I understand there are a whole lot of people out there that actually like Games Workshop as company and what the company has done and produced, because well, I'm one of those people!

And sometimes it can feel (even though it isn't true) as though every single thread involving Games Workshop ends up focusing on the perceived negative aspects of the company's business practices.

So, this is a thread for people who genuinely like and appreciate Games Workshop to express positive sentiments about the company.

If you have negative feelings towards Games Workshop, that's completely fine. This thread is in no way trying to insinuate that those feelings are incorrect or wrong (far from it), but rather this thread is to focus on the positives and leave the negative stuff for another thread.

If you completely disagree with any or all of the sentiments expressed in this thread, feel free to sit at your computer, point at the screen and laugh at the poor deluded souls who are clearly drinking the GW kool-aid and posting, but please refrain from bringing any negative comments into this thread.

This is a happy fun place filled with flowers, where the world is wonderful and we all live in peace and harmony!

Seriously, just let the fanboys gush in a positive way, okay?


----


So I'll start off:

I've been playing GW games since 1992, and I personally really love the company and the games it has produced over the years and specifically my favorite game of all time Warhammer 40k, not the least of which because of the spectacular universe they created for the game.

At this point I sadly don't get to play as much 40K as I like because of my crazy work schedule, so actually tournaments are where I mainly do my gaming now. I love 5th edition and it is easily my favorite of all the 40K editions (and I've played them all) and I look forward to whatever crazy (or not so crazy) changes 6th edition brings to my beloved hobby.

Oh, and the Throne of Skulls tournament GW put on last year in Vegas was the absolute best tournament I've ever been to. The format was a little wacky, but I liked it as a nice change of pace from what I normally play, but the completely catered event (and the Vegas location) made it just an amazing experience.

I also really like Finecast models. Beyond the casting issues (which I've been able to avoid), I find the material to be much more pleasant to work with than metal, so the switch to Finecast from metal has made me happier overall.

Finally, I really like GW's current trend of making plastic kits that basically can be used to make one of two different units. I recognize that it affects some of the ability to make the models completely unique (as they have to share parts for the other configuration), but overall I think it really allows some nice flexibility to the kits and armies all while not completely taxing store shelf space (because you're getting two different codex choices for one box).


So that's my brief love letter about some of what I enjoy regarding GW. What about you?

I like that they make some decent looking models. I want to say more, but I cant (especially with the path GW is taking).

EDIT: Spelling mistake :(

For all it's stumbling and bumbling, and seemingly outright hostility towards it's fanbase, no, bad infinite, stay positive...

GW is still the most prominent way (at least, I think it is) for fresh blood to get into the general wargaming hobby.

Until we get our claws into them young'ns and drag 'em away, hehe.

Okay...let's keep the streak of positive endorsements to GW going at one post!

GW's Positives-

Storytelling-
They have built a genuinely epic, multidimensional story. Will it ever match then depths and popularity of say the Lord of the Rings mythos? No, but it certainly can match anything made within the last thirty years, including the monstrously long Wheel of Time series (14ish books each bigger than a fist in width in hardcover, the author died before completion, and now finally being finished by a replacement author), or the myriad worlds underneath the Dungeons and Dragons umbrella.

Quality Models-
Like it or not, they are one of the best mass producers of quality sculpts. It didn't take overnight however. GW had to essentially go through 25 years of transformation to reach this point. Despite the higher costs today, many models are praised for their detail and poses. Not every model is an award winner, but there are enough great models out there to really catch a person's eye.

Support-
GW does stand behind their product. As part of the cost of purchasing a GW model, their customer support is usually top notch. Missing an arm from a sprue? Hell, they may send you an entire sprue to replace just the one piece. Each and every customer support story is not the same, but by and large when there are problems, they are usually pretty good about fixing their kit mistakes.

I have been playing Games Workshop games since the mid 80's. What I love is the staying power of GW games. No matter where I travel I can gind some kind of pick up game. You can't say that about many other games.

Cool factions that all have a unique and interesting aestetic(even if some are goofy or samey in some cases

I Love Games Workshop for many reasons, first of which is Warhammer Fantasy I love the armies, I love the ranges, I love the amount of uniqueness that is within each group. I think that Games Workshop are not as pricey as people seem to think when compared to other tabletop games, I think people just assume when playing warhammer that they have to play 2000 points. I think WHFB has a great intertwining storyline between the races and Warhammer 40K aswell.

I love the Army Books and I love the new speed of production for new ones. I also love their site I think its very easy to navigate and I love the new blog section.

Games Workshop got me into wargaming. While I may not play 40k as much as I did last summer (remember I've only been here for a year), it was more of the players that drove me out, and not the models, the rules, or the game itself.

Warhammer Fantasy is fun, creative, and full of hilarious moments. The models in both ranges are fantastic, regardless of the materials they are made out of.

If it had not been for 40k, I would not have found other games played at my local store, and I never would have wanted to learn how to paint miniatures.

The staff are always really friendly when you go in to the store, and after one or two vists they even stop pestering you about releases.

Also they always remember your name and what you collect, and are usually quite a laugh as long as there aren't many kids/potential new customers around.

Im pretty much addicted to GW, i cant get enough.

I love how immersive the background is and the models are the best out there available imo (not just looks, poseability and options as well).

I really like their models, and they do have a good Fansite.

I have been playing GW since 1994, have seen many changes, some good and some bad. But here are my positives:

1) Customer Support: GW does have some of the best customer support after the purchase out there.

2) The models: Still a huge selection of models out there, good variety, huge plastic kits, easy to kitbash.

3) Specialist Games: I know there is pretty much zero support for specialist games proper. But GW makes pretty much all their rules for specialist games available for free downloads. That is more than many companies would do with their IP.

4) FW: I know it's not GW "proper", but this branch of the company goes out on a limb and we should appreciate them for that.

5) The storyline: GW has some great fluff behind it. And the way the story is being told it gives a feeling of being part of the story when you play.

GW really knows how to put skulls into their models.

I started playing/collecting 40k in 2007 and don't see myself stopping anytime soon.

I have very much enjoyed the Horus Heresy books. They aren't all as great as the first two books, but they certainly made all of the time I was on the road last year less of a strain.

The models are fantastic, and the game is pretty straight forward once you get down the basics.

The Forgeworld models are among my favorites. The level of detail makes my average painting skills look like a professional's. And the storylines presented in the IA books have been a great addition so far. My favorite IA are the Badab War series (9 and 10) for the rise and fall of Huron, the addition of the campaign rules, and the great models to support the story.


Edit: Although we don't play it anymore, I have a Dwarven Bloodbowl team that I enjoyed playing. To hell with scoring points. I tried to score kills!

Ok so I'm not on the super-OMG-GW's so amazing band wagon or anything but I feel like WarOne pretty much hit the nail on the head here with GWs postives. Now I'm not saying they are perfect, or even good in every aspect of the hobby, but show me a company that is. Show me a company that has great sculpts, setting, rules, etc.

GW has set up a good background. Let's face it if we are here then there is a 95% chance you liked something about it.

The model range has improved so much recently. I still have my old Archon and Raiders. Ever held those next to the new sculpts? Even marines have come a long way with the rigid hold the weapon in front of me pose to much more dynamic poses. Want the marine to be firing and aiming? Do it! Try that with a second ed model. The terrain they put out doesn't look all that bad in fact it looks pretty good.

Personally I have had no problems with finecast. That includes an honor guard box, haemonculus, and WHFB hydra. None of them even had a little bubble. I really feel like they were trying to get the kinks out of the system and some people got some less than stellar product.

But that brings me to another good point. Quality Assurance. Again WarOne was right. If you have a messed up or missing piece just call them up and they will send you a replacement. I distinctly remember missing one piece on one piece of sprue for a baneblade. After calling them up they sent me another baneblade!!! Not the sprue a whole other box. Any time a buddy had a problem with finecast...bam...a free replacement.

Honestly I don't feel like GW's paints are that bad. Do I like Vallejo? Yeah. I personally am not a big fan of the dropper bottles. They are probably one of the few companies that use those and it can be a pain. GWs aren't that bad since they don't have the tab thing to keep them open. I don't want my bottle of paint that can dry out being left open! Then again the washes they came out with are super nice...and yes I used the inks. Badab black and Delvin Mud are epic on metals, most of the main colors also have a wash that makes them pop that much better.

Its kind of nice to see a positive thread involving GW

My group of friends started playing W40k back towards the end of 3rd edition and we have loved every minute of it. GW has produce a varied and fascinating universe with unique factions each with there own rich backgrounds. The over the top grimdark is downright hilarious and the universe has enough holes in it to allow you to add your own fluff while not making the fluff proper incomprehensible. The models are top notch and after trying to buy actual 1:35 scale stuff, the prices seem a little (A LITTLE) less unreasonable.

As mentioned earlier, the lack of support for the Specialist Games is a little sad, but making the rules completely free to download was a brilliant move, and contributed to myself actually purchasing BFG models (some the the coolest looking spaceship models )

The fluff is the strongest selling point for me, I love the universe and love reading the Black Library Novels.

I started playing with WFB back in 94. and then got into 40k near the end of 2nd ed, and played that through now. Granted each system has their waxes and wanes locally and with in me. (I've played less than 15 games of 40k since 8th ed fantasy came out)

I like their sculpts for the most part. I love their customer service. Fine cast has been solid for me, no problems. I like most of their paint.

Biggest positive for me is their customer service. I bought a box of Fire Warriors a couple years ago that were missing their backpacks. No game-changers, but I still called customer support.

I was shocked when they said they didn't want them back, and that they'd send me a whole new box!

And aside from the whole finecast thing, I've never had a quality issue with them. Top notch stuff.

I am a big fan of the setting and the game of 40k. I also enjoy the fact that I moved 3000 miles and can still find plenty of people to play with.

They have great minis, great customer service and overall a great product.

I may not agree or like everything they do, but in the majority I enjoy them and their product.

Some of you really can't just give a compliment?

