Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

A nice detail, but another thing for the "realists" to bitch and whine about.

Black Boxes with the new Hellhound, Demolisher and Deff Rolla sprues arrived at some GW stores this week. I had a peek at these items on the sprue tonight.

So yeah after making my Punisher for the store at the weekend I can tell you all that the new kit is a lot better than the old one, aslong as you don't want to convert. The whole making of it has been made a lot easier, and with the removal of the wheels you don't have to spend half an hour lining up the wheels to make sure everything fits correctly.

Furthermore, the hole in the hull for the turret is smaller than on the existing LR model, meaning that sadly swapping between the 2 models is difficult. However, this does mean that obviously GW is aiming to release the other 4 variants in another kit (or kits)

Sadly the cupola on the turret is fused, and looks kinda chunky. It's not the nicest looking thing, but once the kit is fully made and painted you can't really tell the difference.

I made the Executioner turret, with Plasma Cannon sponsons and a lascannon on the hull . . . that's a hell of a lot of firepower =] Can't wait to see a 10 man squad of termies drop down infront of it =]

__________

The new Hellhound kit is AWESOME!!! The new turrets are cooler than ever, the tank commander has a cool new hat, you can make every variant, it comes on less sprues than the existing one. However, having not had the pleasure to assemble the Hellhound I can't give much more info on this =[

Hands up from all of those who will buy the new Hellhound because the commander has a new hat?

Anyone?

Anyone?


And if the hatch on the turret is fused... how do you give it a PMHS? Have GW released a kit that actually regresses the way you use accessories? You can now do less with it?

It's not just the hat that is awesome, it just caught my eye while giving it a quick once over.

And the fused turret has got the ability to have pintle mounted weapons, it's exactly the same as the old one, just fused and chunkier. =]

The new hat looks okay, too bad it's attached to a horrible gasmask.

Yeah, that gas mask doesn't really go with the hat . . . but it does make sense for a tank commander to wear one, protect him from all the fumes and such. But it is pretty much the same as the masks off the command squad sprues . . . it just doesn't look as cool when added to that hat . . .

My opinion?

New Hellhound Kit = Slaaneshi Banewolf

Are 40mm bases Terminator sized ones? and 60 = MC / hvy weapon team?

I love the idea of the 'fused' hatch. Guard Tank Crew are crew for life - once they get in, they never get out.

LunaHound wrote:Are 40mm bases Terminator sized ones? and 60 = MC / hvy weapon team?

Yup. A pretty good deal actually. Saved me the bother of getting three useless base bags.

I quite like the new Hellhound and Demolisher kits after having a close look at the sprues. The fact that there are only 2 sprues for each model is very impressive when compared to the older kits, especially given all the new variant parts on the sprues.

What's not impressive is the price. Much like the Empire Greatswords, it at least appears that GW is really pushing the limit on what customers will pay for these. There have been times in the past when GW found a cheaper way to produce a kit that the price was seriously rolled back (e.g., plastic Chaos Knights in 2008, the original plastic regiment boxes in the last decade, etc.) to encourage volume buying from customers. However, at other times such reductions in production costs have been used to simply boost profit margin on a kit. This would appear to be one of those times that the chest thumping and testosterone won the debate in the marketing meeting where pricing was established for these kits. The new Hellhound and Demolisher kits are great, but at near $50 US per model and given the current state of the economy, these will likely not sell in huge quantities quickly upon release. If volume of sales is what GW wants, these should have been at least $10 per kit cheaper.

$50 per tank? Yikey crikey.

Frazzled wrote:$50 per tank? Yikey crikey.

Yes, they're only a mere $49.50 per kit. I guess that was so they could say in their marketing that they are under $50. Ouch.

BrassScorpion wrote:This would appear to be one of those times that the chest thumping and testosterone won the debate in the marketing meeting where pricing was established for these kits.

Just to clarify, pounding one's chest and having testosterone is a sign of wanting to increase price during meetings? Do fertility goddess statues and chanting usually denote a propensity to lower prices in favor of volume?

Man, corporate cultures sure can be different across companies!

:-P I agree with you though, I think they would have been wise to drop the price a bit an help fuel the "Gotta build them all!" frenzy that offering 6+ variants with a max of 9 individual tanks in your army leads to. At ~32$ per tank (at intarwebz discounts) I can easily see most people deciding it is better to just own 12 rather than worry about magnetizing all sorts of options, at least if they entertain the notion of Apocalypse games periodically. 384$ vs. 600$ (or 480$) is a bit easier to swallow, especially in small amounts of tanks at a time. At least for me, low 30's is still impulse buy territory when it comes to vehicles.

