# Specialist games being phased out



## falcoso (Apr 7, 2012)

http://masterminis.blogspot.de/2013/04/more-gw-business-decisions-nightcap.html

So from what I'm reading hear a lot of specialist games are slowly being squatted, so moedls are being re-cast. Now I haven't seen anything official about it just this, but given there are a couple of FB store comments about t it has a chance (I would like to stress a chance) of being true. So get them now before they are gone in my opinion because in a few years we may have another Space Hulk on our hands.

It is a shame if it is true, but I don't actually know anyone who plays any specialist games except bloodbowl as everything else is too expensive.

From the way his Faeit212 blog post is worded it alost seems that GW used it to hide the fact that they are doing this as it was lost in the excitement of 'what are GW possibly going to do next?' 

I don't actually know if anything ahs been taken down yet, as I don't really know what was their in the first place - could someone who looks at this ection check this? It certainly won't be an entire game at once, it will most likely be they have stopped casting/printing products and are just selling what they have left.


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## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

I say it's a doomsayer saying doom. Sam (our local blueshirt) claims that GW are also going to shut down all Bitz suppliers in the UK, which is of course a wild guess (blueshirts get told shit all), but on the small chance it's true it seems more and more like GW want everyone in the hobby to play 40k using retail-bought models from their outlets.

That or it's another desperate attempt to rouse interest in The Hobbit, which is far more likely and strangely more tragic.

Midnight


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## slaaneshy (Feb 20, 2008)

I suppose as they move to finecast they have to make the decision to move these models to the new format or kill them off. Given there are plenty of games out there that easily rival the likes of Battle Fleet Gothic and Necromunda etc, I cansee this happening.


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## GrizBe (May 12, 2010)

The reason that people 'don't play specialist games' is because they're not supported... not because people don't want to play them.

Hell.. Space Hulk is a prime example, it sold out in less then a week with its limited release.... Even Dreadful fleet sold better in the bigger stores where people could actually play the game in store...

Seriously.. anyone remember the good old days when you could play the specialist games in store? You had a mix of people hobbying for each system... X person loaning y player his models so he could have a test game before deciding if he wanted to play it or not, so Y player bought into another system etc...

That's pretty much the reason they don't make money, is because they're not supported.... The whole ' people buy it once they don't buy anything for it again' argument I've seen is bull.... Most 40k players buy their army then don't buy anything else until it gets updated again... so saying no-ones gonna buy for it is just plain dumb.


Anyway.. point is, its stupid to try and kill off the specialist games.. They need to redevelope them for a new audience and have a schedual for them like their core games again.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

As sad as it is to say goodbye to these old favorites its not a surprise, these games were concieved in a different time, metal was cheap as chips and GW had far fewer armies to support and far fewer units in those armies, the stores dont even have enough space to carry all of the range theae days so how would they support these games ? Bigger stores ? That means more overheads which means higher model costs which means people bitch about prices etc etc etc. One off limited boxed releases of these games are the way forward for the moment.


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## Xabre (Dec 20, 2006)

Such a pity. I loved BFG.... I still have a full Grey Knight fleet and I still wanted to buy an Eldar fleet...


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## Bob the Ork (Apr 30, 2013)

Cannot blame them. When they have to comission probably thousands at a time to make any money then sell one or two models here or there, it makes no sense.

And if it frees up money to try new boxed games I would very much welcome a new warhammer or hero quest.


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## ChaosRedCorsairLord (Apr 17, 2009)

Xabre said:


> Such a pity. I loved BFG.... I still have a full Grey Knight fleet and I still wanted to buy an Eldar fleet...


Yar, BFG is easily one of the best games they've produced. Tactically, fluff-wise, cinematically, cost and time-wise I find it to be superior to 40k; it's just impossible to find anyone to play with.

I think part of the problem with the smaller model count games, which has made GW drift away from them, is they're cheap to play. a decent sized fleet in BFG is like a 20-50% of the cost of the equivalent 40k army, and GW obviously want you spending as much as possible.


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## Iron Angel (Aug 2, 2009)

Xabre said:


> Such a pity. I loved BFG.... I still have a full Grey Knight fleet and I still wanted to buy an Eldar fleet...


Pff, Necron fleets are where its at. CANT TOUCH MAH CAIRN LOLOLOL

This is kind of sad, really...


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## Xabre (Dec 20, 2006)

Iron Angel said:


> Pff, Necron fleets are where its at. CANT TOUCH MAH CAIRN LOLOLOL
> 
> This is kind of sad, really...


I couldn't bring myself to field a fleet of giant flying moons. My Grey Knights were sweet... I had Forge World strike cruisers, a converted Inquisition Black ship...


