Could this be the end?

[MarkusTay]

I was just over at the Privateer Press website. Their WarMachine game was the biggest thing here last summer, with alot of GW people saying they\'d never play WH or 40K again. Then the new stuff came out (For 40K) and now nobody\'s playing WM. Typical flash-in-the-pan scenario. Anyway, they just announced new models/rules coming out soon and I just copied this from their site.

\"The 20 new products introduced in WARMACHINE:Apotheosis are large, complex masterworks for the discriminating modeler and collector. One of the largest of these sculptures is made from close to 30 parts and is nearly 3 times the weight of previous heavy warjacks.\"

The fluff says that a Warjack is around 6 tons, so I guess these things must be getting pretty close to that RW. One of the biggest complaints with their models was what a pain in the a$$ it was to assemble them. For any of you who have glued together a Warjack you know what I mean. They had to re-design the Satyx Raiders because they wouldn\'t stay together long enough to finish a game. I hope this isn\'t just another nail in the coffin for them. Even though nobody plays the game anymore, they still make some beautiful models and it would be a shame to lose their mini line.

 

[Sturmhalo]

Really? Warmachine on its last legs?!

Doubt it!

 

[MarkusTay]

I don\'t know how the game is faring by you, Sturm, but there are tumbleweeds blowing around the WM aisle at both my FLGS. The owner of one shop said \"They\'ll probably be outta business by Summer\". The Press Gangers at both stores don\'t even come around anymore, and at one store the Press Ganger has been buying WH40K minis! When the game\'s evangelists are playing other peoples games THERE IS A BIG PROBLEM! Don\'t get me wrong, I love Privateer Press. I just got burned when I finally finished my army, showed up on game night, and was told \"Sorry, nobody plays that anymore\". Third time I\'ve bought an army in 25 years, third time the campaign was cancelled before I ever played!

 

[Sturmhalo]

They won\'t fold by the summer!

 

[tidoco2222]

I certainly hope not, and I play, I have a reasonable Cryx battlegroup.

 

[marineboy]

I don\'t play Warmachine bu tlove their mdles. IAll of my 40k techmarine servitors are converted Cryxx scrap thrall -- all my future servitors will be, too.

If Privateer Press did the same mail order deal in bitz and single figures as GW, I\'d be playing (and buying) alot more of these figures. A little bit of marketing flexibility would go a long way here.

In any case, no gaming company putting out such great figures deserves to go under. May they live long and prosper!

...errrr...thanks, Mr. Spock...

:flip:

 

[MarkusTay]

I play Cryx too, or at least i would if I had someone to play with. I might feel bad about no-one playing, but I\'m glad I bought the models anyway. Cryx are the bomb! Hopefully this new expansion will breath some new life into the game.

Sturm, you seem to be on the defensive, you own stock or something????

I\'m not attacking them, just relaying the local feeling. I hope they last forever.

 

[marineboy]

\"Sturm, you seem to be on the defensive, you own stock or something????\"

Sturm could just be the man in the know, ya know.

 

[Beelzebrush]

There may be tumbleweeds at your LGS but WM is by far the biggest selling line that we stock, so I can\'t see any problems on the horizon to be honest. Probably just a rumour pushed by the EE to stem flagging sales and nothing new on the horizon of any particular interest.

 

[BrianFowler713]

You trying to give me a heart attack, Markus?

WarMachine is a much needed alternative to 40K (and perhaps even WarHammer) that was long overdue. It\'s quick to set up and straight forward to play (relatively speaking). And how many other games let you play a steam engine on two legs swinging around a giant wrecking ball on a chain?

Warmachine is doing very well where I live, if it\'s having trouble where you live, tell people about it! Paint some models, show them around! You love something, support it!

One thing I\'m doing is bringing both a small Cygnar and Magnus force to my game club. If I meet a guy there who hasn\'t played it (usually a 40K-Phile) I offer to loan him one of my armies to play a duel with. That way I\'m not only spreading the word about WarMachine I give people a taste of the game!

 

[finn17]

It must be a very local phenomena...

Next to Confrontation, Warmachine appears to be the big news at the moment (outside the world of GW that is).

Great models, great site and loads of interest would be my perspective on the matter. And the only stock I have is some old Bisto cubes at the back of my larder

 

[donga666]

Originally posted by Beelzebrush
There may be tumbleweeds at your LGS but WM is by far the biggest selling line that we stock, so I can\'t see any problems on the horizon to be honest.

Yeah! Where\'s my bloody Gorten Warband??? (wanna wanna wanna!)

I am going to have to buy LOTS of WM stuff if they go under! Andy, you listening?

 

[freakinacage]

just because no-one is buying them at the store doesn\'t mean that they are doing well with online sales. my local games store has been barely able to shift it\'s confrontation stuff but they are still doing well. it, hopefully, is just your local are. it would be a shame as some of their stuff is great

 

[Beelzebrush]

Originally posted by donga666 Yeah! Where\'s my bloody Gorten Warband??? (wanna wanna wanna!)

I am going to have to buy LOTS of WM stuff if they go under! Andy, you listening?

Guilty as charged :innocent: Precisely why it\'s not arrived yet... either that or our bloody supplier thought he could \'get by\' without re-ordering from the States. Oddly, Gorten has been a bit of turkey, I had 3 boxes catching dust for ages (in fact until about a week before you ordered lol)... typically, orders are like buses... etc I\'ve been faithfully promised that Tuesday is the day!

