How do GW improve sales?

[Antarius]

6 hours ago, kabaakaba said:

was in flgs last weekend with a kid. His pocket money is $40 a month. While I was talking on the phone, the manager looked sourly at the child walking along the shelves. When I approached the seller, he immediately perked up, and after my "death to the corpse on the throne" he was completely enthusiastic and found some kind of discount that he could give me. In general, the attitude towards adult buyers is clearly different.  In the end, after doing the math, my son decided he didn't want a Warhammer and took a 1/32 Spitfire and few characters for DnD. because "there's no point in just one unit, and here's a full-fledged large model and heroes I could play tomorrow". and I took a few boxes of TOW for myself.

I then asked the child again why he didn’t take 40k or AoS, and he said that he simply doesn't have the patience to buy one box every 1-2 months to build an army. It would take too much time. and there are other things he would like to spend money on.  

Incidentally, this is also why the idea that the small games must transition to the bigger games is misguided. Necromunda (and yes, Necromunda Roleplay) is a good product precisely because it gets you customers that wouldn't necessarily buy an army, but might end up buying lots of gangs/teams/etc. over the years.

[kabaakaba]

57 minutes ago, Antarius said:

Incidentally, this is also why the idea that the small games must transition to the bigger games is misguided. Necromunda (and yes, Necromunda Roleplay) is a good product precisely because it gets you customers that wouldn't necessarily buy an army, but might end up buying lots of gangs/teams/etc. over the years.

this. 

that's why he prefer D&D and looking on infinity/warcrow. he like warcry, but it's dead and it's hard to find opponent 

[Lathe Biosas]

I feel like such an outlier here, as I really enjoy WD and have an active subscription to it.

 

Because of it, I got to play all sorts of fun one off games.

[Griefbringer]

Speaking of White Dwarf, back in the day in my area some of the local public libraries used to subscribe to it - so you could just drop in and read the latest issue for free (unless somebody else was reading it). This practice lasted for many years, until White Dwarf subscriptions were replaced with Warhammer Visions.

 

It may have limited WD sales to people living close to one of those libraries, but it also resulted in a good number of ordinary library visitors getting exposed to a GW product. Not sure if anybody at GW was ever aware that those magazines ended up in library shelves.

[Felix Antipodes]

10 minutes ago, Lathe Biosas said:

I feel like such an outlier here, as I really enjoy WD and have an active subscription to it.

 

Because of it, I got to play all sorts of fun one off games.

 

Same.  I’ve been buying WD since the early 100’s and feel the only difference is we knew who the main characters were.  I knew the names and faces of all the staff contributing to the mag like they were part of my circle of friends.

Compare that to the current WD where we don’t even know the name of the current Editor, never mind the actual staff compiling it.  They are doing good work within its pages with lots of interesting stuff - it’s still a shill for GW but it has been for a long time.  At least it’s not the ‘two thin pages’ pamphlet it became before the revival.

[phandaal]

2 hours ago, Antarius said:

Incidentally, this is also why the idea that the small games must transition to the bigger games is misguided. Necromunda (and yes, Necromunda Roleplay) is a good product precisely because it gets you customers that wouldn't necessarily buy an army, but might end up buying lots of gangs/teams/etc. over the years.

 

100% agree. Sometimes I really only want the skirmish list. For people who have less money, it might also be the only way they are going to play a tabletop game.

 

GW does have actual competition in the skirmish arena though. Warmahordes, Malifaux, Stargrave/Frostgrave, The Doomed, Infiniti, Marvel, Halo, etc. There are a ton of them. And many of them are actually very good games.

 

Maybe GW feels like the barrier to entry for skirmish games is so low that they have to leverage their larger games for a competitive advantage draw. It could also be a chicken and egg situation, where new units for the main game are the primary goal, while the ability to leverage them for a skirmish game is just a bonus.