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## GrizBe (May 12, 2010)

Hopefully when they finally drop the LotR and Hobbit license, they might see sense and remake some of the specialist games... afterall, clearing the LotR crap frees a lot of store space.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

I would like to see Bfg cone back, in plastic ,core games in a box with two fleets , all other races get a boxed fleet each with everything you need to play in tjat fleet box. No blister packs just o e fleet box per race


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## ChaosRedCorsairLord (Apr 17, 2009)

bitsandkits said:


> I would like to see Bfg cone back, in plastic ,core games in a box with two fleets , all other races get a boxed fleet each with everything you need to play in tjat fleet box. No blister packs just o e fleet box per race


If X-wing has taught us anything it's that: "spaceship games are awesome."


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## GrizBe (May 12, 2010)

ChaosRedCorsairLord said:


> If X-wing has taught us anything it's that: "spaceship games are awesome."


Damnit... now I need to dig out my old copy of X-Wing vs Tie Fighter.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

GrizBe said:


> Damnit... now I need to dig out my old copy of X-Wing vs Tie Fighter.


When I get my computer fixed up I am so re-installing that XP patch for TIE Fighter! :so_happy:


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## Bindi Baji (Apr 23, 2009)

GrizBe said:


> Damnit... now I need to dig out my old copy of X-Wing vs Tie Fighter.


but it's not a patch on tie fighter


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## iamtheeviltwin (Nov 12, 2012)

ChaosRedCorsairLord said:


> I think part of the problem with the smaller model count games, which has made GW drift away from them, is they're cheap to play. a decent sized fleet in BFG is like a 20-50% of the cost of the equivalent 40k army, and GW obviously want you spending as much as possible.


I know talking with my local redshirt this was the reason she was given by her management for why the company had moved away from Bloodbowl, Necromunda, WHQ, CFG, etc. It was also the reason she was given that they wouldn't host games for those systems in store.

Because most of those games could be bought into with a small initial investment, customers who played these games exclusively would spend almost no money in the future at the stores.

A shame really, I think GW should try marketing these one and done type games in markets outside their normal stores. Department stores, book stores, and specialty shops could carry these games and it would get GW's name out and not compete in their own stores for shelf space from their main line of products.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Bindi Baji said:


> but it's not a patch on tie fighter


Amen :gimmefive:


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## GrizBe (May 12, 2010)

I meant Tie Fighter. lol. I've got both.. but yeah, Tie Fighters defiantely the better.

Shame I don't have a joystick anymore so its keyboard controls....


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## Orochi (Jan 28, 2009)

On the side of 'They're just not supported enough'.

In store you have 3 choices:
-Play 40k
-Play Fantasy
-Give up 6 hours of your day to play half a game of the hobbit utilizing the 'tag-in' method of resuming play with someone elses already second hand battle plan/deployment.

I would sincerely love to see, like many others I assume, the whole Tolkien based games just dropped. 
I wanna play Necromunda, goddamit.


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## GrizBe (May 12, 2010)

Orochi said:


> On the side of 'They're just not supported enough'.
> 
> In store you have 3 choices:
> -Play 40k
> ...



This.... Plus they now have to have the permanent Demo Boards for all 3 core games.... 

I can understand why its a good idea to have a board spare if you've got a newbie wanting to have a try of a system before buying it... but I remember when you go into my local and take over a board for whatever you wanted to play.. so it didn't HAVE to be a core game... you could have all specialist games running, and as said.. seeing them played got others interested. Heck, I got into fantasy and 40k through seeing Quest being played in store.


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## SOulDOubt (Jul 13, 2011)

I agree with the main problem being that the games are unsupported. I have never understood why GW uses White Dwarf as a 40k, fantasy, and now LOTR mag and nothing else. GW seems to always want to expand into the world of say video games, CCG's, and specialist games but there is little to no mention or coverage in WD.

There used to be publications like "Town Cryer" for Mordheim which have also gone away.


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## Loli (Mar 26, 2009)

See if you use the argument that one reason GW don't support it because they have the Hobbit. I really don't see it going away anytime soon. We have 2 more Hobbit movies to go. And I wouldn't be surprised that because Jackson decided for god knows why to make a trilogy. He moves onto the other Tolkien books like the Children of Hurin etc, which means another 2 years or so. This LotR franchise is around for a long rime. 

