I know this seems like an odd place to start a 40k discussion but in days of yore Epic was always my favourite game. That scale I have always felt was the best representation of large scale battles rather than stuffing ever more 40k scale figures onto a 6 by 4 board.
As GW no longer supports the format and I don’t really like the current incarnation I’ve been tempted by flames of war. With the 3rd (I think) edition rules coming out I just couldn’t resist the buy any product and get a free rules set offer that battlefront have run in conjunction with the launch.
So I ordered some Battlefield in a box terrain from Maelstrom that I can use with 40k and with it came the complementary rule book. Now I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t a 300 page full colour rule set. It’s really quite nice and looks to be of a fairly high quality. I’m interested enough that I might well buy a few models and see what I can build.
So what’s it got to do with 40k? Well with 6th edition on the horizon I was wondering what the best way to market it is? GW has a consistent formula of hardback rules/background deluxe book and starter set miniatures with slim rulebook set which they will most likely follow.
It would be interesting to measure the return that battlefront will/won’t get from their rules giveaway, thought it would most likely be impossible to quantify. Will they get a significant increase in player base? Or will they lose out on sales of the hardback rule book from existing players getting the new rules on the cheap?
If GW was to follow a similar path, say offering the slim rule book with the purchase of a certain dollar/pound value of any 40k products in the launch month, would that generate a good level of sales from those that have perhaps moved away from 40k or are from the existing player base but aren’t interested in the starter armies in the box?
Or should GW just stick with the tried and tested formula that they have?