Just to clarify, pounding one's chest and having testosterone is a sign of wanting to increase price during meetings?

Absolutely. These are metaphors I got from people who have actually sat in those meetings. There are often heated debates about which way to go on pricing new products and unfortunately for consumers and sometimes GW, the headstrong "alpha males" who believe they can charge whatever they want and get it often win those debates.

Heh, around here the kits are cheaper than their predecessors thankfully.

Well the before mentioned Chaos Knights caused a loss on the part of GW, this is due to the fact that too few people bought it, and not enough money was made in the release period. So GW has learned from their mistakes, hence the only minor decrease in price of Greatswords (which are cheaper AND better than the metal ones), so again why would GW sell the new LR at a cheaper price than the existing one? It's got more guns, and it's a better build than the existing one . . . so it's better, why sell it cheaper?

For me the Russ price is not as out of line as the Hell Hound kit. That should be in the 41.25 price class.

Aren't they both the same price as the current ones? And aren't they both better than the current ones? So aren't you getting a better kit for your money? Just trying to see where the downside is here . . .

I've seen both kits assembled and painted at the Amsterdam store, nothing wrong with them, it just shows that the witches over at the Studio can't properly build the showroom models.

I just saw both the new Hellhound and the NEw Leman Russ assembled, as well as the sprues.

They're nice. I'm probably going to pick Imperial Guard for my next army.

I mentioned the Hellhound pricing on its own thread. It just annoys me that GW is giving little to no incentive to buy or use one over the Valkyrie (Both cost and gameplay use). Its a shame as it is a classic IG tank.

Oshova wrote:Well the before mentioned Chaos Knights caused a loss on the part of GW, this is due to the fact that too few people bought it, and not enough money was made in the release period. So GW has learned from their mistakes, hence the only minor decrease in price of Greatswords (which are cheaper AND better than the metal ones), so again why would GW sell the new LR at a cheaper price than the existing one? It's got more guns, and it's a better build than the existing one . . . so it's better, why sell it cheaper?

Because more people will want to buy it if it's better and cheaper.

And the reason why no one bought Chaos knights is because GW probably keeps fething up Chaos with every new codex/army book and making people not want to play them.

I actually built store display kits of the Devil Dog, Punisher and Executioner this weekend for one of my local GW stores. I have to say that the quality of the kits is excellent and the parts go together well and quickly. Track assembly took a fraction of the time it takes with the older kits. They are fun, excellent looking models. The new rear area detail on the Hellhound kit is especially good, with four large drums of main weapon fuel, hose details, etc. I'm sure I'll buy at least one of each. If they weren't quite so expensive I probably would have bought three of each already on advance order. Release date is August 1.

Oshova wrote:Well the before mentioned Chaos Knights caused a loss on the part of GW, this is due to the fact that too few people bought it, and not enough money was made in the release period. So GW has learned from their mistakes, hence the only minor decrease in price of Greatswords (which are cheaper AND better than the metal ones)

Yeah... that's not a valid excuse at all.

Empire State Troops (10 plastic models) = AUD$35
Empire Handgunners (10 plastic models) = AUD$35
Empire Free Company (20 plastic models) = AUD$50
Empire Great Swords (10 plastic models) = AUD$69

Umm... what??? Twice the price for an equal amount of plastic models? Are you gaking me?

Don't worry Commissar Calgar, we have cheaper alternatives.

With these cheap online stores, Empire Greatswords are only $45 AUD. Not bad at all. If only there were more stores like this.

Shut up Lemontank! We don't need more of that.

H.B.M.C. wrote:

Oshova wrote:Well the before mentioned Chaos Knights caused a loss on the part of GW, this is due to the fact that too few people bought it, and not enough money was made in the release period. So GW has learned from their mistakes, hence the only minor decrease in price of Greatswords (which are cheaper AND better than the metal ones)

Yeah... that's not a valid excuse at all.

Empire State Troops (10 plastic models) = AUD$35
Empire Handgunners (10 plastic models) = AUD$35
Empire Free Company (20 plastic models) = AUD$50
Empire Great Swords (10 plastic models) = AUD$69

Umm... what??? Twice the price for an equal amount of plastic models? Are you gaking me?

OK so yes they're twice as expensive, but they're not going to sell as many of them, they are better quality models, and are a lot nicer. If GW were to sell them at the decreased price of Core troops then they wouldn't make enough profit on them. They are a Special choice for the army, that means you only need 2 or 3 choices! Let alonce 2 or 3 boxes of Greatswords. Whereas Core troops you need much more of them. Supply and demand are key factors to pricing.

Damn.....

There goes my Battlecannon.....

Well at least I can have my Executioners!