I love my fatties, my Eldar, and my Wood Elves. I'm really
hoping for a new color Wood Elf book with new plastics to
fill out or expand the range. Plastic Eternal Guard please!

Anyone else notice? The companies that tend to have bad business practices have great support? Like Blizzard.
But i also like how alot of the people who are frontmen for the company at least care somewhat for what they do. GW seems genuine in love with their product.

malfred wrote:Some of you really can't just give a compliment?

Yeah... What was that thing Bambi's mother said?

Well, while I have quite a few negatives, I'll stay away from them and only focus on positives-just for you, Yakky.

-1 Customer Support-if you have a bad model, they send you a replacement or the correct/missing parts immediately, no questions asked, and let you keep the old model. I had a drop pod botched because those instructions are backwards in places, phoned them up, they sent a new one and let me keep the old. Most places make you send back the trash, they let you keep it all. Got the Horus Heresy LE boxset, disc 5 of Horus Rising was slightly damaged, I called and they sent me a full new Horus Rising, not just the disc. Better customer service than any other company in existence

-2 Model quality-as models keep churning out, the quality keeps getting better. They were great back in 4th edition fantasy, good in fifth, better in sixth, and HELL YEAH awesome in 7th/8th (and similar 40k timelines). Sure, there were a few lemons (Dreadknight, Razorgor), but most were awesome.

-3 The Universe-Wow. The story that unfolds, the world that opens up and the stories that come out of it. The universe of fantasy/40k is immersive and fun-it takes you on a journey of unbelievable adventure, that, with the exception of one writer, generally isn't too OTT and is a blast. The Horus Heresy, to me, is a better, sadder version of Anakin's fall in the first three Star Wars films. Listen to the audiobooks for this one-Martyn Ellis does an awesome job, and Horus's fall is heart-wrenching, and is the fault of a traitor tricking his loving sons into destroying him. I love to read, but damn, I don't think those books can truly convey their message without hearing it-reading isn't enough.

-4 Tournament Support-This is to a lesser degree for me, but the fact that they support anyone who carries their product and they send out a bunch of merchandise to be used for tournaments is great. I don't go to many (any) anymore, but I appreciate the amount that they put in. Last I saw them give my store before I left was 1 land raider, 1 space marine codex, 1 box of plague monks and something else, drawing a blank...just given to the store-no charge. Does WotC give a full box of Magic cards to stores for their tournament winners? Nope. Promo cards, yes. Full cases? No. At least not that I've seen

GW does have their faults-plenty, in fact. But they do also shine in some areas. If they made a few simple changes, combined with keeping all these things the same, they'd go from an average company to a great company again, in my eyes.

GW is amazing overall for several reasons.

1. The depth and character of the various armies- visually and for background. Each is so fully developed that we are able to look at another miniature and say, huh, that would work for my army. It is as if each army has its own fully developed set of cultural rules, so you know what is "right", what belongs, and is consistent with the aesthetic of each.

2. And taking point #1 further, these "rules" allow for the customizability of armies. People can do full scratch sculpts or kit bash, wild paint schemes, etc, and create their own additions to their armies - and this is actively encouraged. This is directly attributable to each army having underlying visual rules that provide a framework for making more stuff. Orks are the pinnacle of this concept- when you see an Ork looted anything, you know it is "Ork" because it looks "Orky". Similarly, there is so much background, these aesthetic "rules" allow us to mentally visualize fluff characters and events.... and if we're good, create background-consistent miniatures and dioramas, etc, ourselves.

3. Being able to go almost anywhere, world wide, and find the same common game. It is like GW is a universal TTWG language, as mathematics would be a common language for humans and an alien race.

For me the background/fluff is absolutely stunning, yes I used the word stunning.
Do I like every single aspect of it? No
Do I agree with every single aspect of it? No
Could it use tweaks here and there? Yes
But overall throughout 18 years of GW, its the thing that has kept me interested the most and kept me coming back.

The improvement in the level of kit detail and quality over the years has been second to none. Some of the kits in the last 2 years have been utterly fantastic imo.

I think their scenery range, whilst very Imperial orientated, is extrmely good too and what is more, good vaue for your hard earned €. I think it is their strongest aspect in terms of overall kits.

Their non mainstream games such as Space Crusade, Blood Bowl, Necro, BFG are incredibly fun albeit not updated enough/at all.
However that dosent detract for me from the basic fun and great rulesets they have.

In short, GW despite its flaws, has given me literally countless hours of fun, pleasure and enjoyment over the years and a day dosent pass where I dont think it was all completely worth it.

GW allows my two boys to put down their 3DS and Xbox controllers long enough to play a game that allows them to use their imagination and creativity to build armies, come up with names for their marines and keeps them away from the LCD screens of their 3DS and Xbox.

The quality time spent together building something , painting it and then playing a game is time well spend. Seeing the pride in their voice and face when their army is on display for house guests, grandma, grandpa and their friends is very rewarding.

To my family, GW is more than just a game company - its a avenue where we can all come together once and a while and paint a bit, roll some dice, move some tanks and make gun, cannon and dying noises for a good time (yes, even mom).

What company doesn't have flaws?

Games Workshop; ever have you split my love. Yet I always return, they must be doing something right.

Oh; it's the kick-ass universe and models. The ability to talk with people from around the world about any specific facet regarding the game and come to mutual understanding, a shared passion. Love it.

I love the world they have created, I play both 40K and the Deathwatch RPG. For fluff they can't be beat.

The BL books, while they may not be the best written are a great read.

GW was my first tabletop game, as such it will always have a special place.

It's a game! It's fun for a few hours and then I get on with my life!

They have fantastic customer service, among the best in the industry.

Azhag the Slaughter is one of my favorite sculpts.

War of the Ring is one of my favorite rulesets.

The community grown in GWs are by far the best.

Models - good (finecast aside!)
Fluff - excellent
Customer Service - Beyond the call of duty!

Games - good social element, better than being alone playing computer games. Less competitive than mtg or chess. More fun than warmahordes. Comparative cost to warmahordes.

Playing on and off over 1/2 my life...

Obligatory whinge about prices - they will have to lower them at some point or at least freeze them.

My brother and I have been playing 40k since it came out. We actually only realized this a few months ago. Back then, we were kids and assumed it had been out for awhile, as we were just getting into the gaming scene. It was a little shocking and whatever word means "makes you feel old" to learn we were there at the beginning.

We've converted a few friends into die-hard 40k fans over the years, dominated some local scenes, and generally had a good time of it. I'm actually playing more frequently and regularly over the last year or so than ever.

I see no signs of stopping. GW's doing a great job with the game/world. The (probable) loss of the MMO was disappointing, but not everything can turn to gold.

I did abandon Eldar, after 27 years, for my side army of Necrons when their new book came out. My Eldar just didn't exist anymore, either in the background or table top, so it was time to move on. Necrons were a brand new day for me, and it was awesome. Then I got IA11 and the Cosair Eldar took me sucked me right back to my roots. Now I'm torn over which army to play and support. Damn GW, making me choose between awesome things.

I gripe and mutter from time to time. But overall, Games Workshop does a remarkable job at conjuring and sustaining the "grim distance of the far future" vibe. The narrative setting is deep and wide and weirdly, wonderfully conceived. And IMO nurtured lovingly, with geniuine fannish interest, by the company's designers and writers. That's what keeps me coming back, week after week, to the game and the backstory.

I also feel as though game play has been improving steadily, edition by edition. (I started playing in 3rd ed.)

And the models have been getting better and better too.

So while I have issues (mainly with the company's faltering support for the community), I'm still a fan boi. I still play the game and, what is more, I still spin stories about my armies.

1) When they don't go way over the top they manage to produce some evocative single miniatures. WE heroes, SM Term Chaplain, Badrukk I'm looking at you.

2) I have some great memories of scraping together every spare penny, dime and nickle in the house and getting the 2nd ed starter set. That gak blew me away as a kid. Playing 2nd Ed was amazing, creating terrain that actually had a function in the game (look my orkz are climbing up that cup!) and tons of crazy rpg-esque stuff really formed my impression of how a miniatures game should play.

3) They propagate a lot of information about painting properly via their website articles, books and staff. I've carried a lot of this information with me as I've progressed beyond GW games and it has enhanced my enjoyment of the hobby.

They have created a number of games I thoroughly enjoy.

Honestly, there is little better I can say about most any person (barring familial and other such relations), let alone a company.

A lot of what I consider positives other people have already hit, so I'll throw in a few new ones:

GW does a great job of making sure that there are models for (almost) everything the rules permit, and if there isn't an explicit model, generally all you have to do is kitbash.

Each GW faction has a small enough number of units available to it and clear enough gameplay and appearance differences between them that I can remember what each one does and understand why I would pick one over another. Furthermore, I think GW has done a good job picking names for units. They all seem to stick in my head.

There are clear differences between factions. Orks, Dark Eldar, Eldar, Tau, Tyranids, Necrons, Daemons and IG look and play completely different from one another and from the power-armored factions. Even the power-armored factions have fairly significant differences in play style.

GW's website is good - I can easily look at all the models available for a faction, organized by their role in-game, and see the contents of kits and which options from the codex are contained in the kit.

I only need 6-sided dice to play.

The literature and video-game licensing adds a lot of value to the tabletop game.

Great games, great models and their games get the biggest tournament support in my area

It's nice to see a thread like this;

There's too much
"Booo GW/Matt Ward/Ultramarines Suck"
"Why?"
"Dunno, but all the big kids are saying it...."

Happens more often than I'd like to admit.


GW have some of the best Plastic models around, Thanks to Jes Goodwin and the Perry Twins (who I believe are still working for GW)

I've been around wargaming as a whole a very long time (seriously, when discussing "Hordes" I get confused as I mean HORDES OF THE THINGS and others mean HORDES by Priviteer) and GW are (Well, at least were) the only ones who ever bothered to clean out there molds.

Plus it's nice to get figures in a box, rather than in a sandwich bag at a convention!

