GW FY25/26 annual report

[phandaal]

48 minutes ago, MoriyaSchism said:

Are people fans of the setting and models or are they fans of the corporation and the shareholders? I don't really understand the gloating about Youtubers and those that criticize Games Workshop. Damn, Discourse Minis or Macca or whoever sure got owned. Now enjoy your slightly more expensive Baneblade and online only sponson sprue that used to come in the box. What other wonders Games Workshop has in store for us is something only time will tell. 

 

Part of it comes from it being fun to mock clickbait. There is a guy called Warhammer Man or something like that, where I will sometimes check his list of videos just to laugh at how quickly he flip flops between everything is DOOM and all the new releases are AWESOME. Those people deserve to be mocked, because what they are doing is cynical and dishonest.

 

On the other hand, you are totally right that people will celebrate GW's massive profits as a win against the oldheads or whatever, but will not carry that over into wondering if GW's line going ever up might be due in some part to customers being charged more and more and more.

 

And on the other other hand (the gripping hand, perhaps), yes - people will attack legitimate criticism from those who do care about Warhammer by lumping it in with cynical clickbaiters. I am sure there are as many reasons for doing that as there are people who do it.

[Lord Marshal]

46 minutes ago, MoriyaSchism said:

Am I supposed to love Games Workshop with all my heart to enjoy working on the miniatures I own? Do I have to support every single thing the company does? Do I have to like everything they do for my work to be valid? Was liking C.S.Goto novels in the past also required to fully enjoy Warhammer in the past? Am I supposed to justify myself here and say I support other things and other hobby companies? Should I list the scale modelling and gunpla stuff I do on the side to justify my stance in your eyes so you don't see me as "weird"? Should I just shut up and love Games Workshop? Love every trash lore change, every single price increase, every single new 3 man unit, every single discontinued product and every bad redesign? Explain to me why am I obligated to seek an alternative to something I enjoy just because I don't see eye to eye with the rights holders on every decision they make. What does lavishing Games Workshop with more effort and attention mean? Does it include converting models? Is Warhammer a "love it or leave it" type thing now where you're not allowed to change things and just build kits as they come out of the box? 

This simply isn't an argument. You're waving away any criticism people who used to completely love Warhammer in the past and using drama Youtubers as a convenient strawman to ridicule people who genuinely care about the hobby they've been in for years, the same people who miss certain things or are critical of aspects of the new version of the thing they used to enjoy. Those people? Yeah, they are just "weird".

 

 

Nobody has to like everything, Emperor-knows I certainly don't. It simply gets boring when you know exactly what somebody's response to basically everything will be, or when your youtube algorithm is filled up with the end-of-days no matter how much you try and scrub that stuff. I've got enough miserable, dead and dying people in my day job, so being able to tune the Super Serious Professional World but then immediately wading through a stream of being told the hobby I'm involved in about to implode and swallow Nottingham with it gets boring.

 

That's not me 'getting upset on behalf of GW' or anything, it's simply boring to read the same thing over and over again. We get it, modern GW is awful, anything new is total slop that's poorly designed, every new edition is terrible, and anybody who consooms it is a dumb whale. It's been said before, we know it's what is going to said about everything in the future. It's boring. 

 

If I hated GW and - often than not - modern Warhammer a whole just as much as a lot of people do, I'd simply move on to find a game I actually enjoy - which is something I've actually done myself a couple of times in the past when I hadn't been gelling with the GW prescription - rather than lurking in the corner, sulking and trying to tell people why their toys suck and they're a dumb whale for buying them and their toys were better decades ago (I've done that too and realised it was a total waste of time even compared to many other absolute wastes of time).

 

Nobody has to like everything all the time, but there does come a point where the dislike is apparently so pervasive you really do have to wonder what they're getting out of the hobby beyond enjoying their own spite. 

 

Edited 11 hours ago by Lord Marshal

[darkhorse0607]

1 hour ago, Jukkiz said:

more so of making it mainstream via limited options, like only one heavy weapon, instead of two like old kit. Primaris ktis be weird that, giving us either 10 of the same or 1

 

Yeah, I meant more from the modeling side of things

 

Like why they gave the Raven Guard chapter icon to the Gravis armor, you know, famously the most stealthy set of Primaris armor. Or any number of chapter decisions they made. Or the fact that the guy that you're supposed to give the shield to is tilting at a weird angle because it's supposed to be a little diorama with a Necron from the Kill Team box, but alone it just looks goofy. Or why the bare heads are so weirdly sculpted. Why the purity seals that are sculpted onto the armor aren't as crisp as normal ones. Etc. 

