Games Workshop, An Appreciation Thread

[Joyrex-J9]

See I'm going to defend the GW staff here, based on my experience the staff are helpful and knowledgeable, if a little over enthusiastic (borderline pushy) at times.

It's smelly oiks that hang about the shop, spouting their judgemental stuff "chaos daemons are a bunch of pussies" that really let it down; but what can GW do? Just like many niche/geeky hobbies it attracts lots of socially maladjusted nerds. It's the way of the world (that's a sweeping generalisation, but you know what I'm saying)

Moosey just look at the sort of arseholes that you have loiter round your shop, that's not your doing, you don't want them there!

[moosegrinder]

That's why they fall in the middle. They have the characteristics of the nerd detritus but can actually wash themselves.

I have no problem with the GW staff, my line when they accost me is "Nah I don't play I just like the artwork" which tends to deflate them a little. Not intentionally as it's the truth, but I don't want to be fucking badgered when I walk in ANY shop.

[Joyrex-J9]

I can't believe I'm sticking up for GW, after yesterdays rant

This is better.

[bcofn]

Damn right it's a fantastic game

Anyway it's just luck of the draw really, I don't think I was ever too pushy although some people do need a bit of pushing. They'll say they know what they want and then stand there looking blankly at boxes for 10 minutes before walking out, when all they might of needed was some input based on what they had in their army already. Crap staff are crap and you just learn what shops not to go in. I always hated the "haha I know and you don't" attitude some staff have. It's not something thats been as bad recently but when I was younger it used to really annoy me going in to one shop excited about a release coming up and the staff member would be prancing around the shop with the new book not letting anyone else have a look. I stopped going in the Trafford Centre shop for anything other than buying paint I needed because of that as I knew if i'd been in Stockport or Manchester they'd have just let anyone look. It's just a shame GW seems insistant on making the instore experience as crap as possible for both staff and gamers these days.

[LaParka]

Oh god, I went to BL live, mostly as an excuse to actually visit the Warhammer place and got to Bugmans etc. nearly all the people there were in the socially aware nerds. In their late 20/30's but i'm still amazed that people who can obsess about certain things right down to the minute detail like the fluff aspect of 40k (MKIII armour was never worn by the Dusk Raiders etc) but cannot manage to wash themselves!

[moosegrinder]

Like people that can afford a PS3, a HDTV and buy new games 3 times a month yet have no idea how to buy soap and deodorant.

[LaParka]

I've been buying online purely to avoid that situation but now i've found a local indie I make a point of buying from them. It is just so much better to walk in and be greeted with friendly 'hello' and then be left to just look at the shiny things.

[Cocky]

There is a lot of talk on the internet about gw ceasing production of metal miniatures in favour of resin due to the increasing cost of the raw material. The evidence appears to be some reliable sources and a noticeable reduction of metal stocks.

In other news I got married:

[Joyrex-J9]

Gratz, and nice cake!!

[Wiper]

Nice one Cocky, hope nobody ate Faramir

(not sure what to make of the rumour, if it's true. On the one hand, resin is annoyingly brittle and often needs a lot of tidying up before it can be used. On the other, metal models are so heavy that they break almost as regularly, and are guaranteed to need extensive filing before they're ready for use. As they're replacing one material I'm not a big fan of with another form I'm not a big fan of, I guess I can live with it either way)

[Cocky]

I think the main concern is whether gw will use the transition to cut back on the less popular components of its range, specifically the specialist games. But that could just be the usual internet scaremongering.

[Joyrex-J9]

I dunno how true it is but until recently (and maybe still now) you could order practically anything from their back catalogue of metal minis & parts, going way back. Assuming you knew the part-code etc.

I'm guessing this will be the end of that

[Cocky]

Gw stopped doing that a few years ago and now you can buy only complete blisters/boxes. Aside from the cost savings this was in part driven by the newish style plastic sets which have loads of different build options.

[Wiper]

I think the main concern is whether gw will use the transition to cut back on the less popular components of its range, specifically the specialist games. But that could just be the usual internet scaremongering.

They still make specialist games!?

[Joyrex-J9]

They still make specialist games!?

A token gesture on their part!

If only they would realise that their Epic system was about 60 million times a better game than 40K (aka roll a bucket of D6 to determine a winner) ever will be.

Gah! don't get me started ... and another thing ... back in my day it was all Tzeentch round these parts ...

[Exit Chamber]

It's was all about Necromunda for me. Bloody loved it.

[Cocky]

If only they would realise that their Epic system was about 60 million times a better game than 40K (aka roll a bucket of D6 to determine a winner) ever will be.

Unfortunately that's not going to happen. Gw are all about miniatures these days with the games being merely a vehicle for selling them. Still, I'm hoping for some space hulk style limited edition release this year.

[bcofn]

40k seems to be in a pretty good state these days. Well apart from having half it's armies Space Marines sadly. I do need to somehow find the time to play Epic again though.

Going to resin doens't seem a bad move. It's not like it's going to really make any difference as GW wants to do as much in plastic as it possibly can. Depending on what army you collect you might only have at the most one unit and most likely none made out of it.

