GW Half-year Report

[petercooman]

Indeed, last week i was snooping about their website, as i wanted to get a box of the empire free company. I still was used to their 20€=free shipping police, so was actually considering getting a box (30€) to make some skirmish guys for Song of blade and heroes skirmish.

Seeing the change in the minimum amount to buy for free postage i didn't even bother. So it really affects sales. Maybe not the sales from the 'hardcore' buyers, but guys like me who just want to pick something up to use for a different setting search for cheaper options instead. If i buy about the same amount with mantic, i get:

A) more models (40 men at arms for 34,99 instead of 20 militia for 30+7 shipping)
free shipping
C) mantic points that i can save for free stuff

So if you are on a tight budget like me, that really matters!

[skywalker]

I was inducted into wargaming at Senior school way back when "Flares" were in fashion the first time round, playing historical, I kept this up until at the age of 18 other intrests came into my life, rock music, cars, women and the occassional pint or 2. GW got me back into the hobby about 19 years ago and I did enjoy the back ground, games systems and miniatures. About 5 or 6 years ago a few members of our club, Redcar Ironbeards, started to get fed up with the way they (GW) were mucking about with the rules so we ventured out into the wider world of Wargaming. Now nobody in our club plays GW but we still play a bit of sci-fi by playing X-Wing.
I am not suprised the GW profits are down as they 1/ no longer own the monopoly of great games, 2/ have cheesed off a lot of us wrinkly gamers and 3/ the constant rule/codex changes have priced themselves out of the market.

Don't get me wrong they still make some cracking miniatures but nowadays I might buy the odd one to paint rather than spending all my monthly gaming budget on GW toys...........their loss is someone elses gain

Long live the smaller manufactures 

[Maenoferren]

After this thread opened I had a mooch at the GW site last night... flippin heck prices are somewhat higher than they used to be. I loved their Lord of the rings figures and use them in my One Ring games, however the fact the Wargs have changed as have the goblins into the hobbit put me off getting them (Not GW's fault though).
I had been looking at Perry plastics...36 figures for £20 and then GW...10 for £25 or whatever... A battalion of Ratty things £60, with no command or heavy weapons...zoiks

[Luddite]

My club is repleat with 'veterans', 'bitter enders', 'grognards', and 'greybeards'.

A couple of years ago, by chance i found myself gaming with a group of younger chaps (and chapesses), and so i have some insight perhaps into this idea of GW being the 'gateway company' into historical gaming.

So the chaps play mostly 40k/WFB, although they also had invested in Warmahordes.

So anyway, i introduced them to the club, and to other forms of games, including historicals.  They're now members, and are building their Bolt Action armies (small steps).  They're also keen on Dystopian Wars, and have played a variety of other games i've foisted on them.

So, there were two main points they made:

1.  They had no idea there were other forms of wargame other than GW - and certainly not the huge range and choice.

2.  The simple fact is, you play the games you can find opponents for.  Everyone they knew played GW, so they played GW.

For me, i think, therefore its for the other companies to step up.  If GW is on the decline, there's a 'youth' market to be picked up.  Warlord seem to be doing it with Bolt Action.

There's also something to be said for the (how many?) wargames clubs around the country to get in on the act.  In that regard, GW 'dominates' the hobby world simply by virtue of being organised.  We don't (as far as i'm aware) have any sort of national wargames organisations.  Its a Heath Robinson, garden shed hobby.  *Shrug*

Are players going to get some sort of 'federation' together?  Nope.  Maybe?  The virtual community of the interweb has certainly brought the hobby participants together more than they've ever been, but beyond that...?

I think perhaps the wargames companies might be able to do something along those lines, but they're generally similarly fractious with the added complication of being commercial competitors.

[Ithoriel]

For me, i think, therefore its for the other companies to step up.  If GW is on the decline, there's a 'youth' market to be picked up.  Warlord seem to be doing it with Bolt Action.

There's also something to be said for the (how many?) wargames clubs around the country to get in on the act.  In that regard, GW 'dominates' the hobby world simply by virtue of being organised.  We don't (as far as i'm aware) have any sort of national wargames organisations.  Its a Heath Robinson, garden shed hobby.  *Shrug*

Are players going to get some sort of 'federation' together?  Nope.  Maybe?  The virtual community of the interweb has certainly brought the hobby participants together more than they've ever been, but beyond that...?

I think perhaps the wargames companies might be able to do something along those lines, but they're generally similarly fractious with the added complication of being commercial competitors.

