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I received my latest WD copy (last on subscription which I am not renewing) and was struck by a couple of oddities.

1: Almost complete lack of necron related material. A few pages for necron vs BT campaign the month after a major codex rewrite.
In the olden days when GW marketing made sense there would be a trickle on of releases and articles to continue the interest over a 3 month arc, obviously lessening each month as new releases push it down the list of priorities. If I hadn't read last month's WD or read forums I'd have almost no idea necrons had been released.

2: The mangler squig.... No shots of the model placed in a way that scale can be gauged, no article on it. It already has a bad wrap for being an overcosted, fugly model that is too big. Nothing GW has done has helped dissuade that notion.

3: Dreadfleet supplement. The only recent release comparable was Space Hulk and they didn't need supplements because it sold out. Which indicates that they still have significant stock of the game sitting there.

The oddest thing I have found about it is that it was a half decent read. Minimal back handed sales articles, a real mix if stuff in there.

I think that the editorial might highlight the reasoning for it as the ED indicates that they wanted the have a wrap up of all the realeases this year adding a little to each one. Added to that we have the big reveal on Badlands which take centre stage.

Waaagh_Gonads wrote:It already has a bad wrap for being an overcosted, fugly model that is too big.

Huh? I've seen griping about it being overcosted (which is fair, it's reaching Archaon levels of hilarity in its pricing), but there's nothing wrong with the sculpt, and the height hardly matters in Fantasy.

Well I love Squigs and I think the Mangler looks pants, so you can count that as '1 Against' Loki.

I also love squigs and am remarkably unimpressed by that model.

-Loki- wrote:

Waaagh_Gonads wrote:It already has a bad wrap for being an overcosted, fugly model that is too big.

Huh? I've seen griping about it being overcosted (which is fair, it's reaching Archaon levels of hilarity in its pricing), but there's nothing wrong with the sculpt, and the height hardly matters in Fantasy.

Except that with TLOS a model that in the latest battle report is taller than the model for an orc warlord on wyvern is going to stick out pretty badly and attract all sorts of warmachines, missile fire and magic.

I'm certainly sticking with my scratchbuilt ones.

I love squigs too, especially cuddly ones. But why in the name of snuggle bunny is it as expensive as an arachnarok? This is one example of a time when the people who complain about finecast have a point.

CuddlySquig wrote:I love squigs too, especially cuddly ones. But why in the name of snuggle bunny is it as expensive as an arachnarok? This is one example of a time when the people who complain about finecast have a point.

They had a point the moment GW priced Archaon as expensive as an Arachnorok.

Archaon's a bit cheaper than an arachnorok.

Waaagh_Gonads wrote:
3: Dreadfleet supplement. The only recent release comparable was Space Hulk and they didn't need supplements because it sold out. Which indicates that they still have significant stock of the game sitting there.

Maybe the reason there are so many copies still sitting there is that the people that wanted a sea battles game already have had them. Not to knock too hard on GW, I'm sure they thought that like Space Hulk this was something that would be wanted. And it was...a few years ago. So many great specialist games to choose from to rerelease a core box, and they chose to not do that, their own fault.

I don't see what is wrong with the mangler squigs... They look like squigs to me, just bigger and night gobbos on them.

Not seeing the issue with them.

derek wrote:

Waaagh_Gonads wrote:
3: Dreadfleet supplement. The only recent release comparable was Space Hulk and they didn't need supplements because it sold out. Which indicates that they still have significant stock of the game sitting there.

Maybe the reason there are so many copies still sitting there is that the people that wanted a sea battles game already have had them. Not to knock too hard on GW, I'm sure they thought that like Space Hulk this was something that would be wanted. And it was...a few years ago. So many great specialist games to choose from to rerelease a core box, and they chose to not do that, their own fault.

Just as space hulk was a revival of space hulk, dreadfleet was kind of a revival of man-o-war. But space hulk had a much bigger impact than the other, so the newer space hulk did better. Plus space hulk had really cool miniatures.

CuddlySquig wrote:Archaon's a bit cheaper than an arachnorok.

Well yeah, a bit cheaper. $83au/$49.50us for a single cavalry model is ridiculous. But it's gone past insultingly ridiculous all the way to hilariously ridiculous.

Waaagh_Gonads wrote:3: Dreadfleet supplement. The only recent release comparable was Space Hulk and they didn't need supplements because it sold out. Which indicates that they still have significant stock of the game sitting there.

Everytime I heard something like this I wonder why GW did not go for a spring release with Pirates of the Caribean fresh, it´s not like it was a secretive launch. Dread fleet came 6 months to late and did not have the same relationship that Space Hulk had with the parent game.

M.

CuddlySquig wrote:Just as space hulk was a revival of space hulk, dreadfleet was kind of a revival of man-o-war. But space hulk had a much bigger impact than the other, so the newer space hulk did better. Plus space hulk had really cool miniatures.

Apart from the boats Dreadfleet bears little resemblance to Man o' War, it's not really like anything actually.

They should have released Warhammer Quest - money in the bank.

Dread fleet still not moving at my local GW store.

