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Resisting the Siren's song


Nanite
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I'm fully of the beleif that once one of the other major players releases an OGL minis game system that translates well to WFB and 40k and catches on, GW is going to see a major hit to their pocket book.

Are you saying those people will convert their GW minis over, or they'll not buy GW product period?

 

I have the same question. I figure GW can live w/o proceeds for the rulesets, but the minis are their bread and butter....

 

 

"Monopolistic Competition" is an economic term, and the "Monopolistic" portion of things has nothing to do with the traditional "Monopoly" definition.

 

I see, they need another designation.

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Are you saying those people will convert their GW minis over, or they'll not buy GW product period?

A little of both. If a system catches on where GW figures are widely accepted as viable factions, then I think GW will see a hit to their rules sales AND to the types of units they've put premium prices on because of their rules values. Also, since GW tends to use their rules releases to drive mini sales, they could have issues - because if their rules are made largely irrelevant, they won't be able to use them to market the minis like they're used to doing.

 

That might be made up by sales of the real good values - IE, the troop boxes, etc - but these days, IMO, GW doesn't have enough of those good values left to absorb the entire change to thier sales. So the question becomes - how fast can the lethargic, hulking beast that GW has become react to a change like that?

 

I am aware that there are games out there that allow people to use GW figures. I am aware there have been a few OGL and freeware minis game attempts. So far none has been popular enough and/or backed by a large enough company to gain the momentum needed. It may never happen - but if it does, I'm not convinced GW is limber enough to adapt fast enough to prevent a major shock to their company.

 

And I agree - if GW fails, someone will grab the IP. I don't think they'll fail, but a "dry spell" where 40k and WFB seem to suffer for awhile while GW re-organizes is something I think could happen - not sure how bad it would get. For all I know, this could be that dry spell.

 

If by chance they do fail, what happens then depends on who grabs the IP and what they want to do with it. If a company like Reaper manages to get ahold of it, it could prosper. OTOH, if a media company that's more interested in the film, book and comic rights does, the games could be doomed. Or worse, someone who wants to make a clicky PPM game out of it!

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Or worse, someone who wants to make a clicky PPM game out of it!

 

Exactly. I mean, they'd rewrite the rules, and the additional complexity might be too much from some 40k players. :poke:

 

The main hurdle (IMO) that any fantasy or SF game has to overcome is the fact that GW is the default game for a lot of people. Given the choice between Wargods of Aegyptus (well-written rules, beautiful figs, few players) and WFB (mediocre rules, fairly decent figs, and quite a few players), most people will opt for WFB.

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Or worse, someone who wants to make a clicky PPM game out of it!

 

Exactly. I mean, they'd rewrite the rules, and the additional complexity might be too much from some 40k players. :poke:

LMAO!

 

The main hurdle (IMO) that any fantasy or SF game has to overcome is the fact that GW is the default game for a lot of people. Given the choice between Wargods of Aegyptus (well-written rules, beautiful figs, few players) and WFB (mediocre rules, fairly decent figs, and quite a few players), most people will opt for WFB.

Agreed. That's why I think only an OGL game backed by a major company has a shot of unseating GW. Especially if it's just starting to pick up steam when GW makes one of their boneheaded moves - like a poorly thought out edition change.

 

If GW was smart, they'd do the OGL thing themselves with their rules, and tweek the license to give them some advantages, like D&Ds 4e license. Imagine how big 40k/WFB would be if anyone could release a line of miniatures and a 40k/WFB compatible army book for those minis?

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I'm fully of the beleif that once one of the other major players releases an OGL minis game system that translates well to WFB and 40k and catches on, GW is going to see a major hit to their pocket book.

Well maybe not an OGL but when Warzone started out in Australia a few years ago , 40k took a really significant dive especially at tournaments but then Heartbreaker went and shot themself in the foot . :rolleyes:

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FLGS has a demo copy of space hulk. Its awesome. Tiles are glossy and embossed, e.g. there are dents in them where there are bullet holes. All the space marines are named, and the minis are gorgeous.

 

How are the minis, size-wise? Some of the pictures on gw's site make them look smaller than 28mm scale (fingers and dice being the only references).

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Definitely check out the website then: www.classicbattletech.com

I just wanted to take a moment to curse your name, Damon! :angry:

 

Since our discussion of the current status of Classic BattleTech the other day, I decided to pull my box 'o mechs out of storage, and dust off my old sourcebooks. Then I checked out the CBT website. Then the IWM website. Then I started thinking I didn't need that many more figures to finish the Ghost Bear cluster I had started. Then I saw they had resculpted a lot of the old OmniMechs and I thought if I am going to do it, I should do it with matching figures....

 

ARG!!!!! Look what you did to me and my gaming budget! :wacko:

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Definitely check out the website then: www.classicbattletech.com

I just wanted to take a moment to curse your name, Damon! :angry:

 

Since our discussion of the current status of Classic BattleTech the other day, I decided to pull my box 'o mechs out of storage, and dust off my old sourcebooks. Then I checked out the CBT website. Then the IWM website. Then I started thinking I didn't need that many more figures to finish the Ghost Bear cluster I had started. Then I saw they had resculpted a lot of the old OmniMechs and I thought if I am going to do it, I should do it with matching figures....

 

ARG!!!!! Look what you did to me and my gaming budget! :wacko:

 

Glad to be of service!

 

The resculpt omnis are really nice for the most part...

 

Damon.

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FLGS has a demo copy of space hulk. Its awesome. Tiles are glossy and embossed, e.g. there are dents in them where there are bullet holes. All the space marines are named, and the minis are gorgeous.

 

How are the minis, size-wise? Some of the pictures on gw's site make them look smaller than 28mm scale (fingers and dice being the only references).

 

Terminators look like they'd fit right in with the current termies. Many of the stealers are in special poses e.g. jumping out through the floor, or crawling around on dead space marine bits, so they might not fit in with a 'nid army quite as well.

 

All in all, two thumbs up.

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I would say that my first impression when we opened the box yesterday is that they do seem to be a bit smaller. I was also looking at it and thinking there is no way they but this kind of effort into a game that is meant to be a limited edition. I'm thinking it will be in the hands of Fantasy Flight and soon as GW has made their money which should be pretty quick. Now I'm wondering if my old Space Hulk campaign books will be worth something.

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