"GW Stealth Discontinues Specialist Games" Topic

Well. It was bound to happen but GW has pretty much permanently killed the Specialist Games lines. A couple days ago some of the local forumites on a couple other forums started noticing some of the Specialist Games models (all metal models) going to "No Longer Available". One of the guys on the Tactical Command forums went and called GW Customer No-Service and found out that the Specialist Games Lines were essentially dead and once the stocks of minis were gone from regions, they would be removed from the region's web store and no more were being made.

At this point lots of things are gone from the US webstore and more things are disappearing every hour.

What's so frustrating is that GW made NO announcement whatsoever that this stuff was being discontinued at this time.

Only real surprise is that it took them this long to do it. Word has it the next stunt will be to go direct sales only and cut distributors out entirely. The retailer forums are betting about 50/50 on that one by next year at the outside.

That blows. Its not really surprising given the switch to resin. I couldnt see them retooling all the specialist game molds to resin given the low sales numbers. Like you said though they could have given people a heads up to let us know they were closing them out.

I can't wait till they file bankruptcy. The fall will be sudden and an epic train wreck to watch.

I'm predicting 2-3 years myself. All I want to see at this point are 8e WFB books for the few armies still in 6e…

I got off the GW train well over 14 years ago, but despite them being a bunch of tools I wouldn't take glee at them going bust – but I really don't think they're likely to go under anytime soon. Smaller, more expensive, direct sales only yes, but not bust.

I think GWs role in this industry is no longer needed. They where the entry point for a very high percentage of gamers. I think we will see boardgames taking that role now.

GW survives because the attrition rate isn't a big deal to them. They loss a massive amount of gamers per year but it never matters because more are coming in the door each day. Their lack of store support will cause it to implode once those stores shift to PP and boardgames.

All they need to do is push the direct sales only agenda too far and their player base will migrate but the lack of store support prevent new players from entering and it will start to spiral out of control. They will not be able to dump employees fast enough.

They are definitely going out of business. Look at all the evidence:

TMP link

TMP link

Their customer base is shrinking, both through their own actions and because the face of entertainment is continuing to evolve away from high prep time forms. Like the rest of this hobby, they will need to adapt or die, and their size and being publicly held are both going to be disadvantages. Quite a lot of what they are doing doesn't look like adaption, either.

If they cut out Retailers they will have issues. Surely they wouldn't make that move?

The company began at a time when their peers were enjoying a huge economic boom. As the company grew so did the income of the supporting gaming group to the point when they began to lose sight of what the original fans wanted.

I loved GW in the early years but I soon grew wise to their marketing and how they loved to reinvent the wheel or drop lines without much notice.

Like the banks GW lost it's customer care and became profit focused, now it's supporters are feeling the pinch and moving to more economical games. I guess they'll be bought out in the not too distant future.

To be honest, I thought it would have been clear that once the current back stock of metals for the Specialist range had been sold that would be it. I can see no reason as to why GW would bother to retool moulds from rangers which must have a very small turn over.

While it perhaps would be nice to have a heads up on low stock, I'd have thought that that people who wanted specific bits from these ranges would have bought a long time ago. This all sounds like raging for rages sake.

Anyhow, they are all still a available and in stock on the UK site, so perhaps you could ask GW to spread a bit of stock around?

If they cut out Retailers they will have issues. Surely they wouldn't make that move?

Not a given. The basic assumption that they need the smaller retailers is debatable. My local store owner has been tracking GW activity for years, and (according to their own stockholder reports) they've managed to shift the majority of their new-item sales onto their own web store over the last couple of years. Big independents order direct from GW already. Cutting the distributors will only kill the little shops who don't have GW accounts, and (more importantly) the online discounters, who get a lot of their stock through distribution, thereby avoiding GW's imposed discount policy.

Current GW customer service for retailers is as bad as it's ever been. They receive almost no notice of upcoming releases, their orders on new product are often allocated to insanely small levels (what good is one copy of a given product?), and errors in production pipeline scheduling combined with lack of liquidity are crippling the release patterns well into the summer. General opinion on the retailer forums is that something has to change. Either they give up and go direct, counting on their established presence to keep the motor turning over, or they radically revise the way they're treating the retailers, shifting back toward the "store support" glory days of the mid-to-late 90s and early 21st.

It's possible the two might be combined – keep the top-rated independents and support them better, axe the distributors and "loser" store accounts that aren't worth dealing with.

Shame – these were their more interesting games (to me) – except Bloodbowl which I've never understood the attraction for.

Pictor's – I believe that every year GW are on the verge of being bankrupt. And what do they do ? Blindly continue down the path of opening more shops and selling more stuff than they have ever sold before….the mad fools….

I believe that every year GW are on the verge of being bankrupt

According to their Financial Report, Revenue is up, Net profit is up AND they are trading near their all time high.

Whatever they are doing, they need to keep doing it.

"Pictor's – I believe that every year GW are on the verge of being bankrupt. And what do they do ? "

More like every year someone on here claims GW is on the verge of bankruptcy.

I've been playing GW games since 1995 or thereabouts. Even back then people were predicting they would be out of business if they didn't change how they priced their products and so on.

The specialist games range is going because it doesn't make enough money to keep it around. I love warmaster and haven't bought a blister in probably 6 years or more. I have all the warmaster stuff I'll ever need right now.

I'm sure they will be just fine for many years to come.

So does this mean my Space Hulk is worth EVEN more ?