 

As in, maybe these Killteam boxes are primarily intended to be used for 40k, while the skirmish box and branding is just a way to get some more incremental sales.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

6 hours ago, kabaakaba said:

well, they've many other things to do and where put their(our) money, and lets be honest, GW prices skyrocketed but many other nerdy hobbies ain't. my scale model pail of shame waaay bigger then any of GW ranges. spitfire was $7 and now it's $10. blister hero $7 earlier and not it's $40.

I had other things to do as well. Still managed to focus on the long game

[techsoldaten]

So on the point about the impact of social media and GW's stock price:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2XoCLdyEVg

This is Midwinter Minis, a 40k influencer stating his video about diminishing interest in the hobby was directly quoted in the Dragoneye report and now appears in UK National News.

His original video where he said he was quitting the hobby was released on September 27, 2026. The Times report about the Dragoneye report was issued on October 9, which is when the price crashed. 

YouTubers Northern Exlie, The Outer Circle, Hobby Night, and Discourse Minis all did videos about quitting between September 4 and September 29. All of them accept some form of commercial support for their channels. Spikey Bits did a detailed analysis of Armageddon boxed sets at the end of September, claiming GW's growth quality is hampered by fatigue. There are a lot of others between YouTube and TikTok, these are just the names I thought people might recognize.

Midwinter Minis continues to post 40k content, talking about the new paints and whatnot, as do most of the others who claimed they were quitting the hobby. It just so happens that they all released content about quitting the hobby in September and had a change of heart before the end of October.

What a coincidence. No way short sellers could be engaging in any opportunistic or destabilizing activity in the market, or that these influencers who take money for sponsorships could be coordinating with them. No way James Hull - the founder of Dragoneye, formerly Director of Research at Shadowfall Capital - was involved in anything other than honest and impartial analysis of the sort provided to IQE, Future PLC, Boohoo, Temenos, Civitas Social Housing, Darktrace, Asos, First Derivatives, etc. The Times could not possibly have a hand in such an effort either, inconceivable that an outlet of such esteem could collude with capital to distort markets for gain - that simply does not happen in financial reporting.

And I'm certain the fact UK FCA's policy change to keep short positions anonymous in July had no role in this occurring. There's this weird spike in shorts just before October in what looks to be completely organic and natural short activity:

https://shortregister.com/uk/games-workshop-group-gaw 

Anyways, between all these coincidences, nothing of interest could possibly be happening. GW really needs to adapt better to those market dynamics and value growth whatevers to avoid extinction in the next month or ten years of whatever.

While they are at it, GW should probably inquire with Valrak to see if he's open to becoming a spokesperson for the company. It's clear to me he is not a paid influencer for GW and all his rumors are sourced purely from contacts he's made over the years in the hobby.

 

[Dark Shepherd]

I like this conspiracy but I think youd have to pay Discourse Minis to not poop on GW (or have dumb takes on sales)

[phandaal]

4 hours ago, Dark Shepherd said:

I like this conspiracy but I think youd have to pay Discourse Minis to not poop on GW (or have dumb takes on sales)

 

It would be a shorter list to find the months when Discourse Minis was not making negative videos about GW. Same for Northern Exile. Pretty sure his channel's entire brand is just dumping on GW with unscripted rants.

 

He even has this gem from back in July - "Are We TOO Salty About Warhammer 40,000? Reacting to YOUR Comments!" 

 

Out of curiosity I looked up Hobby Night, and she is still posting GW hype videos as of a couple of days ago. Maybe her checks from the Illuminati stopped clearing... or maybe they started clearing, and the positive videos are a trick too? You never can tell with these people. Wheels within wheels.

[Evil Eye]

Whilst I wouldn't be surprised if there was some astroturf skulduggery going on with hobby influencers (as with any community/hobby with its own influencers, and I have noticed a weird recent swell in people getting oddly defensive if you suggest GW isn't an invincible colossus of business) I do think GW may genuinely have bitten off more than they can chew.

