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 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I’m seriously wondering if something has happened behind the scenes, but I can't think what that might be. If there was some kind of copyright issue, I’m fairly sure we’d have heard about it, spesh as the likes of SpikeyBitz and BoLS will publish any old poop.

That's my guess.
It doesn't look right. Even for GW.

Was Cursed City listed on the GW Community site? BSF is, CG is not.

 Togusa wrote:

StraightSilver wrote:


I am also concerned that the expansions mentioned in the core set may never see the light of day.

What are you referring to? Core Set?

The Cursed City Rulebook and Quest book (which I considered to be the core set) state that Cursed City is the first in a planned set of adventures in Ulfenkarn and make reference to at least 2 expansions. Pretty sure the map on the Cursed City website also has locations not visited in the core set?

StraightSilver wrote:

 Togusa wrote:

StraightSilver wrote:


I am also concerned that the expansions mentioned in the core set may never see the light of day.

What are you referring to? Core Set?

The Cursed City Rulebook and Quest book (which I considered to be the core set) state that Cursed City is the first in a planned set of adventures in Ulfenkarn and make reference to at least 2 expansions. Pretty sure the map on the Cursed City website also has locations not visited in the core set?

Dude! I totally missed that. Thank you for pointing it out!

StraightSilver wrote:

 Togusa wrote:

StraightSilver wrote:


I am also concerned that the expansions mentioned in the core set may never see the light of day.

What are you referring to? Core Set?

The Cursed City Rulebook and Quest book (which I considered to be the core set) state that Cursed City is the first in a planned set of adventures in Ulfenkarn and make reference to at least 2 expansions. Pretty sure the map on the Cursed City website also has locations not visited in the core set?

That could've simply changed.

This is weird. There's one possibility that means things haven't gone wrong, and that's that the intention is to to make a line of standalone but compatible WHQ games, that can be used to expand each other. That would explain the use of the terms "expansion" in the rule books, and the misunderstanding about it being part of "an ongoing line". WHQ will be an ongoing line, and the games will be compatible with each other, but that doesn't mean any specific box will stick around forever. Sort of like how Silver Tower and Hammerhal worked, but designed from the ground-up that way. There may even be "expansions" that add new heroes or enemies or quests that can work with any base box - sort of like how Shadows of Brimstone works.

Any other explanation means things have gone wrong. One possibility is they've always been planning to release models like much of this set as standalone sets. Obviously not the same sprues, but much like with Silver Tower - the Tzeentch line that came out after didn't use those sprues but clearly built on the sculpting and design work already done. The issue is, once you do that then the demand for the Cursed City box will drop hugely. People might still want it for the game or just to have cool minis to paint, but it's not selling to folk who just want new Skellies or whatever. So you have to sell most of your Cursed City boxes first. But unlike your mini production, your board game production involves stuff in China, which is problematic for a huge number of reasons at the moment, COVID, Brexit, all that stuff. Production is being delayed everywhere. It's not a problem if they're planning a reprint of Cursed City to wait six months for availabilty... unless you want to start selling similar minis in three months at which point it is.

The other possibility is we know these games are pretty much designed (in terms of the games mechanics themselves) by one person. If that person left GW it could put the entire plans for any expansions (and thus any reprints) on hold indefinitely.

deano2099 wrote:


The other possibility is we know these games are pretty much designed (in terms of the games mechanics themselves) by one person. If that person left GW it could put the entire plans for any expansions (and thus any reprints) on hold indefinitely.

Aye but the core set could still be sold and works totally on its own.


GW also keeps a huge amount of their infrastructure internal, far as I'm aware almost everything would be held by them, about the only thing that might not is some moulds being sent abroad for printing purposes IF They chose to do that with the models. Otherwise everything would be internal to GW save for the cardstock which, as said, should be computer files on a computer so GW could easily change printing firms.


It does seem really odd as if something has suddenly changed in the last week or so. However if it was something that major I'd expect some kind of information leak to have happened; unless its really high up and almost no one below has a clue, but then I'd expect that to be leaking out.



I don't get the idea at all either - heck I was expecting to be tempted into Cursed City then end up collecting a small Vampire force along with the Underworld Warband and all that. Everything was setup for a soft build into a big Vampire release bolstered by everyone being super charged on getting Cursed City and making Vampires the "Necrons" of 2021. Even when you factor in delays and such, its odd that GW doesn't just say "we'll delay productoin sorry it will be 3 months before there's any more" as opposed to "just cancel it".