 

Good thing they're investing so much into animations for the faction when that's their only kit. Might as well do one for Grey Knights right now too, before they get their update. 

 

_{im just salty because I loved the firstborn DW kill team box and the primaris one was a letdown, don't mind me}

[MoriyaSchism]

10 minutes ago, Lord Marshal said:

 

Nobody has to like everything, Emperor-knows I certainly don't. It simply gets boring when you know exactly what somebody's response to basically everything will be, or when your youtube algorithm is filled up with the end-of-days no matter how much you try and scrub that stuff. I've got enough miserable, dead and dying people in my day job, so being able to tune the Super Serious Professional World but then immediately wading through a stream of being told the hobby I'm involved in about to implode and swallow Nottingham with it gets boring.

 

If I hated GW and - often than not - modern Warhammer a whole just as much as a lot of people do, I'd simply move on to find a game I actually enjoy - which is something I've actually done myself a couple of times in the past when I hadn't been gelling with the GW prescription - rather than lurking in the corner, sulking and trying to tell people why their toys suck and they're a dumb whale for buying them and their toys were better decades ago.

 

Nobody has to like everything all the time, but there does come a point where the dislike is apparently so pervasive you really do have to wonder what they're getting out of the hobby beyond enjoying their own spite. 

 

I don't really engage with any of those things. I'm aware of their existence, but I usually steer clear of rant videos for the most part. I just found the gloating about youtubers in that post irritating, because while things are going great for the company they most certainly aren't going well for some hobbyists with the practices employed by GW. I just fail to see how a clickbait title not coming true is a win for me in any way, I'm not a party in that conflict if it really is one.

 

It's easy to feel irritated with Games Workshop. I had to fight and argue with customer service for the company to sort out a product they shipped incorrectly which ultimately resulted in nearly half of the box contents being damaged. Lore changes, bad rules and even subpar models, all that I can ignore but I can't really ignore feeling cheated or nickled and dimed about things that used to offer much more value for the money spent. It's irritating that they don't even have the courage to openly announce stealth price increases and changes in contents of the boxes they sell.  

I buy things from Games Workshop sparingly, but when I do it always feels like pulling teeth because of issues on their end. It's why I find gloating about how much money they are making annoying. The company that insists you buy from them directly as the most reliable way (either through things being online only or stocks provided to 3rd party retailers being inadequate) manages to ship 4 of the 5 boxed sets I've ordered damaged. The quality control has seemingly gotten worse, brand new molds of the new Space Wolves I bought at release required me re-cut panel lines on the leg armour and to fix mold slippage issues as if these kits were cast in 1993. I don't hate Games Workshop, but I certainly dislike them for the way they handle aspects of their business and IP. 

[HeadlessCross]

47 minutes ago, darkhorse0607 said:

 

Yeah, I meant more from the modeling side of things

 

Like why they gave the Raven Guard chapter icon to the Gravis armor, you know, famously the most stealthy set of Primaris armor. Or any number of chapter decisions they made. Or the fact that the guy that you're supposed to give the shield to is tilting at a weird angle because it's supposed to be a little diorama with a Necron from the Kill Team box, but alone it just looks goofy. Or why the bare heads are so weirdly sculpted. Why the purity seals that are sculpted onto the armor aren't as crisp as normal ones. Etc. 

 

Good thing they're investing so much into animations for the faction when that's their only kit. Might as well do one for Grey Knights right now too, before they get their update. 

 

_{im just salty because I loved the firstborn DW kill team box and the primaris one was a letdown, don't mind me}

Raven Guard engage in more than just stealth operations. Planet Of Hats is not how Chapters operate. 

[Jukkiz]

25 minutes ago, HeadlessCross said:

Raven Guard engage in more than just stealth operations. Planet Of Hats is not how Chapters operate. 

the mainstreaming of everything into ultramarines, is my guess. 