 

Not to say I told you so but I've always maintained the "Hobby Trumpet" model is unsustainable, because eventually you will burn out existing customers faster than you can attract new ones, and it may be we've hit that point. The ever-rising prices and lowering value for money*, coupled with the UK's incredibly competent and well-intentioned """leadership""" determined to keep everyone in a state of fear by doom-mongering over Russia in a vain effort to prevent the people from putting the spikes on Traitor's Gate back into commission, the global economy being in the dumps courtesy of essentially every single nation on Earth's political class being made of evil half-wits who hate their own subjects and many, many other factors too spicy to go into here, have rather accelerated the rate at which this has happened. The Hobby Trumpet has more become a Hobby Kazoo- it's much harder to fit in, far shorter, and makes a considerably more irritating noise.

 

Anyway, point being GW's current business model is not going to keep working in the current state of the world, Dragoneye or not. I'm not saying they're doomed or whatever but at the same time I think they'd do well to consider their position. "Too big to fail" is not a real thing, and frankly with how things are going everyone is feeling the squeeze.

 

 

*The best example I can give is the Rhino, which was re-released without the Razorback turret sprue for a higher price than when it had the sprue in the box!

Edited Tuesday at 10:23 PM by Evil Eye
Forgot to add a final point re: GW shrinkflation.

[Adeptekon]

9 minutes ago, Evil Eye said:

 

*The best example I can give is the Rhino, which was re-released without the Razorback turret sprue for a higher price than when it had the sprue in the box!

Pretty much agree. JoyToy seems to be doing good, and putting out figures quicker.

[Antarius]

I think it pays to distinguish between the "GW is an evil empire of mean, smelly stupidheads who is totally going to fail THIS time, because XYZ" type of criticism and "maybe endless growth isn't actually possible and/or sustainable in a niche market" and similar observations. The former understandably gets a bit more pushback.
Personally, I think there must be a limit to how big GW can get and we might/might not be at that limit yet.
What the corporate management does when that limit is reached (if they're even capable of recognising that such a thing exists), who can tell? But my guess would be that even a stagnant or shrinking GW is going to continue producing games and minis for the foreseeable future.

[Gamiel]

1 hour ago, Antarius said:

Personally, I think there must be a limit to how big GW can get and we might/might not be at that limit yet.

The Daily Mash | Business: Geekification of british men almost complete announces Games Workshop

"GAMES Workshop has announced its profits are up by a third and its transformation of Britain into a nation of geeks nears completion.
The high street giant, which has outperformed and outlasted countless rivals offering far more palatable pastimes, announced that soon every man will spend his evenings painting Adeptus Mechanicus.

A spokesman said: “We have won, as inevitably as the 13th Black Crusade of Abaddon the Destroyer laid waste the Imperium of Man. Don’t pretend you didn’t understand every word of that.

“With the vanquishing of our final enemy, online pornography, nothing remains to stop every man becoming a geek. All those who once mocked the school D&D club have been swayed by our nerdery.

“Your interlocking superhero universes, your ironic Iggy Pop action figures, your Game of Thrones, all designed to sweep the whole of masculinity into our thrall. Abandon your football. It is for women now. Embrace your wargaming future.”

Tom Booker of Hitchin said: “I’m not a geek. I’m a cool guy with a V For Vendetta poster and multiple Star Wars T-shirts who argues online about Halo lore. Oh f**k.

“Okay, they’ve got me. Though their 30 per cent rise in profits may also be due to their plastic figures costing more by weight than cut diamonds.”"

[Griefbringer]

12 hours ago, phandaal said:

... she is still posting GW hype videos as of a couple of days ago. Maybe her checks from the Illuminati stopped clearing... or maybe they started clearing, and the positive videos are a trick too? You never can tell with these people. Wheels within wheels.

 

Assuming that the hypothetical "Illuminati" are just trying to manipulate a share price to make money for themselves (rather than some plan of world-domination through toy soldier market), then it does not matter to them as such whether the price is going up or down. What matters is that the price changes in the direction that they want it to change, as they can make money both on decreasing (short selling) and increasing (ordinary trading) share prices.