If there was legal challenge I'd have expected some news from the other party at the very least making public that they were challenging GW on this or something.









Everything on this is just, strange.

deano2099 wrote:
The other possibility is we know these games are pretty much designed (in terms of the games mechanics themselves) by one person. If that person left GW it could put the entire plans for any expansions (and thus any reprints) on hold indefinitely.

Titanicus & Necromunda both got stuff after James Hewitt left (he also did Silver Tower, but I can't remember if that got anything).

Letting people think that a thing is a limited run while it is not to maximise sales by FOMO is scummy but would makes some sense. Doing it other way around makes zero sense. This is really baffling.

Think I’m gonna get my set pro-painted. If it’s going to be a collector’s item, might as well get it looking all Spanky.

A friend has offered, and I’m getting an unexpected bonus this month.

 Overread wrote:
If there was legal challenge I'd have expected some news from the other party at the very least making public that they were challenging GW on this or something

Yeah - if there was a legal issue or accident/incident in the warehouse some news would have leaked. If it was something minor like a loading bay door jamming it shouldn't have this kind of impact.

Crazy thing is, if it was them genuinely underestimating demand, that’s not actually a massive problem

They’d just need to schedule in some additional production time for the sprues, and get the printed works printed. And that doesn’t need to be done in China. For Made to Order, there’s precisely nothing stopping them from using a British Printer. What it would cost in money, it would save in time, allowing them to get it on shelves again in the quickest time possible.

Wild theory - someone was carrying the Forgeworld new guns for AT moulds and the Cursed City moulds - slipped and slid straight into the cabinet that the masters for those models were housed in.

Whilst picking themselves up they knocked a glass off a tabletop which fell onto a PC tower which housed all the data for those models. They then stepped on the back-up external harddrive.



Thus obliterating all data and moulds and masters in one fell swoop.










Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Crazy thing is, if it was them genuinely underestimating demand, that’s not actually a massive problem

They’d just need to schedule in some additional production time for the sprues, and get the printed works printed. And that doesn’t need to be done in China. For Made to Order, there’s precisely nothing stopping them from using a British Printer. What it would cost in money, it would save in time, allowing them to get it on shelves again in the quickest time possible.

Plus people are understanding. They waited 6 months or so for Indomitus print 2.0 and I'm sure many would be more than happy to wait just as long for a reprint of Cursed City. Heck if you knew it was coming you might even pick up expansions released inside that 6 month window to be ready.

GW have employed Homer?

Are the printed materials in the set made in China? I know they're usually made in China, just curious if they were in this set also, given all of covid it might have pushed them to a British manufacturer anyway?


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Togusa wrote:

 Wha-Mu-077 wrote:

 Togusa wrote:

 Platuan4th wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

 Platuan4th wrote:

 Togusa wrote:
Yes, I am for real. Because I heard that exact quote over the phone between my local store owner and his GW rep. The rep said "We had no idea that there would be THIS much of an interest in the product and we're scrambling to fill orders as we speak. I know that you ordered 10 boxes, however I can only send you four."

You actually believed that? That's the worst BS corporate ass covering excuse that could ever exist. GW knew exactly how popular this would be thanks to previous Quest sales.

Expect we’ve seen them increasing sales by a huge amount since the last one was released.

Boxed Games are planned well in advance, so it’s easy for them to under produce. Hence the need for them to just bloody tell us, nice and straight, whether or not they’ll be producing more.

I never said they didn't under produce, I said that the rep is spewing corporate BS to cover that fact. There's a reason GW reps have a bad reputation.

I dunno man. I choose to not be a cynic about it.

In GW's case you should always be as cynical as possible.

That is your choice. I'm not going to jump on the GW hate train simply because it's the current "in thing."

Hating GW isn't a fad, people have been doing it for decades

But this is less about hating GW and more about realising that a sales rep that deals with individual local stores likely has absolutely no insight into the expectations of the decision makers at GW. Ergo, they are likely talking out of their arse, and the "we were so surprised" is typical sales rep BS that you'd expect them to say whilst talking out their arse.

 Togusa wrote:

 Wha-Mu-077 wrote:

 Togusa wrote:

 Platuan4th wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

 Platuan4th wrote:

 Togusa wrote:
Yes, I am for real. Because I heard that exact quote over the phone between my local store owner and his GW rep. The rep said "We had no idea that there would be THIS much of an interest in the product and we're scrambling to fill orders as we speak. I know that you ordered 10 boxes, however I can only send you four."