I posted a positive comment here but apparently the mods did not like it :(

<text redacted --Janthkin>

Yakface wrote:If you have negative feelings towards Games Workshop, that's completely fine. This thread is in no way trying to insinuate that those feelings are incorrect or wrong (far from it), but rather this thread is to focus on the positives and leave the negative stuff for another thread.

If you completely disagree with any or all of the sentiments expressed in this thread, feel free to sit at your computer, point at the screen and laugh at the poor deluded souls who are clearly drinking the GW kool-aid and posting, but please refrain from bringing any negative comments into this thread.

I disagree with the statments testifying to GW sculpt quality. It's only the metals that were phased out in the recent past that were truly fantastic, and only the current 5/6 edition crossover plastics that are good sculpts. I stand by it that on average, the SM look horrendous (proportions and uniformity, heads equally as big as helmets...) and the imperial guard are.... just..... they're terrible. Absolutely terrible.
I'd go on about my dislike of GW, but I will maintain that I've said it often enough for most people to know my opinion on the matter.

All that said, I like their game, I like their universe, and now that they look like they will be releasing mini stand-alone games on a regular basis, I find I may like them a wee bit more. (I am going to guess that next year, or the one after, we may expect a spacehulk/dreadfleet-esque revival of necromunda)

I love thier models I love the Fluff and I love their rules, compared to other war games GW games are always simple and quick to learn. I think this helps get more people into the community in gereral, and I love GW for that too, just being there to get the poeple in on the bigginer level.

poda_t wrote:I disagree with the statments testifying to GW sculpt quality. It's only the metals that were phased out in the recent past that were truly fantastic, and only the current 5/6 edition crossover plastics that are good sculpts. I stand by it that on average, the SM look horrendous (proportions and uniformity, heads equally as big as helmets...) and the imperial guard are.... just..... they're terrible. Absolutely terrible.
I'd go on about my dislike of GW, but I will maintain that I've said it often enough for most people to know my opinion on the matter.

All that said, I like their game, I like their universe, and now that they look like they will be releasing mini stand-alone games on a regular basis, I find I may like them a wee bit more. (I am going to guess that next year, or the one after, we may expect a spacehulk/dreadfleet-esque revival of necromunda)

I can get behind a constructive criticism so long as we highlight the positives and negatives.

The customer service they offer over the telephone is great--never have had any complaints.

GW makes awesome looking models that are so much fun to paint and really spark the imagination to create cool conversions.

GW is getting much better at making codexes that are balanced and fun to play. The difference between 40k 5th edition and 4th is pretty stark.

GW likes to try new things. Rather than rest on the laurels of a single game, they try to support multiple games equally. When GW thinks it's time to call it quits on a game, they do so rather than dragging it forward, zombie-like, through years of repetitive and terrible expansions.

to be specific about my distaste for the marines and IG, its all about the proportions. If you look at the metal models, they are fantastic, the plastic ones by comparison, are terrible. 5-foot long rifles, massive heads and hands.... as I'd said, its only the newer plastic sculpts (dark eldar for instance, or necrons (almost said skeletors)) that have fantastic sculpting. The GK and BA are still SM so they suffer from the same problem, but their gear has gotten much much prettier.

On that note, fine-cast issues aside, there's still a heaping pile of models that I'm fond of having access to and being able to play with them (chief among these; CSM raptors, I am so greatful that they are finecast, if only I had the willingness to spend on them. If I could spend on them, I would buy them in an instant) All told, fine-cast was an improvement on accoutn of the fact that it made models lighter.

Garden or Mor and Skullvane Manse are very cool and are a good value.

GW provides great support for its games. It distributes the full rules for the specialist games free of charge, and still produces many miniatures from those lines. It has recently updated LOTR SBG, again showing their continued support for their products.

I've been playing since 2nd edition, and I love the background. The dark universe vibe is my favorite.

Unfortunately I wish GW would take a turn back to the more complex characterizations of their factions, as they seem to be turning much more into archetypes then true characters.

The Horus Heresy books are a great set to come out from the Black Library, I just wish that some of the things in there made it into more of the codicies/canon. (And though not a Horus Heresy novel, the Night Lords series is a good example of some of the shades of grey that exist in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.)

That's what I love the most, the fact that the universe is so big that just about anything goes and nothing is exactly what it appears to be on the surface.

I like the fluff/universe they ahve created for both 40k and fantasy. Those are the main draws for me. They also do make some really good models, not everything rocks, but, you can't be great at everything.

I like that they're models truly are the best in the world.
I also like that they make really nice washes.
I like that they have hobby centers, which almost no other gaming companies do.
I like that their employees actually know what they're talking about, and know what you're talking about, and can give alright imput if you ask for it.

Best support for Game Stores offered by any manufacturer, and it's been that way for many, many years. By supporting stores, GW supports gaming communities.

Positive-

1. Blood Bowl

2. Available options, seriously. Do you want Warhammer? Warhammer 40k? LotR? A specialist game? Tons of games choices

3. Accessibility. There aren't any major game stores in the general area but there are still about 20 people around here who are into WFB and 40k.

4. Blood Bowl

There are others but these come to mind right away.

Positive: Lots of people play the games, which makes it easy to get involved with a local group.

That's pretty much the only "positive" I can think of that doesn't have associated negatives, which we aren't supposed to discuss.

I don't like a lot of GW's business practices, and I think their management echelon has some serious issues. However..

Their Models are fantastic. I REALLY love the recent Dual-kits they have been producing recently.

Models, Fluff, The Game itself are all really enjoyable things for me, and I'm sure will continue to be enjoyed by me.

They have really pumped out some amazing kits for fantasy lately, as well!

Why do I love the GW hobby?

I guess because I've had so much fun over the years with these:









...as well as WHFB, Mordheim, Apoc, Fury of Dracula, and the Dawn of War computer games. And all of the wonderful fluff in the many books.

Yep, it's gushing but I've had fun with GW's stuff for more than 25 years. There have been a lot of other companies' products in between but none of them have lasted because none of them satisfy my meglomaniacal army urges like GW does.

Ok, it's out of my system. Apologies to all but this thread needed pics.

JB wrote:
...as well as WHFB, Mordheim, Apoc, Fury of Dracula, and the Dawn of War computer games. And all of the wonderful fluff in the many books.

Oh wow I totally forgot that GW originally wrote Fury of Dracula. Hands down one of the best board games out there and a great way to get non-gamers to the gaming table.

So I'd add Fury of Dracula to my positives list as well!

Zarren Wevon wrote:

JB wrote:
...as well as WHFB, Mordheim, Apoc, Fury of Dracula, and the Dawn of War computer games. And all of the wonderful fluff in the many books.

Oh wow I totally forgot that GW originally wrote Fury of Dracula. Hands down one of the best board games out there and a great way to get non-gamers to the gaming table.

So I'd add Fury of Dracula to my positives list as well!

Hah! Good memory. Yeah, I was talking about the GW 1987 version designed by Stephen Hand. Yes, it is one of GW's good news stories. Well worth playing with some Bach Fugue music going on in the background.



The original had little metal mini gamepieces for Dracula and the three hunters. Later versions switched to plastic pieces.

Fantasy Flight came out with a new version in 2006.

I started using Games Workshop around '88 buying RPG books from them. I still have several Shadowrun books with GW price stickers on. And some of my games are still wrapped in the old-style clear carrier bags.

WRFP, 1st Edition, is one of the best ever RPGs IMHO. The rules are great and the atmosphere from the book is awesome. And I've had many great games in WFRP.

Miniatures. I started playing 40K only a couple of years ago. I didn't think I'd enjoy the model making, how wrong could I be. And the 40K miniatures are some of the greatest minis on the market. The pre-painted Star Wars & D&D minis I collect don't even come close. Art is pretty much always in the eye of the beholder, but I personally love the GW minis and have no issues about current prices in the UK.

The Game. 40K is so much fun. When my mates were trying to get me to play I was very hesitant. I'm so glad they convinced me to give it a go. And the whole 40K universe is so wonderfully fleshed out, I have bought all the 40K RPGs by FFG too.

GW Stores. My two local stores are Dudley (actually in Brierley Hill) and Birmingham. The staff in both stores are great. Sure I could buy cheaper online. But why when I can go into a friendly store and have a chat about my hobby while I'm there. I'll continue buying from the stores.

Good things about Games Workshop.

ALL the GW staff who have been aproachable. creative and talented.Thier contribution to gamers/hobbiests over the years should never be underestimated.

All the great games they have contributed to the TABLE TOP MINATURE GAMES HOBBY.

GW plc spend over £50M on recruiting new customers/gamers.


(All the bad things about GW plc are simply down to selfserving /incompetant corperate managment.)

I hardly notice all the negative stuff, cause I've never really gotten that involved in the gaming elements, I can't even remember my last game. WHFB never took hold of me, cause I'm completely fed up with fantasy, and have been for years.

WH40k on the hand... I got introduced to it by a friend shoving a Ciaphas Cain book in my hands. And have never looked back, I now own... at least 60+ 40k books, along with all HH books. I've read like all but the last 2-3 releases.

I'm also busy setting up deathwatch/dark heresy though I need to get some more mates into the setting before I can get that going completely.

So in the end, I pretty much only have praise for GW because they made one of, if not my absolute favourite fictional Univers.e

I like the game and the models, and the customer service is outstanding.

I also prefer finecast to metal, so I'm not even upset about that particular change.

I love the new Necron codex, as well.

Hmmmm..... things I like.

- the universe
- the stories (even the little one's in the dex's and such)
- the artwork
- many of the models
- the way the shake the game up every few years by making a new edition. I think without this practice, 40k would have gone the way of the DoDo years ago.

The Warhammer 40k universe is imo the best out there. It's so well developed, and it's what always keeps me coming back more than anything else.

Even though I suck at painting, the models also keep me coming back. Particularly the xenos models. I've yet to see a model which catches my eye in the same a Trygon or Overlord managed to.