 

Besides, the farther the price has been artifically pushed in one direction, the harder it comes to push it further there - and the easier it gets for it to bounce back. So the hypothetical market-manipulating "Illuminati" might be encouraged to manipulate share price back and forth in a zig-zag pattern to keep making easy profit - especially since the share prices naturally tend to fluctuate back and forth in such manner even without any deliberate manipulation.

 

(And before anybody asks, deliberate stock market manipulation tends to be criminalised activity in many countries.)

 

2 hours ago, Antarius said:

..."maybe endless growth isn't actually possible and/or sustainable in a niche market" ...
Personally, I think there must be a limit to how big GW can get and we might/might not be at that limit yet.

 

There certainly is a limit to any market. Though companies can try to push to expand to new markets, either in terms of new geographic markets or new customer segments in existing markets. Such attempts do not necessarily end up well.

[phandaal]

1 hour ago, Griefbringer said:

So the hypothetical market-manipulating "Illuminati" might be encouraged to manipulate share price back and forth in a zig-zag pattern to keep making easy profit - especially since the share prices naturally tend to fluctuate back and forth in such manner even without any deliberate manipulation.

 

Exactly. You get it: Every possible outcome confirms the conspiracy. And now that you know this, they know you know it.

 

Keep your head on a swivel, friend. 

[Norman Paperman]

I have to think that a GW downturn is just natural after the surge that it experienced a few years ago. The release of Space Marine 2 was absolutely massive, as was the hype about the Henry Cavill TV show, and Star Wars kind of imploding brought people into the space. But the thing there is that those are examples of the value of the Warhammer IP, but only so many people are going to stick around for luxury toy soldiers. It's super expensive, the games are a massive time commitment, and a lot of people aren't interested in painting. 

 

Successful businesses don't have to grow continually every single quarter. That's for banks and ponzi schemes. There are periods of expansion and contraction, and making it through the contractions without panic is important. GW and Warhammer completely dominate the niche of luxury toy soldiers and lock it in with an extremely successful IP that produces lots of (mostly good quality) tie-ins. That niche itself is only going to expand and contract so much. Warhammer is a luxury product, so it's not quite as price sensitive as others, but it's still a middle class luxury product and lower middle class spending during an economic downturn will contract the niche. 

 

The best way to increase sales would probably be Space Marine 3. Thinking outside the box, a leap forward in paint technology that like contrast paint before it, makes getting battle ready minis even easier. 

[Captain Idaho]

I think it's pretty clear the best way for GW to increase sales, up the share price and get a board member in thr government cabinet is simply these things:

 

Wipe out Tau. And not write them out through deth and distruction. Just remove all references to them ever existing. Sell the rights to the models to Gundam.

 

The next way is to Dallas the Primaris. Guilliman wakes up and it was all a dream. Nerf gun Desolators? Had to be a weird dream. Lots of mass produced hover tanks? Sounds like Eldar to me.

 

Then bring back actual model kits. Models that can only be built in a single pose are not models, they're ornaments you need to paint.

 

Did I mention remove Tau?

 

(Feeling cheeky today)

[Evil Eye]

23 minutes ago, Captain Idaho said:

I think it's pretty clear the best way for GW to increase sales, up the share price and get a board member in thr government cabinet is simply these things:

 

Wipe out Tau. And not write them out through deth and distruction. Just remove all references to them ever existing. Sell the rights to the models to Gundam.

 

The next way is to Dallas the Primaris. Guilliman wakes up and it was all a dream. Nerf gun Desolators? Had to be a weird dream. Lots of mass produced hover tanks? Sounds like Eldar to me.

 

Then bring back actual model kits. Models that can only be built in a single pose are not models, they're ornaments you need to paint.

 

Did I mention remove Tau?

