Usually I just hate GW. Now I just want to punch them in the face.

[wisetiger7]

Ya... They're just rumors... And it's off Faeit212 (not too reliable as a source)... but IF they turn out to be true...

 

What. The. Eff.

A lot of things will change at Games Workshop 2014:

* LotR and the Hobbit francise will be handed over to Forge World
* Forge World products will be available over the redesigned Games Workshop webpage
* no more Fincecast products
* Wood Elves, Bretonnia, Beastmen and Khemri products will no longer be produced, updated or supported
* roughly 30% of the sortiment will be come webshop exclusives
* all Games Workshop stores in Germany will be closed

While these are just rumors, they are given a lot of credibility by verified news earlier this evening that GW HQ in France, Germany and the US are being cut back.

This change was apparently already on 16 January 2014 at the same time implemented with the announcement of the results of the semi-annual report.

[Murphy'sLawyer]

Hold off for the moment. Head Quarters changes, finecast being phased out and store closers are from an older rumor that is not a huge surprise with the CEO changes in the last year and a half.

 

The new rumor about dropping fantasy armies seems more of a shot in the dark added to the already existing rumors that have some credibility but this does not mean it will be more true. This source is not the origonal source for the HQ changes, finecast phase out or the others so don't sell your stock in salt yet. It looks to be a booming year for salt.

 

If the rumors are true you will not be alone with your pitchfork and expect fanbased clubs yanking the WHFB out of GW's hands.

[scottshoemaker]

It seems that those armies are likely to be folded into existing books, not "unsupported". An Armies of Man, Good Elves, All Undead, and All Chaos book isn't too strange to me, go back far enough and that's the way they were anyway.

[Raindog]

Fine cast is done. That is a good thing. It is all plastics now.

 

GW will be consolidating HQs. Germany's HQ will close and fold into administrative units.

 

Faeit212 blows a lot of smoke.

[HeroZero]

I'm going to need to start a hypertension regiment of meds with all this salt I'm going to need to swallow some of these.

[JMGraham]

It'd not be the first time I lost an army. 3rd edition 40k ended my squats (and my Imperials). 8th edition FB ended my Chaos Dwarfs. While I'd weep if my Wood Elves died, I'd sing a song of joy if Beastmen, Warriors, and Daemons joined together in one glorious, unholy book.

 

I put nothing past GW these days. Nothing.

[Brick Bungalow]

Yeah. The big books of chaos were probably the coolest publications GW ever did. 

[HeroZero]

If we go back to Ravening Hordes, Forces of Order, and Dogs of War style books in 9th I would be Happy, I personally would love to mix and match chaos again or Empire , dwarves, high elves in a grand alliance...

Allies revitalized 40k ( and brought new problems )

I am eager.

[Murphy'sLawyer]

@HeroZero. You mean 6th allies has done wonders for GW's sales of Tau and Eldar.

 

If and when allies comes to Fantasy I really hope there are some serrious restrictions on who and how they can ally, for balance sake.

[pretre]

Ya... They're just rumors... And it's off Faeit212 (not too reliable as a source)... but IF they turn out to be true...

I don't usually hang out in the Fantasy forum, but... let me stop you here. Getting mad at GW for Faeit Rumors is like getting mad at the president for something said in the grocery store checkstand tabloids. Seriously. Just stop.

 

Natfka posts everything that comes his way and doesn't filter it. His accuracy rating is at about 41%. We have had rumor mongers who obviously just post best guesses that do better than he does. He is a click generating site. If it will generate more clicks, he posts it. Heck, he'll probably post it two or three times.

 

Here's a great example he posted today of something that is provably false.

http://natfka.blogspot.com/2014/01/rumors-are-rumors-hasbro-toys.html

 

 

 

Natfka I have had news to report for a few months now and I just can't hold it in any longer.

 

Ok so here is the news, about a few months ago I was in my local hobby shop when I saw an old friend. He had said that GW had just been bought out by the same corporation that owns Hasbro Toys a few months ago.  I thought I would share seeing as all the changes GW is going through.

