GW to phase out Specialist Games (Necromunda, Gothic...)

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

Hey guys...

On BoLS I never quite know where to put my posts ^^ There needs to be a general 'rumor' section (unless I didn't see it).
Since this concerns GW Specialist Games, I decided to post in the BF Gothic thread. Share & Enjoy!

After all the excitement with BoLS and Faeit today, more fun news from the Golden Throne of Terror:

The UK GW stores posted on their Facebook pages that they are 'removing items from their Specialist Range (http://masterminis.blogspot.de/2013/04/more-gw-business-decisions-nightcap.html)'.

Since GWHQ decided to shut down their corporate FB page (too many unsatisfied customers flaming them), the stores now individually spread 'the word'.

In Germany, the Specialist Games have been gone from the stores for many years now, don't know how that was handled in other countries (likely the same?).
So if you ever thought about getting a necromunda house together of boldly go where no Gothic spaceship has gone before - get your stuff now. ^^

Zaphod

[Phototoxin]

They will/have spin/spun it as 'focusing on the core games'.

[ElectricPaladin]

So, I hear that Firestorm Armada is an awesome game. Infinity is really good, and Confrontation is making a comeback. And Mantic made this thing called Dreadball...

[eldargal]

I already own the rules and models, so this doesn't affect me. This is also the problem for GW, most people who play the SGs already have what they need because you don't need much for most of them.

[ElectricPaladin]

I already own the rules and models, so this doesn't affect me...

Unless you are also blessed with a large community of Specialist Gamers, I beg to differ. BFG has been in a weird limbo for a long time, but now it is actually moribund. Without minis being added to the pool, the community of the game can no longer grow. It can shrink, and the minis can move around, but the price will only go up, the models will only get harder to find. This means that while previously I could introduce a friend to - say - Battlefleet Gothic, impress him with its awesomeness, and convince him to hit the website (or even the FLGS register downstairs) and buy his own fleet, now he will have to wade through eBay. In a few years, he'll need both persistence and some luck. The bar for entry will continue to get higher as time passes.

[eldargal]

Well, I am. I can see why it is a problem for others don't misunderstand, but at the same time I understand why the SG range is a problem for GW too. I'd like to think they are going to Finecast them and just aren't telling people so they run down metal stock but I doubt it.

[Wildeybeast]

It's not like this is anything new. Warhammer Quest and Gorkamorka have been dead for years.

[pgarfunkle]

If the specialist games are truly being phased out I would love to see them replaced by single box editions like the limited run Space Hulk or Dreadfleet. I never got into Gothic but the idea of it really appeals to me so if in a year or two GW announced that they were releasing a one off boxed set with all you need included I would definitely pick up a box or two.

[ElectricPaladin]

If the specialist games are truly being phased out I would love to see them replaced by single box editions like the limited run Space Hulk or Dreadfleet. I never got into Gothic but the idea of it really appeals to me so if in a year or two GW announced that they were releasing a one off boxed set with all you need included I would definitely pick up a box or two.

I might, depending on the price and on what it included. If it wasn't too expensive, if it included new or updated models, if it included new or updated rules, and if it was accompanied by the models being rereleased (even in a new format, like all metals becoming plastic or - *shudder* - finecast). If it's expensive, if it's the same old rules I've already downloaded, if it's the same models I already own, and if the models will be just as unavailable before as after - as I've written already, I need to fight to eke out a community for BFG, so I need the models to be available so I can talk others into the game - then I wouldn't bother.

[pgarfunkle]

I've got a group of friends who have no interest in the full 40k or fantasy games but love space hulk and dreadfleet so a self contained game with no additional material required is perfect. Although if GW really wanted to I would not complain if we saw follow up articles in WD which allowed people to use the older models with the new system

[Thomas Miles Corbett]

I loved battlefleet gothic, as much as space hulk and I really enjoy playing the new special edition that they released, Do we think GW will do the same again?