 

[praetorian0_1]

What what what

The scoop I have from around here(LGS) is that the printers can hardly keep up with the books. They just fly off the shelves around here. I see much more confrontation stuff just kicking around, and it too seems popular.

Edit* thanks now I got that Doors song stuck in my head,<<this is the end....

 

[Wren]

Warmachine is doing pretty well at the LGS where I work. It\'s not flying off the shelves, and I\'m sure there are more people locally who play Games Workshop products (at least judging by the number of people who come in and ask after them at the store), but it gets good sales/interest. Reaper minis sold for RPG/painting use are our biggest sellers of minis overall, but for wargame sales, Warmachine and Battletech are our biggest sellers, I believe.

There\'s probably a lot of merit to the influence of local tastes people have mentioned as a factor. People rave about Confrontation here and online generally, but at the store we recently sent all the Rackham stuff we had back, as virtually none of it had sold at our location or the other two locations (both local regionally speaking) for over a year.

 

[MarkusTay]

One of my LGS\'s stock confrontation, and there is plenty of dust on the packs. The other refuses to stock it, because there is ZERO interest in the game around here. The store that doesn\'t stock it will special order Rackham minis, and just about any other company too. They only stock GW and Reaper, and only limited quantities of both. The other store tries to stock a little bit of everything, but thats risky. They went heavily into VOID stuff, and are now clearing it out at 30% off! I\'m a little sad that the smaller store no longer stocks much, as I\'ve been going there for 25 years. However, other stores have come and gone and he\'s still here, and as long as he gets me my stuff within a week thats fine with me (he\'s got about a 90% success rate with that). Both store don\'t even bother to restock GW blisters anymore, since most people are buying boxed sets. It\'s a sad trend, and I\'m hoping it\'s only a local phenomena. Since I don\'t really game, I basically just go there to browse and used to plunk down $50 on impulse buys. lately I\'m lucky if I can find $20 worth of stuff that looks interesting. Now I mostly go online (like CMON), see stuff I like, hand him the list on Mon. and he has it by Fri. Hopefully it\'s just a NY thing, we tend to all suffer from ADD. \"Hey guys, this game is really cool, why don\'t we all get some....HEY! what\'s that over there I want some of those...WOW whats this thingie...\". We have the attention spans of a flea. I think its not good to be able to get whatever you want whenever you want all the time. It gives NY adults a kind of Spoiled child attitude; room full of toys and we stare out the window \"I\'m bored...\".

We have Gorten box sets. They\'re collecting dust with everthing else. Damn shame, but I don\'t think those gun-toting Skeleton Pirates (Revenant Crew?) will sit on the shelves, I plan on picking up two boxes the day they come out. And you know what? I don\'t care if they ever see action.

 

[LightStarX]

Unfortunatly all the LGS in my area dont stock anything other than the dreaded GW so unless I buy on-line Im unable to get any of the cool minis that WM has which is a real shame cose they are great looking minis

 

[Lurch]

Warmachine in our area took off like a rocket, but then settled down a bit. However there is still a group of people who play on Turesdays at one LGS and Mondays at another.
Indeed, the Recruits Con is coming up (April 1st, 2nd) and the WM tournament is high profile right now.
The Gorrilla Con has three tournaments scheduled for WM as well. (April 14-17)
AND
The last tournament I was at was just a local LGS tourney last month and had around 13 entries.
I dont think WM is going anywhere soon.

 

[Sturmhalo]

Originally posted by MarkusTay
One of my LGS\'s stock confrontation, and there is plenty of dust on the packs. The other refuses to stock it, because there is ZERO interest in the game around here. The store that doesn\'t stock it will special order Rackham minis, and just about any other company too. They only stock GW and Reaper, and only limited quantities of both. The other store tries to stock a little bit of everything, but thats risky. They went heavily into VOID stuff, and are now clearing it out at 30% off! I\'m a little sad that the smaller store no longer stocks much, as I\'ve been going there for 25 years. However, other stores have come and gone and he\'s still here, and as long as he gets me my stuff within a week thats fine with me (he\'s got about a 90% success rate with that). Both store don\'t even bother to restock GW blisters anymore, since most people are buying boxed sets. It\'s a sad trend, and I\'m hoping it\'s only a local phenomena. Since I don\'t really game, I basically just go there to browse and used to plunk down $50 on impulse buys. lately I\'m lucky if I can find $20 worth of stuff that looks interesting. Now I mostly go online (like CMON), see stuff I like, hand him the list on Mon. and he has it by Fri. Hopefully it\'s just a NY thing, we tend to all suffer from ADD. \"Hey guys, this game is really cool, why don\'t we all get some....HEY! what\'s that over there I want some of those...WOW whats this thingie...\". We have the attention spans of a flea. I think its not good to be able to get whatever you want whenever you want all the time. It gives NY adults a kind of Spoiled child attitude; room full of toys and we stare out the window \"I\'m bored...\".

We have Gorten box sets. They\'re collecting dust with everthing else. Damn shame, but I don\'t think those gun-toting Skeleton Pirates (Revenant Crew?) will sit on the shelves, I plan on picking up two boxes the day they come out. And you know what? I don\'t care if they ever see action.

We have a chicken or the egg scenario here! Is it the gamers who aren\'t interested in certain lines, or is it the store owners who aren\'t backing new lines properly?! Without stores pushing games and ranges, of course they aren\'t going to sell as well as good old Warhammer wot not!