Weekender: Cynical Cash Grabs & Charlemagne
November 9, 2019 by crew
Come and join us for a chat about more news from the tabletop world this week in The Weekender.
Weekender Podcast Download
We've got some hot topics to discuss today so if you're interested in getting involved and putting forth your own opinions make sure to include them in the comments down below. We are always looking to hear what you have to say.
Cult Of Games Discord
We kick things off by discussing our Cult Of Games Discord Server which we've been using for the last few weeks. It has been great fun bringing another piece of technology into the mix to converse with the community.
Cult Of Games Backstage 30 Day Free Trial
If you're interested in joining us and learning what the Cult Of Games is all about, making sure to check out the link above and then explore all sorts of extra content with us.
News
We're now moving on to explore some of the news from this week...
- Chaos Beasts & Slaves To Darkness - See what you make of these Age Of Sigmar offerings
- Church Or Tank - Some new vehicles and expansion content is arriving for Warhammer 40,000
- Barnes & Nobles Releases - What are your thoughts, cynical cash grab or a nice option for newcomers?
- Germanic Hordes - A band of angry Germanic warriors are battling against Rome in SPQR
- Halfling Militia - Build yourself a new Fantasy army thanks to Wargames Atlantic
- Dungeon & Town Terrain - GameStart Edizioni look at some new 3D elements for your roleplaying games
- Battle Kiwi Black Seas - Hit the high seas with some new accessories from Battle Kiwi
- Small World Of Warcraft - Could you tempt some friends to the tabletop with this?
- Vox Machina & Amazon - Will you be watching this series when it hits Amazon Prime?
With some heated debate today we'd be interested to hear what side of the coin you come down on.
Kickstarter
As well as the news we're also looking at some Kickstarter projects which have caught our eye.
- Deadlands: Lost Colony - Head into space for some Wild West fun in Savage Worlds
- Vaesen: Nordic Horror Roleplaying - Will you head out into the dark woods in search of monsters?
Are you tempted to try out each of these roleplaying games from Pinnacle and Fria Ligan?
Have a great weekend!
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
Supported by (Turn Off)
![Warcradle Studios Reveal TINY New 10mm Festive Marker! [Updated]](https://images.beastsofwar.com/2025/11/christmas-kyle-main-600-338.jpg)
Lovely! Just in time for afternoon tea!
GW have gone too far with their price increase. We are looking at a swap to Infinity.
Great Show.
I like minis scale to be kept the same, it just looks jarring to see new things next to old things. 40K got it right by making Primaris a whole new thing not just a replacement.
@warzan it’s $490 for us in Australia. That works out to be 265 Pounds.
That’s a good Roman theory and I’ve seen the same video but it’s flawed. The Roman Emperors were not always sons of Emperor’s a lot of them were just Military Leaders who seized power so to say someone could be the Emperor today is a bit impossible.
Ah yes the Holy Roman Empire, Neither Holy, Nor Roman, Nor an Empire. If the Pope could have seen the sheer damage that Nation did to the Church (by shattering One Church with a Schismatic Eastern element into now over 40,000 different Protestant denominations) he never would have allowed it to be created.
The Germanic HRE states are pretty interesting when you look at the tiny ones that are like a few square miles here then on the other side of the Empire they have another few square miles.
I will be getting plenty of Halflings so Kings of War.
Morning Mate 🙂
Thanks as always for your wonderful input on the historical stuff, really appreciated!
BTW – I know you have PM’d me – I have nearly a hundred of them sitting that I need to work through so trying to get through them next week. Apologies to you and everyone else who I haven’t replied to yet!
No rush I’m just trying to give you some free stuff (English Civil War) so no skin off my back if you don’t get to it anytime soon 😉
lol – you could do the block colours on it in the mean time 😉 lol 😛
@elessar2590 that makes me even stroppier …
(Copied from a forum thread…)
It’s $578 in New Zealand
Using the “Buy foreign cash” exchange rate of 0.4883, that equates to 282.24 pounds.
(I hadn’t realised that the NZ$ had dropped vs the pound and aussie dollar so much – the latter was almost at parity not so long ago).
I suppose the postage of such a hefty box could justify the difference of just under 20 pounds.
Postage excuse is utter bs. My regular Games Store is a NZ based company (Mighty Ape) and it’s $5 shipping to get something across the Tasman, shipping is a lie GW use to price gouge.
