While Supplies Last; Specislist Games

[Gideus]

Dunno if this means anything, but I checked last night, a bunch of the different models in the BB range, and they were fine.
Checked the same ones this morning and several had changed from the "usually dispatched in 24 hours" to "this product is expected to despatch in nine to ten weeks", like the Galadrieth Gladiators in BB, placing it in the middle of july. However the skaven are no longer available, as are the undead team...and khemri are not even pictured on the site anymore.

[billytwix]

When is GW's next annual/semi-annual financial report? could this be a tactic for the final statement boost before the new term?

I think i'm ok to see the specialist games go. i'm overwhelmed as it is with the monthly new book roll-outs. I do have some heavy nostalgia for the mordheims however. I would be pleased with a mordheim scenery offering. As its an easy game to come up with your own warband, or just to make the skaven densely packed buildings look for the game.

[Matt Hayes]

I was a little upset when they did Dreadfleet instead of updating something GOOD, like BFG... now I'm really pissed. A slight rules overhaul, maybe redo the book and actually sell it in stores and BFG could have been a good seller. Specialist games only died because they let it over the course of many years with no support.

[eldargal]

And Specialist Games were allowed to die over the course of many years because they didn't make enough money. GW are a business, not a charity.

[Cap'nSmurfs]

I imagine it's currently taking up warehouse space and man-hours that could be more profitably used elsewhere. It's a shame, but these games had a good long run and plenty of support throughout their lives, and these things come to an end. It'd be lovely if people were able to do/make/support things for their love of it, and the shared community experience, but unfortunately we live in a world of the so-called "free market" that people are otherwise so quick to uncritically champion.

[ElectricPaladin]

And Specialist Games were allowed to die over the course of many years because they didn't make enough money. GW are a business, not a charity.

I think that there's an argument to be made that SG were set up to fail, having never been given the support they would have needed to spread their wings and fly as proper games.

That said, I don't think GW would view it as a "failure." Rather, they were never really meant to survive as independent lines. They were meant as fun little one-offs to reward players who were already into GW's games, or to draw new players with variant interests into GW's world, in the hopes that they would buy into the main lines ("wow, Eldar ships sure are neat... I wonder how they play in this 'Warhammer 40k' game all my new Battlefleet Gothic friends are telling me about").

Frankly, it's our own fault for falling in love with these games. We should have known better :-/.

But, look, it isn't all bad. Much as they act like they think they are, GW isn't the only game in town. Companies like Mantic and Spartan have seen the potential in "sci-fi/fantasy football" and "deep space epic naval combat" and have produced some pretty decent games. Maybe it's just time for those of us who loved Battlefleet Gothic or Blood Bowl to find new games?

[eldargal]

They weren't set up to fail, but nor were they intended to be around forever, as you say. Also if they keep the rules up on the website there is nothing stopping you from playing Necromunda and Mordheim at least, both are easy to kitbash from the 40k and WFB ranges. BFG and Epic not so much.

[ElectricPaladin]

They weren't set up to fail, but nor were they intended to be around forever, as you say...

Ah, this is the essential difference of opinion. In my mind, a game that is "successful" continues to exist forever, constantly reinvigorating itself with new editions and added content as necessary. Not necessarily falling prey to creative glut, mind you - "new content" doesn't mean "more factions and unnecessary rules changes," it can mean "expanded model lines, resculpts, and new ways to play the same game." A game that disappears is ultimately a failure. As a player, it makes it exponentially more difficult to grow the game where I am, even if the game materials are still technically available.

Also if they keep the rules up on the website there is nothing stopping you from playing Necromunda and Mordheim at least, both are easy to kitbash from the 40k and WFB ranges. BFG and Epic not so much.

Yes, well... let's hope so. Given the way GW has been behaving, I think there's a pretty decent chance they'll decide to put all the nails in the specialist games coffin in the hopes that this will channel more money to the main lines. Remove the rules from the website, demand that everyone hosting mirrored downloads take them down, too... it would be in character.

[eldargal]

You're thinking like a hobbyist, not a business. GW released these games, they made some money, let the company and fans explore the settings from different angles and were generally healthy. They weren't intended to be perpetually supported money-spinners, but they were still successful.

[Cap'nSmurfs]

They weren't set up to fail; they were set up to have a big splash release and then be maintained, bubbling along with occasional new releases and dedicated magazine support, first in The Citadel Journal, then Fanatic, and then their own bespoke magazines. The first thing that killed the Specialist Game model was the addition of a third main string to the bow: the LOTR/Hobbit license. That took main magazine space and devoted time and resources to supporting a third mainstream game. The other factor was when GW had their big restructuring in the mid-noughties; support since then has been unofficial (on innernet) or semi-official (forge world, and the web PDFs of rulebooks).

Then they released the special, limited edition, one-time-only Space Hulk, and it sold like ****ing hotcakes. Here, then, was a new model: one-time only special releases of premium boxed games, every other year or so, which could be conducted as backroom projects in the design studio and were guaranteed a certain sales figure (by being limited edition). It's a model which supercedes the Specialist Games one, which took more dedicated time, effort and money to keep going, but which could be kept on life support until... well, While Stocks Last.

I think that's an accurate appraisal, anyway.