Howard A Treesong wrote:They should have released Warhammer Quest

I'd have bought 2

Howard A Treesong wrote:

CuddlySquig wrote:Just as space hulk was a revival of space hulk, dreadfleet was kind of a revival of man-o-war. But space hulk had a much bigger impact than the other, so the newer space hulk did better. Plus space hulk had really cool miniatures.

Apart from the boats Dreadfleet bears little resemblance to Man o' War, it's not really like anything actually.

They should have released Warhammer Quest - money in the bank.

Quoted for truth...

Warhammer quest was an awesome game, as was heroquest and its expansions (never played advanced heroquest), Space Crusade, Advanced Space Crusade.
So many quick and easy to release options over what they did for Dreadfleet.
I bought 2 copies space hulk thorugh glassy eyed nostalgia. I'd do the same for all the others listed above.
I skipped on Dreadfleet.

Looking at the mangler squig... I don't even...

~Ghost

When I saw there was a Dreadfleet supplement I kinda assumed it was a couple of extra missions to add into the campaign, which would have been a nice addition (not that I own DF). I was... dissapointed that it was just a very basic pamphlet with a couple of very simple battle reports in... opportunity lost there that might have actually sold a few more copies of their remaining stock.

endtransmission wrote:When I saw there was a Dreadfleet supplement I kinda assumed it was a couple of extra missions to add into the campaign, which would have been a nice addition (not that I own DF). I was... dissapointed that it was just a very basic pamphlet with a couple of very simple battle reports in... opportunity lost there that might have actually sold a few more copies of their remaining stock.

Phew!

I was sitting here thinking that I had chucked a dreadfleet addition out without looking at it! I just assumed to be sales bumpf! Glad you confirmed that mate or I might have gone and bought another WD.

Was posted on the GW site t'other day.

http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m2010089a_Beyond_the_Maelstrom

just FYI.

They realised the book failed, so now are giving you a DIY I have to say, let it sink already...let it die...

Howard A Treesong wrote:

CuddlySquig wrote:Just as space hulk was a revival of space hulk, dreadfleet was kind of a revival of man-o-war. But space hulk had a much bigger impact than the other, so the newer space hulk did better. Plus space hulk had really cool miniatures.

Apart from the boats Dreadfleet bears little resemblance to Man o' War, it's not really like anything actually.

They should have released Warhammer Quest - money in the bank.

Everybody said that Dreadfleet would flop when it was released and it did.

Releasing something that would have actually made them money like Warhammer Quest or a revamped Bloodbowl would be the smart thing to do and GW and smart aren't exactly on best of terms right now...

I'm thinking that after the Space Hulk success they thought that any boxed game that they released marked as "Limited Edition" would enjoy a similar success... GW proves that it doesn't understand its own customer base yet again, its only been what? 15 years on my part, I would hope that they would have known me a bit better after all this time!

-Loki- wrote:

CuddlySquig wrote:Archaon's a bit cheaper than an arachnorok.

Well yeah, a bit cheaper. $83au/$49.50us for a single cavalry model is ridiculous. But it's gone past insultingly ridiculous all the way to hilariously ridiculous.

I'm not going to moan about GW pricing for two reasons:

1. I stopped buying official models after the spring 2010 increase.
2. I would still buy an awesome model like a Tau Orca or something.

In other words, GW aren't making things at the moment that I find to be "must have", that's just my taste.

That said, when you can buy an entire 15mm ancients army for $50, it seems extraordinary to pay the same price for a single 28mm cavalry model.

To be fair not selling everything in the first month does not a flop make.

Re understanding their customers, when they stop spamming out Marines then I will agree with you.

PhantomViper wrote:Everybody said that Dreadfleet would flop when it was released and it did.

Releasing something that would have actually made them money like Warhammer Quest or a revamped Bloodbowl would be the smart thing to do and GW and smart aren't exactly on best of terms right now...

Well we don't know it's a flop, only that it hasn't flown off the shelves like Space Hulk.

It is a sign that GW don't understand the market they are selling to, it really doesn't. From Space Hulk they seem to have drawn the conclusion that people want to buy single Limited Edition releases, so they cooked up a new game like Dreadfleet thinking it would sell just like Space Hulk. The obvious mistake here is that Space Hulk was bought heavily on nostalgia value, that's why it sold, many of those buying it already had the previous editions and had encouraged others to get the new one. Dreadfleet doesn't benefit from that. Warhammer Quest would have however.

Howard A Treesong wrote:
Well we don't know it's a flop, only that it hasn't flown off the shelves like Space Hulk.

I can't speak for the rest of the world, but over here in the middle of PIG country, the game is just sitting on the shelves, the GW promotion hype has passed and no one is playing it on the stores, making it increasingly dificult to sell the copies that are left, so...

Last time I was at the GWs I visit, one had four copies and Warhammer World had 14.
It ain't selling.

Howard A Treesong wrote:

The obvious mistake here is that Space Hulk was bought heavily on nostalgia value, that's why it sold, many of those buying it already had the previous editions and had encouraged others to get the new one.

That, coupled with the fact the the Space Hulk mini's were usable within a separate enviroment (i.e. 40K) creating an additional market / sales + people who simply wanted to paint some gorgeous sculpts

Dreadfleet certainly seems to be bit of an OG (own goal for you non-footie types)