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Still seeing lots of play in our club, both systems, with more people switching from 40k 6th to WHFB 8th for the superior rules. 40k is a lot of fun first, but gets really shallow soon as power level is almost solely defined by your codex and not you as a player. This is better in WHFB. Not to mention that 7th looks absolutely horrible so far.

We're doing a lot of ground work thoughm with us organizing at least 1 tournament with 30+ participants per month along with regular WHFB training for big tournaments.

Our club is attractive for young bloods because we have lots of armies, ready to be played, and have all rule books available...digitally...for every member. We got one physical copy for the entire club and some buy their own ones as well. Most of us, however, don't own an actual copy of the rules. We highly support second-hand purchases and 1 time per month, we host an event that is specifically aimed at refurbishing old models, paint-stripping etc. to further support the idea of second-hand purchases.

We keep the game alive because we spend a lot of time on it. GW is not doing anything, at all, in the contrary, they have no idea what they're doing. We need a kickstarter to hire totally-not-Blackwater to do some work

A lot of us are already multi-gaming now, however, mostly Flames of War and WM/H. Far superior rules are very attractive to former 40k / WHFB veterans. As soon as the shiny effect wears off, GW systems have nothing to offer. FoW and WM/H, however, offer a high competition of pure skill.

Alive and kicking at my LGS. 40k sales are a little slower as people are now using the price increases as an excuse to buy less and paint more but yeah, it's still going really strong. Fantasy has kind of a wierd eb and flow. There are months/years where it's actually more popular than 40k (as in all 15 tables filled with a waiting list) and times when there's not a game of it to be had at all. Warmahordes was very strong years ago, but has mostly been relagated to the "please buy me" discount bin.

I think in terms of 40k, the real key has been that the group has been very reasonable about things like Stronghold/Escalation/data slates, etc. We have enough players that if you want to run something like a Lord of War or a string Data slate someone can probably accomdate you, but if there's no one there that night to do it people have generally been fine with reworking their list. Cooperation is the key. Imagine that. lol

 Accolade wrote:
So I looked to the Hobbit. I had always thought the Lord of the Rings models were decent, and maybe with the release of these new movies the LOTR scene would be somewhat regenerated. But I started looking into the pricing and GOOD GOD, GW must have switched to making the models individually out of hand-crafted porcelain or something, the costs (for most things) were outrageous! $75 for FOUR CHARACTERS? Are you ing kidding me!?!

Agredd, I'm semi-ashamed to say I'm a total mooch with LOTR...I don't own any models. I have bought my collector friend like 2 or 3 models as gifts over the years, but nothing for my own...we play with his stuff. Still, he's happy to play, and so am I.

40k isn't so much better though...4 Tyrnat Guards cost $70. Both games have left behind any sense of decency when it comes to price.

40k does ok at my FLGS we still have a group that play it, however most of us have started wandering into more skirmish games and enjoying them more than we do with 40k.

Magic, D&D, and comic-book-collecting are massively popular and even given respect by the non-gaming-culture segments of where I live. Warmachine and X-Wing are evergrowing and steady. Warhammer 40k maintains a presence mostly because it's been here in the past, there's a few obsessed people who spend their paychecks on 40k, and not everyone is willing to retire their army. Fantasy and Lord of the Rings/Hobbit are nonexistant.

Both FLGs in town stopped stocking GW products around 6-7 years ago. The owners felt the margins weren't worth the hassle of holding mandatory stock and dealing with GW sales reps, which also meant the end of their game tables. The gaming community has mostly switched to Magic, which is popular and well supported. Two years ago a GW opened in town which slowly brought some life back in to 40k but WFB never recovered. Community centers have closed in recent years, so it's hard for the gaming club to find permanent space to use.

 Antario wrote:
Both FLGs in town stopped stocking GW products around 6-7 years ago. The owners felt the margins weren't worth the hassle of holding mandatory stock and dealing with GW sales reps, which also meant the end of their game tables. The gaming community has mostly switched to Magic, which is popular and well supported. Two years ago a GW opened in town which slowly brought some life back in to 40k but WFB never recovered. Community centers have closed in recent years, so it's hard for the gaming club to find permanent space to use.

