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Here is what I would do

1 Drop the Prices down to reasonable level plus Skullz return

2 Work with warlord games to Sort the "Warhammer Historical" Brand Out

3 Get the Studio back on track

4 Sort Licenses like FFG has out For third party companies E.G Chapter house and the like if GW's not gunna make it and they will, we all win

5 Social Media Blitz

6 Bring back the apparel

I was going to post a long list, but I arrived at two conclusions:

1) Most of the stuff has already been covered
2) I think selling out is the best strategy now as GW is a bit over the cliff and I think they need complete overhaul before they will get back in the good graces of many players and gaming stores.

Hire an outside company to do a Failure/Cause study, then fire those accountable.

If possible sue the damaging parties.

Find out who was responsible for the suit against Chapterhouse.

Fire them.

And since in both those cases it would be for cause... good luck to them trying to sue over being fired.

The Auld Grump

 insaniak wrote:
The proposed small skirmish game isn't the end. It's the means. Small 'all in one box' games serve as the gateway drug to get people into the hobby. Once they're in, you start enticing them in further with the 'good' stuff.

What I would do:

I found myself nodding as I read insaniak's response--found myself agreeing pretty much 100%.

On a related note, my pet gripe with GW is that it once had a fantastic "channelling approach" working for them.

At 28mm, 40K was, with it's small-scale, squad-level focus, the perfect "gateway drug".

They later introduced the 6mm Space Marine, which was great for those of us who wanted a new challenge. "Bored of 40K? Have you tried Space Marine?" The 6mm game allowed us to take the battle to a larger scale, but with a ruleset that catered much better to massive conflicts than does the 28mm scale.

They even introduced the Battle for Armageddon boardgame, which while a solid boardgame in its own right, was even better as a campaign system for either 40K or Epic.

And let's not forget BFG, which allowed you to explore the universe of 40K from an entirely different perspective.

These other "channels" have now gone, leaving only 40K and a few expansions on the 40K rules that, to my thinking, don't really fill the void left my those other channels. Apocalypse, for example, really wasn't streamlined enough or focussed enough (in my opinion) to enable massive conflicts, and as such wasn't a good substitute for Epic.

I realise there are many here who will disagree with my assessment, but I think GW suffers greatly now from offering less variety to gamers.

 GR00V3R wrote:
I realise there are many here who will disagree with my assessment, but I think GW suffers greatly now from offering less variety to gamers.

Aside from the most determined white knight, I don't think there's anyone who will disagree with you.

Offering updated miniature ranges in Epic, 40k and Battlefleet Gothic, introducing a skirmish level game and readjusting 40k down to platoon level, then offering a campaign system to link all four would be a fantastic move.

I feel like I'm just repeating what has been said but the more people see it the better it sounds I guess.

1. Before a new edition/codex comes out have the community test it either by sending it to FLGs or events. This will fix many of the balance issues and to see if any rules are confusing so we won't have to pause a game to debate on a rule.

2. Price drop on models. This will help in the long term because I think people will make more armies and this will get new players since it won't cost them so much to get into the hobby.

3. If dropping the price on models is impossible have gifts/benefits for spending so much and don't limit it to certain items. Maybe have a few sales on items once in awhile. I see this getting more people into the hobby and older players building more to their armies or starting another one.

4. Also, SHIRTS plus other items! I really want this shirt but you can only get it at that event.
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/Images/FW/Events/openday2014/iron-hands-t.jpg

Those are some of the few things I would do. I think one main issue GW has is that they are cutting out potential customers due to their prices/marketing. You might have someone who loves the lore of 40k but then sees the price to start and army.

They have backed themselves into a corner where cutting prices would just make their situation worse. It takes time for a price increase to pay off. They are not making decisions based on 5 years from now. They are making decisions based on the next half year report so that shareholders don't dump them and the fat cats on the board can keep cashing their dividend checks. This is one of the issues with the company being publicly traded.

GW needs a major crash or disruption to force them to re-evaluate. Nothing that would make them go under (as they would probably take the rest of the hobby with them), but a big enough hit that forces them to think about what they do.