Haven’t had a chance to watch the show yet, but did anyone else see that the BBC were reporting yesterday that GW’s profits were up 13%?
Did they sell 3 box sets in New Zealand?
100% Team @warzan it’s a re-skin and it’s not news.
You got your Lawyers to talk to the other guys Lawyers and they let you use their Art in your game big woop.
@dignity and @brennon – gentlemen I congratulate you on your patience and persistence.
lol 🙂
Interesting show this morning. Felt a bit as though it was just a reskin of Rise and fall of the Roman Empire but interesting none the less
The cat monster makes me think of an Egyptian style of cat.
It’s the Weekend! As the days close in (on those of us in the Northern Hemisphere anyway) what better ways to while away the long evenings than with pastimes, such as sitting under a blanket procrastinating about building and painting that backlog of models!
Go on @brennon tell @warzan …
Opinions shooting from the hip.
It’s not often I agree with @dignity but….
What is a cash grab? Is that not when someone mugs you or hacks your bank account? The only people who use force to take money from me are called the Government, because they think they know how to spend my money better than me. Never be threaten with fines or imprisonment for not buying a product from a company. The Internet is the worst.
Also don’t get the wailing and gnashing of teeth when companies try and profit from their IP. Don’t buy it. To me the Necromunda box is not worth the money, guess what, I’m not going to buy it.
yep … the best way to stop ‘cash grabbing’ is to not buy the things that lack the soul and passion of a good developer.
as i understand it, a “cash grab” is when a company releases a “lazy” product that is expected to sell well.
i.e. an “undeserved” earning that they “did not work enough” for, or “phoned it in” as it were.
Here we could go on an epic rant about entitlement culture.
Journey? JOURNEY!
https://youtu.be/VcjzHMhBtf0
and now of to watch the rest
Hmmm, I think that necromunda mat is paper by how its folding. Not neoprene I’m certain, at best it’ll be the same as the not manowar game that they dropped years ago.
Best case scenario its a solid cardboard mat.
Terrain is ok, but there is a tonne of mdf zone mortalis stuff for waaaay cheaper. That aside, I agree with Warren, its a medley of stuff that doesn’t create anything in particular.
Also, not nearly enough terrain for a proper game of necro off of the mortalis board.
Total rip off for the price, especially when you need to buy the real rulebook and gang book like Gerry said.
Also for us aussies, $490 bucks….
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Also I am curious why you were talking about pegging before the show? Bit of an odd topic – though reminds me of a great story I was once told about a monkey in Amsterdam.
What a hoot. Great show guys.
Necromunda is listed in New Zealand at $499.00 down from $578.00
Great show fellas. Dark Uprising will be the first GW release I will give a hard pass to. Whilst it is of comparative value to other releases, I believe the near AUD$500 is setting a precedent for price gouging. Especially as not everything is in the set. Honestly, if they did two AUD$200+ releases and had all the gang rules. I would have been in like Flynn. Because it’s easier to budget over a longer time interval. Given Xmas is around the corner, the budget is hosed.
“What grinds Warren’s gears”-episode. ?
Price gouging is specifically named as a practise that is illegal in some places in the world (definitely in America) – in others it would be considered illegal usually under competition law as it is considered an abuse of market power (definitely in the EU). Can someone explain to me how Games Workshop is actually price gouging?
@robert: the vernacular use of the term seems to be along the lines of “They have a monopoly on this item, and are setting the price higher than what I expected”
If you want to look a little closer at the mythology behind Vaesen, look up the artist Kittelsen. His paintings and drawings embodies the (horror) culture of Scandinavia a couple of centuries back. My personal favorite is ‘Nøkken’, with ‘Pesta i trappa’ (‘The Plague at the stairs’) comes a close second. Creepy stuff.
A brilliant depiction of Kittelsen’s trolls is found in the hilarious Norwegian movie ‘Trollhunter’.
