Rolling for Initiative is a weekly column by Scott Thorne, PhD, owner of Castle Perilous Games & Books in Carbondale, Illinois and instructor in marketing at Southeast Missouri State University. This week, Thorne talks AdeptiCon and new miniatures releases for ICv2 Miniatures Week.
Quite a bit of miniatures news came out from AdeptiCon this past weekend. The most important news of the weekend was likely the release of Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon (see “New Edition of ‘Warhammer 40,000’“). This indicates that Games Workshop will keep to its three-year cycle of rotating in a new edition.
From what I have read and seen, the new rules will tilt the game toward melee combat and away from ranged shooting attacks with a greater emphasis on the use of terrain. The round objective markers are apparently going away, replaced with in-game objects instead of the abstract markers. The new edition also introduces some concepts from Age of Sigmar, such as picking targets for charging after the roll.
The biggest cheer from the assembled hordes at AdeptiCon during the presentation on Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon came after the announcement that the new edition would not render the codices for 10E obsolete. In my mind, this has always been the biggest problem with updating editions of Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar. Much like Dungeons and Dragons players, Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar players are completists, eventually purchasing all the codices for the new edition, meaning most players spend $400 to $500 just accumulating a library of codices, only to have them obsolete three years later when the next edition releases.
Assuming the statement during the presentation is correct, having the current codices usable with the new rules removes a huge barrier to adoption of the new edition by current players. Granted, they will adopt the new rules and buy new codices, but hopefully there will be a lot less grumbling about the new edition if the shelf of codices remains usable.
The other big miniatures news was the StarCraft Miniatures Game (see “StarCraft Tabletop Miniatures Game“). The original StarCraft video game was released back in 1998 followed by a board game version from Fantasy Flight Games in 2007 and a tabletop RPG back in 2010 and now by a miniatures game with boardgames following in 2027. While players appear quite excited about the release, with sets almost sold out by the end of Thursday at AdeptiCon, retailers are less so for a couple of reasons.
First, the crowdfunding campaign on GameFound is targeted at consumers, there is no retailer option for backing the game. Ergo, the customers who really want the game will have already purchased it. They are the ones spending $270 to $670 for various configurations of the game.
Second, the game is pricey. A single-player set has a MSRP of $129 while the 2-player starter retails for $229. Granted, StarCraft has a lengthy track record and the miniatures look great, but that is still a lot of money, especially compared with the other hot new miniatures game, Gundam Assemble, with a two-player starter running $35 and a deluxe version at $100.
Third, there is the margin. If stores were dicey on Games Workshop’s 45% margins, consider the 30% margin offered at MSRP for StarCraft. Unless they have a good number of preorders, most stores bringing in StarCraft will likely keystone the price or at least raise it to Games Workshop levels.
We have three major miniatures releases hitting the shelves this year and a limited amount of open to buy. Warhammer 40,000 is a known quantity, the other two have strong IPs behind them and lots of buzz. I know Armageddon will still be around in 2028. I am not so certain about the other two.
Comments? What do you think of Gundam Assemble, StarCraft or Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon? Send them to castleperilousgames@gmail.com.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
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