"just paint your kriegers yellow to look like Steel legion"  Is on same scale "don´t you guys have phones?"

[alfred_the_great]

Sigh, so we’re going to do this*?

I find this annual whinge deeply frustrating for two reasons. 
 

1. I’ve been around this hobby since RT and 1990. It was always better back in the day. 3.5e was dreadful until it wasn’t, the Black Crusade a waste of time until it’s held up as a global example, WD was better when it carried World of Darkness articles. And the insidious culture on the internet that demands instant opinions that must always be right is just exhausting. 
 

2. GW is a Great British Industrial Success Story. We should be celebrating them and expecting the rest of our industry to be like them. I admire the innate small c conservatism that sees them put 3 months of cash away for a rainy day of no sales. The fact they invest in capital upgrades without becoming highly leveraged. That they’re not based in London, and pay relatively well. That they seem to have a pretty flat structure. They know what their USP is, how to hold onto it and sustain it, whilst meeting all their other cultural aims. I say this genuinely, I’d love to work for a company like GW. 

 

 

 

*yes, Hamilton, sue me. 

[darkhorse0607]

37 minutes ago, HeadlessCross said:

Raven Guard engage in more than just stealth operations. Planet Of Hats is not how Chapters operate. 

 

Thank you so much for clearing that up, I had no idea that chapters which consist of hundreds of marines had different ways of fighting depending on the company, or squad and that they arent silo'd into what they're best known for and thats it.

 

I definitely wasn't saying that since you are supposed to be building the elite representatives from a chapter, which is the entire point of putting so many different Chapter icons to begin with, then maybe they should have tried more to align them with the chapters strengths. For example, allowing the Raven Guard access to Phobos armor, or the Flesh Tearer access to Tacticus armor so he can take a melee weapon to show off the chapters strengths. But as you say, everyone does everything so whats the point

 

So thanks for clearing that up, dont know what I would have done without that

 

To circle back to the original topic

 

Yay, GW made money. Good for them

[Blindhamster]

1 hour ago, darkhorse0607 said:

Like why they gave the Raven Guard chapter icon to the Gravis armor, you know, famously the most stealthy set of Primaris armor.

Tbf… some of the most common raven guard lists over a few editions have included aggressors and/or other gravis units. It could be a meta nod to that lol.

 

it also can be fun to subvert expectations. 
 

didn’t see this as a huge issue tbh.

I also liked quite a few of the bare heads fwiw, in fact the best blood angel head of recent kits is in the set amusingly (longer hair, parting)

[phandaal]

46 minutes ago, alfred_the_great said:

Sigh, so we’re going to do this*?

I find this annual whinge deeply frustrating for two reasons. 
 

1. I’ve been around this hobby since RT and 1990. It was always better back in the day. 3.5e was dreadful until it wasn’t, the Black Crusade a waste of time until it’s held up as a global example, WD was better when it carried World of Darkness articles. And the insidious culture on the internet that demands instant opinions that must always be right is just exhausting. 
 

2. GW is a Great British Industrial Success Story. We should be celebrating them and expecting the rest of our industry to be like them. I admire the innate small c conservatism that sees them put 3 months of cash away for a rainy day of no sales. The fact they invest in capital upgrades without becoming highly leveraged. That they’re not based in London, and pay relatively well. That they seem to have a pretty flat structure. They know what their USP is, how to hold onto it and sustain it, whilst meeting all their other cultural aims. I say this genuinely, I’d love to work for a company like GW. 

 

 

 

*yes, Hamilton, sue me. 

 

I think some different criticisms are being bundled together here. The cynical end-of-days YouTube stuff is worthy of mockery, and I do not think anyone here is defending it.

 

MoriyaSchism’s point seems narrower: GW can be a successful, well-run company and still give individual customers legitimate reasons to criticize its prices, product quality, or service. That comes from someone who also cares about Warhammer and wants their experience of it to be better.

[Scribe]

58 minutes ago, alfred_the_great said:

Sigh, so we’re going to do this*?

I find this annual whinge deeply frustrating for two reasons. 
 

1. I’ve been around this hobby since RT and 1990. It was always better back in the day. 3.5e was dreadful until it wasn’t, the Black Crusade a waste of time until it’s held up as a global example, WD was better when it carried World of Darkness articles. And the insidious culture on the internet that demands instant opinions that must always be right is just exhausting. 
 

