LEGALWATCH: Games Workshop vs Chapterhouse Verdict

[Psychosplodge]

We've already got a domestic company...

[Caitsidhe]

We've already got a domestic company...

No, I'm talking about a much larger player entering than we have seen so far.

[Magpie]

It clears the way for more competition by making the laws crystal clear in respect to what would be competitors can get away with. The lower the legal risk, the greater the entry of additional vendors on the scene. Profit and risk are the carrot and the stick. I don't want to get into a long diatribe about economics but it all boils down into it being a BUYER'S versus a seller's market. Lower prices and a wider selection are things which are good for consumers. This is only possible with more vendors competing with each other for the same coin.

In essence there are only two things merchants can do to compete with each other. They can:

1. Reduce prices, or
2. Build a better mousetrap

Either or both of these things are good for me and you.

How is a company making parts for GW miniatures or Miniatures that fit into the GW Codices competition ?
They are complimentary if anything as the sales of one company's products promotes the other.

Last time I checked there are dozens of competing miniatures manufacturers in the table top minatures market and I don't see how any of them will benefit from this case.

There is nothing good for you or I in this case. There might even been some bad.

[Wolfshade]

No, I'm talking about a much larger player entering than we have seen so far.

'Splogy was refering to GW, with him being resident in mainland UK.

I sometimes wonder if all these small start ups are actually preventing a larger company coming in. If they each are entertaining say 1% of the market share and there are 15/20 of them, if they were unified under one studio they could really start to push out and use some of the efficienices of scale and the intra company compettion is holding them back from maximisng profits. I don't know but it is a curious thing to consider.

[Caitsidhe]

How is a company making parts for GW miniatures or Miniatures that fit into the GW Codices competition ?
They are complimentary if anything as the sales of one company's products promotes the other.

They are both. Consider the following...

I have a Traitor Guard army I'm building to act as allies, to my CSM. All the Sgts. and Officers are going to be from the new Raging heroes line. My rank and file will be Steel Legion models that I have painted appropriately. My Sabres are conversions built with a lot of Games Workshop parts. My Lord Commissar will be another Raging heroes model. In my case it is complimentary. Sales of the the third party models are hand in hand with me buying (well trading for in this case) some Games Workshop product.

I have a friend who has popluated his Typhus led zombie force with ENTIRELY third party models. Mantic for zombies. Cool Daemons from who knows where. Even his Typhus is an alternate model. There isn't a single Games Workshop model on the table for him. His army actually looks great. That is competition. The more people who see that good looking army and then find out how much less it cost him to field the more competition it is likely to create.

Last time I checked there are dozens of competing miniatures manufacturers in the table top minatures market and I don't see how any of them will benefit from this case. There is nothing good for you or I in this case. There might even been some bad.

Like what?

[Magpie]

No, I'm talking about a much larger player entering than we have seen so far.

The only way I could see that happening is if a large company close to the market bought out the major player(s) currently in the market.

[Magpie]

They are both. Consider the following...

I have a Traitor Guard army I'm building to act as allies, to my CSM. All the Sgts. and Officers are going to be from the new Raging heroes line. My rank and file will be Steel Legion models that I have painted appropriately. My Sabres are conversions built with a lot of Games Workshop parts. My Lord Commissar will be another Raging heroes model. In my case it is complimentary. Sales of the the third party models are hand in hand with me buying (well trading for in this case) some Games Workshop product.

I have a friend who has popluated his Typhus led zombie force with ENTIRELY third party models. Mantic for zombies. Cool Daemons from who knows where. Even his Typhus is an alternate model. There isn't a single Games Workshop model on the table for him. His army actually looks great. That is competition. The more people who see that good looking army and then find out how much less it cost him to field the more competition it is likely to create.

errrr no that 's not competition at all. That you guys are just using different models for the same game. 40k is still the only game in town as far as you and your mates are concerned and for GW that is a great result.
You're still buying all the rulebooks and so forth from GW so they are happy as can be because they are keeping a customer that might otherwise have gone else where totally.

The "competing" miniatures manufacturers occupy price points that a relative to GW, not necessarily cheaper or in direct competition. Their business is focussed on picking up the customers that move away slightly from the core GW product for any of a number of reasons. As GW's price changes so to does theirs, so Mantic will always be just that little bit cheaper than GW but will rise along with GW pricing.

Infinity is a competitor, Warmachine is a competitor but Mantic and Raging Heroes are not as they don't provide an alternative product but a complimentary product. Granted Mantic and RH do each have their own game but it is nowhere near the popularity of 40k / WHFB so for now they just ride along with GW.

That is NOT competition, it more like a symbiotic market relationship.

[Chris Copeland]

How is this good for the consumer ?

It is good for the consumer because the clearly established principle that companies are allowed to make after-market products perfectly legally has been upheld! GW was trying to squash this perfectly legal market and Nick and the rest at CHS stood up to them! Bravo, Chapterhouse! I've never understood the venom that so many folks spewed at CHS. I thought that after-market products were perfectly legal thoughout the West (and not just in America).

[Magpie]

It is good for the consumer because the clearly established principle that companies are allowed to make after-market products perfectly legally has been upheld! GW was trying to squash this perfectly legal market and Nick and the rest at CHS stood up to them! Bravo, Chapterhouse! I've never understood the venom that so many folks spewed at CHS. I thought that after-market products were perfectly legal thoughout the West (and not just in America).

Gw have never had a problem with after market parts that do not use their IP. This case was about HOW GW's IP was used.

I see nothing in your post championing CHS that benefits we in the hobby.

[Psychosplodge]

Also when it comes to the third party parts for vehicles(where you usually go ) your right to maintain the functionality of the vehicle comes first.