Thanks I’ll definitely be looking into it
Agree with Gerry in that I’d like to see GW going back to releasing a game (instead of putting it out piecemeal). BTW he forgot that some of the rules are also printed in Card packs. So to get the FULL rules for Necromunda, you’ll need to buy five books (and the new starter set), along with about nine card packs (now OOP). Just give us it in a big book and stop with the partial releases to maximise profit at every possible moment 🙁 It’s the same with Adeptus Titanicus and even 40K now (with all the MTG style “limited run” card packs)
I agree with Warren on both the point about the cash grab and the comment about DnD pop culture. DnD has exploded into the mainstream, now, but it’s taken a long time to finally be accepted. Also I think the Blizzard/Small world collaboration is a cash grab as Gerry pointed out the Diablo mobile fiasco and their latest scandal with the Hearthstone streamer, they need to turn things around in their favour by making a quick buck made off two great IP’s.
On a lighter note I’m looking forward to grabbing the halflings for WoE and the Deadlands Lost Colony is on my list of things to get. The AoS at thing looks weird but the rest of the Chaos stuff is awesome.
I didn’t even think about that.
Yeah when you take the side of the Communist Chinese the most Murderous Government in History I bet you go out looking for good PR opportunities.
Gotta grab the cash where you can. Especially now that China has brought in a new law restricting microtransactions cause it’s seen as gambling. Next it’ll be WoW Monopoly and WoW Munchkins.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/World-Warcraft-Monopoly-Board-Game/dp/B007VM2H5G/ref=asc_df_B007VM2H5G/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=310843163984&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7172494401437733170&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1006948&hvtargid=aud-543776533562:pla-527213923595&psc=1
@warzan oh my word what climbed up your arse, back to pegging, awesome episode I haven’t stopped laughing all the way through….. Gerrys face all through was a picture.
I believe there was a missed opportunity for an Innuendo when the War cry cat came on lol…..
For a minute or two I though @dignity would be grabbing Warren, @brennon would step out of the TV, slap @warzan and tell him to listen for 5 minutes XD
Listen! LISTEN! XD Lovely episode, looking forward to the XLBS even more 8)
I had the occasion a few years ago to tell my step-sister, who was trying to understand why I was behaving the way I was but wouldn’t let me get a word in…
“It is every difficult for you to listen when your mouth is open.”
God gave you two ears but only one mouth 😉
https://youtu.be/DLfxw_VwFHs?t=1009 In other words @warzan wants heroic fur. I agree with Gerry @ https://youtu.be/DLfxw_VwFHs?t=1048; it’s all about the paint job.
That Necromunda mat is paper or card.Neoprene doesn’t fold like that.
Ash posted an unboxing today (how he got his hands on it I don’t know), the “mat” is paper with a weave texture to it (to cut down on the shine) and it DOES tear (Ash tried it out). Some pretty nasty folds in it as well, which is probably why they decided to sell the plastic tiles this week as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32N_eohWROo
That’s disappointing:(
More than disappointing as I ordered it from OTT this morning. I assumed card like the previous Necromunda Underhive.
Paper certainly devalues the box a lot.
Thanks for the show.
I was expecting the new Necromunda set to be around the £120 mark, at 170ish it’s a bit too much of a stretch. The rising costs from some quarters of the hobby is getting ludicrous, especially when there are companies out there selling cool bits and pieces at a fraction of the price. GW has. started to loose it’s appeal to me again.
I could never buy that Necromunda set for myself, but if i had a 14 year old who wanted it for Xmas i don’t think id hesitate especially when you compare that to the cost of a new mobile phone ect… At the end of the day that’s who these products are for and the customers GW want. As for the bigger picture of the hidden costs, again what typical parent is going to know what they are getting themselves into, this is just good business and its the reason GW are such a success.
@warzan are u ok hun? You need to spend some time with the house of water, put your feet up, remind yourself of the good things (the chaos warriors, that batman sculpt, new goblins coming from Atlantis).
Gaming is in a good place right now, take it easy brother.
I feel much better now 😉 lol
Good to hear man!
I had last month given up on GW and decided not to ever buy anything from them again….. After seeing this Necromunda thing I have given up on them once more.
Great show as always. Some good debate about various aspects of the hobby.
Announced as $290 in the US. I will be passing on this one real quick.
I know Necromunda Dark Uprising is expensive, but I had to preorder it…
It’s not just for Necromunda though, as the minis get used for RPG, as does the terrain, so it will see plenty of use.
That terrain combined with Warcry and Kill Team will give me more than enough for the wargaming table. 17 sprues of terrain that can be stacked for variety.