Games Workshop has given me Warhammer 40k, the thing that has engulfed my life since I started just over a decade ago. I hardly go a day where I don't run through an army list in my head or imagine what the 13th black crusade was like for a Cadian guardsmen when I am supposed to be taking notes during Calculus. And especially when I am on scouting and patrolling labs for ROTC, I imagine that I am an Imperial Guardsmen.

Naturally over the course of my gaming career I have recieved some models with broken or missing parts. Their Customer service team is probably one of the best I have ever had to deal with.

Their stores are employed by people who love the games they sell, and are very knowledgable and seem like they care.

As corny as it sounds, Warhammer 40k has legitamately changed my life.

really nice models and fluff.

I started playing back at the end of Rogue Trader, beginning of 2d edition.

My first army was a box of Squats, a thudd gun, a raiper from the IG that I took from them, and an extra box of IG guys.

After the 2d edition boxed set, I continued down my road to ruin and continued to buy buy buy like a mad dog. Then I broke my back, and GW's game systems got me through that. I ended up dropping my other gaming for the hotness that GW had on thier hands with the 2d edition, and played nothing but as they grew the game in new directions, first with the vehicle sets, then as they poped out the plastic boxed sets.

LOVED the small in mag games and add ons of WD back in the lat 100's, and the articulos of the same time...

Fast forward to now- I am back into what I started with, and pushing myself to buy RT only. With GW, buddy is only half the word, but I do have a fondness for the old school Olly squats, The perry's, and Brian Nelsons stuff.

GW has good things going for it with thier Space Hulk, Tyranid attack, and other boxed gateway drugs, as well. I still love 2d edition Space hulk, and have the add on game boxed sets.

I like to strip out the fat that they became, so now I focus on the old RT era and second edition stuff that I still have in boxes upon boxes in the house.

We had quite a good group once upon a time, and I found at least 4 more of quality that strangly enough had GW games as a center piece that they all had in common....

Through all of the time, I got into 3d edition fantasy, played and got into Hogshead Fantasy RPG's, Car Wars, Necromunda, ( of which I am the only one to have almost every miniature for the first edition...) Mordhiem, ( of which became a nice diversion to pit bands of wargamers against large scale invasiont ype armies in a pitched battle that is still legondary in some circles, and Played at least one of each army as the game progressed. I have a current hose full of the stuff, along with my new aquisitions that are starting to grow at an even faster pace...

I now play almost exclusivly skermish games, and paint the RT stuff for kicks.

I was positive here. hope you like it.

40K (probably) matters to me more than it matters to most of the people at this board.

That’s a fairly big statement, so what do I mean by that? Well, if we’re going on about our history and experiences with the good side of GW, then allow me to explain my history with them and the game. But before I say that, I have to say that I am physically and mentally incapable of separating the GW that created the Warhammer 40,000 universe from the GW that embargoed my country, raised prices beyond reason, through the power of pure hubris introduced a shoddy product under the guide of the greatest thing since sliced bread when all they were really doing is finding a cheaper production material, that treats its customer base like a necessary evil, that writes a rules system with a ‘near enough is good enough’ design ethos, and lets Matt Ward keep writing fluff. But with that said I’ll give it a shot...

I adore 40K. I’ve been playing since 2nd Ed came out. The first thing I got was Tyranid Attack, and I’ve loved the Tyranids ever since, and the Tyranids remain the one thing in 40K where I’m willing to ignore all the problems and bad rules. Tyranids are the one thing that would cause me to break my own embargo on GW products (well that and an Ad Mech Codex). When I stopped playing 40K during high school and it made the jump to 3rd Ed, Tyranids were the thing that almost made me jump back into the game. I picked it up again after uni started (and I’ve been here ever since), but it was always the Tyranids that kept me around. I’ve remained a staunch Ultramarines player from the time when the colour of your armour was essentially meaningless (all Marines were the same) and stuck with them through all the Internet Hyperbole and tired (and often fallacious) Ultramarine hate. I started Guard the moment they previewed the Leman Russ in White Dwarf, and now my Imperial Guard, at 30,000 points, dwarfs every other army I own, except Chaos, who I started when Andy Chambers’ amazing 2nd Ed Codex came out (I said I wasn’t going to get a fourth army... but that book was too good not to jump in).

I jumped into Necromunda when it was first released – I still remember the preview in WD, where some small photographs showed off design studio/white dwarf crew playing on these strange multi-level buildings – and now own virtually every gang in the game. It remains, to this day, my fav GW product of all time. I even got my name into Necromunda magazine once! No game has eclipsed Necromunda for me. Normally I’d talk about the missed opportunities with Specialist Games, but I’m (trying to) stay positive.

In the years since I’ve tracked down (to great expense via eBay) complete copies of 1st and 2nd Ed Space Hulk, plus Deathwing and Genestealer, as well as almost every Warhammer Quest product ever made. Weirdly I never play Hulk – but those tiles are worth their weight in gold for the 40K RPGs, but we’ll get to those. I bought 3rd Ed Space Hulk immediately after seeing the box art – that was all it took. Quest is a hilariously awesome game that punishes the players waaaay too much, but it’s such a huge amount of fun that it doesn’t matter. When Quest was first released it was actually my first step into the realm of Warhammer Fantasy. I had no interest in Fantasy, and still don’t play it, but the day in GW Chatswood (the original store, not the second or third store) when I was asked to play the Elf to make up the numbers in a demo game was a moment that changed my perception of WFB. After Quest got me in I was willing to give other fantasy based games a try, which is how I wound up playing Blood Bowl. Still don’t have many matches under my belt, but it’s a great game. This is the point where I’d talk about how these are gateway products and that promoting them would bring more new blood into the hobby, but, again, staying positive.

I lovingly built up a Lost & The Damned army when the Eye of Terror Codex came out (now that army is invalid) and jumped at the chance of building an Inquisitorial army via the Daemonhunter and Witch Hunter Codices (also now an invalid army). I built a Deathwatch army after the whisper that there might be a Deathwatch RPG. I build an Ad Mech army (thanks Micro-Art Studios!) out of my love of all things Skitarii (the Tech Guard from 2nd Ed Epic were always a fascination). GW can’t invalidate armies that don’t have rules in the first place, so I think I’m safe with those two.

Eventually GW decided to jump into the world of 40K-based RPGs. I’d never played an RPG before (aside from computer game RPG’s, and even then the only D&D based one I had ever played was the first Dungeon Siege), but I bought it anyway as it sounded interesting. After proving to be a huge hit and a major success, with the print run selling out in 6 days, GW did the only logical thing and shuttered the sub-company that made the game... no HBMC... positive! Stay positive! Then, after doing something that didn’t make any sense, GW went and made the best decision they have ever made and decided to licence their planned series of RPGs to another company, Fantasy Flight Games, where the game has expanded out to 4 games (including the Deathwatch game I had craved so much). Flash forward from the release date of Dark Heresy to today, the 2nd of Feb 2012, and I’m actually writing for the 40K RPG line. So y’all can call me a GW hater all you like folks, and I won’t deny my problems with the company, but I tell no lie when I say that 40K probably matters to me more than it matters to most of you.

I’m never going to like GW. I’m never going to understand the white knights that attempt to explain away all the problems or, worse, pretend they don’t exist. I’m never going to understand or accept the strange way the fine folks in Lenton run their company.

But I’m not giving up on 40K either. Too many good memories are attached to that game, and as long as I can experience 40K via a slight detour (the wonderful people at FFG) then I will continue to do so.

@H.B.M.C. Thank you for your posting. I knew by your content (as well as others on this site) that you worked in the entertainment industry and is passionate with your ideals.

I wish there was more I can say but in a way you have said it for me.

-Adam

My favorite part about GW is the fact they made a game that I can play with my friends. My wife is very cool with it because she knows where I am at all times.... at work, at my desk painting, at the game store or in the bathroom (where I am most likely reading a codex).

The thing that keeps me hooked is definitely the fluff.

I remember reading a friend's copy of the 3.5 Edition Chaos Codex, and being simply blown away... the Rubric Marines oozed badass-ness, and Khorne Berzerkers need no explanation. I was hooked, and even after passing through several other races (Tau, Space Marines, Imperial Guard and Tyranids) none evoke the sheer tragedy and bitterness that Chaos do.

As the Horus Heresy novels came out, I fell even deeper in love with Chaos - specifically, the tragic fall from grace that Fulgrim and Magnus the Red suffered, and the terrible betrayal Alpharius was forced to carry out. And then there's the Night Haunter - Conrad Kurze, killed by a lone assassin - M'Shen. The references to Apcalypse Now, one of my favorite films, and certainly one of the greatest ever made, still make me smile. Horus' story arc alone is simply amazing, and I enjoy to no end the lore of the Legions.

For all the badness GW causes, I can just curl up with one of my Horus Heresy books and immerse myself in that rich universe.

For me it the positive things of GW that I like would have to be, for a few reasons firstly there games. Blood bowl, Inquisitor, WHFB, 40k are all very fun adaptations of board game to play.

The models in there own right are very nice, while not the most accurate anatomically they still produce very nice high quality and professional looking models!

Theres a lot of angst going on about the financial side of GW so I don't have much to say there other then the customer service fits the prices of the items I am buying. If I EVER have a problem with a GW product I can take it back, even if its opened, trimmed down and practically assembled if I descover a fault that is not of my own doing GW will accept responsibility and simply replace it. THIS IS USEFUL FOR .. finecast~

Ontop of that, of course the in house events and such are all very nice but the most utter importantly positive attracting element to GW?

The're stores, they are open professionally represented with friendly motivated staff who genuinely enjoy the game that they are trying to sell. Not only this but to me the presentation of GW stores by far beats that of local gaming stores I have seen come and go which appear to look more like pawn shops then hobby shops, windows darkened an plastered with hobby stickers or advertisement and a dimply lit room with a poor quality gaming table inside and an overly casual unprofessional interior which brings about a feeling of uneasiness.
Especially those clubs/stores which are like, in the upper room or compartment of another store which you kinda feels is actually a part of someones house or pub that you've never met before etc etc. Doesn't feel too nice to take steps into. HOWEVER a GW store to me is a complete opposite, and the fact they have stores that are for the most part usually very full makes for a more welcoming, warm and inviting gaming community then the other various games/clubs etc that you see here and there.