You actually believed that? That's the worst BS corporate ass covering excuse that could ever exist. GW knew exactly how popular this would be thanks to previous Quest sales.

Expect we’ve seen them increasing sales by a huge amount since the last one was released.

Boxed Games are planned well in advance, so it’s easy for them to under produce. Hence the need for them to just bloody tell us, nice and straight, whether or not they’ll be producing more.

I never said they didn't under produce, I said that the rep is spewing corporate BS to cover that fact. There's a reason GW reps have a bad reputation.

I dunno man. I choose to not be a cynic about it.

In GW's case you should always be as cynical as possible.

That is your choice. I'm not going to jump on the GW hate train simply because it's the current "in thing."

I'm not jumping on the GW hate train, i've been on it for a good few years, i'm basically a conductor by now.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Crazy thing is, if it was them genuinely underestimating demand, that’s not actually a massive problem

They’d just need to schedule in some additional production time for the sprues, and get the printed works printed. And that doesn’t need to be done in China. For Made to Order, there’s precisely nothing stopping them from using a British Printer. What it would cost in money, it would save in time, allowing them to get it on shelves again in the quickest time possible.

In that case, GW is just monumentally stupid, if they keep underestimating demand, after continiously underestimating demand for boxes for a few years straight. I mean, you'd think they'd learn by now.

 Overread wrote:
Wild theory - someone was carrying the Forgeworld new guns for AT moulds and the Cursed City moulds - slipped and slid straight into the cabinet that the masters for those models were housed in.

Whilst picking themselves up they knocked a glass off a tabletop which fell onto a PC tower which housed all the data for those models. They then stepped on the back-up external harddrive.

Thus obliterating all data and moulds and masters in one fell swoop.

GW seriously used this exact excuse at least twice in my lifetime (original plastic Battlewagon and a Dwarf Lord which was supposed to be like the third ever plastic single character after the SM Commander and Empire General).

Here's my not super likely, but serious theory. Someone higher up than the usual decision makers made a last minute call to curb what would otherwise be an eternal sequence of cascading delays by, with a heavy heart, axing a large but tertiary pruduct line.

 Wha-Mu-077 wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Crazy thing is, if it was them genuinely underestimating demand, that’s not actually a massive problem

They’d just need to schedule in some additional production time for the sprues, and get the printed works printed. And that doesn’t need to be done in China. For Made to Order, there’s precisely nothing stopping them from using a British Printer. What it would cost in money, it would save in time, allowing them to get it on shelves again in the quickest time possible.

In that case, GW is just monumentally stupid, if they keep underestimating demand, after continiously underestimating demand for boxes for a few years straight. I mean, you'd think they'd learn by now.

Or demand has continuously increased for two years straight.

We don't really know how many they sold or how many they could have sold, GW themselves likely have a better idea of that.

 Crimson wrote:
Letting people think that a thing is a limited run while it is not to maximise sales by FOMO is scummy but would makes some sense. Doing it other way around makes zero sense. This is really baffling.

True. And especially so since it was an obvious lead in to the vampire army that's coming.
This was one of those rare moments where GW actually had workable and useful cross-game plans in mind. Or seemed to, at least. Maybe that's why they screwed it up? Too much competence at the planning stage?

Book is back in stock online if anyone else missed out -

https://www.games-workshop.com/en-GB/Cursed-City-HB-2021?fbclid=IwAR3XjpCGRlBZghJWEWJF9hgwBAscEGGL_peNI-0DAO9jvcjra8OHsYy95zA

Apparently, some stores have received confirmation there is no restock and are offering a refund for a 2nd wave order for their impacted customers.

Source : the Youtube chain Ministry of Warhammer who had released the video shown a few pages before.

Following the above theory by @Lord_blackfang about cascading delays ....

Could this be to do with them ensuring they have capacity for the rumoured AOS 3 starter or the main Soulblight release?

Puzzling why they wouldn't say that they would eventually bring it back, though.

 Souleater wrote:
Following the above theory by @Lord_blackfang about cascading delays ....

Could this be to do with them ensuring they have capacity for the rumoured AOS 3 starter or the main Soulblight release?

Puzzling why they wouldn't say that they would eventually bring it back, though.

The thing is there's a difference between "We need production time for X so we can't reprint Cursed City for a few months" and "lets just drop it".

Right now we seem to be in the latter, which seems really odd considering all the marketing leading up to it. 3rd party stores were preparing for second waves (even if not told that tells you staff were expecting it); customers were not panicked about it going out of stock so fast because, again, we all expected restocks. Even if they are in months and months.