I have the Necromunda box from two years back and found the terrain in that to be sadly lacking, it was just doors and barricades.
It’s a big spend… but if I call it a birthday treat I feel less guilty about it.
Well that was a roller coaster!
SoB Inferno: can we see the back of that “window” before making a judgement call? I’d put dollars down that it’s a shield with a screen on the back for the gunner. Thanks to @avernos for making that point.
I’m going to have to agree with @dignity and @brennon on the “re-skin” and “Barnes and Noble” debates. If I understand @warzan : these products add nothing to the hobby/industry/ community and therefore are not newsworthy.
I disagree: their worth is in being recognisable brands that act as hooks and bring in new members. That’s their inherent value.
Further, you say “cynical cash grab” but at the end of the day any business that wants to keep its doors open and lights on has to… what’s the phrase? Increase turnover and maximise profit? This is true of all companies big and small.
A counter question to @warzan then: if the Barnes &Noble/ Small WoW *Aren’t* the Heroquest and Space Crusade of the modern era, then what is?
And I don’t believe that a Warhammer store is a first level recruiting point for GW. It was Heroquest/SC being sold in toy stores with the board games that got me.
I’d say Warhammer store is second level: you got a taste, maybe from a board game or pc game, that then leads to the shop front.
Geez, isn’t that art in Vaesen gorgeous!
Good night!
There is no current equivalent of Heroquest or Space Crusade unfortunately.
Blizzard and Asmodee have the resources and pedigree to do better than this reskin. They could have brought something unique (not nessisarily big or expensive or wargames etc – just unique and innovative) that would have been worthy of both studios. This was just lazy…
IMVHO 🙂
In today’s episode as voices became stronger and the counter discussions began to fly it was great to see my house leader just lean back, smile and watch, appreciating the entertainment value of sweeping statements landing close to the bone for some of the team. I am definitely in the right house 🙂
Who pissed in Warzan’s cornflakes this morning??
It was interesting what Warren said about pricing and how Kickstarter has opened up larger initial buy-in points.
I backed Oathsworn for AU$270 thinking it was well worth it, especially with the wealth of stretch goals added onto it. Now take that same $270 and compare it to the new Necromunda Starter Box, just a bit over half the cost. I grabbed a bargain in comparison.
Though as was said, some games have 500 – 1,000 pledges. Has that created a market inflation effect?
Are the days of picking up a new boardgame with decent minis, like a Heroes Quest, for $80 bucks gone out the window?
I would add to Warren’s point about not being enough time to cover everything, but we had TWO News Articles for the Barnes and Noble Releases AND a highlight in the Weekender, but absolutely no mention from BoW about the last Nickstarter (other than the Previews that appeared as news a few weeks ago). Hope no-one missed out!!!
But does BoW focus on certain manufacturers too much at the expense of others (that’s for each individual to decide). But everything is certainly news worthy, however where do you place the line on what to cover and what not to cover given the time constraints (that’s for BoW to decide)?
It’s a difficult quandry to resolve (as readers certainly sit in different camps for what they want to see from BoW), But the Barnes and Noble release was worth a news article, but was it worth a headline?
I think the sisters rhinos are completely new kits, rather than upgrade kits with a re-packed rhino, i think they are even a different model of rhino (similar to ones that FW have)
Also i really like the sisters vehicles, can’t wait to get my hands on them. I agree they would look a bit silly and over the top, if they were for any other army, but for sisters, i think they fit right in.
Way to go @brennon – staying cool, professional and making your case.
And good to see @dignity stand his ground, despite @warzan constant interruptions and provocations – proud of you both.
what about me!!!!! I tried hard too!! 😉
Yes, Warren, you were trying hard, trying too hard infact, so much so that you earned yourself a Yellow Card… 2 minutes of chillout time on the bench… a Cease and Desist via recorded delivery… the Speaker of the House bellowing “ORRR-DAAGGHH! ORDER. Let – the – Right – Honourable – Gentleman – speak!” at you. ?
Get the picture? So… time for a little self-reflection, drink a nice Cup of Tea, go for a walk in the countrside, whatever helps… and please show somewhat more respect for your team and friends. ???
lol that’s me told 🙂
You’re welcome, mate ?.
