Games Workshop Cancells the Specialist Games Line

[kawaiku]

Games Workshop Cancels the Specialist Games Line

So I was browsing a forum today and looked through the only Games Workshop thread. To my horror I discovered that Games Workshop was axing their Specialist Games line. That means Warmaster, Epic, Necromunda, Mordheim, Battlefleet Gothic, and Inquisitor are going to be no more. This appears to have been finalized in May and when I checked the Specialist Games' webpage at GW's website... a LOT of the pages were bare or missing many models.

Specialist Games Going, Going, Gone...

Games Workshop is bidding goodbye to a lot of games from the days of yore. Grab your hankie...

This story has been bouncing around for a couple days, but multiple sources are now saying that indeed the entire Games Workshop Specialist Games line is shuffling towards the graveyard. In particular, the following:

-Necromunda
-Battlefleet Gothic
-Epic
-Mordheim
-Warmaster
-Inquisitor

Are all only available till stocks run dry then they are history. Forgeworld just announced the ending of all products and support for Specialist Games as well.

That ends a long era, of variety and adventure in the worlds of both Warhammer Fantasy and the Dark Millenium. Epic in particular has a long pedigree within Games Workshop and served as the incubator for so much of the fluff and details of the universe. The Horus Heresy, titans, and so much more came around via Epic, and it will be a sad day to see the old girl fade away. Battle Fleet Gothic's demise marks the end of spacefaring gameplay in the 40K universe, and also served as the wellspring from which so much of the naval detail and backstory came from.

Forgeworld themselves wouldn't have all those sexy titans to sell us if not for Specialist Games...

A bigger question is why now? This final nail in the Specialist Games coffin brings GW at last down to three core systems. In order of importance, 40K, Fantasy, and LotR.

It was always a longshot to ever see those ranges get moved over to finecast, but somehow the lack of those fiddly, esoteric systems, makes Games Workshop seem so - ordinary, normal. Like a building that has painted over all its previous intricate detailing to put up a clean, tidy appearance.

I for one am sad to see them go.

The worst part is is that I've been eying Necromunda, Battlefleet Gothic, Epic, and Warmaster for YEARS!!! as they were really the only GW products that were affordable in large quantities. I think an entire Delaque gang for Necromunda ran for about $25-30, and about $50 could nab you a decent sized Imperial Guard army for Epic.


Some threads that discuss the end of support for Specialist Games:
Dakka Dakka Dakka - ByeBye Specialist Games -GW Pulling the Plug
Tactical Command - GW/FW Ending SG

The end of an era really. Of course, one could always hope that changes at GW are going on behind the scenes but one can never know What these games provided for Games Workshop and their Warhammer and Warhammer 40K Universes was diversity. While I haven't had the chance to play them, everyone acknowledges that these games were finely tuned and well polished games. And of course, I just read that GW is closing down battle bunkers all over the place and focusing on stores run by one to several staffers due to a possible decline in sales of miniatures. (Which isn't surprising since GW's allowed video games to allow people to recreate their table top armies and interact in the universe in a large variety of ways and for cheaper prices.)

Here are some pics I've saved of the games:

Battlefleet Gothic
View attachment 41705

Delaque Gang
View attachment 41706

Epic 40K
View attachment 41707

Warmaster
View attachment 41708

Mordheim
View attachment 41709

 

[prymus]

Re: Games Workshop Cancels the Specialist Games Line

Wow. I have never gamed anything GW, but understand how popular some of their games are. It puzzles me some of the strategic decisions this company makes. I see all over the web people complaining about how expensive they are and how the quality of the minis has been in decline. The web distribution policies alone are perplexing. Sorry to hear of your dilemma Kawaiku. Hope things work out in your gaming favor.

 

[kawaiku]

Re: Games Workshop Cancels the Specialist Games Line

Oh yeah, GW is very alluring. Lots of people play their major games, Warhammer and 40K, so it's easy to find games. And their decision making is indeed puzzling. They created those games and then sort of stopped supporting them long term. Their reasoning was that they were not making any money off of them, which is understandable since they hardly promoted them at all. And I don't hear much about the quality of minis but more about how you can't buy a full squad in a box any more and now the price for a half squad costs what it was for a full squad a number of years ago. Almost all of the models are gone by now though I was able to get a Necromunda game and hope to get another before they disappear.

 

[Vinnie]

Re: Games Workshop Cancels the Specialist Games Line

I wonder how they are going to deal with the rise of 3D printers. Okay. They cost £650 just now but that price will fall and you'll be able to print your own baneblade for a fraction of the price.

 

[kawaiku]

Re: Games Workshop Cancels the Specialist Games Line

I wonder how they are going to deal with the rise of 3D printers. Okay. They cost £650 just now but that price will fall and you'll be able to print your own baneblade for a fraction of the price.

Yeah, it'll definitely be interesting to see how they'll deal with that. Their current business practices and treatment of their fans and supports has been pretty abysmal.

 

[Vinnie]

Re: Games Workshop Cancels the Specialist Games Line

Yeah, it'll definitely be interesting to see how they'll deal with that. Their current business practices and treatment of their fans and supports has been pretty abysmal.

Interesting...I would have said the other way. I have been constantly surprised and pleased by the staff in the shops and how helpful and encouraging they are. Of course, they are there to sell and the re-invention of their lines is done regularly but it is never a surprise and while armies need tweaked, they arew still useable.

 

[kawaiku]

Re: Games Workshop Cancels the Specialist Games Line

Interesting...I would have said the other way. I have been constantly surprised and pleased by the staff in the shops and how helpful and encouraging they are. Of course, they are there to sell and the re-invention of their lines is done regularly but it is never a surprise and while armies need tweaked, they arew still useable.

Oh no, their customer support is excellent; it's their overall business practices of price hikes; their world wide witch hunt of people who created, for free, supplements for their older unsupported games; the constant nagging of people that in order to play competitively you need to have the latest models which cost a fortune and thus slowly and surely phase out older models and what not.

Also, compare the size of an Epic battle to the Apocalypse games they are promoting. Epic could easily be used to represent the larger 40K battles that apocalypse is supposed to be about. An Epic army could easily be worth half of a 40K army and fight battles as large or larger than the apocalypse games. Thus, they'll promote their more expensive models so you spend more money. I know they're a business but their business practices really tick me off. A bit of a consipracy theory but I feel like it's not that far from the realm of possibilities when it comes to Games Workshop.

And the GW stores vary depending on the staff members.