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of course I love the faction and universal fluff for all GW games I think that is a given for most people

I love the IP, the histories and background of the games, most of the aesthetics are beautiful.

The models are, mostly, also the best around. Jes Goodwin, Juan Diaz, Brian Nelson - these guys are worth their weight in gold.

I love that GW are bringing people into the hobby, allowing them a 'gateway drug' into the world of wargaming/painting and modelling.

I just came back from Dakkacon, I love the gamers and the community we've built. I love a good game of 40k or fantasy with a good player, a challenging and also relaxing pastime.

I love talking with and watching my wife as she learns more, painting and modelling, with her tyranids.

GW made a great decision in allowing FFG to create RPGs based off of their IP. Their backstory is one of the most unique and expansive in the history of epic storytelling.

Their models are beautiful, for the most part, and the move to finecast, regardless of quality, was definitely a step in the right direction.

I love the fact I can go almost anywhere and find great people willing to play a game.

Their customer service is perhaps the best of any company in the world.

5th ed 40k was a huge improvement over previous systems, and if someone else could step in and make the same sorts of improvements Alessio did in 6th, I have no doubt 40K will become a much more popular game.

I will never buy a non-necron model from GW ever again unless they make some drastic changes in their corporate decision-making processes and their rulesets.

The fact that I can still "live" in the 40k universe through Dark Heresy/Deathwatch is fantastic, and I hope that I will be able to enjoy 40k as well too sometime in the not-so-far-future.

Games Workshop have crafted some of the most comprehensive product lines I can think of... to be engaged creatively via painting and modelling, to be entertained by the games, both tabletop and videogame, to be engrossed in fluff nearly constantly via books, codexs and yes even WD, to bring as many people together in mutual interest...

They have got a hell of a lot of it right to get to where they are. There aren't all that many hobbies I can think of that span as wide an age group as this one.

A while ago, after I was SURE I had tried everything, and exhausted every possible choice of things to make my life seem less bland, I discovered Warhammer 40k. And its really picked me up off the ground since. I click with what Games Workshop has done with the idea, the storyline, the models, the game. I love all of it. And they arent some main stream fags that just make something, then ditch it in a couple months to make the next best thing. I hate that. Ive heard grouches about the cost of the models, but I can tell anyone out there, MMO subscriptions, Magic cards, my motorcycle, and my painting supplies all cost hundreds, if not thousands, more than I spend, have spent, or ever will spend on Warhammer 40k. And I have 5 diffrent armies. Heck, the models are so sturdy, I know guys that still play with 2nd and 3rd ed models, and they look fantastic. And when it comes down to sheer amount of great ideas for storyline, these guys are the bomb. I will admit that they dont have as many alien races as some IP's. They sure dont embrace the 'societal norm' of encouraging Democracy and freedom in their works. But they sure nail warfare, alien races, and massive machines right on the head. They have even managed to fuse the worlds of magic and technology together, and also convert technology into a religon. They have ideas that just blow me out of the water. Call me a GW fanboy, but Ive gotta say, when it comes to all around reason to geek, Warhammer 40k has it. And Im sorry that I didnt recognize any of the other great aspects of GW, but most I havent seen. I also VERY much respect their paints. Ive heard BS about how their paints arent the greatest.....but Ive painted for years, not just miniatures, and I can safely say that GW's paint line is very fine for the price. Their primer....ehh...diffrent story, buuuut, other than that, they do quiet well. Anyways, thats my rant.

1. They got me into the miniatures game hobby originally.
2. They have had a huge influence on the fantasy/science fiction-side of the miniatures games hobby due to their size and success; there have been ex-GW employees involved in the startup of nearly every successful new miniatures gaming company founded the last ten to twelve years. Who is to say these people would have been able to stay in the business had they not been nurtured by GW?
3. Epic is an awesome game, one of the better designs for that scale out there.

Gitsplitta wrote:Hmmmm..... things I like.

- the universe
- the stories (even the little one's in the dex's and such)
- the artwork
- many of the models
- the way the shake the game up every few years by making a new edition. I think without this practice, 40k would have gone the way of the DoDo years ago.

thanks for pointing out the artwork, I feel that much of it is overlooked. I'm not talking about the covers you see on books, or necesarily what you find in codices, but the core rulebook and the errata show gorgeous concept drawings for aliens and members of the imperium; specificallly the guy that does tthis stuff:

John Blanche's 'scribble art' (as I call it) is a point of contention among a lot of us. It's one of those love-it-or-hate-it style things. I can't stand it to be honest, and prefer the art of people like Mark Gibbons. Others really like it.

That said, even if you don't like Blanche's stuff, he is one of the key (if not the most key) person in the world when it comes to realising the world of 40K as a visual style. He literally is the reason why some of the things in 40K exist as they do. And when the miniature makers make something that fits with Blanche's style - the Vostroyans being a great example - it really works.

Mark Gibbons art is amazing. His 2nd edition Tyranid art is what made me start them all those years ago.

Aside from the obvious hours of enjoyment I had as a child (and still, the occasional Mordheim or BloodBowl weekend)

curran12 wrote:The community grown in GWs are by far the best.

This is the thing for me. At least in the UK, where we had very few independent stores, they are a gateway of getting new blood into wargaming.

Not just for the gamers themselves, but many of the most talented games designers and artists started their careers with GW. So without them, we would have no Mike McVey, no Dwarf King's Hold from Mantic, perhaps a different FoW, no Perry Brothers. There are many more. Also, the whole industry has prospered at least in part because they have moved it beyond a niche hobby (or at least, increased the size of that niche).

Some of the incredible artwork and writing they have had done from them over the years. Twenty years ago, I got a copy of Space Marine by Ian Watson. It was the one of the best books I had ever read, and it's been read through so many times that it has started to come apart from its bindings. It was no surprise it used to go for $300+ on ebay at times. Now, 20 years later, reading the wonderful Soul Hunter series by ADB and Dan Abnett's Prospero Burns. The universe GW created is extremely powerful, and has been home to some wonderfully talented artists and writers over the years.

Artwork like this:



Finally, of course the great online community that has sprung up around GW, and the hours of fun I have had trolling on forums.

The key thing about GW for me was that they formed a big centre of excellence that has acted as a university to develop sculptors who have gone on to form their own companies in other genres.

I have fond memories of GW. I mean, I DID like them at one point enough to become rather obsessive about them before I just became absolutely fed up with them.

But, I would like to thank GW (or more specifically, Halliwell, Priestly and Ansell) for two things specifically though which has brought great enjoyment and one of which still brings me great enjoyment.

Rogue Trader and Space Hulk.

Rogue Trader for showing that GW once was a company that could be a bit gritty and not take itself too seriously and be a game company run by gamers for gamers.
Space Hulk for being a great game design even today.

My personal opinion is that GW products can actually present reasonable value for money, if you take them for all they're worth. For example, my local GW offers:
-Free painting and modeling assistance from some really great staffers.
-Free paints, tools etc. to use in-store.
-Free fully modeled tables to game on.
-A whole host of locals up for a friendly game.

It's this sense of 'hobby', the capacity to bring people together, that actually makes GW prices seem manageable. But just in general, I like GW because it has allowed me to meet great people who are similarly passionate about the hobby, and the staff of my local GW are completely fantastic.

I have given up on GW, sold my armies etc... for reasons not for this thread, BUT I do still very much enjoy the background of all of GWs products - from Grimdark 40k to the slighty goofy origins of Bloodbowl! I'll always pick up the latest HH book and most of BL's production, so credit where credit is due - GW did a great job creating and sustaining such impressive universes.

Also the paints - specifically the washes/glazes and the foundation paints, they are top notch.

The concept of living rulebook and the specialist game site.

Seriously, what other compagnie have older product that don't sell well and say:
"Let's give the rulebook in PDF, so people can still play."

Wow

I have to thank GW for giving me something to long for as a 10-year-old, something to do on weekends in highschool, and something to balance out my personality now that I do have a life. There's almost nothing in my life that has been as constant as warhammer and I will never regret the money I spent on this stuff, even if I don't spend much anymore and don't plan to in the near future.

They make really detailed plastic kits ( both terrain and models) that are fun to build.

40k has some nice art.

40k has a decent enough amount of lore/ back story

Lots of people play GW so it is easy to find people to play.

Those are the main things I like about GW

So, while avoiding what others have said previously, I think I can say one thing I appreciate about 40k/WHFB is the direction that these games have taken. Instead of keeping with the goofy, childish style of 2nd Edition 40k and following the Star Wars model of turning a good thing into a children's belching joke, GW got serious about their property and grew the maturity of their games in both background material and models.

They tend to make purdy stuff.

GW is really the only games, models and rules producer that I have ever played. While Privateer Press' work does intrigue me (as does Infinity), there aren't a lot of my friends that play it, and I already have WAY too many unbuilt and unpainted models around to look into another system. Kind of a forced loyalty, in a way...

My friend introduced me to 40k back in Rogue Trader days, when we were both in Jr. High / 8th grade I want to say. 1987-88 maybe?

I really like GWs different take on the far future. At the time I'd seen nothing like it, knowing mostly only Star Trek, Star Wars (the original good films), Battletech. The dark universe they made was very interesting and different, and had enough of the fantastic, like psychic powers, space monsters, hand to hand combat, etc, to really please the fantasy enthusiast in me.

The models and general design of the models are really great, the forces each feel different enough from each other and how they play, and it appeals to my artistic and creative side.

I've been absorbed in Warhammer since I was 13 (now 35!) and I think there are positive aspects to be taken from the different eras. The current models are (with the odd exception) amazing and the support for army books is as good as it ever has been (with apologies to Tyranid players).

Back in the day though, I think they were more comitted to the hobby (i.e. proper modelling with bits and pieces) aspect which I found very inspiring and White Dwarf had great personality.

The beautiful models.
The glorious fluff.
The fluid, engaging gameplay.
The wonderous customer service.
The fact that the combination of these factors makes me want to collect every single fething army.