 

(Feeling cheeky today)

I'm only giving you a laugh react because I actually don't mind the Tau. Otherwise you're absolutely right. Especially on the model kits bit.

[Dark Shepherd]

For sales/profits slowing this chart is interesting re affordability. The annual price increases might not be possible forever

 

I think GW are experiencing in the short term a couple of things

A. Fall off/natural wastage of Covid boom

B. Said boomers (and hobbyists in gen) can find a tonne of videos very easily on what the best value kits are, much cheaper alternatives* for paints, brushes, terrain etc. Engaged parents can find those too

3. Theyve reached an emmmm Rubicon with how much they can get out of ooo wow Primaris but with new hats

D. J curve of hype over Amazon shows

E. Theyve gotten less fan/consumer friendly and appear to have gone backwards with comms/fanbase interaction. 

 

Solution IMO is they need a corporate culture reset of encourage us to buy 40k, make the fanbase feel wanted 

 

(Paranoid sidethought of encouraging metachasing is about sales not hegemony)

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 11:58 AM by Dark Shepherd

[darkhorse0607]

1 hour ago, Dark Shepherd said:

E. Theyve gotten less fan/consumer friendly and appear to have gone backwards with comms/fanbase interaction. 

 

Solution IMO is they need a corporate culture reset of encourage us to buy 40k, make the fanbase feel wanted 

 

 

 

On this note, I'm curious to hear from the Fraters that were around at the time how GW (mostly on the customer relations side of things) behaved when they came closer to closing down in the mid 2010s. I got more into the hobby (at least to the point of paying attention more consistently to GW) in late-2016 so I wasn't here for most of it.

 

How was communication then vs now? How was the general attitude of the community then vs now, etc?

 

Not attempting to insinuate GW is heading back towards those financial levels, just curious as I have heard communication was much worse prior to 8th, and as Dark Shepard noted they're shifting (and have been for a while) back to talking at the customers, rather than being more open like they were in the early 2020s. Plus, while there was always a minority of folks saying that they were sick of evil GW, it seems as though you see "I'm having problems being excited about Warhammer now than I used to be, because of how GW is handling things" more often than you used to, so I am just curious as to how the two time frames compare

[phandaal]

1 hour ago, darkhorse0607 said:

On this note, I'm curious to hear from the Fraters that were around at the time how GW (mostly on the customer relations side of things) behaved when they came closer to closing down in the mid 2010s.

 

Mid-2010s is when GW looked at the underperforming Warhammer Fantasy setting and decided to blow up a 30+ year old franchise to replace it with Age of Sigmar 1.0. If you remember what an abomination that set of "rules" was, you can imagine that customer relations became quite sour for a while.

 

The impression I get nowadays is that people really just wish they had a reason to be excited and keep buying and playing Warhammer. Nowhere close to the way things felt around the mid-2010s. The communication is much better, and even if people are not necessarily hyped for the latest version of the game, the newest releases, or GW's bonkers litigiousness, they are still hyped for the setting itself.

[Griefbringer]

35 minutes ago, darkhorse0607 said:

On this note, I'm curious to hear from the Fraters that were around at the time how GW (mostly on the customer relations side of things) behaved when they came closer to closing down in the mid 2010s. I got more into the hobby (at least to the point of paying attention more consistently to GW) in late-2016 so I wasn't here for most of it.

 

I do have some memories from the year 2015, when Warhammer (The Game of Fantasy Battles, with rectangular bases) was rather dramatically discontinued in spring. This coincided with the release of the last of the End Times books, at the conclusion of which the whole setting (entire Warhammer World) gets consumed by Chaos. After this, rumours start circulating about a "new fantasy game" that GW would be planning to release later that year. However, not much is known about it, other than that it will be using round bases (and even this proved to be slightly inaccurate, though the eventual model releases came with round/oval bases).

