What Price Victory?

Conclave posts, like buses eh? Nothing for ages and then two at once! As I alluded to last time round, after having my say on the state of the rules I'm going to talk about the models today. And the PRICE of those models. Run for cover!

It's going to be a balanced and reasoned piece though (honest) with arguments both for and against the pricing strategy (although there are some examples that are just too egregious to defend). Remember, above all this is just writing practice for me, trying to get back into the habit after much time in the wilderness. I might even finish Cultwar one day (still doing better than George RR Martin is on WOW) 

So, the main argument, the main point of contention: Warhammer/Games Workshop is too expensive. Now this IS a relative point. After all if you are wealthy (which I most certainly am NOT) then it may well be a cost that you can more easily dismiss. A more relevant question I believe would be, Is GW good value?: So that, by and large, is what I am going to discuss, as I said, with points for and against. 

1: The Pricing Strategy. 

We all know that not all sprues are equal. A teeny character sprue can cost the same as a whole unit of ten models. This is because Games Workshop, when calculating pricing, factors in the amount that will be sold. Put basically, you will likely only have one of a character in an army whereas you may have multiples of a given unit a character might be tied to a subfaction. Therefore in order to make back production costs (which include design and tooling and materials and packaging) they charge more for the models that they will sell less of. Seems logical, but then there are exceptions that just don't seem to make sense. 

Flayed Ones: £32.50 for ONE SPRUE of five monopose models: Putting aside for one second the HORRIBLE design of these models (forever labelled Fiddly Ones), the price is scandalous. It seems to be the standard these days, after all units of 5 of the new Aspect Warriors are the same price, but at least they are multiple sprues with options. 5 Flayed Ones is completely pointless. Useless, nothing but cannon fodder. The unit size is 5 to 20. 20 would be pretty effective in a game. Shame they would cost £130! Absolutely scandalous and unforgivable, this is some of the worst value I can think of when it comes to GW. 

£35 AND they suck to make. Double insult

OK, deep breath, I promised this wouldn't be ranty and it would be balanced. Let's have a 'For' 

2: Bang for your Buck. 

The sprues are JAM packed compared to days of yore. The old Cadian Sprue, (still available) has gaps you can fit your fingers through (though the sprue is rubbish as a knuckle duster). By comparison the engineering and tooling that GW uses these days is such that sprues are jam packed with so much on them that it can actually have the adverse effect of finding individual pieces quite difficult! So it could be argued that the new kits, which contain many more parts, actually represent a comparable value even after considering the increased price. Of course there are a couple of caveats. 

: It's just alternate loadouts, unless you magnetise you won't use them all

: This problem is just exacerbated when you buy multiples, it's cost saving by GW but you aren't really reaping the benefits. 

Spot the Difference

Still, it's worth mentioning. To balance this out a bit the new stuff is also way more detailed and well engineered than the old kits with way less mould lines. 

3: Price rises on OLD Kits. 

Whilst new kits costing more and having way more parts or detail is one thing. Something that is far more difficult to accept is price rises on old kits. Some of them, through various price 'adjustments' and content cuts (halving the amount of models whilst implementing a modest price cut of 20% or so - Dire Avengers, we are looking at you) are far worse value than when they were first released and are pretty damn ropey prospects now. A few examples. 

12 Khorne Berzerkers. £32.50 Pretty Sure these released at £20 for TWENTY

10 Catachan Jungle Fighters for £21.50. Again I think these were £20 for 20. 

and these models, yeah, they haven't aged well...

Of course the Emperor still loves you, just maybe a bit less than the newer models is all. 

Now the thing about plastics is they ARE expensive in the terms of tooling and engineering, so the upfront costs are high, but the actual material costs are CHEAP when compared to the metal of old days. This is one of the reasons that the cost is calculated on how ubiquitous the unit is as I have detailed above. The model needs to make back the cost of the tool. 

But these old models made back their cost AGES ago. The material cost is pennies so these are the price raises that I find particularly difficult to justify. No more bangs. Just more bucks. For example, Land Raiders are £65 now. That kit is over twenty years old. It was a landmark kit for its time and still holds up but costs nearly double the cost it was at release. (I am aware that the options have been rolled in though). 

Or consider the Stompa. That's not held up as well in my opinion and now costs £80. It's exactly the same kit that was released at £50. Nothing added, the box might have changed but that's it. 

OK another 'For', admittedly with caveats.

4: Production costs have increased.

