pay for the Warhammer Stores that you buy them in, paint with them in, paint them in.

 

(Trade is FLGS, that means GW hires staff they send to help them sell, "teach the teacher" on how to play and paint their products.)

 

This is like a business model GW came up with in the '90s.  Remember it's Citadel Miniatures, the manufacturer, that bought out Games Workshop, the game designer AND retail store chain, and just kept their name in their Merger & Acquisition.  And that mindset is still there, their miniatures pay for their stores.

 

So minis are more expensive to make...but they're STILL giving away the free-mini-of-the-month at the Warhammer Store (it was a Kroot this time, you might still be able to get it).  How?  It's because even though that mini is costlier to make, it still PALES in comparison to the cost of keeping that Warhammer Store open.

 

We're no longer in the '90s.  I've laid out the answers to your questions.  Here's the part where I come up with, imho, a viable solution.

 

 

+++ SO HOW TO DECREASE PRICES? +++

 

 

This train of thought, which I hope you found on track, leads to how I could pitch a price decrease to, say, even shareholders.

(At the end of this, I will also tell you the problem, which is actually why this won't get implemented...but it's good for the future.)

 

Shareholders love Profit.  Shareholders HATE RISK.  This is not a Profit issue, it's a Risk issue, and the Risk is insane electricity costs.

 

GW is exposing itself to risk by tying their pricing to electricity costs.  LEGO is shackled by licenses, GW by electricity costs.

 

The worst part is that is a tiny part of GW's overall expenses; like I said, like painting pupils on a miniature.  That's why I put helmets on most of my guys, I don't want to risk screwing the whole thing up.  Even when I do paint faces, I shade the eyes...so that I don't want take that risk.

 

Their overall company profitability, or net profits, is most affected by Retail, their Warhammer Stores.  I don't know about you guys (so srsly, tell me), but around here I see a lot of empty storefronts these days, nothing filling them up.  Rent is increasing for housing, but a glut of supply for shop space.  Shouldn't Retail be cheaper now?

 

What I've presented: I'm NOT decreasing profits, in fact, I'd increase them by focusing on optimising Retail...but I can decrease prices on the minis themselves.

 

 

+++ HERE'S WHY MY ARGUMENT IS IRRELEVANT +++

 

 

That argument suggests GW can sell more miniatures to make up that difference...but everything is Temporarily Out of Stock.  Demand is already outstripping supply.  You can't make more money by selling more if you've got nothing left to sell.  This is why, after Prices, I talked about Production.

 

The high 70% Gross Profit Margin and the increasing electricity costs ARE what's driving them up, according to GW's formula.  That same 70% Gross Profit Margin is also the thing that's keeping them from raising prices even higher.  You find it too expensive, I find it too expensive, but apparently there are whales willing to pay.

 

I know that's a horrifying thought, that prices could further increase.  It's already ridiculous now.  But remember how hard it was for some of us just to get the 40k Lion El Johnson miniature...even at that high price, it was still selling out.  But we WILL revisit this if/when 3D printing becomes mainstream.

Edited July 24 by N1SB

[N1SB]

9 hours ago, Chapter Master Valrak said:

 

Mate, I have no idea what you mean? Do you mean not to talk about the Amazon stuff or something, btw who are you, not to sound nasty but I don't think I know you. Maybe you went by a different name back then? 

 

Brothers, Sororitas, Mods, I've reached out to Brother Valrak to apologise.  As it was in a long PM, I'll just summarise by saying we love him, he's one of us on B&C, like ADB, we're proud of what he's doing.  We reminisced on life before he had a platform on YouTube.  It was not a personal callout.

 

The YouTubers I criticised were NOT him, I only mentioned him because I wanted to show I saw him as the counterweight to them, that he reports facts, that we rely on him, that's he's our Astronomicon.  Re-reading my post, I came off the opposite the way I feel...because Techpriests feel, too.

 

And I did went by a longer name and I changed my avatar.  Brother Doghouse made my avatar.  I swear I want to get a face tattoo of it.

[N1SB]

7 hours ago, caladancid said:

 

What does this part mean? Sort of came out of nowhere.

 

I saw some gaming journalist describe these financial reports as prosaic, full of facts and figures.  I took it as an insult.  Not to me, but to you, all of us.

 

Those facts and figures are about the money we spend.  I don't find your money prosaic, you work hard for your money.  I certainly don't find my money prosaic, I find my money VERY interesting.  And I'm sure so did everyone, even if he's a youngblood doing chores, getting top grades, for pocket money.

 

7 hours ago, phandaal said:

 

Yeah, probably for the best if we could just keep our geneseed to ourselves.

 

The new Inquisition codex is coming out.  We have this kinda ongoing Badab War narrative campaign going in our Warhammer Store, from 1 edition to the next.  I want to use it to represent the Inquisition forces there.  Our Warhammer Store Manager is playing the Astral Claws...and the Executioners turned on them when they tried to steal Salamander geneseed.  That's what's been on my mind.

 

Don't worry, Brother Phandaal, save your geneseed.  If you need any more...you can have some of mine.

[Domhnall]

On the topic of actual Warhammer Stores, from the admittedly small sample I've taken they usually like to have them where they're get the passing trade, or at least easily accessible for mums and dads to pop in with their young 'uns. Which must surely be a good chance of being a large part of the target customer base if they still want to keep as many stores open? 

 

Which would usually mean higher rent rates for those prime spots. There was a time not long ago that they relocated a number of stores, I'm assuming to reduce costs, but not sure how much that helped. I know the Edinburgh store moved from the Primest of prime locations on the Royal Mile that they had been at from the start, to Castle Street off Princes Street. Still a good position, but would expect it to be much cheaper rates (the only shops that seem to be able to afford the Royal Mile is restaurants, tartan tat shops, and touristy places).