Allies of Inconvenience: Episode 12- Tidal Wave of Releases and What's to Come

This Episode the Allies of Inconvenience Crew discusses the Breakneck pace of GW releases over the past several months and the potential impact that will have on releases still to come... which we then talk about with eager anticipation and a bit of wishlisting.

WE ALSO HAVE NEW METHODS OF SUBSCRIBING AND LISTENING! You can now follow up on Spotify and Google Play in addition to iTunes! Can't stop the signal Mal!

Listen/Subscribe on iTunes
 Listen/Subscribe on Spotify
Listen/Subscribe on Google Play

00:00 Intro
02:16 Hobby Progress
14:49 Summer of Oversaturated Releases
41:45 Future Release Discussion

Songs and Soundclips
Blue Mark- Atlan Urtag
Kaap mere- Bugotak

Clip 1 - The Fifth Element
Clip 2 - The Fifth Element
Clip 3 - Clerks/George Lucas

GW and the Summer of Oversaturation

Games Workshop has oversaturated us. Their stocks are skyrocketing. Their business is on the up and up. The product release train just won't stop. But if they are not careful, they will become Icarus, and fly too close to the sun, and I think a few games will suffer for it.

"What are you talking about Gothmog? This is a great time. So much cool stuff!"

Yes. But can you afford it? Most of us probably can't. And that's fine for a lot of people. But not for GW. And not for the business model they are pushing.

Lets break it down. This "Summer" we have seen

• Idoneth Deepkin (really back in spring, but it was a rather large release I feel)
• Age of Sigmar 2.0 and a new General's Handbook
• Malign Sorcery
• New Storm Cast Subfaction
• Essentially a new Nighthaunt faction
• Imperial Knights codex
• Dominus Knights
• Armiger Knights
• Rerealease of Renegade
• Kill team and all its releases
• New Terrain for 40k
• Chaos BB team,  a new SPIKE supplement, and more accessories
• Dark Elf BB team, a new SPIKE supplement, and more accessories
• Cawdor Gang, a new Gang War supplement, upgrade kits and more accessories

ANNOUNCED AND YET TO BE RELEASE

• Titanicus (a whole new game)
• LotR Relaunch w/ the Pellenor Feilds box set (might as well be a new game)
• Space Wolves Codex
• Orks Codex
• Genestealer Cults Codex
• Kill Team Rogue Trader

That's a lot. And I'm not convinced I didn't miss anything. I am sure I did and someone will say something in the comments.

That's 4 or 5 "new games" (I'll explain), an expansion, 3 supplements, 9 new factions/subfactions and a several box sets costing over $100 USD (and a few near or over $200!)

Can your wallet handle it?

So while some of these are small, they sell to usually fanatics of their chosen game, and sell well. Necro and BB have tight but hardcore followings, and a lot of those players collect numerous teams/gangs. There are people that actually try (and accomplish!) to do all 24 teams in 24 tournaments for BB. Crazy right?!

Now for the Factions. New factions means new armies. Full, big, expensive, time intensive armies. And gone are the days of plain SM or simple skeletons. These things are gorgeous and full of detail. Which means they typically take longer to paint IMO. But the effort is besides the point. A new army just costs a lot. Especially when one of those armies is IMPERIAL KNIGHTS. These things are sweeping the meta in 40k. And they are available to more than just dedicated knight players. And with that release came 2 MAJORLY EXPENSIVE kits- the Dominus and Renegade. Now while Renegade is quite a savings if you are going to buy 2 knights (plus an awesome piece of terrain), it is still $195 USD MSRP. That's a pretty penny, even if you get it 20% off someplace. These are all large and expensive models and are going to put a dent in anyone's wallet who wants one (or 5).

Lets discuss. In this I see a few "new games". So really they aren't all "new". What I mean by this is a core release for a system designed to essentially build a player base from the ground up, or at least massively expand it. AoS 2.0, Kill Team, Titanicus, Pellenor Feilds and possibly Rogue Trader are ALL designed and intended to do this.