Now this IS undeniable, EVERYTHING has gone up. Shipping, material, production, resources and utilities, EVERYTHING has increased in cost. However, GW recently reported record profits and in their financial reports we can see exactly what their costs are. It is also worth noting that on top of the recent price rise that they attributed to additional costs, they also raised prices at the beginning of the pandemic, indeed some of the same products were raised in both for a double whammy. More recently, Blood Bowl, one of the more attractive options price wise, endured an increase of 20%.  This at a time when cost of living increases are at a record high! 

Of course one of the problems there is that Games Workshop is a publicly traded company and above all has an obligation to its shareholders not its customers. Profits must be maintained (and it should be noted that GW's profit mark up is around 35% which most companies could only dream of), dividends paid. 

While we are talking about production costs let's go back in time a bit. Let's talk about Finecast. 

Metal was quite an expensive and laborious medium to make models out of. Both the base material (originally lead based and then moving to a tin alloy) and the moulds (though a fraction of the cost of plastic moulds) and shipping, metal being rather heavy to transport. 

So in an effort to cut costs (and it should be noted that this was stated in the accompanying articles about Finecast) they made the move to resin. Many other manufacturers already used resin, either mass production or boutique companies so we had an idea what to expect. 

The resulting product was so poor that 'Failcast' became the accepted term. Horrific quality control and casting resulted in models with defects, bubbles and mould release on the racks. It was so bad that GW bought out Liquid Greenstuff (another terrible product) so that the customers could fix the product. However, it still melted in the heat. It was an abomination and frankly an insult to hobbyists. Finecast is a better product these days but man, it was rough back in the day. I detested working with it. 

So crap, it became a meme. 

The biggest problem though? Despite GW extolling how it was being done so it would be cheaper, all the models went UP in price. The only savings being made were by GW (though to be honest this is debatable due to the return rate, likely the reason why they eventually just told the customers to fix it themselves.) 

Never forget Finecast. 

Elsewhere with resin we have Forgeworld, better quality than Finecast, though FW certainly have their own quality control problems - especially with larger kits. For example, the Manta. A couple of VERY large Youtube channels ordered a Tau Manta in a contest with each other, sort of a race to see who could get it built first. When they showed off these very expensive kits they both had broken or warped parts, certainly not the showcase for the product you would think that GW would want. You would think they would be more aware. 'Hey guys this is going to be seen on the internet by a few hundred thousand people, let's make sure there are ZERO problems with it so it looks as good as possible'. These kits are NOT cheap, they should be more or less flawless. Yes, they are advanced kits, not for beginner hobbyists but you shouldn't have to fix things or resculpt details. (I still have flashbacks to trying to assemble a Sicaran tank) 

So yes, cheaper production costs, much more expensive models. Ho hum. Let's try to end with one more positive shall we? 

For the record: Warcradle, for my money, has the very best resin for wargaming models. Crazy crisp and holds great detail. Shame they are shifting to plastic too. 

5: Plastic is the superior medium and is worth the extra money. 

Let's face it, hard plastic is easier to work with. It's easier to cut, to convert, to modify. I still maintain that it doesn't QUITE hold the detail that resin and metal does but it is close. I actually think this is one of the reasons behind the increased scale of newer models. It's easier to detail the kits when they are a bit bigger. 

It is probably fair to say that GW makes the best plastic figures in the business. They invested a lot of money into the technology and it shows, I have already covered how much better the kits are compared to the ones produced ten years or so ago. With plastic you can kitbash to your heart's content (though it could be argued that it's not quite as easy as it was a few years ago due to the way that the current plastic trend is monopose kits in favour of dynamic poses but limiting where you can make cuts. The below kitbash was achieved with Aggressor body, and lots of bits from terminator kits. And some Admech bits from eBay, oh and an eviscerator from an Assault Intercessor.

An epic Gravis Captain kitbash by my mate Dan Cross 

So let's have a look at plastic. model for model, they are probably more or less on a par with other companies (you might not want to admit it but it's true) 

Malifaux: Core box,  6-10 plastic models, £40

Warmachine: 10 Plastic Obstructors £39

Elder Scrolls: 8 Plastic Barrow Delve models £28

Wild West Exodus 10 Plastic Minutemen £20

Kings of War 15 Plastic Elves £22.50

Now, those kits are not all created equal but it gives us an idea. For contrast a box of 10 Intercessors which includes loads of options and extras is £36.00. So we can safely say that GW is at the higher end of the scale, but not the most expensive. Of course the difference is that for something like Malifaux that box represents your entire force, maybe you might buy another to add certain bits but it is a skirmish game, played with a dozen models or so. In comparison, those Intercessors are but a fraction of a large army, and likely the cheapest. Still, it goes to show that GW is not THAT much more expensive for the most part, that is if you are happy fielding nothing but Intercessors. Heavy Intercessors are £40 for 5. 

