"Warlord BEF Platoon Pack?" Topic

A couple of weeks ago I found a BEF platoon pack on the Warlord site, but now I want to buy it I can't seem to find it. All I can find are the individual section/team packs.

Warlord's online shop is painfully difficult to navigate, so I might have missed it. Does anyone know if it's still available?

try here jemima

link

Bloody marvellous! Why are these things so difficult to find on that site?

Thanks a bunch! :)

They definitely have one of the worst webstores to navigate that I've seen in recent times.

Indeed. What's wrong with a simple list?

Hi guys,

My name's Richard and I recently took-over Customer Service duties here at Warlord.

Thanks for your feedback regarding our webstore navigation. Could I ask for some more specifics on the difficulties you've been having?

Are you having issues with the search – are products not appearing when you search keywords?

Is the menu layout too tricky or not intuitive enough?

Any specific issues that you could raise will help us to develop the site to ensure that in future it's easier to navigate.

If ever you can't find a product, or have any questions regarding the webstore, please don't hesitate to get in touch via info@warlordgames.com – and I'll happily investigate.

Thanks again,

Richard

Rich…since it's a platoon pack might it have been better to reflect a platoon? I appreciate that keep the the pack price down would discourage issuing a pack with 3 sections of 10 plus HQ group, but a box with one section, a Vickers and a 3" mortar?

Hi Rich,

Yes, that's essentially it. I found the product during my first search, but then when I went back to buy it, it wasn't appearing, despite selecting all the relevant options – British, British Army, Infantry, etc, etc. I even tried Google in frustration, but that couldn't find it either. Strangely it now appears in searches with no problem and I'm wondering if it was actually out of stock for a while?

It's not the first time I've experienced the problem and I do find your search engine to be rather frustrating and results are frequently quite random or incomplete.

I freely admit that I am also a curmudgeonly old fart who would FAR rather pick things off a simple text list (thereby seeing everything you sell on one page)than a bells'n'whistles search engine results page with pictures of everything that I have to scroll through, but that's just me… ;)

That notwithstanding, thanks very much for coming on here.

I should add that the reason I asked the question here instead of e-mailing you directly, is that I can't access private e-mail from work, but strangely, I can access TMP. :)

@uglyfatbloke – The British Expeditionary Force boxed set is not designed as a full platoon – it's more a starting point.. though I admit that our product description on the webstore could be more clear – I'll amend it now to show a proper breakdown of the contents, which should make it more apparent for future customers.

@Jemima Fawr – Thank you for the feedback – it's very much appreciated, and you raise some good points.

I share an office space with our IT chaps, and we're aware that we need to go back over our inventory to clear-up some data inconsistencies, which should help our 'search' to be a much more useful and user-friendly experience… we are working on this, however we're working on a lot of other projects at the same time, and going back over all of our products will take some time.

Again though – thank you for raising the issue – and again, if you have any future issues, don't hesitate in contacting us.

Thanks again,

Richard

Re the pack contents: As has been said, the descriptor 'Platoon' is somewhat misleading, though it's a useful pack. I find it to be a good army-starter core pack and has most of the bits I want at an excellent price. I tacked on a pair of Section packs and a command pack to give me a full platoon, plus higher-level support weapons and attachments.

@Jemima Fawr – Could you point me to where abouts we describe the set as a 'Platoon' – I'm having trouble locating this descriptor.

As mentioned, I've updated the product description to reflect the Boxed Set's content – and if we're describing it as a 'platoon,' I feel that we should update/remove that information also.

Anything that we can do to make our descriptions more clear, and to avoid any future confusion, is a bonus!

Thanks again,

Richard

Hi Richard,

When I first saw it a couple of weeks ago, it was described as a 'Platoon' pack. Strangely enough, I now see that it isn't. So no problemo. :)

Is the menu layout too tricky or not intuitive enough?

Hi Richard, thanks for asking. The answer is 'Yes' to both. I'm guessing from your question that you have not actually tried using the webstore to try to find a variety of items!

The most obvious menu selector is the left-side check boxes to select products by material. That is cumbersome and confusing for folks who aren't completely familiar with the product line and don't know what all might be made out of plastic, metal, or resin.

Then after you select one of those, you get a mash of all nationalities. With enough poking, you might eventually find the nationality selector that is squirreled away in a drop down menu from the top header.

Then once you do find the nationality selector, then that brings you to a page where all the visible products are jumbled in no particular order, and there is another cumbersome left-side menu. 3 choices for Infantry, Vehicles, and Guns would be a sufficient menu. All the subcategories would work well as sub-choices under the 3 main items for folks who already know exactly what they're looking for.

As it stands now, I have to try to guess what might be the difference between "Infantry" and "Infantry Squads & Teams". Erf?!?

What shows up for products on the main nationality page should all be in the same order as the side-menu options. If the side menu is redesigned with 3 main headings + subheadings, then the products on each page for a main heading should be shown in the same order as the sub-headings are listed.

And when you go to the top page for a nationality, you should be able to find all of the products for that nationality from there! If you select the top page 'Great Britain', you cannot find SAS jeeps anywhere amongst the myriad different vehicle menu choice on the left. To find that product you have to eventually guess that you need to go back to the drop-down menu on the top and find SAS way down at the bottom of the sub-items under Great Britain.

If there's something particular that I'm looking for, I find it much much easier to employ google-fu than attempt to navigate the site.

Can these figures be used for mid-late war British?

Thanks,
Jorge

Mid-War (Norway, Dieppe, etc) certainly. However, Late is stretching it somewhat. For starters, the early, snub-nosed SMLE models had largely been replaced by the No.4 in front-line units by 1944 (though not so much in Italy and Burma). Secondly, the FS Cap (as worn by a number of these figures) had been replaced by the floppy GS Cap. Thirdly, the Boys AT Rifle had been replaced by the PIAT.

Also Richard, WGB-BI-141 SAS NWE Jeep (unarmoured) has gone AWOL from the webstore, although the unarmoured French SAS version still appears on the SAS page.

@miniMo – Thank you for bringing that to my attention – I have reactivated the SAS Jeep, and have given the appropriate staff-member a good kicking for the error.

Regarding the general feedback… again – thank you. I'm passing it all on to our techy folks, and we're taking it onboard as we move forward…

Do you folks think that it would be beneficial for us to have an area on the Warlord Games forums for customers to report technical difficulties… a specific space for customers to report their feedback on our webstore navigation, and to report any suggestions on how we could improve our website?

Thanks again,

Richard

Warlord Games have once again exploited their wormhole tech to deliver said order within two days of starting this thread… :)

Lovely models!