As @shamanatdawn wrote “I love ya”
… and Ben, Justin, Gerry, Brother Lloyd, Cass, Ryan, Sam, Dawn, Gianna, Oriskany etc too.
lol
much love right back at ya! 🙂
If there is a section that is not of interest to one of the presenters I’d rather they skip that instead of trying to interrupt and whinge as it is rather embarrassing! Help us all, can you locate and bring back the real warzan back next week and lock the lookalike warzan grinch that slipped into this episode somewhere far away:)
It wasn’t just not of any interest it had been covered in articles before and it’s not really news it’s a re-skin not a new game. I mean Battle Kiwi got what a minute for his cool tokens/templates but Two Mega Companies are supposed to get a pat on the back because they changed some artwork.
And this is from someone who has re-skinned and converted SAGA into 40K it’s no where near the same thing as making a new game from the ground up.
Shooting from the hip, per usual, and putting in my two cents worth on thought.
Looking at the Necromunda box I agree with @warzan about the investment of interest. Initially it seems pretty bland. This is something that terrainiacs (shout out to @theterraintutor ) and kitbashers might be able to spruce up with building and at minimum some interesting use of weathering pigment. Thinking about all the other terrain manufacturers that are in the open market there are better options available should this fall flat on its face.
In GW’s defense the box set needed to be mass produced and shipped out the door to have low cost (yes, this is absolute lunacy when seeing the price point and waiting for the quality to be observed). Their effort for Warcry, to include terrain in the box and get people playing immediately, works for the narrative and the battleboard setup in the rulebook. I wonder, from the insight of @lloyd and @avernos about SAGA, will this modularity be applied to Necromunda? The first video of the Let’s Play using the first box set, with the magnificently claustrophobic terrain that required great dexterity to reach about and a periscope for LoS, had what Warren needed in fluff. Does this box set give @dignity what is needed for variety in play as battleboards?
Necromumda is a great game. 273 pounds for the Dark Uprising collection does give you a bit of a pause. GW, I swear.
On a separate thought… @dignity there are the SPN-120 God Hand nippers when dealing with German willies. But as FoW shows us you’re more likely to run into American models. It seems that love for the Willy runs deep.
Good show lads, go Justin.
@warzan I’m sorry, but i whole heartily disagree with you on the Blitz Bowl and 40k games that Bares and Noble carry. Not every town that has a B&N has a warhammer or a hobby store. It’s a GREAT way to introduce people to the hobby at a reasonable price point.
I’ve been in the hobby for nearly 30 years and I love this. I’ve played the 40k game and it’s soooo fast and really fun. Y’all sound a bit elitist to be honest. But I love ya!
I love you too! 🙂 lol
Really I’m not being elitist I just cant help be cynical about the exclusive repack here.
I just cant help but think this has more to do with corporate hoop jumping to get a product in the chain than it has with gateways.
Yes the two are not mutually exclusive but then why does it have to be exclusive to B&N
And I think the answer is amazon
This is why I consider it important non news (ie non news that needed to be discussed)
🙂
The reason I believe it to be news (just because it doesn’t pertain to us, doesn’t mean it isn’t) is it’s another route into the hobby for those not already in. Yeah, I get what you’re saying, but again, I disagree. I think it’s GW pushing beyond their own tiny circle of retail outlets (excluding Amazon and ebay). Why i applied to be a warhammer (retail) manager, I learned that building the hobby is the single most important aspect their stores. They didn’t care about how long I had played their games or my passion for the hobby, they wanted to know what I could do for them in growing the customer base…this is it!
That is a policy called fit over skills, one that I have come to admire and agree with whole heartedly 🙂
Basically it means that if you fit our ethos we can pretty much train you in the rest. (about ten years ago I didnt agree – however 10 years has added more than just a belly lol)
BUT…
When compared to innovations and risks being taken in the industry this is not news (and the news was that this was not news if you get what I mean)
Basically it wasnt left in by accident 😉
Also, I am totally in Justin’s camp when small world of warcraft. The single biggest mmo in history, why the hell not. Blizz doesn’t need it. I’ve never heard of small world, but now, because of WOW, I have and am curious.
To be honest, I’ve been dreaming of a warcraft mini battle game for over a decade.
BTW, literally EVERYTHING for sale is a cash-in (cash grab).