Half the models, more money. Bargain!

One last point: 

6: I get hundreds of hours of enjoyment for my money

This is another relative one. It depends on how you hobby. Therefore you may get more value out of something than someone else. 

Say for example you ONLY paint. You just like painting Citadel miniatures. Well, honestly you may well look at the cost of, let's say £60 for the new Avatar and assess it as merely a painting project. If it takes you ten hours to paint it, that's £6 an hour. Some expert painters might take four times that or more to paint, therefore bringing that cost per hour down significantly. A gamer on the other hand might just slap paint on it to field it but then might get the hours back in gaming. It's all relative. I mean you pay £15 to go see a movie a couple of hours long. BUT at the end of the day, it's just a plastic model. A painter may well be better served by getting a resin bust or boutique miniature to paint. They will invariably be cheaper. In the same way, if you just want to game you can use cheap proxies, it might not bother you and it's hardly an issue if you are not playing in a GW store or tournament. 

And of course this is where things like manipulative marketing (forced scarcity and FOMO) and sales strategies can lay waste to and render chaos unto the most details of discussions about pricing. 

Before I go, let’s address the elephant in the room. Recasts and 3D printing. 

Both of these are obviously far cheaper than buying official GW, but they are also inferior (not terrible by any means but not as good as the real McCoy). Recasts are generally identifiable and of poorer quality than official products (though as I have said FW have issues of quality themselves). 

Same for 3D printing, the cost is minimal (it can be ridiculously cheap compared to GWs products.) but again, i’ve yet to see one that was quite as good as a Citadel miniature . Maybe you just want to get an army on a table and wont care because it’s seen as a whole from three foot away, in that case it may well work for you to have a fully 3D printed army, but I don’t think the quality is there yet. It may well be in future years and GW will likely be looking over their shoulder (almost certainly the point of them diversifying the ‘Brand’ over recent years.) but it’s a consideration for the future, for now Citadel miniatures (though not all of them) are still the benchmark. To be fair though, I imagine most 3D prints would beat those Catachans.

So that’s what I think, but what do YOU think? Sound off below!

-AL

We need to talk about Warhammer 40,000

It’s been a long time since I wrote anything for this blog. Hell, it’s been a long time since I wrote anything at ALL. So consider this an exercise, a chance to stretch my literary muscles, though not in prose, a chance to get some words down and some thoughts. Even should no body bother to read it, it's decent practice, right?

Firstly before we get into this examination of the game in its current state, let me apologise briefly for the title. I DETEST phrases like ‘we need to talk about’ or ‘This has happened and we are here for it’ reeking as they do of millennial righteousness, but genuinely i feel this is the right title for the article, 40K needs to be talked about, and I’ve decided to say my piece. 

A little background. I first got into 40k 27 years ago in 2nd Edition. Since then i have played every edition apart from 5th. I’ve seen the major transitions in the rule set and seen the game evolve and change over the years. I have to say, although the core ruleset is strong at the moment, the game is in its worst state in years, perhaps a decade. 

My first ever codex... aah those were the days

I reiterate, the core ruleset is FINE. I would make a few tweaks (I am a longtime advocate of alternate activations) here and there, but otherwise I think the base of the game is in a good state. I like the way it is scored (though i think secondaries should be randomised and secret). I think morale should play a bigger part in the game, there needs to be some kind of penalty to falling out of combat for sure and i think there are too many strategems but otherwise i think its pretty good for the kind of game GW is aiming for. The main problems come with the way they have proceeded since then. We are talking of course about the Codexes and Codex Creep. About bloating and basing an entire sales model around Meta Chasers and endless supplements or Wargaming DLC as i like to call it. 

I think it was 8th edition that heralded the shit of GWs attention to the hardcore competitive scene. I can’t be one hundred percent sure as i’m not part of that playerbase myself being much more inclined to a nice narrative casual game, but certainly the arrival of the Primaris seemed to coincide with an emphasis on acknowledging and indeed, embracing the meta. Since then it has been rinse and repeat, release codex, sell overpowered models, nerf said models (I still chuckle at the memory of all the Feirros plus 3 x Replusor Executioners castles that were unceremoniously nullified shortly after they became such a staple sight in every game.) This is a sales tactic that has endured since and only grown more egregious over the years with successive Warhammer Community articles extolling the potency of whatever the new hotness is, hyping up the meta chasers into a wallet emptying frenzy. 

If you ever did this you are a total prick and I hate you. 