 

GW is a publicly traded company. DUH. Hasbro didn't buy them a few months ago. Even the tiniest bit of due diligence or journalistic integrity/skill would dig that up.

[dashneeb]

Not to mention, New Line Cinema would have to approve a change of The Hobbit/LotR going over to the Forgeworld banner, and more than likely it's not the case.  It's a flagship line.  I had a GW store manager tell me it would be relegated to a specialist game if it didn't hit a certain percentage of their sales.  And when it didn't hit that, it didn't get moved over.

[Guest]

Ya... They're just rumors... And it's off Faeit212 (not too reliable as a source)... but IF they turn out to be true...

 

What. The. Eff.

 

A lot of things will change at Games Workshop 2014:

 

* LotR and the Hobbit francise will be handed over to Forge World

* Forge World products will be available over the redesigned Games Workshop webpage

* no more Fincecast products

* Wood Elves, Bretonnia, Beastmen and Khemri products will no longer be produced, updated or supported

* roughly 30% of the sortiment will be come webshop exclusives

* all Games Workshop stores in Germany will be closed

 

While these are just rumors, they are given a lot of credibility by verified news earlier this evening that GW HQ in France, Germany and the US are being cut back.

 

This change was apparently already on 16 January 2014 at the same time implemented with the announcement of the results of the semi-annual report.

Glad LotR and Hobbit stuff is going. I recall that GW usually forces shops to include those, despite them not being too popular locally (probably related to them not scalling well with other GW minis...).

 

FW sold via GW makes sense. The escalation book brought normal FW into the fold of being accepted into normal play. Might even result in faster shipping on FW items if GW sends it instead of FW.

 

I had heard this one on finecast before. I also heard they were looking into the FW resin. That would also make sense.

 

Sorry to the fantsy armies mentioned. If these are true, it's probably sales related.

 

Making things direct-only is another move GW's been doing. Bad for local shops as they don't get as good a margin on that stuff. Still, really depends what the 30% includes to determine if this is a good call or not. There are certainly loads of models that just sit on the shelf at GG, mostly because GW failed pretty miserably in rules and made the model useless or inferior or kit is lacking in conversion potential.

 

Sorry to the germans.

 

I do think GW is on it's way out, though might take a few more years. It isn't that surprising. 3d printers and digital tech are phasing the table top games out. There are also many more physical model companies than when GW game to power. The internet also provides easy access to free copies of their expensive books. GW also doesn't seem like a company that will compromise financially (like be willing to earn less if it means staying in business longer).

-Pax

[wisetiger7]

I don't usually hang out in the Fantasy forum, but... let me stop you here. Getting mad at GW for Faeit Rumors is like getting mad at the president for something said in the grocery store checkstand tabloids. Seriously. Just stop.

 

Natfka posts everything that comes his way and doesn't filter it. His accuracy rating is at about 41%. We have had rumor mongers who obviously just post best guesses that do better than he does. He is a click generating site. If it will generate more clicks, he posts it. Heck, he'll probably post it two or three times.

First, let me point out to you that they are just rumors, and all rumors should be taken with a grain of salt. I understand that. But telling someone to stop being mad at GW? I was mad at them long before this latest Faeit post. Trust me on that. (No FAQs since god damn APRIL?!?) The only 'rumors' I take as gospel are from Harry and Hastings.

 

Secondly, 41%?!? That's pretty god damn accurate for someone who just gathers together the spit and spittle of the internet rumormongers. I tend to think that Faeit is closer to around 25% on rumors, although it seems like 40-50% because they constantly put up so much volume that some of it is bound to be right.

 

There's a reason people browse rumor sites and threads: it gives people a sense of what's coming and what could come. WH is not a hobby taken lightly. You invest thousands of dollars into it, hundreds of hours painstakingly putting these tiny effing things together, spending hundreds more for paint and supplies just to make it look good, and you have the gall to say "Just stop" getting mad at rumors that have a 41% accuracy rating?!? In finance, you pay attention to 41%. That is a huge effing number.