With that in mind, here's what I would do:

PRICES. It's what matters more then anything else; GW could probably survive many of their other poor decisions if they hadn't messed this up. In my heart of hearts, I would like to see an across-the-board price cut, sales, packages that are actually deals, and good point-of-entry products. I also worry that people who have been buying at the current prices will feel screwed if that happens. So, at a minimum, an across-the-board price freeze.
I think one approach would be to do a whole line of "easy-fit", snap kits for common models for all the factions, priced at an easier level. These snap-kits would cover the low end, just as Forge World captures the high-end power modelers who want something baller and have the money to spend on it.


ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY -- but be careful about the trolls. (Social media is the big buzzword, but social media campaigns are easy to hijack and go horribly wrong #redskinspride.) Any attempt to open up to the community is going to come with an enormous amount of hate and trolling, and a lot of it is unmerited (Matt Ward probably does not deserve death threats for what you think is bad fluff in a codex.) I still think they should do it, though, as GW is so aloof and quiet it just begs to be hated. Even something as simple as a more transparent release schedule could go a long way.

WHAT's DEAL WITH RETAIL? Seriously, why does GW have a retail arm at this point? Ten, even five, years ago the model of having a large store which would serve as a community hub made sense. I suspect a lot of people on these boards got into the hobby because of a demo with a GW employee.
Now, GW has decided that that is too expensive, and they don't want to be in that business, which is all well and good. But the one man stores serve...what purpose exactly? They can't host a large event, they have weird hours, the poor manager is always overworked...and GW stores are getting a bad rep. I don't think GW can afford to go back to the 'big store' model, so at this point it needs to question whether its retail business is worth the cost.
A corollary of this, of course, is that they stop slotting off independent retailers, including online retailers.

A NOTE ON RULES. I used to think that the cost of rules and codices was a relatively minor expensive to play the game compared to all the models, paints, cases, etc. that you needed. I also feel like releasing a dataslate or supplementary codex near-simultaneously with a "regular" codex feels like double-dipping (what, all the Space Wolves models that are out now are NOT in the Space Wolves codex?) Rules should be cheaper, and more accessible.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. One of GW's greatest strengths is that it has an iconic, unique, and memorable IP in Warhammer 40k (Fantasy less so), and they could definitely do more to leverage it. Looking at the earnings statement, it's clear that THQ's implosion and the loss of revenue from Dawn of War and other games really hurt them. Making good Warhammer games (not shovelware for mobile games.) would help a lot with Warhammer's broader reach, brand, and the bottom line. (I have high hopes that the Creative Assembly-designed WHFB game will come through and be awesome.)

I agree with Harakiri on a few points, especially merchandise. GW could just allow a 3rd party company to create everything for them.

Get someone to completely revamp the GW personality. Every shop owner I talk to seems upset of jaded by working with GW.

Keep up this release schedule as is. We are seeing GW release books at a new speed, we also recently had an amazing box set. Might be a hint of new things to come.

 -Loki- wrote:

 GR00V3R wrote:
I realise there are many here who will disagree with my assessment, but I think GW suffers greatly now from offering less variety to gamers.

Aside from the most determined white knight, I don't think there's anyone who will disagree with you.

Offering updated miniature ranges in Epic, 40k and Battlefleet Gothic, introducing a skirmish level game and readjusting 40k down to platoon level, then offering a campaign system to link all four would be a fantastic move.

QFT, I've wanted to get into BFG for bloody ages now. Do you know why I can't? Because GW don't do the models any more. I don't want to pay the silly 'OOP' prices on Ebay. I've got the money for a 40K fleet game, but it appears they don't want my money. So I bought some Firestorm Armada ones as proxies. If they released BFG and a neat little platoon level game, I'd be all over it like me on a plate of chips.

ComTrav wrote:
GW needs a major crash or disruption to force them to re-evaluate. Nothing that would make them go under (as they would probably take the rest of the hobby with them), but a big enough hit that forces them to think about what they do.

People used to say the same about TSR - gone for how long, now?

And as GW pulls back to become more and more its own sole means of sales and distribution... GW going under will matter less and less.

They are treating the Local Games Stores as competition, instead of as a means to sell product.

Dictating terms that a number of game stores found unpalatable enough that they spat GW right out of their stores.