If GW was going to put those vampire sprue into the new Battletome/starter set/3rd edition tie in then they already knew that well in advance of starting the Cursed City marketing and could easily say "hey Cursed City is gone but don't worry models will return "soon". Plus they would have and could have crafted their marketing to reflect that aspect.




Right now it seems like GW doesn't even fully know, as if its own system is reeling from some very short term impact that's produced this result. Heck on the GW community site Blackstone is listed under the Quest licence, but not Cursed City.

Luke82 wrote:
Some people really dont want to read the writing on the wall here.

What writing on the wall? It was the next in the Warhammer Quest line, none of which have been limited releases, and all of which have received expansions in some form or another (BSF moreso than the other two).

At no point was this fiasco in any way predictable nor foreshadowed or even hidden in plain sight.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
It’s a completely baffling outcome.

I mean, why no more copies being made? What’s the point in that? The vast majority of production costs are already sunk, and I suspect they’ve also been recovered because it’s sold out (you don’t spend £10 to limit your return to £9 after all!)

I’m seriously wondering if something has happened behind the scenes, but I can think what that might be. If there was some kind of copyright issue, I’m fairly sure we’d have heard about it, spesh as the likes of SpikeyBitz and BoLS will publish any old poop.

Is there the possibility of over ordering? Well. Sure. But then they’ve done Made To Order before. And literally none of the previous Quest games were such a limited release.

I just don’t understand this.

They don't want to raise price to eu set for 2nd print run and deal with　tariffs? If too much of product is made in china it's tariff. If this was supposed to be last year release that would not have been　known yet but now gw would need to pay for tariff for every eu box.

Or simply planned to take advantage of fomo. Gw doesn't want to sit with boxes in warehouses　and models can be sold later at higher price. Normal for gw to produce cheaper box limited and models separately higher price later

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
What writing on the wall?

I think he's talking about the recent developments that are pointing more and more to the "no second reprint" of the box that a part of the community doesn't believe.

Confusion is real but yeah...when they begin to remove the facebook posts, confirm on twitter and make every mention of the box on their webstore disappear, it's true that it's beginning to be a lot...

That’s what I was wondering, if having the card components printed in China have meant that the board game is now subject to additional tax to the originating country rules (if it’s done on weight or bulk then the card would trump the model sprues). The increase in shipping costs from China may also be eating into the boardgame profits.

Might mean they are looking at alternate card component factories in the UK but they are also likely to be more costly and GW may not be able to commit to reprints at this time due as it’s all too uncertain.

If this is the case then hopefully an expansion or two was ready at the printing stage so will see release.

It’s certainly possible they’ve had the now sold stock sitting in their warehouse since before Brexit fully Brexited.

As for country of origin? Box says U.K., and I can’t see anything contradicting that. I was previously under the impression they previously listed differing COO where appropriate?

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
It’s certainly possible they’ve had the now sold stock sitting in their warehouse since before Brexit fully Brexited.

As for country of origin? Box says U.K., and I can’t see anything contradicting that. I was previously under the impression they previously listed differing COO where appropriate?

It was specifically the tiles I thought may have been printed in China as they have typically been something that is very expensive to print in the UK. I can't get to my copy to check but I suspect they wont list where they are printed on them.

Sarouan wrote:

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
What writing on the wall?

I think he's talking about the recent developments that are pointing more and more to the "no second reprint" of the box that a part of the community doesn't believe.

Confusion is real but yeah...when they begin to remove the facebook posts, confirm on twitter and make every mention of the box on their webstore disappear, it's true that it's beginning to be a lot...

Writing on the wall is indeed an adage relating to future rather than past events.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
It’s certainly possible they’ve had the now sold stock sitting in their warehouse since before Brexit fully Brexited.

As for country of origin? Box says U.K., and I can’t see anything contradicting that. I was previously under the impression they previously listed differing COO where appropriate?

It lists uk if final product is assembled. But if it contains parts from other countries it can still rue foul coo rule. That's why uk gov wanted parts from japan count for it as otherwise made in uk cars would be hit by tarifs.

These davs very little　is　produced without something coming elsewhere. Item done in gesman,, shipped to uk, made to another, shipped to french, another　proce#s, shipped to uk etc. This worked smoothly pre-brexit, now gone,

If too much of cc was made in china it's tariff. Doesn't matter if most including final assedbly was uk.