 

In early July 2015, the new fantasy game (Warhammer Age of Sigmar) hits the shops. There is also some free online content released: four page rules and a bunch of legacy unit profile lists (for units from the Warhammer World - that one that had just been consumed by chaos). I am not sure what the people had been previously expecting, but the reception online was not a pretty sight. I was on vacation that month, and the weather locally was pretty poor, so I ended up spending way too much time online witnessing the drama, of which there was a fair bit. Part of that was due to the product as released, another part was due to poor communications between GW and the customers. And based on later heard insider account, there were also a variety of communication issues within the company at the time.

 

The product itself was quite a departure from the previous GW games. The four page rules were quick to read, but rather uninspiring (at least from my perspective), and unclear at points. Due to management interference, the bases of the models did not matter (all measurements were to be taken from the models themselves, which caused more issues than it solved), and there was no point system at all, which made setting up balanced games signficantly more challenging. The freely downloadable legacy lists had a number of "humouristic" special rules that many readers did not find entertaining (like bonuses for having a big moustache or making funny sounds during a game). There was a brand new setting (Mortal Realms) created for the new game, but little background information was provided to immerse customers in it.

 

The communications were rather limited at best. There was no published road map as to what to expect. GW store staff, who were tasked with selling the product and dealing with customers, were supposedly almost as clueless as anybody else, based on what I have heard (I am not in the habit of visiting GW stores, so cannot confirm this). There was quite a bit of secrecy to new releases, which were only announced one week ahead (this was also a time when White Dwarf was published weekly rather than monthly). And the initial releases tended to be focused on the Stormcast Eternals, which were supposed to be the poster boys for the new setting - they very early received the nickname "Sigmarines" (significant part of the online audience found them rather uninspiring). GW website team tried to do a bit of promotion by trying to put together a 10 item list for reasons to play the new game; this included such gems as the newly released gold spray paint (for priming the new poster boys) and Slaanesh being reportedly being mysteriously missing in the new setting (of which little was known).

 

Meanwhile, the online reception was somewhat brutal. By this point, GW had stopped including the names of the authors in the works, which may have been to the benefit of those involved (on retrospect, even the poor game developers had been in the dark as to what was actually coming out, and limited by time and management interference). Even those who were actually interested in the game, were miffled by the lack of a point system and tried to put up some rough versions of their own. Those with a more critical mindset went through the rules looking for loopholes and inconsistencies. Some people were angry about the discontinuation of Warhammer (The Game of Fantasy Battles, with rectangular bases that actually mattered in-game). There was some nasty online disagreement between various kinds of players at online forums. Eventually, somebody got angry enough to burn their plastic Warhammer army (dark elves), film it and post the video online! Naturally there was a fair number of online memes popping up (e.g. "Hitler reacts to Age of Sigmar" videos). Eventually, WH40K players started to get a clue of what was going on, and some started to get worried that their precious game would be in line for similar treatment if something would not happen (I recall seeing a thread named "If you tolerate this, then your game will be next!").

 

Eventually my vacation ended, the weather improved significantly and I had less free time available, so eventually I drifted away from following the drama. Though from what I have heard later on, there were some management changes in the following years that gradually changed the situation.

 

TLDR: Age of Sigmar was released in July 2015. Nobody seemed to have a clue what was going on. Number of people got rather unhappy.

[Lathe Biosas]

Quote

"I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of Fantasy players suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced."

 

Yes, I was there in the beginning. I was not just a witness, but an active participant in the Dark Times of July 2015, when Age of Sigmar and it's four page rulebook came upon us all...

 

There are a few things that you need to know:

 

1. There were no points in AoS. You simply counted models brought to the game. We would agree to 50. And each side would bring 50 models.

2. Yes, there were terrible bonuses for doing strange things. I played Brettonians. If I had Grail Knights I could use

 

The Grail Vow:

Quote

 

You can re-roll all failed hit rolls for this unit if, before rolling the dice, you hold aloft a grail or goblet and shout ‘For the Lady’ in a heroic voice.