I've always loved GW. despite a few silly marketing decisions here and there, I think they make great games and the models to me are well worth the price, and always have been. I love the fact that they're doing so much in plastic, and their sculpting has always been top notch. As long as they keep making awesome models, I'll keep on buying em.

Despite my mixed feelings about GW, the 40k universe has such an amazingly rich background that it's an addiction that is impossible to shake. Infinity and the like just doesn't compare.

40k may not be perfect, but it hits on every level I personally need a hobby to hit on.

1. Aesthetic. The Aesthetic of the grimdark has captured me since day 1. From the demented visions of John Blanche to the elegant brutality of Jes Goodwin, to the WWI chic of the Imperium... Gav Thorpe said it best "40k is all about the decay of splendour". Hell yeah.

2. Story. The thing I like best about the story is that it kind of isn't one, its really more of a setting, for thousands of stories to take place in. Its a huge sandbox. Games like LotR, Warmachine, and Historicals miss this mark for me, because either my imaginary forces could never be as important or influential as the canonical ones, or all the key pivot points of history are already well defined. Even though I really like Warmachine's story... I don't want to recreate Vlad's victories... I want to carve out my own history and tales of fortune and conquest.

3. Scope. I have never been attracted to skirmishes, I like battles. Other games have even larger scope (FoW for example), but fall short for me on other levels. Keep in mind here, I play more Apocalypse than regular 40k, and a 6k game is pretty standard in my group.

4. Social Accessibility. Its the largest community out there... more players, more enthusiasts, larger tournaments... Its got proven longevity and a huge player base. That makes it a safe investment.

5. Quality. GW always seems a few steps ahead... the plastic kits they've done lately just blow my mind. I too was disgruntled over a bunch of finecast problems... I do really wish they'd have hammered out the process better before releasing it... but now things seem much better, and I really like working with resin. I am not in any way nostalgic for metal models. I'll never own one again, if I can help it.

Those are the big 5 factors for me. These things are more important to me than GWs business policies. I certainly don't agree with them all, but "I like the business practices of the manufacturer" is pretty low on my list of priorities I guess.

Ill for sure dabble in other games, given the time and money is available. Infinity and FoW are pretty high on my wish-list, but there's always something new I need to do for 40k! One of the reasons I take commissions is to get a chance to paint those wonderful figures for other companies who I just don't have the time to get into for myself!

I will always play 40k.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I am to understand that the people who write and make the game actually play the game. When it seems like all the garage press operations have been bought out by some larger company, it's nice to have a game where the makers still sample their product.

Jimsolo wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, but I am to understand that the people who write and make the game actually play the game. When it seems like all the garage press operations have been bought out by some larger company, it's nice to have a game where the makers still sample their product.

Wait, wait. Are you claiming that other companies don't play the games that they make?

And when was the last time that Kirby ever showed up at a Games Day?

infinite_array wrote:

Jimsolo wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong, but I am to understand that the people who write and make the game actually play the game. When it seems like all the garage press operations have been bought out by some larger company, it's nice to have a game where the makers still sample their product.

Wait, wait. Are you claiming that other companies don't play the games that they make?

And when was the last time that Kirby ever showed up at a Games Day?

Who cares if kirby shows up? Ive met Jes Goodwin, Phil Kelly, Gav Thorpe, Jervis, Mark Bedford... Kirby is irrelevant.

Though I don't know of ANY game companies whose make the game don't play the game... I think that's true for pretty much all of them?

Kirby is far from irrelevant I'm afraid.

Right! Right, positive... pooooosssssiiitiiivvve...

Got it! Fantasy Flight Games. Wouldn't have a great line of RPGs if it wasn't for them. And if it weren't for those RPGs, I wouldn't have fond memories of the Deathwatch Comedy & General Shenanigans Night.

As stated in the title, and in the opening post, this thread is only to discuss the positives of GW. If you don't see any positives, your course of action would be to not type anything here.

no need to address a point that wasn't supposed to be made in this particular thread -

Gentlemen,

It's been said that if you don't have anything nice to say about GW, then there are other threads for you. And this thread came from the Admin/half-owner of the website.


I'm also very happy about FW. A couple of DCMs put in a group order, and I ordered some pieces I've been eyeing for a while, and FW makes some pretty models

I saw my first fire warrior in 2005. I fell in love immediately, for some reason they are the one thing that I really remember about my experience at the local GW store.

Games Workshop has allowed me to keep some friends that I probably would have lost touch with, for that alone my investment into this hobby is well worth it.

The act of learning to paint a whole army (and do each model justice) is an exercise in patience that I find hard to find in other parts of my life. However, when I need to tap that understanding it comes in rather handy.

Places like dakka, that make me think critically about what a rule actually says, or how my painting actually compares to the larger community, is amazing and makes me a better person.

All of these things are rooted in Games Workshop.

I still love the background and setting immensely, it's one of the, IMHO, best ones out there.

I knew HBMC would be the first to set up the dunk, calmly slotted away by Paratrooper Simon. And almost immediate 'defensive play' by Battleready Studios

Mean Green Stompa wrote:The models are, mostly, also the best around. Jes Goodwin, Juan Diaz, Brian Nelson - these guys are worth their weight in gold.

I agree, I love that despite the hair-care products guy and Baron Harkonnen running the show, there is still a core of artists and sculptors at the heart of the company who genuinely care about their art.

The DE range was absolutely beautiful, I think the best product launch for as long as I can remember.

You know for all the criticisms of the game system, I remember loving White Dwarf when LoTR popularity was at its height and in that respect I think the initial stuff they did for the game was fantastic. The set below is one of my all time favourite GW releases and it's kind of irritating that when they finecasted it, they swapped some of the other poses in.



I think the lack of love for the LoTR game stems from it's simplicty (us wargamers like complicated rules sets to wrap our heads around), but I wonder how many new gamers were bought in via LoTR?

Disclaimer - I've just watched the trilogy over the last few nights and consequently I'm feeling kind of nostalgic for that era

I think GW is one of the best things around. I've been into 40k at some degree or another since I was 18. They have the best models in the world and greatest variety, a fun and generally friendly community, and in my opinion, the best sci-fi background in print. The 40k universe is a great "escape" for me. I have a very stressful job and its great to sit down and read about grimdark or paint models and just veg out. Without the GW company, I would have to rely solely on sports. Not exactly a cake walk, especially in Dallas,

Their models = Amazing.

(in my opinion)

I still come back to GW for the models. I love almost all of the Xenos tanks. The individual figures can come and go, some good, some not so good. But the xenos tanks all show some imagination and a strong commitment to the idea of xenos sci-fi.

Also on the modeling front, I love citadel paints. They are easy to work with, blend almost perfectly, and seem to have a very high pigment quality for what you are buying.

The Foundation paint line is possibly one of my most favorite paint lines ever. They made a yellow and red that you can actually paint over black and it covers!

I have played GW games since 2007. Granted, not as long as most people on here, but GW has been the company that slowly pushed me away from computer gaming.

Any company that makes their own models, supplies to make these models AND provides a store to play with said models is doing somethin right. GW games (And PP, but less of them) have given me something to do artisticly. While I am not the best painter, I have found something I love to do through GW.

Not to mention their story and game is top notch!

This is not about GW as a whole, but about a particular location.


I am a big fan of the Chicago Battle Bunker. The staff there is friendly, knowledgeable, and not pushy. I was planning on getting into Fantasy over the course of several months. I was able to get honest advice from the staff, and while they would suggest products they knew that I would buy stuff when I would, and they did not need to get to buy stuff TODAY! The store has a lot of "Veteran Gamers" so they do not just cater to the new kid, impulse buyer market.

In general there are a lot of players there, and I have not really had any games that were not fun. There are a lot of people who play the specialist games and not just 40k and fantasy. Also, there are a TON of tables.

The GW store in my hometown was not a fun place to game, but the battle bunker really changed my mind about gaming at a GW store. Even if you have had bad times at other GW locations, it might be worth a try to go there. [Especially if you want the play Blood Bowl. You are too late to join the league, but there are a ton of people who will play a one off game with you. It is VERY popular at the moment]

svendrex wrote:This is not about GW as a whole, but about a particular location.


I am a big fan of the Chicago Battle Bunker. The staff there is friendly, knowledgeable, and not pushy. I was planning on getting into Fantasy over the course of several months. I was able to get honest advice from the staff, and while they would suggest products they knew that I would buy stuff when I would, and they did not need to get to buy stuff TODAY! The store has a lot of "Veteran Gamers" so they do not just cater to the new kid, impulse buyer market.

In general there are a lot of players there, and I have not really had any games that were not fun. There are a lot of people who play the specialist games and not just 40k and fantasy. Also, there are a TON of tables.

The GW store in my hometown was not a fun place to game, but the battle bunker really changed my mind about gaming at a GW store. Even if you have had bad times at other GW locations, it might be worth a try to go there. [Especially if you want the play Blood Bowl. You are too late to join the league, but there are a ton of people who will play a one off game with you. It is VERY popular at the moment]

Thios does make a big add on to the game. Having a tight place to play is worth IT's weight in gold.


As to that Fantasy Flight RPG, I really like those books. very good info. Think my favorite was reading that Monster book that gave the scenario for the grot infestation in your ship. THAT one still makes me laugh thinking about that. Don't have the book in front of me, but I think that one also had a way to play an ORK as a PC. Is that right, or was that just for using them as NPC's?

Best books GW ever put out, by the way were the old LATD and Slaves to Darkness. The FFG ones are a close second, but Those two are the epitimy for me for what GW did right once upon a time.

I love the LOTR books, and GW have a relationship with them

(It took me a while to think of this and stick to the spirit of the thread!)

The models are (for the most part) outstanding. While there are some misses, the sheer number of EXCELLENT kits, supporting such a large number of armies/factions, and especially of course their multipart platics, is so far beyond any other company that it's not even comparable. A couple of newer companies have been doing good things, particularly PP the last few years, but those companies are directly inspired by GW and in most cases draw directly on the talent of sculptors who came up through GW. GW has taken miniatures gaming to a completely different level than it ever was previously, and led to the development of other companies and games.