Lets start with a GW flagship. AOS 2.0, especially when combined with Malign Sorcery, really has seemed to energize a lot of new players and was designed and timed to bring A LOT of new blood into the game, particularly hobbyists that just hadn't dipped their toe in yet (I know I have an army planned now and am just waiting for NOVA to browse the amazing Toledo game room for conversion fuel). So you have a lot of people starting new Armies, and along with that there are 3 new fresh factions that even veteran AoS players are grabbing. Even more so with Stormcast players who really just expand with a whole new chamber. And on top of that everyone was/is picking up an $80 kit of bad ass spells (those jaws are so sweet).

Kinda a new game, kinda just 40k lite, we have Kill Team. And while you can just use your 40k models, what always sells with kill team is TERRAIN. LOTS OF IT. Beautiful BUT EXPENSIVE. And a lot of people always seems to start a new hobby project of a cool converted kill team (as they should).

I am unsure as of yet what Rogue Trader really is. Is it part of kill team? Is it it's own thing? IDK (thus 4 or 5 games) Is it just a board game with models to port into other games, like Execution Force, Burning for Prospero, Battle of Calth, Gorechosen, Space Hulk etc. etc. If so not to concerning for long term support, but still thats probably going to be a $150 USD game with a new faction for some other game (be it Kill team or 40k or both)

Another new game that isn't new but might as well be: LotR/Pellenor feilds. It is a really cool looking relaunch of the game and really seems aimed at getting a lot of people back into it. That core set is bait to get us to get MORE NEW FACTION, and I have seen a lot of hype for it. What is most exciting is it consolidates the plethora of source material for the game out there and makes that weird distinction between LotR and Hobbit go away. Its all just "Middle Earth" now, and that is great.

Last but not least, Titanicus. At a whopping $290 for the Grandmaster Edition starter, this is a LARGE investment. A Titanic one if you mind the pun. And its a whole new game, at a whole new scale, so there will only be MORE releases to come AND it requires its own, uniquely scaled terrain.

So as you can see, that's a lot. And really, its a lot of $$$. A LOT.

The problem as I see it is 3 fold

• GW has crammed too many flashy new releases too close together, giving us little time to get past the hype of one and into the hype of the next. Ideally, you would wait for the hype of a new flashy release to start dying off and then BAM hit us with a new one. But if people are still playing and excited by the new Kill Team, why are they going to bother with Titanicus or Pelenor Feilds?

• Too many EXPENSIVE releases too close together. Some of these kits are MASSIVELY expensive. You may get great savings in them, but still, a new Start Collecting box, malign sorcery, Renegade and a Dominus knight, kill team and some new terrain and now you are a already over $500+ dollars. And that is BEFORE Titanicus and Pellenor fields even release, 2 new games intended to draw in ENTIRELY NEW PLAYER BASES.
• AND THEY DID IT ALL DURING THE SUMMER! Summer is already super expensive. I have to pay for increased electricity bills (AC ain't cheap), activities for the kids, vacation, buying back to school supplies for the kids. There is just a lot of REAL WORLD demands on people's finances this time of year. In the end, if people can't afford to dive into what GW's peddling while the hype is still there, people probably won't play it.

My ultimate point here- If there is too much to buy, something won't be bought. And that means a release will FAIL. And you do not want new GAMES to fail. Their business model is centered around games being SUSTAINABLE

To me, this hurts Titanicus the most, and to a lesser extent LotR. The advantage LotR has is 90% of the catalog of models for the game ALREADY EXISTS. There is already a playerbase (small yes, but enthusiastic for sure). And it has a hook for people NOT already in the Hobby, and can share terrain with other games (AoS, historicals, other fantasy games, and even sci-fi games like 40k). However, it is following EVERYTHING and people are going to be stretched thin and may just not have the money to buy it. And if it has a poor launch, that ultimately hurts longevity.

Titanicus DOES NOT have ANY of those advantages that LotR has though. It is 100% new. New scale. New terrain. New models. New playerbase. On top of that, its kinda ticked off some hardcore vets by being a  new scale, set solely in Horus Heresy (so no Xenos in the foreseeable future) and thereby incompatible with old Epic players or people not interested in Imperial Pattern God Machines. As a 40k/30k port, it really doesn't hold the attraction to people outside the hobby that Lord of the Rings has. So it is banking off and existing base of enthusiastic hobbyists diving in...