But I do think GW need to bring specialists back. They need buy once and done games. They are still set in the same Universe and as others have already said, space ship battles are awesome. Heck my friend brought Dreadfleet, after the promo game my local store had. Now he can't get a game because they don't support it in store and only hold games for the main 3.
Bloodbowl and BfG are just awesome.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Loli said:


> Heck my friend brought Dreadfleet, after the promo game my local store had. Now he can't get a game because they don't support it in store and only hold games for the main 3.
> Bloodbowl and BfG are just awesome.


"Here's our new game, Dreadfleet."

"Cool, can we game in store?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because, fuck you, that's why. Buy some Hobbit figures."


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## Bindi Baji (Apr 23, 2009)

Loli said:


> See if you use the argument that one reason GW don't support it because they have the Hobbit. I really don't see it going away anytime soon. We have 2 more Hobbit movies to go. And I wouldn't be surprised that because Jackson decided for god knows why to make a trilogy. He moves onto the other Tolkien books like the Children of Hurin etc, which means another 2 years or so. This LotR franchise is around for a long rime.


I wouldn't be surprised if he tried the silmarillion next, you could get about ten films out of that


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## Orochi (Jan 28, 2009)

I missed it earlier, but yes, Tie fighter was an awesome game.

---

Necromunda could be so easily implemented nowadays. It's almost Kill team but purely Imp. Guard.
With the interchangeability of the new Guard plastics; some kick-ass bands could be made.

I also recall Town Cryer, and I also recall WD having something on everything, not just the main 3 (2 at the time). 
Wasn't there another Magazine as well? Journal? or something?


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## GrizBe (May 12, 2010)

I remember once with a White Dwarf article they had a way you could convert your Quest character to fantasy stats.... Okay, so they cost a fortune in points and you had some hideously tough characters from it.. But how many people would love to have their own character they've created and levelled championing a unit or their army? With allys rules it'd be easy enough to introduce them as a mercenary or something...

Same actualy goes for 40k with that if you did Necromunda.. but with the 40k armies.... Space marine unit gangs? Ork Mobs? Imperial guard militia? How cool would that be.


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## MetalHandkerchief (Aug 3, 2009)

I guess when I'm done writing Skirmish 40K, me and the gang will have to move on to Necromunda 2.0


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## humakt (Jan 2, 2008)

Until you can no longer get the games I will not assume they are being scrapped. I go under the guidlines of never believe what anybody says in a shop. They are not normally in the know. 
I would not have thought the switch to finecast would be that big a deal. But maybe this will prompt a wind down of certain games. 

BFG is a great game but like many people I suspect there is just so little time to play all the games I want.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

GrizBe said:


> I remember once with a White Dwarf article they had a way you could convert your Quest character to fantasy stats.... Okay, so they cost a fortune in points and you had some hideously tough characters from it.. But how many people would love to have their own character they've created and levelled championing a unit or their army? With allys rules it'd be easy enough to introduce them as a mercenary or something....


I remember that! I'll see if I can find that issue over the weekend :so_happy:


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## falcoso (Apr 7, 2012)

I think a big thing to think about is that it may not be the entire specialist games that are being taken out, in the article it just has an 'etc.' I mean are there not rumours of bloodbowl being updated?

I do have to admit though, while LOTR may be poorly written the new models are really nice.



MidnightSun said:


> Sam (our local blueshirt) claims that GW are also going to shut down all Bitz suppliers in the UK, which is of course a wild guess (blueshirts get told shit all), but on the small chance it's true it seems more and more like GW want everyone in the hobby to play 40k using retail-bought models from their outlets.


They are actually being phased out from what I have read - the license aggreement with IRs have changed so that they are not allowed to open boxes if they get stock direct from GW, Ebay retaillers should be alright though as a lot of people just buy from stores and sell them, which GW can't control, unless they get so far up their own arse they stop people buying anything


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## slaaneshy (Feb 20, 2008)

Boxed games are a great idea. Hero Quest got me into Fantasy, then into 40k, then into all sorts of stuff!


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

WHQ is probably one of the best boxed games I have ever bought


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## OpTi (Aug 29, 2009)

falcoso said:


> They are actually being phased out from what I have read - the license aggreement with IRs have changed so that they are not allowed to open boxes if they get stock direct from GW, Ebay retaillers should be alright though as a lot of people just buy from stores and sell them, which GW can't control, unless they get so far up their own arse they stop people buying anything


Thats pretty much always been the case that boxed trade sales from GW are not allowed to be broken down thats not something new afaik it's been in the trade agreement for years.


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## falcoso (Apr 7, 2012)

My bad, I think I read it on the thread about bitz sellers being shut down


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## Words_of_Truth (Sep 20, 2007)

Best days I had were when I was part of a store run campaign for mordheim, necromunda and bloodbowl.


