Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Resin and prices....

I found the following at FAEIT212, one of my favorite blogs. I have to agree wholeheartedly. One of the points he makes involving limiting internet sales and local stores is a good one, and in the end it contributed to a FLGS here in Ohio closing. Read on:

I have been avoiding the negative side of these rumors and announcements like the plague. I do not like to over indulge in negative posts. I enjoy my hobby, do not believe that Games Workshop is actively working against the hobby, or hates us so. This often puts me into a place where I do not want to post a few things that I find, so I skip over them, or try and handle them in my end of the week editorial.

Lately we have seen Games Workshop stop Northern European companies from selling their reduced priced products to other countries. We have seen resin models with a price hike, and now the latest rumor control policy that limits GW managers from getting anything. All of this, and probably more, has led to quite a bit of frustration, and to be blunt, is pissing people off.

First the overseas ban on companies:
I am in the United States, in Oregon. So I do not know how the pricing works elsewhere, and I will not speak for the people in Australia or elsewhere. It seems from what I have read that their pricing atm is out of control. I do hope that a local plant in that region will help on pricing. I don't know enough to really comment more though.

In my neck of the woods. I see Games Workshops new policy helping local stores. Too many people purchase their product from companies like Wayland Games, and only show up at stores to play, and do so with shiny new models that were bought online (even bragging about it). Since the local stores are bound to the pricing GW gives them, they lose a ton of business, and I see the new policy levelling the playing field. I personally love my local game shops (Knightfall Games and Rivals), and see this as a positive. They after all should be making the money on the sales. They just cannot compete with a company like Wayland who has no overhead in this local area.

Once again, I am only commenting on a local perspective, I do not pretend to know all the workings or pricing in other countries.

Price Hikes and Resin:
The full announcement is not here yet on the resin. So I personally love rumors, but do not jump the gun on something I do not have enough information on.

As for the price hikes. People will not spend more or less on models. You spend what you spend. If things cost more, you will simply be more cautious what you are spending, and spend the same. I want Games Workshop to remain competitive, and remain on the top of  tabletop games. I do not like spending more than anyone else, but I also want to see the quality of 5th edition maintain. It is the best out there.

I am sure they know of the negative images this kind of stuff gives them and I am sure it pains them greatly, (even if no one believes me), even though they must watch the bottom line, and make sure they are profiting, they also love our hobby. Costs in our world have increased greatly. Inflation is out of control (another subject personal to me like the skyrocketing cost of food and fuel), and to reasonable think this doesn't effect our hobby is alarming.

Rumor Control
Rumors will come. GW Managers are the ones who are no longer allowed to know anything. This is the just of the new policy. Managers in any company are generally the worst source of info, and yet everyone turns to them. They know just enough to get them into trouble, and yet not the truth of what is really going on. Generally they know just enough to piss people off. This is why I would find it important to limit their knowledge of what is coming out. The upper echelons I am sure know this, and know that rumors are important. This way they can control the negative, and then keep up the current rumor releases. This is logical and makes sense.

Conclusion
These are sensitive subjects. They tend to piss people off. I am the kind of person that stays away from all the melodrama the world throws me. However, it is OK to get pissed off on these subjects, they are tough ones. I do not vilify Games Workshop. They might make some decisions I do not agree with, but I do believe they are trying to do the best they can.


In the end we can only speculate on what they are doing and why, but they are a business and in order to continue to exist, they must make a profit and satisfy their investors. Do I like it? no, not one bit, but its out of my control.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

June DE wave 3 up in pre order....

WOW....








Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Volscani Vs. Orks Part 2: Oh! the Drama!!

Basically we set up more or less as expected in opposing quarters. The 4 objectives were set up more or less in a box shape about 18" square around the center of the board. I deployed my  parking lot with the executioner on the right and the hydras on the left, with the chimeras peeking around the building at the front and center of my deployment zone. (thanks Jeff!)

Jeff set up shop all the way to the front of his deployment zone with the battle wagon screened by two trukks. These had his nobbs and a boyz squad in them, along with the Mekk and KFF (Grr).His big mob of 20 shoota boyz were on foot to the rear holding an objective.