 

 

There were more, from bribing your opponents with actual money, to (if you played Dwarves) complaining how things used to be awesome and everything is terrible now.

 

3. To the most broken part. SUDDEN DEATH.

 

The Sudden Death rules were the only structural mechanic included in the initial July 2015 launch of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar to handle mismatched armies. Because the game launched entirely without a points system, a player could legally bring three models to face an opponent's army of three hundred.

 

The Sudden Death mechanic was triggered if one player’s army had one-third more models than the other at the start of the round (for example, 30 models versus 20 models).

 

 

The Four Sudden Death Objectives

 

If you completed this objective, you instantly won the game.

 

 

1. Assassinate

 

The outnumbered player chooses one enemy hero or monster. They win instantly if that specific model is slain.

 

2. Blunt

 

The outnumbered player chooses one enemy unit containing at least five models. They win instantly if that entire unit is completely destroyed.

 

3. Endure

 

The outnumbered player wins instantly if at least one model from their starting army survives until the end of the sixth battle round.

 

 

4. Seize Ground

 

The outnumbered player chooses one terrain feature in enemy territory. They win instantly if they control it at the end of any battle round.

 

 

Now. Here's the fun part. Troop Quality was totally ignored. The system looked only at raw model count, completely ignoring how powerful each model actually was.

 

I could deploy 10 awesome Grail Knights and my opponent could field 20 fragile Goblin Archers.

 

Wanna guess who got the advantage? Me of course! I was outnumbered, thus I could start the game in Sudden Death!

 

 

There were cheeseball armies that sprung up instantly, like a couple of Wizards starting out by themselves, picking Seize Ground and then Summoning tons of Daemons on the terrain piece (Summoned Creatures didn't count as a part of your starting models in the beginning)...

 

Or my favorite army of all time. Tomb Kings Tomb Swarms!

 

Tomb Swarms essentially could Deep Strike and then "Burrow Underground" to redeploy elsewhere later. If you wanted. You couldnt target them, and they were still "on the board." So, what you did was take a a couple of tomb swarms, trigger Sudden Death (Endure) and burrow them forever. Wait six turns… win.

 

Oh, the fun we had.... 

 

Quote

 

"We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent."

— J. Robert Oppenheimer

 

 

 

[Griefbringer]

36 minutes ago, Lathe Biosas said:

1. There were no points in AoS. You simply counted models brought to the game. We would agree to 50. And each side would bring 50 models.

 

I salute Lathe Biosas for his bravery to actual try out the rules back in the day (and admit it publicly after all these years).

 

Personally, I did read the rules. Then I slept overnight and read them again, to see if there was something that I had missed. There was not. I still have not tried reading them for a third time.

 

As for the described agreement to limit yourself to X number of figures, even that would have been a house rule. Going straight by the rules, you were allowed to keep plonking on models to your deployment zone as long as you felt like it, regardless of what your opponent thought. Another early house rule was for the players to agree to bring models up to a certain combined wounds value (which might at least give some indication of the quality of the units ... maybe).

 

For a peak inside the design studio, I would recommend this interview of James Hewitt, published in 2020. He was one of the games developers involved in the work (yet also a victim of the eccentric management procedures of the time). I salute him for his extraordinary bravery to admit his involvement in such work - I am not sure I would dare.

 

https://www.tabletopbattles.com/the-goonhammer-interview-with-james-hewitt-part-1-age-of-sigmar-and-40k/

 

One of the topics he addresses is the communication - or rather the lack of it - towards the customers in the transition time before the launch of AoS. Apparently the rules team pointed out the importance of communication to the management, who claimed that it would be taken care of - while in the end it was apparently neglected. To quote directly:

 

"And the answer was - don’t worry, it’s all in hand, it’s going to be handled by marketing, White Dwarf, there's going to be this whole campaign saying "but it’s not over! There’s something exciting coming! And that never happened. Instead, the world ended and this was when GW wasn’t using social media."