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## Codex Todd (Mar 22, 2009)

Well I was hoping and possibly clinging onto the belief that this was just a rumour put out to drum up sales of specialist games, but alas the BFG mini's are slowly being removed from the site. 
Though for now it would appear to be just the Battlefleet stuff being taken down, so my new hope is something in the pipe line?? Clearing old stock for a re-release? 

I know I'm clutching at straws here but we have to have hope or there is nothing


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## slaaneshy (Feb 20, 2008)

Re-release would be fab, i'd like to see it, but I'm doubtful the company will re-invest in BFG. There is also a lot of competition for space combat games now a days.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Looks like the end for Necromunda then. This is all that's left on the webstore:


Necromunda: House Cawdor Troops Booster Pack
Necromunda: House Delaque Gang 
Necromunda: House Escher Gang
Necromunda: House Escher Troops Booster Pack
Necromunda: House Goliath Gang
Necromunda: House Orlock Gang
Necromunda Scavvy Gang
Necromunda: Scavvy Zombies
Necromunda: Orrus Spyrer 
Necromunda: Jakara Spyrer
Necromunda: Malcadon Spyrer
Necromunda: Yeld Spyrer
Necromunda: The Caller


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## revilo44 (Sep 17, 2010)

Did anyone see the rumours form feait 212 YouTube site saying that it may necomunda may be the black box this year and and suppments after that


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## falcoso (Apr 7, 2012)

Would certainly get that, better keep my money saved up


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## MidnightSun (Feb 10, 2009)

As would I, if it was going to happen.

Necromunda, Blood Bowl and Mordheim were dropped for a good reason - you can't keep making money out of them. Once you had your gang, your team, or your warband, you didn't need anything else. How are GW going to sell you more stuff when you only want a small number of models?

Space Hulk was great because people used the stuff for 40k as well (oh, these Genestealers are so nice, might be time to restart my Tyranids! etc.), which is incidentally one of the main reasons Dreadfleet sank.

Midnight


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## Bindi Baji (Apr 23, 2009)

revilo44 said:


> Did anyone see the rumours form feait 212 YouTube site saying that it may necomunda may be the black box this year and and suppments after that


nope, it's not necromunda, it's definitely the other one


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## jj7988 (May 9, 2013)

I was told by staff at a store why they were phasing this out because firstly was due to the fact no one is buying them enough, and the second point they made was that GW are paying tax on the stock that they have sitting in the warehouse


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## dirty-dog- (May 14, 2008)

im not suprised they are phasing them out, your getting all these smaller companies bringing out games similar now, like battlefleet gothic is somewhat being replaced by firestorm armada etc.

Have yet to see a decent inquisitor style game though.

i think bloodbowls slowly being phased out by dreadball aswell, its hard to say.


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## Shandathe (May 2, 2010)

You'd think they'd be a bit less sloppy about the whole thing, though. Left-most picture on the GW site under Specialist Games still has the Emperor-Class Battleship... which is conspicuously absent when you actually click it.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

revilo44 said:


> Did anyone see the rumours form feait 212 YouTube site saying that it may necomunda may be the black box this year and and suppments after that


If that's true, I'll need to buy shares in Kleenex...... :blush:


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## ChaosRedCorsairLord (Apr 17, 2009)

I checked the AU site and some of the BFG stuff has been removed, which sent me on a crazed spending spree.

So far from what can tell it's just metal stuff, so hopefully it's just getting made in finecast. I'll stay in the denial stage and just go with that.


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## falcoso (Apr 7, 2012)

I hope they keep the inquisitor stuff because they are great models and the only variety in the large scale model category at golden deamon aside from converted FW large space marines


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## avien (Apr 28, 2013)

jj7988 said:


> I was told by staff at a store why they were phasing this out because firstly was due to the fact no one is buying them enough, and the second point they made was that GW are paying tax on the stock that they have sitting in the warehouse


This is nonsense, you pay taxes on product sold, not product sitting in storage. They paid taxes on the materials used to produce them but they don't pay ongoing taxes while they sit there waiting to be sold.


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## Jacobite (Jan 26, 2007)

falcoso said:


> I hope they keep the inquisitor stuff because they are great models and the only variety in the large scale model category at golden deamon aside from converted FW large space marines


While I'd love to see all the specialist games stay (I'd love to play a game of Mordheim or start a BFG fleet) =I= is the one I like the most and thats squarely because of the minis, they are awesome. I have one that I'm converting up and I love the scale of it. If I had the funds and somebody to play with I'd be all over it. GW used to produce conversion or bits packs for the range, I remember the melta pack had a thermal lance in it, its looked nasty!