The background and art are great and evocative.

The games include some of the best and most fun designs I've ever encountered, including Blood Bowl, WH 7th edition, 40k 5th edition, and BFG.

Their recent choices in licensing have included some amazing stuff. Chaos in the Old world knocks my socks off.

The player base and tournament support is awesome. I love traveling to events around the country, seeing and socializing (read: drinking) with the players, gawking at and appreciating one another's painting and nasty or thematic army lists. Last month I attended the Conflict GT which was great, and this weekend the new Onslaught GT at Templecon, which was awesome. Last year I got the privilege of attending the first US Throne of Skulls event in Vegas, which was absolutely amazing, and won my ticket to attend again this year.

I've been playing GW games on and off since 1987.

I liked how 40k combined all of the best bits of the books and comics I had read as a kid into one neat game.

I like how they make some neat models.

I like how they also allow me to explore other avenues of "the hobby" ( )

That's all for the good feelings and fluffy bunnies.

I have had a love / hate relationship w/ GW, from the start. I've been kicking them a bit more lately than usual, so posting this will be a welcome change in pace.

I was enthralled w/ WFB / W40K the first time I saw it. Up until them I had been playing AD&D and painting those miniatures. Here was something I could paint a LOT of things for and play with all of them at the same time!

My first love was Orks after reading Waaagh! The Orks and 'Ere We Go!. The goofy random horribleness of misfires and other Orky perils genuinely cracked me up. I played Orks for quite a while before answering the call of Chaos (and my beloved Genestealer Cult which I am hoping makes a return in 6th Ed).

I have almost always enjoyed the quality of miniatures GW has released and frequently was more attracted to the modeling aspect than the game itself (which is still true today) but when Necromunda came out that changed for a few years. I ran a very involved League and it was a highlight at my FLGS for a long time.

I have dabbled in almost every game GW has released and while they all had their own issues (some amusing, so not so much) and really enjoyed Blood Bowl, Gorka Morka, Eric, Mordheim, Space Hulk, Battle for Armageddon (plus Chaos expansion)... a lot of good memories.

The #1 thing I have enjoyed from all of this is the people I've met and the friendships I've had. Nothing transcends the barriers of mankind like gaming has.

So thanks GW, I've had a pretty decent time with this. Mostly.

They have a sense of humor on their site and rulebook.
"We got to leave our desk to see the army(its no-chain Tuesday)"
It may be cheeky and groaning but it shows they are excited for their product in a different way

It's definitely a nice factor, although you get a lot less of it these days than you used to. Specifically in White Dwarf, although I'm not surprised after meeting one of the writers for the magazine. Nice enough bloke, but his eyes rolled back up into the top of his head and he pointed to the sky when he spoke about LoTR.

Of course there is still a core of hobbyists within the company, the same as you and I, but a lot of it is lost in the corporate-speak/BS filters that everything produced by a larger company has to pass through.

I really like their customer service, their staff are polite, friendly and willing to help with anything you need. I've been in there asking questions many times and they've always had time to talk it through with me. I also think that the worlds they have created are utterly amazing and something I can't get enough of. Like any business they are going to have their flaws but I've honestly had nothing but positive experiences with them and I look forward to what they bring out in the future.

If it hasn't already been said (or even if it has): GW's plastic kits are fantastic, and seem to be getting better, both in terms of design and product quality.

I'm not exactly sure what it is, but the boxes of Necron Deathmarks that I bought seem to be made of a different plastic than my Necron Warriors. The plastic used for the Deathmarks seems like it's a more dense, heavy-duty version. But, the part that really blew me away was that both boxes had virtually no mold lines!

There are a great many things I like about GWS. I'm aware that I'm likely considered a "hater", but that's far from true. There are some very specific things they do which I do not like (and are offtopic anyway), but as a whole I love the h-h-hobby.

The casting quality in plastic is super, super top notch. The kits fit together really well, with minimal mold slip or flash usually. The detailing is fantastic, and crisp. There are usually lots of neat little extras on the sprues.

I think Finecast is a much better material to work with, and when they fix the casting issues, I will be enormously pleased with it, because I do like it from a technical perspective. It really is the future.

When there have been miscasts, GWS has some of the best customer service of any industry. I've called them a few times over various issues and I've never once ever had anything other then an expectations-exceeding resolution to my issue. Someone answers immediately, they are friendly, polite, and professional, and the problem is fixed in an over-generous manner. The aquillas are miscast on my drop pod? You'll have a new drop pod in a few days. Stuff like that. I'm talking about the phone support. I don't have a local GWS.

The Chicago Bunker is breathtakingly awesome. I've only been there once on an unrelated trip, but it was so incredible. Huge, airy, clean. No gamer smell. Walls lined with glass cases with every imaginably kind of mini. Help that was available but not pushy.

The aesthetic. While they go a little too far with the skulls, I generally like the stylings of the universes, both 40k and WHFB. The sculpting and art is just incredible for some stuff, like DE (I don't even play DE!). I love the boxy, bulky Dreadnoughts, the Crusades styling on the Black Templars, the super dynamic posing on the Skaven warlord and deathmaster.

The universe in general. If you registered to use this site then you already agree with me most likely, and I don't really need to expound upon this.

The way they push you to create your own story, and your own scenarios. I was flipping through an old WD and there was a WHFB article where they spent an entire page laying out the Empire forces. They all had little trivia bits at the bottom that fleshed it out (one guy was a coward, one squad had a penalty because they found their leader to be too effeminate for their tastes, little things like that) which made it feel like a real thing.

It's hard not to like any company that created undead, zombie robots.

As something of a GW critic, I would agree with a few things about GW.

1) GW brings people into the hobby. Say what you will about GW practices, GW draws in more individuals to miniature wargaming than any other company. Many of these players will also branch into other games and enrich the hobby as a whole.

2) The Quality of GW miniatures enhances the industry. GW makes great looking miniatures. So do other companies, some of whom do better, some worse. However by being the biggest dog on the block and maintaining a very high standard for the sculpting of their miniatures, GW sets a good benchmark by which other companies will be judged.

3) GW has grown the hobby/industry of Sci-fi/Fantasy gaming. It wasn't the first, but throughout it's existance, GW has been an anchor of the miniature gaming industry. It has employed many of the sculptors, designers and managers that are now big names in the industry. Also, it has provided good competition for the many games and companies that have come (and often gone away) after it.

All this to say, that whatever my other gripes may be about GW, I do feel that it's has positively impacted the Sci/Fantasy wargaming hobby in many ways..

Strongly believe that GW does help quiet and introverted kids come out of their shell by getting involved in war-gaming.
Just my 0.02

I love the story, the fluff and the design.

Space Marines are just too awesome, and their iconic armour looks spectacular.

The game, the background and the design are first class, and I genuinelly find it amusing that grown men hate them with such a passion simply for doing what all companies do and trying to make as large a profit as possible.

The whole thing is great and I love the hobby, you cant blame the suits for wanting the $$$.

Games Workshop are resposibel for some of my greatest moments in life, the first time I completed a army ( WoC) or the time I bougth a Lord for Chaos in finecast and just sat staring in awe at the very well done moddel. They also provide very good product support, and realses new and intresting stuff at regular intervals

chrisyella wrote:Strongly believe that GW does help quiet and introverted kids come out of their shell by getting involved in war-gaming.
Just my 0.02

This. A hundred times, this. I say this all the time to my parents (who disapprove of my hobby) - if it weren't for 40k, I'd sit at my computer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There's a fair chance I never would have found a job, since my people skills were severely limited before I got into this. So I have to say, for all its flaws, GW and its product has gotten me out of the house and into some semblance of a normal social life.

Aside from that, I have to say that in spite of the prices (or because of them), GW does have a lot of very high-quality models, and their customer service is superb. Kits just seem to be more and more detailed, and I've noticed that they're really straying away from their practice of "every model has the same pose." Even Necrons, the army of robots that are exactly the same, have models that can actually be put into different poses.

Even if I hate paying their prices, I know that I'm getting quite a bit of bang for my buck. Most of their models are spectacular.

I've always thought highly of GW because I love the fluff & models. I also disregard the "GW-is-all-about-the-$$$" online rants after GW sent me a complete Baneblade after I called about one missing sprue. They're A-OK in my book.

InquisitorMack wrote:I've always thought highly of GW because I love the fluff & models. I also disregard the "GW-is-all-about-the-$$$" online rants after GW sent me a complete Baneblade after I called about one missing sprue. They're A-OK in my book.

I bought some HH era SMs off Forgeworld and it was missing one small sprue with two sets of legs on. I wasn't even going to bother saying anything because I have spare SM legs and I pretty much never can be arsed complaining about anything ever, but after reading so much good stuff on dakka regarding this, I sent them an email and said "I'm missing a couple sets of legs by the way.." and they mailed me a whole new set of 5 guys complete!

You don't get that off Sports Direct!

H.B.M.C. wrote:40K (probably) matters to me more than it matters to most of the people at this board.

That’s a fairly big statement, so what do I mean by that? Well, if we’re going on about our history and experiences with the good side of GW, then allow me to explain my history with them and the game. But before I say that, I have to say that I am physically and mentally incapable of separating the GW that created the Warhammer 40,000 universe from the GW that embargoed my country, raised prices beyond reason, through the power of pure hubris introduced a shoddy product under the guide of the greatest thing since sliced bread when all they were really doing is finding a cheaper production material, that treats its customer base like a necessary evil, that writes a rules system with a ‘near enough is good enough’ design ethos, and lets Matt Ward keep writing fluff. But with that said I’ll give it a shot...