What doesn't seem so good is there being a magic based warhammer expansion coming out this summer promising more monsters (sounds good) and even more destructive magic (probably the worst part about the new edition already). Speaking as a High Elf player i'm already very jealous of abominations, giant spiders and sphinx and I want a funky dragon that can be used in under 3000 points and isn't a crap character choice.

[Wiper]

Aye, the same thoughts ran through my head when I saw that announcement (albeit Orc and Goblin-tinged). Then I remembered that I can just play WOTR instead, and I wasn't so fussed! Still, I need to give WHFB more of a go, as I have only played it against my eleven-year-old brother, which is no challenge at all, and been singularly trounced by a regular at the local GW the once.

[bcofn]

I guess it depends how they play it. They seem to have been trying to get a lot of the feeling of magic back into the game anyway. If it's an expansion full of unit killing spells then it will be a bad thing. If it's an expansion filled with a variety of magic based stuff (such as the monsters already mentioned) then it could be good.

This being GW I expect it will be filled with aceness spoilt by one or two badly thought out ideas (See power scrolls and steadfast).

[Klaark]

On my holidays this week so dug some of my 40K stuff out of its boxes. I found loads of miniatures - some generic plastic Space Marines, a set of Chaos Terminators, through to character models like Mephiston and Abaddon. My old painting guides were in there too, so I dug those out and decided to try my hand at a Blood Angels trooper to see how I got on. It was a real pleasure to paint again, and brought back memories of when I was 15 and used to spend hours painting them with my dad. He was always much better than me, and produced some really quality paint jobs. At that age though I wanted my miniatures to look super-awesome super-quick so often used to rush them and make mistakes. So it was a great to just take my time, digest the painting guides, paint my model, and see a definite improvement in my approach despite a ten year absence from the hobby. My shading and highlighting still needs a lot of work, but I'm hoping to dedicate more time to painting in the future. Are there any worthwhile guides to painting on the Internet? Also it was odd painting my miniature under a desk lamp and thinking I'd done a good job, only to see it in the light of day and witness what a hashed effort I'd made of it. It's really hard to gauge shadows and highlights under a desk lamp, too. I can't really move my desk to the window, so do any particular bulbs/lights work best? Ta!

[Joyrex-J9]

There's a bunch of guides on the stupidly named 'Cool Mini Or Not'

http://www.coolminiornot.com/articles/5760-Articles-Index

There's bound to be loads more out there

[waddie]

I can't really move my desk to the window, so do any particular bulbs/lights work best? Ta!

Energy-saving daylight bulbs are a big help. It's easier to judge colours accurately, as they're close to natural light, and they're bright without being harsh. They cost ~£10 each, but last for years.

If you're really serious about it, a pair of desk lamps with daylight bulbs is ideal, as they'll give you complete control of shadows.

[Cocky]

There are a couple of techniques that can help with figuring the shading/highlighting. One that I use is to prime with white followed by a black wash. This adds instant shading to all of the recesses and helps to pick out all of the details. Another is to prime with black and then do a light spray of white from an overhead position as can be seen in this video on beastsofwar to good effect.

You might want to check out the many wargaming forums out there such as warseer or bolterandchainsword as these often have quite comprehensive painting resources. Also, there are painting guides on youtube that are useful for actually seeing how to apply various techniques.

[Joyrex-J9]

God, I hate doing eyes. Four attempts later and I think I'm happy enough with 'em. My tip? Swear a lot.

That and ignore the logical conclusion that a really small brush will do the job. It just doesn't - as long as your usual brush (and I usually use a 1) can go to a nice tip, you can get infinitely more control over it than you can with a smaller one - terrible times using my 10x0 one.

Hang on. You have a 10x0 brush?! I have a couple of 4x or 5x 0 brushes and they are nothing more than a few strands of hair. 10!?! What's that? a single molecular strand?

[JoeK]

Hang on. You have a 10x0 brush?! I have a couple of 4x or 5x 0 brushes and they are nothing more than a few strands of hair. 10!?! What's that? a single molecular strand?

I think calling it a 10x is a bit of a gimmick...it's really not much small than a 2x0, just not as many hairs. Which means its very difficult do anything much with it at all.

It doesn't get the Joe thumbs up.

[RFT]

I hope they don't replace metal with resin - Resin's nasty stuff to work with if you breathe in the dust, and I find it needs a lot more filler than metals, usually.

There've been scares about metals being killed off for years, but for small-run models there's always going to be an economic case for them.

[JoeK]

The really big issue is the astronomical rises in getting the base materials. It's absolutely impossible for me now to even consider doing metal figures. Folk still might moan about GW figures being expensive, but in actual fact - and loathe I am to admit it - they're pretty much spot on at the mo. Personally, I'd always want to remain with resin...nice detail and I can dictate the production runs much more easily.

[Campfire_Burning]

Gaming Made Me: Games Workshop Made Me

[Lorfarius]

Wow this thread is still going Been ages since I've painted everything but glad to see you lot are still carrying this on!