And GW is surprised that sales through independent retailers is in decline?

Though I do not entirely disagree - an industry within the industry exists solely to add value to GW's properties - Victoria Lamb, Kromlech, Chapterhouse... and GW's response was what was supposed to be the first of many lawsuits against those 3rd parties supporting their company.

Those lawsuits were stopped, not by common sense, but rather because that first lawsuit met with unexpected resistance - and because their target received incredible pro bono support from the legal community.

Accepting the 3rd party and aftermarket companies would be a major first step that GW could take on turning around - some of those companies do more advertising than GW... despite being much, much smaller.

The Auld Grump

How would I turn around GW? I wouldn't.

In my opinion, there is no turning back now. They've passed the point where they can turn the ship around on their own. Let it run aground and salvage the important parts from the wreck.

If I were the sort of "angel investor" that GW needs, the kind that saved D&D from death, I'd be watching this downward spiral like a hawk, waiting for a chance to swoop in and acquire the valuable bits from amongst the mess. Most of it isn't worth saving: the incompetent design studio that created an unfix-able game, the doubly-incompetent management that drove the whole company into the rocks, even the manufacturing facility that is pitifully outdated compared to those used for Gunpla kits. The only thing of value is the IP, and even that's debatable.

With the IP secured, I'd set about rebuilding a new company from the ground up. New studio, new management, everything. Secure the manufacturing capabilities to actually make the "best miniatures in the world." Introduce a new crop of games at varying buy-in prices, fine-tuned through public beta. How many of us wouldn't jump at the chance to test a new edition before it launched and give feedback?

Above all, reengage with the fanbase. "The Warhammer worlds you love, without the company you hate!" will only get you so far. Sponsoring events, encouraging creativity, and rebuilding the community would go a long way to demonstrating to customers that they are valued, unlike the current state of affairs.

I think Warhammer and Warhammer 40K can survive, but only without Games Workshop pulling them down.

If people are gonna rebuild GW, I guess they should take a page from the new DnD 5th Edition. WotC released DnD 4th Ed. and most of the players of 3/3.5 hated it and the game died slowly. With the new 5th ed., WotC spent years playtesting (with constant input from the community with what they want and what they want changed/kept the same). They let the community help with how it should be molded (mostly letting players playtest the materials). Now, only the basic rules are available but from what I can see it is what a huge chunk of the community wants.

If GW's gonna relaunch everything that is the minimum of what they have to do.

 heartserenade wrote:
If people are gonna rebuild GW, I guess they should take a page from the new DnD 5th Edition. WotC released DnD 4th Ed. and most of the players of 3/3.5 hated it and the game died slowly. With the new 5th ed., WotC spent years playtesting (with constant input from the community with what they want and what they want changed/kept the same). They let the community help with how it should be molded (mostly letting players playtest the materials). Now, only the basic rules are available but from what I can see it is what a huge chunk of the community wants.

If GW's gonna relaunch everything that is the minimum of what they have to do.

Ironically, WotC borrowed the approach that they took for 5e from Paizo - who had taken over the lead in the RPG market by updating the 3.5 rules instead of throwing twenty plus years of experience out the window.

Which means that WotC learned from their own mistakes and paid attention to what their competition was doing right.

And they did a ton of market research on 5th - which was notably lacking for 4th. (They were still denying that 4th edition was in the works the week before they announced the upcoming release of 4e.... Turns out that customers don't like being lied to.)

For a brief time WotC was making many of the same mistakes as GW - but they took note of falling sales, and are turning the Titanic around.

*EDIT* To be fair to WotC, much of the change was caused by Hasbro altering the terms of what lines would receive support - and D&D looked like it might be marginalized.

The Auld Grump

Exactly. That's what GW needs first and foremost: admit that they made mistakes and learn from them. Without that, anything they do is meaningless.

My math might be a little off, so if someone wants to double check my numbers please.

A lot of people say GW needs to lower prices and they will make more money. Let's look at some numbers I made up. Lets assume a unit retails for $100. GW sells this to Independent stores for $60, and it cost GW $15 to manufacturer*.

GW makes $45 per unit and the retail store makes $40.