 

But, here's the reason I'm mad(der). GW has done this $#!+ in the past. Not only that, the rumors reflect what is currently happening with the GW restructuring. Yes, GW is a publicly traded company. And it is because of this, because of the last half-year financial report, and because they have to answer to a board of investors, that GW is scrambling to cut its losses. This gives these rumors viability. Now will they actually happen? Probably not. But (as I stated in the OP) IF IF IF they do, it's going to piss a lot of people off, me included.

 

I have a beastmen army, and am starting a wood elf army. I'm sure we all have people we know who play these armies. Even with the likelihood that wood elves are coming out in April/May, that doesn't necessarily mean GW will support it in the future. To ultimately quell these rumors, GW NEEDS to issue a statement saying that they aren't going to leave players high and dry for future editions. Nothing's worse than spending thousands of dollars and hours upon hours of time investing in an army that isn't going to be supported. If they don't issue a counter, people will be apprehensive to buy a failing product, thus cutting GW's losses deeper, and forcing them to cut the army anyway. They need to issue the statement to prevent the lack of confidence inflating from rumors, especially from a financial aspect. Plus it's just good form.

[Murphy'sLawyer]

Well Wisetiger7 I hear you. We all do. 'IF' GW drops support for those armies 'WE' will all be pissed. Trust me.

 

It's just as of now the rumor looks to be full of so much.... Bull Dooky I am not going to let it raise my blood pressure yet.

 

If it does happen I will bring the torches if you bring the pitchforks.

[wisetiger7]

I honestly think they just need to hire proper marketing and finance specialists to restructure their wholly unorganized business model. There are so many elementary mistakes they are making. There's a 15 year old girl in Texas who is a self-made millionaire selling flip-flops and is rocking it. GW needs to take some lessons from her.

[dashneeb]

I think that's a big of a pie-in-the-sky remark there.  Yes, there might be a girl who made a million dollars selling flip-flops.  However, will she be able to sustain it for 30+ years?

 

Good luck on that one.  I am pretty sure that GW knows what they're doing.  

[Murphy'sLawyer]

I honestly think they just need to hire proper marketing and finance specialists to restructure their wholly unorganized business model. There are so many elementary mistakes they are making. There's a 15 year old girl in Texas who is a self-made millionaire selling flip-flops and is rocking it. GW needs to take some lessons from her.

Honestly I think that is what ks happening right now. All the new changes can be from the new CEO and their whole business model and tunring it upside down. It looks like they realized they are not the only toy store in town selling to the kids and they are going to need to change to survive.

 

Consolidating HQ's, phasing out Fine Cast (that was suppose to be short lived anyways) for the perfered plastic, closing stores that are not meeting their margines. I mean hey when there is a store that sells only one game or you can go to the other store that sells a bunch of games and has tables they allow you to play on the choice is clear.

 

These changes are good amd have been needed for a long time, but these changes cost money to implement, and that is what is happening.

 

Worst case scenario I see here is one or two of the mentioned armies end up like Chaos Dwarves, not dumped but moved over to FW to upkeep. So of you own the army currently you can still use it.

[MexicanNinja]

I skipped pretty much every post on this thread.  I just wanted to say, until I see the final product, I believe nothing of what I hear, read, or see.

[Drak]

I'm with you in this one Art. I'll believe it when I see it.

[wisetiger7]

I skipped pretty much every post on this thread.  I just wanted to say, until I see the final product, I believe nothing of what I hear, read, or see.

Thank you for contributing to the conversation with that brilliant observation. Truly, that point needed to be emphasized. Without that point, this thread would have evolved into utter chaos. Thank you. Thank you for making it worth while. I think I can die happily with the knowledge of having read this statement. Angels have rained down their choral harmony upon our souls and prevented the end of days because of your magnificent remark. I think it cured cancer. Cthulhu has forever been banished; he read that statement and thought, why, why should I ever infest a world with such elaborate poetry? 