I still love you 😉
You deserve better though. Here we had two of the biggest gaming entities on the planet come together, and with all their creativity all their resources all the capacity to create something truly remarkable.
They took on a reskin.
I have no problem with IP re skins in general but when so much talent was there to do something truly great.
It felt very lazy. 🙂
I mean I get it, but everything that has the WoW logo on it outside the mmo has been pretty bad… I’d like a good wow game. lol
lol I can’t deny you that lol
but in my (not so humble in this episode) opinion – for it to be newsworthy both companies owed more effort. As I have no doubt if two small companies did the same they would have got very little news traction in the industry 🙂
Actually, neither Small World nor World of Warcraft – or the combination of both being discussed here – interest me in the slightest….
…but a reskin of Small World with Warhammer artwork would.
I am working on (to be honest, vaguely thinking about) an Arkham Horror LCG scenario using Silent Hill artwork.
And a reskin of Pandemic using the WH40K Imperium of Man map with Ork Clans as the diseases.
Come to think of it, Eldritch Horror could support a cool 40K reskin too…
One thing that constantly bugs me is the “But this will bring in new people” now I’m only speaking for myself, someone who has been co-running a Gaming Club for 7 years now and we’ve had maybe 2 or 3 people come into the hobby with things like this. Kill Team, Board Games with Minis and everything else people call a gateway game, I personally have not seem them be gateways to Tabletop Gaming like Malifaux, BA or 40K. What brings new people in is people walking by and seeing us, people who already play GW Games, people who used to play GW games or people who want to get into a specific game.
Maybe it’s different for other communities but for my local group and the other 2-3 groups in my area (my “Area” is probably at least the size of the Uk but it’s local to me) the vast majority of people do not come from these so called “Gateways”.
Does it sate your feelings at all to know that Blitz Bowl was designed by “friend of the show” James Hewitt?
Nope because my point wasnt about the game i was making a point about how little the big brands need to do for it to become news – and its a wider point than just our coverage so this rare occasion i decided an omlet might work 🙂
Agree, there is nothing worse than lazy products from big brands however you picked a terrible example to make your point. If you are going to make a cohesive argument make sure you know or have played the titles a commentary of ‘what is this game?’ followed by this ‘is a terrible idea’ does come across as rather ignorant. Also surely you guys are responsible for what you cover on the news? Lay off the Omelettes for a bit 🙂
Yep my point was aimed squarely at, us, the companies and the industry as a whole.
And I bet you a silver dollar the point will stick in the minds of folk more clearly now 🙂
And for the good of all that is holy in this industry it’s worth a moment or two of breaking a couple of eggs to get a point across 🙂
Pointless views is looking promising lol
Wait… what? Did @warzan execute a calculated, preplanned Alpha Strike here? Interesting…?
If so, Justin has taught you well.
lol
I agree that the new Necromunda set is too expensive, I won’t be buying it but if you want to I see no problem.
I do enjoy the fact the guys are debating stuff. I really wish some of the other games would really catch on over here its all 40k and Infinity..Deadlands looks interesting.
I think I’ll go check out Blitz Bowl lol
Bet those new chaos warriors & knights feel ‘so money supermarket right now’
Trying to include that much plastic terrain in a ‘Starter Set’ was never a good idea… GW need to go back to the original 90’s Necromunda and do some combination of plastic frames with thick card components.
I have to say I much prefer opinionated Warren over politically correct Warren.
The stained glass window…….oh dear.
You can’t beat a father Ted clip.
Do you not mean people an companies with the balls to go out on a limb @warzan ?
I love videos where you have a difference of options.
that cat thing is the descendant of the racing animals on canto bight in the last jedi.
Unleash THE GROGNARD!!!!!!! hahahhahhaaaa. Happy Saturday boys.
Warren you owe Ben, Justin, and really the whole industry an apology for your behavior today. The are, at least in the USA, many people who don’t even know that ‘our’ industry exists. They have never seen a game store, never seen a tabletop mixtures game and never even heard of Small World or World of Warcraft or Warhammer and GW. These types of games and the market they will be sold in have no idea that these are re-skins, reprints or dumped down games as you see them. These are brand new products that will be found by in places our idea of games do not usually show up. They are an eatery for these people into a whole new world. Most will never go any further And never find out that their is an industry called tabletop gaming. The real reason we should care and we should have this news is that these ‘cash grabs’ , with little to no development costs, give these companies more room to experiment with something that catches our imagination and takes our version of gaming that much further.