Now, lets say GW drops the retail price of that unit 25%, and they drop the wholesale price by 25% as well. The Retail price is now $75, GW sales to the independent stores for $45, and both make $30 on the sale of the unit.

One last assumption, lets assume in the prior year both sold 100 units under the old price. With the new unit the independent store needs to increase sales of units by 33% and GW needs to see an increase of 50% just to make the same profit.

* - This includes fixed and variable cost and R&D.

I'm not sure why it's so hard for people to understand that lowering prices is not a magic button you can push to fix everything. With the way they've alienated the customer base, a 20% price drop is not going to make the people that left come back. Without marketing, it will hurt more than it helps. If they do decide to start advertising, that's a large cost to take on and they won't be able to lower prices. GW have backed themselves into a corner where they've nearly priced themselves out of the market but lowering prices would accelerate the death spiral.

I was thinking earlier how awesome Warhammer World would be if they allowed the use of other systems. They could concievably have an event every weekend with minimal work, have plenty of space and good facilities so would be in pretty high demand.

They could even go the whole hog and sell other ranges too and turn it into a proper gaming mecca. Obviously they could keep the Warhammer theme and museum, but I'd totally go down for Malifaux or Historics weekenders.

Toofast wrote:
I'm not sure why it's so hard for people to understand that lowering prices is not a magic button you can push to fix everything. With the way they've alienated the customer base, a 20% price drop is not going to make the people that left come back. Without marketing, it will hurt more than it helps. If they do decide to start advertising, that's a large cost to take on and they won't be able to lower prices. GW have backed themselves into a corner where they've nearly priced themselves out of the market but lowering prices would accelerate the death spiral.

Because the current prices aren't working.

If they do not do something to increase actual sales then they will likely go out of business.

I think that they need to do a complete reboot - stop everything, rewrite and reprice the entire lines, and start over.

This will take time - during which they will not make any money.

So I do not see this happening.

Frankly, I do not see GW ever pulling out of this spiral - they may slow the collapse, but I do not see the company lasting all that much longer without a major effort in rebranding themselves.

And that will take a willingness to spend the needed time and money to get back into a competitive position.

No matter how much they preen and pose, they are not the Porsche of the wargaming world. I joke about them being the Yugo, but really, they are the Ford - middle class, and all over the place... but they are trying to sell to an upscale market with a product that just does not justify that position.

They are not a Porsche.

The Auld Grump

To be fair, I think Tom Kirby realized that GW plc was in a decline that he could not be bothered to correct since 2005.
And after about 2009, I think most people would struggle to turn GW around.

The only way to save GW plc would have been to use the success of the Hobbit, to effectively use GW plc licence to generate enough interest to get people engaged with GW plc again.
Eg re-create the LoTR marketing tie in/price points to get more people through the door.
Then actually invest the money from this in actual market research and adding value to the product range.
Eg better rules to improve game play experience, better box to unit ratio etc.

However, Tom Kirby seemed to think that pricing products effectively to engage new customers 'cheapened the brand ' too much.

And is intent on grabbing as much cash from GW plc as he can before he uses his golden parachute.(If he can off load £4 of his shares . with the proposed corporate share buy back' that may signal his swansong?)

The more I look into it the more I agree with TheAuldGrump.

Lanrak wrote:
To be fair, I think Tom Kirby realized that GW plc was in a decline that he could not be bothered to correct since 2005.
And after about 2009, I think most people would struggle to turn GW around.

The only way to save GW plc would have been to use the success of the Hobbit, to effectively use GW plc licence to generate enough interest to get people engaged with GW plc again.
Eg re-create the LoTR marketing tie in/price points to get more people through the door.
Then actually invest the money from this in actual market research and adding value to the product range.
Eg better rules to improve game play experience, better box to unit ratio etc.

However, Tom Kirby seemed to think that pricing products effectively to engage new customers 'cheapened the brand ' too much.

And is intent on grabbing as much cash from GW plc as he can before he uses his golden parachute.(If he can off load £4 of his shares . with the proposed corporate share buy back' that may signal his swansong?)

The more I look into it the more I agree with TheAuldGrump.