At a $290 price point.

GW... as I pointed out people have already spent over $500 this summer on your stuff. Where do you think $300 FOR A STARTER is coming from. Its an instant turn off for A LOT OF PEOPLE. Especially when they know they will need MORE UPGRADES (as there is only 1 weapons loadout) and MORE TITANS (Warhounds haven't even been previewed). And this means even FEWER players. Oh, and there is the fact I need MORE TERRAIN and can't cross it with anything else really (maybe some obscure games like polyversal. Maybe dropzone. But overall, nothing really. Not nearly the utility of all the other games).

Lastly, people are just DYING for the last of the 40k codicies at this point. There are indicators that we will see the first of them (Orks? Fingers crossed) by the end of the month. There are people that are just going to hold off COMPLETELY on current purchases hoping that their faction will release soon.

What, in my own humble opinion, should have been done differently OVERALL

• The AoS 2.0 release is fine. Started the summer with a bang. Good Deal.
• Imperial Knights should have been followed up with CODEX ORKS and GSC. Give the XENOS players something to celebrate too. Invigorate the whole 40k community/meta. Plus give us 2 more codicies closer to completion
• There are a lot of rumours involving Leman Russ returning surrounding the release of the SW codex. If that's true, that should have been lined up to be the end of summer release.

• Release Kill teams in the wake of ALL the 40k codicies. All the factions (SoB excepting, but we know to be patient for them not) would be out, people would be interested in doing one for their faction, and be looking for terrain for their now COMPLETE EDITION OF THE GAME (minus sisters, yes, but as I said, we get it).
• Chaos BB was fine. I would have waited a little longer for Dark Elves myself.
• Why was Cawdor and Gand WarIV released RIGHT ON THE BACK OF KILL TEAM? Doesn't make a lick of sense. They are competing skirmish games. If GW was hoping to snag more necromunda players with a new Gang, they were all distracted by Kill Team and adding onto factions they already own. The two should have been distanced by at least a month IMO. Probably more. And I would have done Cawdor and Gang War first personally. Snag more necro players. Get them pumped about Skirmish. Then hit them with Kill team.
• As much as its been hyped, TITANICUS and LotR should have been saved for the Fall. I would have done LotR first, sometime Mid-fall (early Oct-ish) after everyone has recouped from the summer and all the hype of all that new stuff from AoS and 40k has trailed off.

• TITANICUS should have been the BIG Christmas Item. It is EXPENSIVE. Ride that excessive materialism time of year. People would be WILLING to spend $290 on it for a Christmas gift. You would get players who wouldn't buy it themselves, but WOULD ask for it.  FUTHERMORE the Horus Heresy novel that is tied in with it "Titandeath" releases in December! And the game has apparently had some production issues which is why there is no Warhound yet. Would have been nice to see that and more weapons options at release, which delaying could have allowed for.
• There should be 2 Editions of the Game. The Grandmaster with 2 warlords. BUT there SHOULD have been a second set, with ALL THE SAME STUFF, except instead of 2 warlords, 2 REAVERS! What this would have done is set a lower price point for game entry. $290 is tough, no matter how good of a deal the box is over buying it individually. It is just A LOT OF MONEY. A $180-$210 starter with Reavers would have just been EASIER for people to manage, even if it is technically a lesser amount. FURTHERMORE people that want to go FULL ON into the game would have bought BOTH EDITIONS and have a full maniple RIGHT OFF THE BAT with enough terrain for a full game. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me.
• GW should have made it MUCH CLEARER that the average game is only 3-4 titans (as Ive read in WD). I really don't see Titanicus being that big of an investment overall. You don't need alot to play. Just a really high start up cost. And a lot of people seemed to have missed that.

I really hope Titanicus and LotR do well in the long run. I would like to do both (but Forge World Dwarves are expensive too!) I can see Titanicus being a great game for Cons, and if you are worried about new players, get enough for you to always provide for 2 players (about 10 titans overall from what I've read) and just go to cons and play there. It will all be okay. BUT I think it is not as great as it COULD have been and it is all due to just too much too close together at too high of a cost.