Sigh. Now the Necromunda stuff I want will be even more expensive.

On the other hand, I can wait a bit, and unload it for a lot more…hmm…

Why not just use Copplestone or Foundry for Necromunda stuff. Or any of the other stuff that is out there. If I were doing a Van Saar Gang or Spyrers I'd probably be using Infinity stuff honestly.

No, now the Epic stuff will be even more crazy expensive on eBay. We can proxy everything for cheaper and nicer imo but GW is the only place to get orks. $5 USD-$7 a tank is a hard pill to swallow, especially when we need a couple dozen. (I'm not a fan of the older plastic vehicles from Space Marine.) Sigh. I keep missing the boat in this hobby.

I'll probably be selling my Necromunda to finance more Infinity, anyway…

@CPBelt -- I have tons of orks. If you need something, drop me a line at javelin98 AT lycos DOT com. I'll see if I can help you out.

Also, ork proxies wouldn't be hard to make in Sketchup. Maybe I should do up some and pitch them to a 6mm manufacturer.

Sad news. This is a day of doom Warmaster fans have long feared.

Sigh. I'd given up on their treatment of BFG a while back but this is kind of a final nail in the coffin. I think they'll survive but they are working very hard to goof up what could have been a great IP.

I'm bummed about the loss of Blood Bowl.

I bought several specialist things in metal about two years ago because I presumed they would cut the ranges. Honestly, I'm stunned GW waited this long to do it.

Any risk that the rules (currently free PDFs) will get yanked?

I have the rules for WM, BB, Mord downloaded many years ago. there are more then enough alternative figure manufacturers out there. Shame that they are dropping their own support, but gamers will continue to find a way.

It is not a tragedy!

As Pictor and DR. Mathias have stated it is a surprise that GW has taken this long. Oh, and Pictor thanks for posting the threads from what 2006 and 2010? Many a person on TMP has wished ill on GW from the very beginning because they were not a mom and pop operation and were using a viable business model.

There are already companies that have been filling the void and/or producing similar and perhaps better games/miniatures for the specialist ranges. Perhaps the only area you have not seen a strong alternative has been with Epic/Space Marine. Most likely because forces such as the Eldar, Orks, Space Marines are so iconic as any thing close would soon get a letter from GW's legal department.

While sad(I still miss the squats but again others are still producing figures for them) the specialist games are not where the money is for GW. Would you continue to produce a line of minis that did not bring in a profit on a regular basis? Of course not. Nuff said.

Luckily, I have all the Bloodbowl figures I will ever need.

David G.

The thing is, the Specialist Games could bring in a profit if they cared to market them.

turns out it's not just Specialist games. It's also the metal ranges from WFB and 40k as well, maybe also LotR SBG

link

Too bad about Warmaster. I harboured delusions of ordering some more figures at some point soon, but that will it be much too late.

Many a person on TMP has wished ill on GW from the very beginning because they were not a mom and pop operation and were using a viable business model.

And some of us merely predict doom because we see GW following a short-term business model that has the potential to fail catastrophically.

GW has beaten the fantasy and sci-fi miniatures gaming communities with a cricket bat for over a quarter century. They've treated their retailers like filth. They've consistently treated their customer like garbage. All that time, they've raked in the cash and the more hateful they are, the more money they make. I am quite confident that they'll still be the King of the Hill for years to come.

Likening GW's fanbase to being in an abusive relationship?

Sadly, the psychology may match up more closely than we like to admit.

GW has beaten the fantasy and sci-fi miniatures gaming communities with a cricket bat for over a quarter century. They've treated their retailers like filth. They've consistently treated their customer like garbage. All that time, they've raked in the cash and the more hateful they are, the more money they make. I am quite confident that they'll still be the King of the Hill for years to come.

Sounds like GW is following the WalMart business model

I think for Bloodbowl it matters the least. There is a 'tournament scene' with I think the biggest being last year with 430 players attending. Every single item is available, often more cheaply, from other retailers. Often as simply improved versions of the GW Blood Bowl models. There is even two computer game versions, a free java client and one that costs round £5.00 GBP GBP in the regular steam sales.

Compare to Epic. There are many other 6mm manufactures with superior quality and price, but their ranges don't always match that well with Epic unit choices and there is a lack of the GW space races such as Orcs, Elves, etc. This is slowly changing infantry wise but the armour is a little trickier. A number of individuals who had made alternatives to non existent units in 6mm were hit with C&D orders, one is being taken to court for selling them to other members of the same forum (these are things that GW has never made but are clearly inspired by the GW universe). The online client was taken down after further legal letters. Now there are things changing. Numerous companies are cutting closer and closer to the GW look and unit selection in 6mm. One chap is making a computer game based on the epic rule set but with some changes and different units.

However one thing for historical players to be aware of, it is often a lot harder to drum up opponents for fictional settings than historical ones especially when they are games that are no longer sold in complete packages.

Yeah, to play Epic you generally need to find guys with 20 year old collections. I own a load of it including almost every non-Forgeworld army ever released. However, when other players don't own armies they don't 'buy in' on the system. plus they don't really know the best way to use their armies.

Thanks,

John

I have a ton of BFG, most of it never opened. Never did get my group interested in playing and lost momentum in painting it myself. Maybe when I retire…

I have a ton of BFG, most of it never opened. Never did get my group interested in playing and lost momentum in painting it myself. Maybe when I retire…

That's the attitude !

I'm in the exact same situation – only with Spacefleet (if you remember that one from GW!)