2. GW is a Great British Industrial Success Story. We should be celebrating them and expecting the rest of our industry to be like them. I admire the innate small c conservatism that sees them put 3 months of cash away for a rainy day of no sales. The fact they invest in capital upgrades without becoming highly leveraged. That they’re not based in London, and pay relatively well. That they seem to have a pretty flat structure. They know what their USP is, how to hold onto it and sustain it, whilst meeting all their other cultural aims. I say this genuinely, I’d love to work for a company like GW. 

 

 

 

*yes, Hamilton, sue me. 

 

All I know, is I wish I had invested in GW, back then, what I spent on models, instead of spending it on models. I would be in pretty nice shape right about now. :D

[phandaal]

3 minutes ago, Scribe said:

 

All I know, is I wish I had invested in GW, back then, what I spent on models, instead of spending it on models. I would be in pretty nice shape right about now. :D

 

No kidding. You'd be like the pizza guy who got tipped in Bitcoin back in 2009. 

[Scribe]

1 hour ago, phandaal said:

 

No kidding. You'd be like the pizza guy who got tipped in Bitcoin back in 2009. 

 

I definitely do not recommend running the numbers through your friendly resident abominable intelligence, the resulting number may be soul crushing.

[HeadlessCross]

4 hours ago, darkhorse0607 said:

 

Thank you so much for clearing that up, I had no idea that chapters which consist of hundreds of marines had different ways of fighting depending on the company, or squad and that they arent silo'd into what they're best known for and thats it.

Great, so you agree that Raven Guard would have Gravis armor representation and nothing is really amiss. 

4 hours ago, Jukkiz said:

the mainstreaming of everything into ultramarines, is my guess. 

"just paint your kriegers yellow to look like Steel legion"  Is on same scale "don´t you guys have phones?"

Raven Guard have always been allowed to take Terminators. Would you prefer they have no access to stop them from being Ultramarine wannabes?

[Scribe]

31 minutes ago, HeadlessCross said:

Raven Guard have always been allowed to take Terminators. Would you prefer they have no access to stop them from being Ultramarine wannabes?

 

Some kind of penalty, 0-1 restriction, would suffice.

 

Carry that throughout the game so the table is better reflecting the lore/setting as well, thanks!

[Antarius]

11 hours ago, MoriyaSchism said:

This simply isn't an argument. You're waving away any criticism people who used to completely love Warhammer in the past and using drama Youtubers as a convenient strawman to ridicule people who genuinely care about the hobby they've been in for years, the same people who miss certain things or are critical of aspects of the new version of the thing they used to enjoy. Those people? Yeah, they are just "weird".

 

You're obviously allowed not to like GW and/or any specific thing they do, but this is conflating things that were said with things that were never said. The original comment was specifically about the drama-youtubers, so I think it's a bit of a (probably accidental) goalpost-shifting to make it out like people are laughing at/dismissing all criticism of GW.

There are plenty of things I don't like about GW (but I generally concentrate on the things I do like, because it's just more fun and less stressful and I can't realistically change the nature of capitalism in my hobby time), but I find the eternal doomsaying annoying, especially when it comes from drama-tubers, who I regard as toxic, parasitical click-hunters (ironically, these people are a lot more dishonest and cynical than GW ever were). But if you want to talk about how most of the new lore sucks or how Primaris were a bad idea that's another story entirely (perhaps not the best example, as those subjects can get a bit tiresome too, but they're still subjects where criticism and discussion makes a lot of sense).

Finally, it is funny when someone loudly and persistently predicts something again and again and never change their tune, even though they're proved wrong every time. That kind of  behaviour is worthy of a chuckle, no matter where it comes from.

Edited 12 minutes ago by Antarius

[HeadlessCross]

4 hours ago, Scribe said:

 

Some kind of penalty, 0-1 restriction, would suffice.

 

Carry that throughout the game so the table is better reflecting the lore/setting as well, thanks!

For someone that loves to complain about older editions being better, you seem to forget Raven Guard never even had this restriction unless you took the specific trait disadvantage in the 4th edition codex. 

 

Bet you never complained though.