I tend to be on you side Warren but today I was ashamed to be part of OTT and feel the need to apologize to viewers on your behalf. This was not a good day.
The art form of our industry is just as important. These stories had the brands not been involved would never be touched on. There are a number of barometers that need to be checked for the health of an industry not just recruitment 🙂 And definatly in the case of WOW that collaboration had nothing to do with recruitment. Its the equivalent of two master painters coming together and recoloring a classic. These are masters they dont need this as a test, this was lowest common denominator… 🙂
Dunno… i am not really a fan of what is coming out of GW these days. It started with Centurions and continued with Primaris and pretty much everything that came since. There is the occasional model i like, but most i don’t.
Brilliant show as always, for a moment I thought @warzan was going to make @dignity sing the Ho3T house song, thankfully it didn’t happen. We have Lord Justinius (aka @dignity) as our Immoral Leader beacuase of his gaming philosophy and wisdom, NOT because of his singing abilities!
Now RANT Time!! I appreciate that my fellow OTTers may have already covered this, but…..
As @warzan said around 42:20 – 42:35 the GW pricing in Australia is (pardon my french) FUCKING Atrocious!!
The Necromunda: Dark Uprising Pre-order Collection is 273 pounds;using XE currency converter equals $509 Aus,
BUT is $761 Australian.
The Dark Uprising Zone Mortalis Collection is 235 pounds ;using XE currency converter equals $437 Aus,
BUT is $655 Australian.
And the base box of Necromunda: Dark Uprising is 175 pounds;using XE currency converter equals $326 Aus,
BUT is $490 Australian.
Is it any wonder (I would guess) that many Australian gamers/hobbists, including myself have start looking at non-GW products when we are consistantly gouged by this type of bullshit pricing, or have actually stop buying or buy so rarely that it amounts to 1 -2 purchases of GW products.
Sorry to rant, but this has infuriated me for a number of years now. I am not bashing GW themselves,but…..
Now I will say that I do like many of their miniatures, but when consistantly faced with pricing like this, its just not affordable, and I need to go to other retailers who are willing to mark down the GW pricing to make it competitive with other hobby products
Those halflings look super cool.
Especially the pikemen.
I think it is a great weapon for halflings to keep the enemy away.
@warzan
I am sorry but I have to point out that after the entitlement debate you had in pointless views, you cannot have an entitlement in what a company can or cannot have as a creative standard and contribution in gaming development.
That wasn’t entitlement – that was just part of my job 🙂
@warzan Warcraft: Totally with you man. The gratuitous compounding of gaming products just clutter the marketplace and are pointless. Blizzard could easily have resourced the developmwnt of an entry level Warcraft boardgames with unique mechanics etc.
GW entry games: I’m less annoyed by this but I am totally apathetic towards it.
While I am not a Critical Role fan (I find watching other people RP a bit dull), I wish them all the luck in the world flying thw geek flag in the ‘normie’ world.
Not sure if it’s beeb mentioned but last years update rolled all Necromunda rules and gangs into two books , the rule book brought in 3D terrain and campaigns all into one book and the gangs all into there own… so worse case two books would get you sorted . For those that already had the books they gave a free faq to bring rules up to date .
Loved it.
Warren is my spirit animal.
lol I laughed so much st this lol
cheers!
“It’ll never be as good as blitzball though.” The editor is wise, listen to the editor
Another great Weekender and having CR getting a second season from Amazon is freaking cool. Necromunda game is way to expensive for the average player to purchase without saving up some cash, it’s not a impulse purchase.
Vaesen looks very cool.
(I liked The Ritual, was very good Ben).
It is a shame about the Necromunda price as I was liking the look of the new box.
@warzan you are wrong. Again.
To prove it to you I pre-ordered SMALL WORLD WORLD OF WARCRAFT EDITION. In my local shop. because I like small world but i did not had it in my collection, now with new skin of another great and visually fantastic Game WoW this convinced me to finally buy it.
this skin just made that game even better,
lol i hope you have many years of enjoyment together 😉
Love the look of the AoS and WarCry stuff
I am with Warren on this, reskins are just a total absence of any creativity.