Why NOW I would start "The Hobbit" or "Lord of the Rings"

So I have advocated heavily against these games in the past. But I may have had a change of heart recently. I think at the same time now though so has GW, unfortunately in reverse of what I would have considered.

So the Lord of the Rings had it success back in the day. The problem was the game was a product of the movies and lost momentum as the movies became older. Additionally, alot of the "cool" aspects of a Wargame in Middle Earth were missing. Hordes of Mordor versus the legions of Gondor or the Tide of Rohan. But the game was a Skirmish Game instead, focusing on the fights between heroes, and only well after the movies were gone did they try to make it a battle game with their War of the Ring Expansion, which seemed to actually bring some interest back to the game.

BUT then they did the Hobbit and went back to their old skirmish model. What is unfortunate in particular this time is the price went up, and this was the source material they had to work with:

It didn't even work in CGI. Let alone this mini:

To be honest, David Bowie as a Goblin King is better than that.

But now that Battle of Five Armies is out, the have a PLETHORA of potential for miniatures. I almost wondered if during the movie if particular certain things were designed with a model in mind. I can tell you that if a Dwarves of the Iron Hills Army was made I WOULD BUY IT AND PAINT IT. If for nothing else than the pleasure of owning that army.

Unfortunately, other than a handful of heroes, all quietly released, I have seen nothing for this game system.

The problem is until BoFA, the Hobbit world didn't support a battle system because the story didn't. No one wanted to play the Escape from Goblin Town game because no one wanted to play the story of the escape from Goblin Town. They wanted to play Balin's battles in Moria, or Pelinor Fields, or the Last Alliance OR THE BATTLE FOR FIVE ARMIES.

If they would pack up Army Sets and just release a core rule book called "Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game" WITH War of the Ring rules in it. This way you can play either Skirmish or Battle. Then make several army sets for the different factions. It will sell. Removing the particular movies from the context (instead of LotR, or Hobbit Unexpected Journey, etc. etc.) opens it up more to new players more as they know they are getting the total Tolkien world, not just an aspect of it. Add in 4-5 faction books (Kingdoms of Men, Shadow of Mordor, Elves, Dwarves, Fallen Realms) and you have it. Go with box sets rather than just clampacks and you would have more interest.

FURTHERMORE with all the rumoured changes to Warhammer Fantasy Battles with 9th edition, you would have a possibly attractive alternative to people that want to jump ship but not go Sci-Fi with 40k. Right now they have Malifaux and the Iron Kingdoms of Warmahordes to run to for that, and if the rumors are true I think many people will.

Alas though, this survivable way forward for the game will fall on deaf years and it will fade away like specialist games and have a core dedicated fan base. I will keep an eye out over the years to see if someone finally does my Iron Hills armies in miniatures. I just can tell GW has lost interest and likely won't.

The problem with The Hobbit

I for one am a huge Lord of the Rings fan. Tolkien is a literary god and Peter Jackson has made movie classics with Tolkien's work. I first fell in love with the LotR world when I read The Hobbit back in third grade. I loved the Rankin Bass animated films from the 70's, and still have copies of them today that I plan to share with my son (Down Down to Goblin Town, Down Down to Goblin Town! You go my lad! Ho-Ho my lad!)

When the movies came out years ago I was STOKED. They were amazing. Simply amazing. Sure there are plenty of differences from the book, but they do a good job of telling the tale and capturing the epic struggle between good and evil. The problem is though that the epic struggle depicted in the books and movies is very much a narrow and personal one, influenced greatly by a select few individuals at every decisive point. While making for a great movie, book or RPG, this translates poorly into a table top wargame.

Yes, it is this argument again, but bear with me for a while if you would.