I think that between 2006 and 2011 or so Kirby was hoping that somebody would buy GW - lock, stock, and plasma core. And was positioning the company for just such a takeover.

I have heard that there were interested parties (including the often mentioned Hasbro).

But that they all left without expressing the kind of interest that would lead to a takeover, leaving GW in the position that Kirby had put it in.

The Auld Grump

 TheAuldGrump wrote:

Toofast wrote:
I'm not sure why it's so hard for people to understand that lowering prices is not a magic button you can push to fix everything. With the way they've alienated the customer base, a 20% price drop is not going to make the people that left come back. Without marketing, it will hurt more than it helps. If they do decide to start advertising, that's a large cost to take on and they won't be able to lower prices. GW have backed themselves into a corner where they've nearly priced themselves out of the market but lowering prices would accelerate the death spiral.

Because the current prices aren't working.

If they do not do something to increase actual sales then they will likely go out of business.

I think that they need to do a complete reboot - stop everything, rewrite and reprice the entire lines, and start over.

This will take time - during which they will not make any money.

So I do not see this happening.

Frankly, I do not see GW ever pulling out of this spiral - they may slow the collapse, but I do not see the company lasting all that much longer without a major effort in rebranding themselves.

And that will take a willingness to spend the needed time and money to get back into a competitive position.

No matter how much they preen and pose, they are not the Porsche of the wargaming world. I joke about them being the Yugo, but really, they are the Ford - middle class, and all over the place... but they are trying to sell to an upscale market with a product that just does not justify that position.

They are not a Porsche.

The Auld Grump

I agree with this. Games like 40k need a complete reboot to make them good games and competitive. At this stage though I have doubts that even if GW stopped everything to rewrite 40k that they would put the needed effort into it. To get back up making money quickly I could see them doing a short 'down tools' reboot that would result in a shoddy reboot. I just have to look at the tyranid 5th ed and 6th ed dexes/dataslates to see the level of shoddy work, lack of concern for customers and lack of desire to even do easy fixes to make a product much better. I see GW doing just enough to hopefully get by and hope that the die-hards sing the praises of GW and how they have done what we players wanted by fixing the game to give the company some more life and delay their demise. I do hope I'm wrong and they seriously revamp 40k but I think there needs to be a serious change in mentality at GW and that probably means staff changes or contracting the rules out to a competent game company.

I would completely rweplace the edition of rules and codexes for both 40K and Warhammer.

Fix it agnd get it balanced.

Balanced armies and rules that the two most important things GW needs to do, and are actually the cheapest to fix as it just involves replacing existing publications, not existing tooling.

With a properly balanced bs free editions of the two main games half of GW problems would go away in a single year.

This post just about covers it.

http://www.captureandcontrol.com/2013/02/how-to-fix-gw-in-four-easy-steps.html

How to turn GW around:

LOWER THE PRICES. Seriously they want to bring in new gamers, not push old ones away. I'm to the point where I flat refuse to order and GW items from the GW store. I amazon, Ebay, and local-shop search for discounts. If they concentrated on bringing people into the hobby without having to give blood to afford the models, they'd be in much better financial shape.

Kronk would have the 'Eavy Metal team paint 1 of every unit from FW and GW and send it to Kronk for evaluation. Maybe duplicates of Troop Choices as Kronk prefers Battle Forged Lists.

It seems like the real issue is not being able to hold on to existing customers and bring in new customers. These are separate issues that would need to be dealt with on their own.

The biggest obstacle for people to enter seems to be pricing. I see a lot of parents bringing their kids into my FLGS and walking away with 1 or 2 small boxes. This is very different from a few years ago, when they would buy a starter set, paints and other upgrades suggested by staff and hangers-on.

While that story is allegorical, it does speak to some of the things we have seen in recent financial reports. I suppose it's possible people are going away and buying online, it doesn't make sense that someone would pay full price online when they could get it at a 10% - 20% discount at a FLGS.

The biggest thing I hear complaints about from veterans is the new Codex format and the rules for various armies. The game is a lot more complex these days, with Lords of War, Fortifications, and other elements that don't really add up for the average player. Add to that the idea of 'tiered' Codexes, where there's a perception some armies are better than others, and you have a situation where some of the people loyal to the game have disincentives to want to purchase part of the model line.