I adore 40K. I’ve been playing since 2nd Ed came out. The first thing I got was Tyranid Attack, and I’ve loved the Tyranids ever since, and the Tyranids remain the one thing in 40K where I’m willing to ignore all the problems and bad rules. Tyranids are the one thing that would cause me to break my own embargo on GW products (well that and an Ad Mech Codex). When I stopped playing 40K during high school and it made the jump to 3rd Ed, Tyranids were the thing that almost made me jump back into the game. I picked it up again after uni started (and I’ve been here ever since), but it was always the Tyranids that kept me around. I’ve remained a staunch Ultramarines player from the time when the colour of your armour was essentially meaningless (all Marines were the same) and stuck with them through all the Internet Hyperbole and tired (and often fallacious) Ultramarine hate. I started Guard the moment they previewed the Leman Russ in White Dwarf, and now my Imperial Guard, at 30,000 points, dwarfs every other army I own, except Chaos, who I started when Andy Chambers’ amazing 2nd Ed Codex came out (I said I wasn’t going to get a fourth army... but that book was too good not to jump in).

I jumped into Necromunda when it was first released – I still remember the preview in WD, where some small photographs showed off design studio/white dwarf crew playing on these strange multi-level buildings – and now own virtually every gang in the game. It remains, to this day, my fav GW product of all time. I even got my name into Necromunda magazine once! No game has eclipsed Necromunda for me. Normally I’d talk about the missed opportunities with Specialist Games, but I’m (trying to) stay positive.

In the years since I’ve tracked down (to great expense via eBay) complete copies of 1st and 2nd Ed Space Hulk, plus Deathwing and Genestealer, as well as almost every Warhammer Quest product ever made. Weirdly I never play Hulk – but those tiles are worth their weight in gold for the 40K RPGs, but we’ll get to those. I bought 3rd Ed Space Hulk immediately after seeing the box art – that was all it took. Quest is a hilariously awesome game that punishes the players waaaay too much, but it’s such a huge amount of fun that it doesn’t matter. When Quest was first released it was actually my first step into the realm of Warhammer Fantasy. I had no interest in Fantasy, and still don’t play it, but the day in GW Chatswood (the original store, not the second or third store) when I was asked to play the Elf to make up the numbers in a demo game was a moment that changed my perception of WFB. After Quest got me in I was willing to give other fantasy based games a try, which is how I wound up playing Blood Bowl. Still don’t have many matches under my belt, but it’s a great game. This is the point where I’d talk about how these are gateway products and that promoting them would bring more new blood into the hobby, but, again, staying positive.

I lovingly built up a Lost & The Damned army when the Eye of Terror Codex came out (now that army is invalid) and jumped at the chance of building an Inquisitorial army via the Daemonhunter and Witch Hunter Codices (also now an invalid army). I built a Deathwatch army after the whisper that there might be a Deathwatch RPG. I build an Ad Mech army (thanks Micro-Art Studios!) out of my love of all things Skitarii (the Tech Guard from 2nd Ed Epic were always a fascination). GW can’t invalidate armies that don’t have rules in the first place, so I think I’m safe with those two.

Eventually GW decided to jump into the world of 40K-based RPGs. I’d never played an RPG before (aside from computer game RPG’s, and even then the only D&D based one I had ever played was the first Dungeon Siege), but I bought it anyway as it sounded interesting. After proving to be a huge hit and a major success, with the print run selling out in 6 days, GW did the only logical thing and shuttered the sub-company that made the game... no HBMC... positive! Stay positive! Then, after doing something that didn’t make any sense, GW went and made the best decision they have ever made and decided to licence their planned series of RPGs to another company, Fantasy Flight Games, where the game has expanded out to 4 games (including the Deathwatch game I had craved so much). Flash forward from the release date of Dark Heresy to today, the 2nd of Feb 2012, and I’m actually writing for the 40K RPG line. So y’all can call me a GW hater all you like folks, and I won’t deny my problems with the company, but I tell no lie when I say that 40K probably matters to me more than it matters to most of you.

I’m never going to like GW. I’m never going to understand the white knights that attempt to explain away all the problems or, worse, pretend they don’t exist. I’m never going to understand or accept the strange way the fine folks in Lenton run their company.

But I’m not giving up on 40K either. Too many good memories are attached to that game, and as long as I can experience 40K via a slight detour (the wonderful people at FFG) then I will continue to do so.

Normally I would abridge such a lengthy post, but I feel it's so bang on the money that it deserves a full quote a further couple of pages into the topic, and just in case anyone missed it the first time.

I completely agree with your closing sentiments - what I think a lot of people need to understand is that those of us who are complaining are, at least some of the time, the biggest fans. It's because we care so much about GW, that stops us from shrugging our shoulders or burying our heads in the sand.

I would love my kids, the next generation, to be able to have the chance to have the same experience and perhaps echo some of the sentiments written in this thread. If even one person in a decision making roll decides to heed some of the complaint, then that complaint is justified, and perhaps the future of Games Workshop (and the industry as a whole?) will be better off for it.

Now, lets all hold hands in a circle, and pray

H.B.M.C. wrote:40K (probably) matters to me more than it matters to most of the people at this board.

That’s a fairly big statement, so what do I mean by that? Well, if we’re going on about our history and experiences with the good side of GW, then allow me to explain my history with them and the game. But before I say that, I have to say that I am physically and mentally incapable of separating the GW that created the Warhammer 40,000 universe from the GW that embargoed my country, raised prices beyond reason, through the power of pure hubris introduced a shoddy product under the guide of the greatest thing since sliced bread when all they were really doing is finding a cheaper production material, that treats its customer base like a necessary evil, that writes a rules system with a ‘near enough is good enough’ design ethos, and lets Matt Ward keep writing fluff. But with that said I’ll give it a shot...

I adore 40K. I’ve been playing since 2nd Ed came out. The first thing I got was Tyranid Attack, and I’ve loved the Tyranids ever since, and the Tyranids remain the one thing in 40K where I’m willing to ignore all the problems and bad rules. Tyranids are the one thing that would cause me to break my own embargo on GW products (well that and an Ad Mech Codex). When I stopped playing 40K during high school and it made the jump to 3rd Ed, Tyranids were the thing that almost made me jump back into the game. I picked it up again after uni started (and I’ve been here ever since), but it was always the Tyranids that kept me around. I’ve remained a staunch Ultramarines player from the time when the colour of your armour was essentially meaningless (all Marines were the same) and stuck with them through all the Internet Hyperbole and tired (and often fallacious) Ultramarine hate. I started Guard the moment they previewed the Leman Russ in White Dwarf, and now my Imperial Guard, at 30,000 points, dwarfs every other army I own, except Chaos, who I started when Andy Chambers’ amazing 2nd Ed Codex came out (I said I wasn’t going to get a fourth army... but that book was too good not to jump in).

I jumped into Necromunda when it was first released – I still remember the preview in WD, where some small photographs showed off design studio/white dwarf crew playing on these strange multi-level buildings – and now own virtually every gang in the game. It remains, to this day, my fav GW product of all time. I even got my name into Necromunda magazine once! No game has eclipsed Necromunda for me. Normally I’d talk about the missed opportunities with Specialist Games, but I’m (trying to) stay positive.

In the years since I’ve tracked down (to great expense via eBay) complete copies of 1st and 2nd Ed Space Hulk, plus Deathwing and Genestealer, as well as almost every Warhammer Quest product ever made. Weirdly I never play Hulk – but those tiles are worth their weight in gold for the 40K RPGs, but we’ll get to those. I bought 3rd Ed Space Hulk immediately after seeing the box art – that was all it took. Quest is a hilariously awesome game that punishes the players waaaay too much, but it’s such a huge amount of fun that it doesn’t matter. When Quest was first released it was actually my first step into the realm of Warhammer Fantasy. I had no interest in Fantasy, and still don’t play it, but the day in GW Chatswood (the original store, not the second or third store) when I was asked to play the Elf to make up the numbers in a demo game was a moment that changed my perception of WFB. After Quest got me in I was willing to give other fantasy based games a try, which is how I wound up playing Blood Bowl. Still don’t have many matches under my belt, but it’s a great game. This is the point where I’d talk about how these are gateway products and that promoting them would bring more new blood into the hobby, but, again, staying positive.

I lovingly built up a Lost & The Damned army when the Eye of Terror Codex came out (now that army is invalid) and jumped at the chance of building an Inquisitorial army via the Daemonhunter and Witch Hunter Codices (also now an invalid army). I built a Deathwatch army after the whisper that there might be a Deathwatch RPG. I build an Ad Mech army (thanks Micro-Art Studios!) out of my love of all things Skitarii (the Tech Guard from 2nd Ed Epic were always a fascination). GW can’t invalidate armies that don’t have rules in the first place, so I think I’m safe with those two.

Eventually GW decided to jump into the world of 40K-based RPGs. I’d never played an RPG before (aside from computer game RPG’s, and even then the only D&D based one I had ever played was the first Dungeon Siege), but I bought it anyway as it sounded interesting. After proving to be a huge hit and a major success, with the print run selling out in 6 days, GW did the only logical thing and shuttered the sub-company that made the game... no HBMC... positive! Stay positive! Then, after doing something that didn’t make any sense, GW went and made the best decision they have ever made and decided to licence their planned series of RPGs to another company, Fantasy Flight Games, where the game has expanded out to 4 games (including the Deathwatch game I had craved so much). Flash forward from the release date of Dark Heresy to today, the 2nd of Feb 2012, and I’m actually writing for the 40K RPG line. So y’all can call me a GW hater all you like folks, and I won’t deny my problems with the company, but I tell no lie when I say that 40K probably matters to me more than it matters to most of you.

I’m never going to like GW. I’m never going to understand the white knights that attempt to explain away all the problems or, worse, pretend they don’t exist. I’m never going to understand or accept the strange way the fine folks in Lenton run their company.

But I’m not giving up on 40K either. Too many good memories are attached to that game, and as long as I can experience 40K via a slight detour (the wonderful people at FFG) then I will continue to do so

Now I fully understand HBMCs rage!

I told you, love is so close to hate.. 30,000 points of guard!?

The most passionate people are the ones that get the angriest.. That was such a great and passionate post, I now fully understand your psyche.

Ima mail it to Jervis!