BRIAN: Are you Games Workshop?
REG: F**k off!
BRIAN: What?
REG: Games Workshop! We're Warlord Games! Games Workshop! Cawk.
FRANCIS: W***ers.
BRIAN: Can I... join your group?
REG: No. Piss off.
BRIAN: I didn't want to sell this stuff. It's only a job. I hate Games Workshop as much as anybody.
GAMERS: Shhhh. Shhhh. Shhh. Shh. Shhhh.
REG: Stumm.
JUDITH: Are you sure?
BRIAN: Oh, dead sure. I hate the Games Workshop already.
REG: Listen. If you wanted to play Warlord Games, you'd have to really hate Games Workshop.
BRIAN: I do!
REG: Oh, yeah? How much?
BRIAN: A lot!
REG: Right. You're in. Listen. The only people we hate more than Games Workshop are f**king Mantic Games.
GAMERS: Yeah...
JUDITH: Splitters.
GAMERS: Splitters...
FRANCIS: And Battlefront.
P.F.J.: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Splitters. Splitters...
LORETTA: And Warlord Games.
GAMERS: Yeah. Splitters. Splitters...
REG: What?
LORETTA: Warlord Games. Splitters!
REG: WE'RE Warlord Games!
LORETTA: Oh. I thought we were Pendraken.
REG: Pendraken! C-huh.
FRANCIS: Whatever happened to Pendraken, Reg?
REG: He's over there.
GAMERS: Splitter!

[Luddite]

 

[toxicpixie]

 

Aren't we the Peoples Front of Pendraken? Or are we the Pendraken Peoples Front?

[Ithoriel]

We are the Pendraken Popular Front!

[toxicpixie]

Splitters! We hate them worse than anyone!

[DanJ]

Games Workshop, what did they ever do for us?

Nothin!!!

Apart from Warmaster 

[DanJ]

And Warmaster Ancients

[Matt J]

Games Workshop, what did they ever do for us?

... and Blood bowl! (Awesome game), Adeptus Titanicus, Epic 40K, Space Hulk, Man of War, Phil Lewis...

all things they discontinued 

but are still alive elsewhere  (and also in Wales)

[Leman]

What's a splitter, other than Abe Lincoln and his rails?

[Luddite]

And Necromunda, Mordheim, and Talisman. 


Uh...

So yeah, trawling about the investor and stock sites, the news has been taken as a bit of a warning, with advice being 'wait and see' on GW share prices.

The key figures are:

Turnover down 10.4% to £60.5m
Pre-tax profit down 30.6% to £7.7m
Basic EPS down 30.9% to 17.7p
Dividend - cancelled (was 18p last year)
Net cash £9.3m (£15.6m last year)

The reasons given for this poor performance are;

A continuation of the trend that developed in H2 of 2012/13
Disruption caused by rapid transition to one-man shops & reduced trading hours.
Decline in sales through independent stockists.

So basically GW are admitting they're on an extended downward slide at the moment.

As to the other causes, they are poor decisions by senior management, and frankly the chumps at the top have got to take responsibility for those decisions.

The switch to 1-staff stores inevitably hit sales as opening times are reduced, stores are now single points of failure for staff sickness absense, and frankly if you're the only boots on the ground, you're not going to be selling as much in a busy store.

The GW change in terms for independent stores (bricks and mortar requirement, limits to stock access etc.) inevitably hit sales as fewer stores will put up with that sort of toss from a supplier.

So, GW have hiked their prices to insane levels (ground-up buy in is now at, what £500?  What parent is going to shell out that sort of cash?), and cut down their two main sales channels reducing income.

GW used to have a diverse portfolio and the beancounters in charge have steadily shut down everything but their core lines, boxing themselves into an unsustainable niche-line wallet-gouging strategy.  The figures over the last couple of years have got to be alarm bells for the bosses and shareholders.

I'm no business guru but common sense tells you - bad, bad ideas.

Unless they've got a major genius move coming in the next 6 months? 
Oh yeah, that's right  - scrapping 35 years of WFB asset for a root and branch reboot.  It might work...when your facing competitor companies run by the people who made GW the massive success it was, well, good luck with that.

[petercooman]

Unless they've got a major genius move coming in the next 6 months? 
Oh yeah, that's right  - scrapping 35 years of WFB asset for a root and branch reboot.  It might work...when your facing competitor companies run by the people who made GW the massive success it was, well, good luck with that.

Especially this!!

As for the other games they cancelled, i think it was one of the baddest moves they could make! My last purchase i made with gw was an epic armageddon thunderhawk, a few weeks before they shut down specialist games.

I never understood that, it was just 'easy money'. it wasn't being supported so they didn't have to pay a designer to work on it, the models and moulds where existant and they just had to cast it up when they sold something. at least that's how i see it, maybe that's a wrong assumption;

[Maenoferren]

... and Blood bowl! (Awesome game), Adeptus Titanicus, Epic 40K, Space Hulk, Man of War, Phil Lewis...

all things they discontinued 

but are still alive elsewhere  (and also in Wales)

Not to mention Gorka Morka and mighty empires... Wish I still had my tiles

[Matt J]

Wish I still had my tiles Sad

still got mine and all the other stuff still in the box they came in 

[Maenoferren]

still got mine and all the other stuff still in the box they came in 

Meany 

[Raider4]

... Wish I still had my tiles

You can make your own. Search for 'memaptiles.pdf'

Cheers, Martyn

[Raider4]

Apart from Warmaster 

Well, that's how I got into 10mm, and ended up here.

Cheers, Martyn