Alright, there are going to be several things which aren't completely connected except that they can all be traced to Warhammer 40K.
First off, I HAVE ANOTHER FOLLOWER ON HERE!! AND IT'S MARSHAL LEAROTH!!! And I have like, 9 more page views!! Sorry, but it's the little things that count.
Secondly, when I review/examine/analyze ANY unit in ANY codex I have learned to write it up, wait a couple of days, edit it, wait another day, and only then post it here. Why, you ask? Because I needed to do a follow-up on the Sword Brethren, taking back several things I had said about them, and now need to correct myself on the Techmarine.
That Techmarine Devastator idea is not a good one, it's still the second best but not worth bothering about. 210 points for a few shots that will get killed right away doesn't fit in any list. 198 points for dropping the Multi-Meltas Servitors and adding a Rhino lets you compare them to other units and you see how over-priced they are.
Next up, I have had a falling out with Games Workshop. I've sent them an email and I intend to send them a letter about it. The basic problem is two thins they've done, and neither one has to do with the price increases or switching to resin. One is the Embargo they've placed. Now no one in Europe can sell GW products to outside of Europe. That includes America, Austrailia, Canada, Asia, all those places. Now, while this hurts sites like Wayland Games it is meant to turn purchases to places which have the end result of GW getting more money and there is nothing wrong with that. Wayland could, technically, start a branch in America and sell from there so it shouldn't crush them into the ground. But GW has failed on another important thing, they are not adjusting their prices to match exchange rates.
BoLS explained it quite well, but let's look for ourselves. Let's look at the Drop Pod. GW puts the price on their website at 20.5 pounds. Based on the current exchange rate, in Australia it should cost 31.25 dollars (the Australian ones, not American ones). It actually costs 55 Australian dollars.
Another example, I was first introduced to 40K by a Canadian company called Miniwargaming. They have an online store and I would love to support them by purchasing from there. But that Drop Pod costs $33 normally, to buy from their website it would cost (in American dollars) $35.55 plus shipping; and that is after the 10% discount that they place on all their products.
The exchange problems by themselves I can deal with, it just takes a little more effort to determine the best place to buy things. The embargo by itself is fine, you just need to order locally. But together I cannot tolerate them. Through these, and I suppose their rediculous prices, they neglect even their most loyal customers and I generally find it both insulting that they would do this and degrading to support them.
So, in conclusion, I will not be buying anything from GW until they fix one or other of the problems. Instead I will buy anything I need second hand from Ebay. This has actually been a good thing because I found that someone is selling six Drop Pods beginning at .99 cents with $7 shipping on Ebay. If I can get all of those at around $10 dollars each then I will have enough Drop Pods for quite a while for the price of about...2 of them. Of course, they are already primed and assembled but for that discount I can't really complain.
Let's see, what else? Oh! I finished painting my entire collection this past week, the AoBR set and 5 more Initiates and 5 more Neophytes. All painted and based and sprayed with Purity Seal (best name for the varnish ever). And today another model came in the mail. A painter's job is never finished.
Well, that's all for now. In a few days I'll try to get either a Battle Report or a List review up. Happy Wargaming!
Haha. Yep. You've got me now. ;)
ReplyDeleteThe GW embargo is a bunch of crap imo, as well as the terrible exchange rates in AUS. However, the latter has been a problem for years but you were able to order from abroad. Now you can't, so its strangling the AUS/NZ player base.
I'm more frustrated, however, about the price increases. It is absolutely ridiculous that they are trying to get more money out of its players when the player base is already dwindling. While the price increases were not on the full line, it included a good 1/3 of it. On average, it was a 20% increase. At the end of a recession. For the third straight year. Bad business.
Exactly, with one alone people can cope. But with both it is just ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Price increases, I came into this hobby knowing that it cost an arm and a leg to buy anything. I knew that two years ago when I first started thinking about it. Yes, it is bad business but it is on few enough things that I want and generally at a small enough amount that it wouldn't stop my miniature needs.