I'm with you in this one Art. I'll believe it when I see it.

Says the person with a Vampire army, and no other.  Of course you wouldn't care if any other army got cut.

Honestly I think that is what ks happening right now. All the new changes can be from the new CEO and their whole business model and tunring it upside down. It looks like they realized they are not the only toy store in town selling to the kids and they are going to need to change to survive.

 

Consolidating HQ's, phasing out Fine Cast (that was suppose to be short lived anyways) for the perfered plastic, closing stores that are not meeting their margines. I mean hey when there is a store that sells only one game or you can go to the other store that sells a bunch of games and has tables they allow you to play on the choice is clear.

 

These changes are good amd have been needed for a long time, but these changes cost money to implement, and that is what is happening.

 

Worst case scenario I see here is one or two of the mentioned armies end up like Chaos Dwarves, not dumped but moved over to FW to upkeep. So of you own the army currently you can still use it.

Very interesting points. I am glad that FineCast is on its way out. And I think we can all agree that the GW store in SE is just dead weight. They can't be doing enough business to bring in enough to keep that store afloat. A month or so after it opened, GW changed their policy to have only one employee, which made them have really weird hours (Tuesday and Wednesday closed??). Plus their lack of space made it really awkward to even play games, let alone have a hobby center and any tournaments larger than 6 people. Just a bad idea altogether. The placement doesn't help at all either. Most people who live around that area don't have the money to spend on a hobby as costly as Warhammer. They put it next to a Walmart for god's sake.

 

I probably wouldn't mind if Forgeworld took certain armies over. With GW, FW and Black Library getting closer everyday, I can see that happening. And let's face it. For the most part, Forgeworld makes much cooler looking models. And updates their FAQs at least once in awhile. And since FW products are going to be carried in GW stores now, it might end up being just fine. Again, that is if rumors even come to pass, which is unlikely, at least for the foreseeable future.

[McNathanson]

One of the brilliant things about the OFCC is that if and when GW makes a decision that is so intolerably lame we all want to rise up and make our own tournament and our own rules, well, um, we already did :)  So if they cut armies, I'm sure we can find it within our ranks to figure out a suitable set of rules to allow them.  And if they make "allies" a huge part of WFB and every agrees it sucks, we can just disallow it.  Whatever, ya know?

Now the stopping production on models thing, that's a bummer :(  And for at least Bretonnia I've noticed it's quite true.  I've had to buy most of the models for my re-do of my old army off of eBay.  On the upside, it's a great reason to convert my own Grail Knights!  There are always alternatives!

[pretre]

Secondly, 41%?!? That's pretty god damn accurate for someone who just gathers together the spit and spittle of the internet rumormongers. I tend to think that Faeit is closer to around 25% on rumors, although it seems like 40-50% because they constantly put up so much volume that some of it is bound to be right.

41% is miserable as rumor mongers go. It is barely one step above 'I make [big bad swear word] up to get page hits'.

 

 

 

you have the gall to say "Just stop" getting mad at rumors that have a 41% accuracy rating?!?

I lol'd. Tell you what, we'll have a good laugh about this when Natfka is wrong again and this is a storm over nothing, just generating him more hits.

[MexicanNinja]

...Says the person with a Vampire army, and no other.  Of course you wouldn't care if any other army got cut...

Such class.

[Drak]

wisetiger is a real life friend, who is giving me crap about only playing one army. not a matter of class but perspective.

 

that being said I agree with Murphy that If they did discontinue a line you could alway convert and/or in most events we play in use the most recent book for rules.

 

I think saying warhammer is a hobby that warrants spending thousands of dollars, while certainly possible, isn't a given.

[wisetiger7]

wisetiger is a real life friend, who is giving me crap about only playing one army. not a matter of class but perspective.

Frickin vampires. You need another army Drak!

 

I do agree that OFCC is a much more friendly atmosphere for allowing non-GW sanctioned books, with Chaos Dwarves, Norse, and recently Cult of Ulric. I think that's what differentiates it from stricter tournament formats.