And I loved Heroquest back in the day, it was an introduction and a stand alone product, not just some basic iteration of an already established game.
And I am with you! 😉
Happy monday (took me 3 tries to finish lol)!
I’ve been waiting for a good reason (or excuse 😉 ) to get into AoS and bang! The new Chaos Warriors are incoming and they are great 🙂 Also going to get some Stormcast Ethernals to play with my friend at home while i take my Chaos Warriors to my local shop to play.
I’m mostly in with @warzan about the Small World/Warcraft game. I’ve played WoW for years and i would not get into this reskin (my friend has Small World) and if a player is not into boardgame, why would he get into this? And if someone does, would he go for other boardgames? I think not…
I’ll give Disord a try later on this week, after i read the guide 😉
Gotta catch up to the XLBS
When your reskin of a game includes the original games name in its title I don’t think they are trying to fool anyone into thinking it is anything new. I don’t see the harm in offering a proven game with a fresh look themed on a thing people enjoy.
If you don’t like it, just don’t buy it and move on. It’s like bringing out 40k munchkin. If you like those two things then great, I just ignored it.
The Barnes & Noble cut-down games though. I was actually annoyed to discover I couldn’t get them! Not for myself, but for my 10 year old nephew.
He has an interest in my minis and games, but lacks the attention span to play a big wargame and wants to change activity in less time than it takes to play most minis boardgames. Blood bowl lite gives him a small number of minis to paint and a faster, more compact game. It is actually just what I need to get him into things at a light level.
Got to disagree with Warren about the games he thought as rubbish. First when I started this hobby it was difficult to find gamers and then even harder to get a game they could get. The Barnes & Nobles games are actually great for the younger gamer who might happened to have a father or older siblings that play GW and they just can’t understand or have the attention span to stick with any GW boxed game from their line. He loves Blood Bowl but and hour and a half is just to much for my 7 year old to handle. As for skinning games, I enjoyed the mechanics of certain games but the feel isn’t right. When Love Letter started theming I found a HUGE audience of new casual gamers that I got into the industry because it was Batman Love Letter rather than the original. After the learning the game those gamers now love the expanded original theme. So maybe a reskin isn’t for you but it maybe for that casual gamer that wants in to your world of gaming but has been intimidated by the Mighty History of 40k, Infinity, Core Space, etc. This is just a doorway game for a small group of players that are new or getting into our wonderful hobby. Keep it fun, sir!
So that’s that then, we can place no reasonable expectation on those with the capiability and the resources to undertake a commitment to creating something unique and innovative? 🙂
Re skins are not the issue per set, your batman example is spot on, I wouldn’t place the expectation on that joint venture as one side are clearly not game developers.
It’s this very specific case where two giants of gaming come together and produce somthing so derivitave – I think they owe their reputations and the industry to which they belong more effort 🙂
Good points though and well made 🙂 we are recording a followup on thursday morning for pointless views if you are on the CoG discord would you fancy putting the points across via voice chat?
@warzan Actually, after this discussion featured so prominently in The Weekender, ie. open to the whole OTT/BoW Community, then the re-match should not be restricted to just Backstager/COG members.
Make it a “everyone’s Welcome” article please!
We are only setup for COG dialing I’m afraid.
Oh, that’s a pity.
Looks like I shall have to authorise @brennon to act as my proxy in the COG discussion on Thursday morning.
So, Ben, whatever you say, you can just add this at the end:
“…and AztecJaguar agrees with me!”
lol maybe well get you some other time:)
@warzan ?
@brennon >>fist bump<<
Blooming heck Warren, give poor Ben a chance to get a word in ! The lad was chaffing at the bit to get his point over !
@avernos @deltagamegirl22 @beastsofwar In terms of Branding, may I suggest that “Re-skinning” is dropped in favour of what this is, which i “BRAND-SLAPPING”!
@warzan I think you are being a bit of an ass. It is news. I can totally see the reason to talk about blitzbowl. or whatever. I can argue about what is news. I mean in the news feed today there are 4 or 5 news items about the Batman game.
Wow! @warzan you are an ass. Just let the news be told. Re skinning games is fine. There are a number of games which are essentially identical but you’re doing trains in the USA, or Europe, or London, or whatever. I think you are just being an obstinate know-it-all. It isn’t like your opinion is everything that matters.