So, were I to take over:

- Start a loyalty program, offer discounts based on multiple purchases. These would be available through the webstore and retail establishments, and would net people about 5% off over time.

- Reduce prices for troop and elite models. Give people a financial incentive to want to use these guys in their armies and expand the number of models you can sell. It's fine to have high priced generals and heavy support options so long as the troops are cheap.

- Adjust the rules through a FAQ. Let players officially decide if LoWs, Fortifications, etc, are allowed in each game. GWs rules need to be 100% crystal clear and eliminate ambiguity for the community to focus on having fun.

- Do a study around which units are not being used in each Codex and FAQ them until they work. This could be as simple as an online survey kept up over a 3 month period, with FAQ answers coming out each quarter. Get the community watching for it so they know 'things will get better.'

- Eliminate Supplements and other DLC-type stuff. Include this material as part of a White Dwarf subscription, like they did in the past. Supplements work against GWs model in that they are selective, you have to already have the army to want the supplement. It diminishes the opportunity for people to learn about cool things you can do with another army, which certainly affects sales with existing gamers. The Internet only says bad things and you don't want them controlling the message.

I suspect this would result in an revenue increase of around 5% in the first 6 months.

 techsoldaten wrote:
It's fine to have high priced generals and heavy support options so long as the troops are cheap.

It's really not. Models should be priced on practical design and production costs, not on their in-game role.

For less than the cost of one mono-pose, plastic space marine commander, you can get a box of three mono-pose, plastic Guild Riflemen, each of which are of equal or better quality. If you're not interested in Guild, there are dozens of other choices.

Even in their large kits, GW are overpriced. When I can get three of these for the cost of one riptide, or five for the price of one Imperial Knight, the issue really comes into focus. Especially considering that the kit I linked to is fully poseable and molded in full color.

The price of GW kits are really and truly inexcusable. This is why they're in such decline: excessive cost for kits that are average at best, sub-par at worst.

 Guildsman wrote:

 techsoldaten wrote:
It's fine to have high priced generals and heavy support options so long as the troops are cheap.

It's really not. Models should be priced on practical design and production costs, not on their in-game role.

I'm not saying it's right, I am saying it would be better business to sell the troops cheap. Let people pay higher prices for the other stuff to fill out their army.

 Guildsman wrote:
For less than the cost of one mono-pose, plastic space marine commander, you can get a box of three mono-pose, plastic Guild Riflemen, each of which are of equal or better quality. If you're not interested in Guild, there are dozens of other choices.

Even in their large kits, GW are overpriced. When I can get three of these for the cost of one riptide, or five for the price of one Imperial Knight, the issue really comes into focus. Especially considering that the kit I linked to is fully poseable and molded in full color.

The price of GW kits are really and truly inexcusable. This is why they're in such decline: excessive cost for kits that are average at best, sub-par at worst.

Think about the cost of a Lord of Skulls compared to Wraithguard. You get about 3 WG for the cost of a LoS. That equation seems unbalanced.

I agree, the prices are too damn high. If I was trying to correct the problem, where I would start is by making it cheaper to get into the hobby. If the average cost of an infantry model was around $2, I could see more people playing the game.

 Guildsman wrote:

 techsoldaten wrote:
It's fine to have high priced generals and heavy support options so long as the troops are cheap.

It's really not. Models should be priced on practical design and production costs, not on their in-game role.

For less than the cost of one mono-pose, plastic space marine commander, you can get a box of three mono-pose, plastic Guild Riflemen, each of which are of equal or better quality. If you're not interested in Guild, there are dozens of other choices.

Even in their large kits, GW are overpriced. When I can get three of these for the cost of one riptide, or five for the price of one Imperial Knight, the issue really comes into focus. Especially considering that the kit I linked to is fully poseable and molded in full color.

The price of GW kits are really and truly inexcusable. This is why they're in such decline: excessive cost for kits that are average at best, sub-par at worst.

I do not disagree with you that prices are both too high and not consistent with themselves. But as I explained above lowering prices will not fix GW, not unless they expect to sell 50% more units. GW has backed themselves into a corner that is going to be difficult to get out.