And something else that has become a repetitive release rhetoric is editions. How many times now are we to hear, This is the last edition, the best edition, the definitive edition? The core rules are ever more streamlined as they try to make 40k a fast flowing competitive game rather than the narrative battle game of yore, yet the army rules are growing more and more impenetrable and convoluted not to mention horrendously worded in an attempt to completely mitigate rules lawyering. 

Youtube stalwart Winters refused to even review the Genestealer Cult codex so frustrated was he with the rules. (vid below) That’s not a great advertisement for the health of the game considering that he BUILT his channel on codex reviews (though I greatly enjoy his battle reports). Nowadays every unit has multiple special rules, many of which are variations of rules from other Codices. The great thing about universal special rules was, they were UNIVERSAL, now not only do you have to know all the special rules for your own army, you need to have an INTIMATE understanding of all the special rules (and strategems) of your foes (Sun Tzu’s Art of War would suggest this is a good idea anyway) you can't just get away with a surface knowledge. Everything just seems to require so much damn effort now. Maybe I'm just getting old. 

I’m not alone though, I was talking with a fellow veteran hobbyist a while back and we were discussing how we tend to lean towards skirmish games these days. Games like Killteam, Warcry or Underworlds are so much easier to arrange, get to the table and play (though they have their own DLC sure enough). 40k with its plethora of different rules (i still don’t know all the different terrain rules), updates, FAQs, errata, points revisions and auxiliary supplements, (which can splinter the rules for a given army over up to half a dozen books) not to mention the crusade books and mission supplements mean that 40k is FAR from a bring and battle game these days. Indeed it’s practically a military operation just to arrange and conduct a game. There will be those who say, ‘well just play open play then’ but i don't want to play ‘do anything you want-hammer’ i want to play WARHAMMER, a nice friendly fun game of Warhammer 40,000 without it being a massive pain in the arse. (The recent Tempest card pack helps with this but is little more than a patch)

Could be worse, I could be a Chaos Space Marine player. 

Which brings us to the next point, aside from codexes being needlessly complicated, codex creep makes everything insanely unbalanced to the point where early codicies like Necrons honestly don't even feel like they are from this edition. Current books have loads of damage reduction rules and things that ignore invuln saves, in fact they are practically obligatory in modern army books, something else that is getting REALLY old. On top of that you have so many stratagems that are meant to add tactics to the game but really don't do anything of the sort, being that the vast majority of them are copies of other faction Stratagems. Some are completely ubiquitous (i don't think I EVER saw an Astartes based game where Transhuman Physiology wasn’t used) and it’s all just designed for unit eradication, maximum carnage on both sides, mutually assured destruction. Space Marines got two wounds and even though they could have made it happen with one sentence in an FAQ, GW deigned not to grant the Traitors the same luxury.  Even now in the wake of Adepticon, they are marvelling over the fact that Legionaries WILL get 2 wounds. Who cares? You could have done that MONTHS ago. It makes little difference as most weapons are damage 2 or 3 now anyway right?

REJOICE peons as GW sees fit to FINALLY address your faction. 

And thus shifts the meta once more. 

So where are we now? Do we wait till tenth edition for GW to yet again fix the game, with promises that THIS time it is definitive, THIS time they have learned their lessons and delivered an edition that will not be a bloated broken ruin in the space of 18 months? Presumably they are already playtesting 10th. Might I suggest that they actually listen to the playtesters? Same goes with Codexes. Here's a thought, if the gaming community is breaking your book within two weeks of it coming out, leading to you having to make changes to fix it two weeks later, then you DIDN'T playtest it properly. It’s ok, it’s only £30 £32.50 for a codex that is practically out of date as soon as it's released. They should make the rules section out of that paper they use in sticker albums, then you can stick the inevitable patches and balance errata straight into the book. Don’t even get me started on Seasons.

Warahmmer Seasons: Because the one thing you definitely need is more books to bring to the table. 

This shit never happened in 2nd edition you know, that was REALLY stable. But then this isn't the same game. You know how many entries were in the second edition Tyranid codex? A dozen. It’s three times that many now. Second edition was far from perfect but it was a very characterful game, where truly crazy stuff would happen, a far cry from the delete-fest that we have now. I find myself watching second edition battle reports most often these days and find them incredibly enjoyable, the people playing them seem to have more fun too. Codex creep wasn’t a massive issue, there was only one supplement needed to play the full game, Dark Millenium (there were cool campaign boxes with cardboard scenery but they were JUST campaigns, no hidden special rules for armies to make them viable).  A simpler time, maybe a better time? Or is it just rose tinted nostalgia? 

Anyway, that’s about it from me for now. Next article (whenever it might be, i’m going to take a look at pricing. Hopefully it will be less of a rant than this, in any event it should be more balanced than 40k is at the moment. 

-AL