So Games Workshop has 3 core systems. First and foremost is their flagship. Their BRAND. Warhammer 40k. It has inspired an entire genre of Sci-fi, Grim Dark, with its own line of novels at the core. In addition there are all sorts of video games and specialists games (which we will revist here shortly). All of this spawns from vast ammounts of proprietary intellectual property and a highly unique view of Science Fiction and the future as a whole.
 Next comes Warhammer Fantasy Battles. Considered the slightly more advanced game, it has a smaller player base but shares much of the same unique IP as its futuristic cousin, especially CHAOS. And it too has specialist games, some of them with very fanatical fan bases (Blood Bowl!)

You have to play to understand that this truly is the greatest GW game ever made

The greatest thing about these systems is the fact that GW can do what ever it wants with the models and it defines its own look and story. And it is ever expanding. There are always new characters, new stories, and new possibilities.

Furthermore, both translate really really well into a table top wargame system. Niether of them are particularly character driven. They are faction driven. What is more important, the tale of Commissar Cain or the feel you get in his novels about the Imperial Guard. In the long run, the Cain doesn't really matter. He is an interesting character, but the Imperium marches on with or without him. This translates well into the table top, where characters can die and the bad guys can win. GW makes their bad guys cool and detailed and strangely empathetic (IE Malus Darkblade). So it is okay when they win a game. And the good guys are slowing loosing anyway, so it is to be expected even. Read any BL book and a main character WILL DIE. It is a given fact and another factor to the faction versus character driven story.

This is where Lord of the Rings games differ. It is a set story with a beggining, middle and end and if any of the characters deviates from the set story, it is unbelievable. And the world is set up to be more character intensive any ways. There is never suppossed to be appeal to the bad guy and empathy with orks or wild men. And the good guys are all suppossed to be outnumbered epic heroes of lore. Not a faceless mass of infantry. So playing a table top wargame where the bad guys are suppossed to win 50% of the time if the game is balanced properly just makes it unbelievable, where as an RPG where you are the good guys and the DM is the bad guys, you should ultimately overcome the challenges set before you, like they do in the book, movie and video games.

This makes me want to watch a movie and read a book, not play a game

So how does this come back to the Hobbit. Well, GW now has tons of new minis and source books to release, that will be drawn out over YEARS as the Hobbit is a multi-part movie. But it will not revolutionize the LotR game in any major way, not like APOC and Flyers has for 40k for instance. They can't even really spin specialist games off of it. The game is already suppossed to be a more skirmish style, and they did a massive battles expansion already, which still doesn't fit in well with LotR for all the reasons stated above. They tried a scale game, Battle of Five Armies, but that is lack luster and based on a single event and very inflexible as a result. Sure they could try with Pelinor Fields, but that would suffer the same. And besides, Battle of Five Armies is the Hobbit, so this ship has already sailed.

But the ship that has sailed the furthest is IP. The books are already all written, the movies all filmed. There is viturally nothing except a game system that GW can add to it, and while the game system is important, it is not what attracted you to the hobby, otherwise we would all just do this game on computers or with proxies. But GW proprietary property does not suffer this limitation. It has so many opportunities for expansion. All of which are being squandered on support of the Hobbit and LotR franchise in my opinion.

This is where specialist games can come back in for GW. If they were treated as a whole like a 3rd Core system instead of a 3rd wheel I think they could be a boon to the GW franchise. Why just collect Blood Angels when you can have the entire chapter for Epic and the Fleet for BFG. Only 1 hour left at your club, why nto wrap up the night with a game of Necromunda or Bloodbowl. A slow and steady release and update schedule for these games could keep people interested, garner attention from new comers and please and hold the interest of veterans. And they fit in with the image and methodology of GW. They can grow and change and their image is GW's to determine.

Your IP is what makes you Genuine GW, not the IP of Tolkien and New Line Cinema

LotR and the Hobbit will never again grow after the Hobbit is done. LotR has been diminishing for years now and it will bounce back and then linger even longer untill it has been milked for every penny it is worth. The truly unfortunate thing is that in this time, the GW IP assets in the SG range will do what they have been doing, they will become further irrelevant and decrepit, rather than being used as tools to enhance the true assets of the GW brand. SG can only add to 40k and WHFB, while the Hobbit can only prolong the inevitable demise of the LotR franchise.

Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game was made by the dead and the dead keep it!