GW's direct purchase policies are very unfriendly and the distributors like Alliance only offer a 35% discount off of MSRP, and really don't have an incentive to keep GW products in so after the release, you may never be able to order it from them. Companies like WizKids and PP offer very good discounts to alliance, and other distributors and have no such policies like you must buy our entire line or display racks etc.

I guess the short answer is GW is not retailer friendly.

 Kain wrote:
I've never seen a game of Warmachine played in my life.

Its very different, and most notably the number of models are the biggest difference.

50pts is, iirc, typical tournament level sized armies for WMH - for my trollbloods thats around ~20-30 models depending on which i bring. Its played on a 4by4 instead of a 6by4, and pretty much every "warlord" model is a freakin badass spellcaster and in many cases an insane melee guy too - just you usually lose if he dies so you cant just throw him away.
I like to compare it to chess, in a way. I am by no means a pro chess player, in fact i suck lol, but usually if i win chess its because my opponent got cocky and i got his king despite having half the pieces or less. I won my first 3 WMH games because my opponent was all "Bah, new guy this'll be easy" and i sniped their warlock before they got mine lol. Positional play is huge in it.

Also the turn system is different. Each model moves, attacks, or throws spells/ranged weapons one at a time, rather than everybody moves, everybody shoots like WH40k.

And, unlike 40k, moving models around offensively is commonly done. In fact, the big Warjacks/Beasts have rules for throwing models lol.

 Happyjew wrote:
For me there is a cycle. During the summer months it dies down quite a bit, to where maybe 4 or 5 people show up. Then towards winter, attendance starts picking back up and more people show up. For most of us, Warhammer is not our main source of fun, is more of something to do when we got nothing else.

You must live up north.

I see the same thing, but for all games, not just 40k/WFB. When it's nice out it's hard to get the kids to stay indoors, you know?

Why.... yes it is! Dead as a door nail.

 MeanGreenStompa wrote:

 necrovamp wrote:

Maybe because the player base is shrinking it's forcing GW to put up their prices. As less people buy their stuff, so their profit goes down, increase the price and you get to stay around your profit margin (maybe)

Or perhaps the player base is shrinking because the buy-in to start the game has become so expensive that it is no longer attracting new blood... ?

We are seeing fewer and fewer new players entering the games systems, the prices also see old players putting the stuff down and looking for something else and then? Ever decreasing circles, ever decreasing player bases, those willing to remain and stomach the prices can't get games and throw in the towel to go play new systems with their already left mates...

We are privy to the sales figures for GW, whilst price has climbed steeply over the years, we have not seen a matching rise in sales and of late, seen little to no growth. That means a shrinking sales base.

That's really not good. So, perhaps, maybe, GW might look at holding prices level or even lowering them... But that would mean admitting something about their current tactic, and that seems to be a difficult option for a company with such a bullish public persona.

You have a point, reinforced by Jonolikespie telling us that the price rise came before players dropped out in Austrailia.

Are people selling all their models though? Because even a person stopped buying into the game they still have their collection they can sue to game with?

40k appears strong in my current locale, but it's probably the biggest game store I've seen in my travels. Malifaux, Infinity, and Warmachine also thrive. Some older crowd plays some more obscure games.

Previous locale was seeing Warmachine and Infinity uptick. A lot of game store flux probably unrelated to Wargamers, but the ones left didn't really seem pro-GW. The local GW store is probably the best one I've been too and the manager is awesome.

The locale before that is dead.

I'll be around my college area today. Maybe see what the trends are, but there have been game store flux too.

Ours was (Recently doomed) was a bit like a round about. Everyone played warmahordes for a while, most got bored. People played x wing for a few months, got bored. People playing infinity is now dropping, Bolt action is current biggie. While those other games are occasionally still played it's hard to find a game in.

While 40k is up and down, other than the current flavor it's the only enduring game played by many. I just play 40k because it works out cheaper than picking up the next big thing (Sort of. I have some Darklands and one of the CMON KS's awaiting, but that was mainly pretty models, gaming systems look like they will also lack longevity)..


Thing people don't realize : It's possible to invest in and play more that one game. :Shock:

My local shop is a Colpar Hobbies, It usually has three packed 4x4 tables, the average age of the players is Sub-15 years old, so I am the ancient guy there. would like to find a gaming group i can drink a beer with after.