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## Pandawithissues... (Dec 2, 2007)

I honestly don't think it's a zero sum game.

As numerous other people in this thread have mentioned, games like Necromunda, Blood Bowl and Mordheim (particularly the ones with a sense of persistence) are excellent for the community, and foster a great sense of camaraderie in stores. When was the last time you saw a BFG player, or a necromunda player that wasn't also a player of 40k or Fantasy? The last time I saw necromunda 'promoted' in are store (admittedly, this was maybe 6 years ago) people went wild for it. Everyone was going home, pulling out their old gangs, realising that they wanted to update them. The store practically got wiped of imperial guard boxes, particularly catachans with people wanting them for conversions.

There's no reason, with all the new plastics, and the ability to mix and match the pieces to create unique characters, that Mordheim and Necromunda couldn't flourish with a little store support. They don't necessarily need new models. When you can get people together, they'll start spending it just happens.

When you look at this, and you look at the Blood Bowl community, where they are essentially completely divorced from GW, it's a shame. Particularly with blood bowl, which doesn't take up much space in store for a game, as the pitch is relatively tiny, I do feel GW is just throwing away potential money.

Overall, in some ways, GW's lack of support for specialist games has been good for the rest of the market, as it has opened up space for other companies like wyrd, but GW has the store presence to run these campaigns, and I honestly believe if they gave it a go, it would work.


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## Jezlad (Oct 14, 2006)

Panda!!! 

Hi man.


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## Loli (Mar 26, 2009)

pandawithissues... said:


> as numerous other people in this thread have mentioned, games like necromunda, blood bowl and mordheim (particularly the ones with a sense of persistence) are excellent for the community, and foster a great sense of camaraderie in stores. When was the last time you saw a bfg player, or a necromunda player that wasn't also a player of 40k or fantasy? The last time i saw necromunda 'promoted' in are store (admittedly, this was maybe 6 years ago) people went wild for it. Everyone was going home, pulling out their old gangs, realising that they wanted to update them. The store practically got wiped of imperial guard boxes, particularly catachans with people wanting them for conversions.
> 
> There's no reason, with all the new plastics, and the ability to mix and match the pieces to create unique characters, that mordheim and necromunda couldn't flourish with a little store support. They don't necessarily need new models. When you can get people together, they'll start spending it just happens.


this!


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## Pandawithissues... (Dec 2, 2007)

Jezlad said:


> Panda!!!
> 
> Hi man.


Yo, hope you're all well?


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Just had a mooch around the GW site with the intention of picking up Inquisitor Eisenhorn, and it looks like announcing this has helped them get rid of tons of stuff. Very few items left in the Inquisitor, Necromunda and Mordheim ranges. They were almost fully stocked up until the start of April, because the missus wanted to know what I wanted for my b'day, and I was contemplating some specialist stuff. Oh well, ebay here I come.


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Khorne's Fist said:


> Just had a mooch around the GW site with the intention of picking up Inquisitor Eisenhorn, and it looks like announcing this has helped them get rid of tons of stuff. Very few items left in the Inquisitor, Necromunda and Mordheim ranges. They were almost fully stocked up until the start of April, because the missus wanted to know what I wanted for my b'day, and I was contemplating some specialist stuff. Oh well, ebay here I come.


A cunning plan to shift the old stock for a re-hash? *Blatant wishlisting.....*


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Tawa said:


> A cunning plan to shift the old stock for a re-hash? *Blatant wishlisting.....*


Yeah, if only.:no:


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## Tawa (Jan 10, 2010)

Khorne's Fist said:


> Yeah, if only.:no:


You! Off my cloud! Can't you see I'm busy fantasizing? :laugh:


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## revilo44 (Sep 17, 2010)

i know this is a old thread. but new news has come to light (sort of)



> via an anonymous source
> it has been revealed to be sale of gw specialist games to none other than fantasy flight! Huzzah! There's a website to confirm this but I can't remember what its called. (it's the website of the body you have to declare big sales like this too since gw are a plc maybe ask the community if they know?)


EDIT: Please put information you're quoting inside of quote tags. Thank you.

Edit edit: http://natfka.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/if-fantasy-flight-games-taking-over.html


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## Zion (May 31, 2011)

I've searched high and low and can't figure out where this might be reported. This almost seems like someone is trying to hook the community for reactions with this news honestly.


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## GrizBe (May 12, 2010)

Zion said:


> I've searched high and low and can't figure out where this might be reported. This almost seems like someone is trying to hook the community for reactions with this news honestly.


Been looking everywhere too and I can't find jack either.

As much as i'd love for another company to take over the old GW specialist games, this is most likely just wishlisting.


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