I the deployed my snipers in a tower over in my left field in close enough that they would harrass his flanks, but far enough out to not bait out  his nobs or some other trouble. I then promptly failed to zeize the initiative and we were off to the death races.
yuJeff moved up quickly with his trukks and battle wagon and brought his boys up behind to consolidate them into cover near that back objective. None of this should be a surprise, but with Zaggstruk waiting in the wings I wasn't hugely confident. On my half of the turn I moved to spread out enough to clear lines of fire for my troops and opened up. I managed to kill the trukk with the Nobs and warboss, and I think put down a nob. Stupid KFF.....

Jeff began his turn by bringing Zaggstruck and his vulcha boys down in front of his nobs, and out in the open right in front of my snipers. He assaulted the nearest chimera....and whiffed....which set a trend for him for the rest of the game. He ran with all of his now foot bound troops and rolled a 2 for each of them....every turn for the rest of the game.....

Since Zaggstruck was now stranded out in the open I used the psyker squad and snipers to eat them alive. I used the remaining 2 veteran squads on that flank to pin down his nobs who were by now floundering through the small woods trying to get to Zaggstrukk to help. On the other flank I lost the Executioner but my veteran squads were making holes in his other trukk and the boys that pile out.

Turn 3 saw his battlewagon finally start to ram into everything in sight, and I started to lose tanks. Now, my guard hold up well, but I know from experience that once their transports go down, they are expected to live exactly one more turn if there are any enemy models within 18" of them.I nthis case, 2 10 man squads of boys and the nobs....not good for me.

I had dropped his other trukk so my tanks started hammering on his troops to whittle him down. With 12 plasma rifles hitting him, I should have eaten him alive....stupid KFF....His Deffdred was making mince meat out of what ever it touched....making things worse on the right. I finally downed it with plasma fire but it took a chimera and my executioner out first. WORTH it here.

On turn 4 Jeff still hadn't been able to get his Nobs out of those woods. Up to this point I watched him roll a 2 over and over for both his movement and run distances. A 6" wide wood turned into his downfall here. By now I had killed 4 or 5 of them and made a nice dent in the threat there. The Deffdred was down, so the only armor he had left was the battlewagon. I couldnt kill it as my vets with melta guns were the first to die to the remnants of Zaggstrukks vulcha boys in turn 3....Down to plasma from the rear I guess. Problem with that was the remaining 20 boys on his home objective....can't get behind the wagon without exposing myself to their charge range....

On turn 5 Jeff was basically spreading out his boys to contest multiple objectives while shooting as he could and ramming with the battlewagon. I lost another chimera to that ram, but the squad inside survived enough to help clear the boys off my home objective...but I still cant help that battlewagon.


We rolled and the game ended after 5 turns in a draw. It looked like I had to kill the battlewagon in order to win but Jeff was losing boys like crazy, so it could have gone either way with one more turn. This was one of the best games I have played in a long time. It was a real nailbiter all the way to the end. You owe me a rematch Astivus!!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Volscani Vs. Orks Part 1: The lists

Well had a friend come over yesterday and we got in a 1750 point game. Great guy, great game.

My List:
Alpha Psyker
Psyker squad (9) in Chimera
5x veterans, 3 plasma in chimera
 veteran squad 3 melta in chimera
3 hydra tanks
Russ Executioner
2x 2 scout Sentinels with autocannons
5 snipers

Jeff's list:
Boss Smashog PK, twinlinked shoota, cybork
BigMek Bentwrench, KFF
10 nobs, painboy, orderly, 3 claws, bigchoppa, waagh! banner in trukk
20 sluggsboys, nob with klaw and bosspole
12 shootaboys in a trukk
20 shootaboyz, nob with Klaw and bosspole
Zaggstruck with 15 vulcha boyz
Battlewagon with 'ardcase, deffrolla, Zzapgun, 4x bigshootas
Deff dread 2x ccw armor plates and riggers

Capture and control, spearhead deployment

This was a great game....nailbiter down to the end.!