The Rumour Thread

[Overread]

I'd be surprised if they separated them since they've not teased anything else coming with the Morathi book. So if they release that on its own there's no model juicy things to entice sales. Right now I'd expect it to ship with the new models in the box because the book will have the AoS rules for those models. So one entices the other and at the very least GW will thus sell the book to DoK and Slaanesh players.

If there's yet more to come then GW are keeping very tight lipped. Then again our previews sort of end at November right now. 40K has a mysterious Xenos codex coming and one more Space Marine one; plus a general mention that something for Combat Patrol is coming out in the new year. After that we don't have much for any of GW's games besides that big Bloodbowl new edition. 

[Scurvydog]

14 minutes ago, JPjr said:

The aelves will march

Oh no not the twirly toes dance

[Still-young]

Not AoS news, but I’m sure it’ll affect AoS soon enough - the new Combat Patrol boxes that they’re phasing in for 40k instead of Start Collecting boxes are £85 instead of the £60 start collecting sets. The savings have decreased fairly dramatically (32% saved on the Deathwatch compared to 46% on their last one, and 33.5% vs 41% on the Space Wolves one) but just increasing the price by £25 is quite a jump in the sticker shock for what is meant to be an entry level product. 

[Overread]

I was expecting GW to reduce the value for buying multiple boxes for getting started; ergo putting more characters/rare models in so that you don't end up building an army from a Getting Started set. I wasn't expecting them to raise the price that much though. It seems a very odd move because at the same time as they are raising the price (which suggests they are pitching to existing customers looking for a new army); they are pushing Combat Patrol as a smaller game with smaller forces so that new people can get started easily. 

Thing is AoS already has new Warcry sets with a lower price point so it seems, at present, to be a 40K thing. But with the new Catacombs boxed set price it seems that GW is either not adapting to Corona (sticking with prices they were going for already) or is trying to increase profits per sale during tricky times. Which is an odd move for a firm that has honestly done really well so far all told (they've paid back the government loan money; they've maintained high sales through the pandemic; they've maintained production when allowed even though its on reduced volume - heck they've had a record year so far which would suggest that they don't need to maximise profits per sale above what they already were).

It's one of those strange moves that makes it seem like there's two separate teams/agendas at odds with each other at GW; each pulling for extremes at either end. Resulting in some policies and prices and ideas that seem very sane, sensible and fit with the times/market; and others that seem to be wildly inflated

[JackStreicher]

3 minutes ago, Overread said:

others that seem to be wildly inflated

Lately, this agenda seem to be on the rise, sadly. At this point it has even killed off my anticipation for Soulblight/Umbraneth ... 🥺😭

[Overread]

I should point out these sets still offer a saving - its just an odd choice, in my view, to have such expensive sets for getting started in the game. I'd have expected GW to have, if anything, introduced perhaps £40 or so Starter sets for Combat Patrol (which IS closer to what AoS has with Warcry sets); and then perhaps use the £85 as army expansion sets - throw a few big named characters into them and such so they have limited re-use value; but use them as a springboard toward 1K and 1.5K

[sandlemad]

1 hour ago, Still-young said:

Not AoS news, but I’m sure it’ll affect AoS soon enough - the new Combat Patrol boxes that they’re phasing in for 40k instead of Start Collecting boxes are £85 instead of the £60 start collecting sets. The savings have decreased fairly dramatically (32% saved on the Deathwatch compared to 46% on their last one, and 33.5% vs 41% on the Space Wolves one) but just increasing the price by £25 is quite a jump in the sticker shock for what is meant to be an entry level product. 

Yeah this is concerning. The drop in savings doesn't seem as big a deal as the sharp increase in a kit meant for folks starting out. That feels a lot more like shooting themselves in the foot. On the FB page they said that there's no word of the same being done for AoS but it's a worrying trend. There doesn't even feel like there's that much difference between them and the older SC boxes either. For the Deathwatch they went from a character/two units/a dreadnought to two characters/two units. 

Both these particular boxes seem to trade heavily on their upgrade sprues, which come to some £18 in each box, which if we were being unreasonably generous to GW and assuming they had any real justification, could account for the increase in price. It'll be interesting to see how these Combat Patrol boxes look when they're rolled out for factions like orks or Death Guard, where they might look meaningfully bigger than these two.

It's bad. Honestly it feels like a lot of the affordable ways to get into the hobby that GW had begun to offer over the last few years, stuff like Warcry and SC boxes, are becoming considerably less so. Entry points being closed off.

[Ogregut]

Are the combat patrol boxes replacing start collecting sets or being sold along side? 

The space wolf one is temporary out of stock online. 

[Noserenda]

Theres more stuff in the boxes, which is what pushes the price up more than anything (Though yeah, less discount aint great). I doubt this is some profit rinsing conspiracy, more just what a 500pt army that isnt random or awful actually costs. Which also isnt great but hey they already inflated all the points costs recently to reduce the cost of entry a bit.

Y'know i think two competing philosophies is surprisingly accurate as a call

[Overread]

Just now, Ogregut said:

Are the combat patrol boxes replacing start collecting sets or being sold along side? 

The space wolf one is temporary out of stock online. 

Word from GW Facebook comments seems to be that the plan is to replace them. Though I've only heard that reported I've not seen GW comment myself (but then I've not been looking either). Which is why this is getting a bit more concern about it as we only just had the start collecting go up from £50 to a variety of prices based on content. 

The concern is also more that people feel its eroding that concept of getting people into the hobby easily. Like I said before I'd have expected GW to have cheaper Combat Patrol boxes if anything then have more expensive Getting Started/army expansion boxes. Much like how AoS is doing now with Warcry and then Getting Started. Right now one box of Warcry models for Slaves to Darkness gets you started; One Getting Started for Slaves to Darkness takes you further. 

 

[cyrus]

2 hours ago, Still-young said:

Not AoS news, but I’m sure it’ll affect AoS soon enough - the new Combat Patrol boxes that they’re phasing in for 40k instead of Start Collecting boxes are £85 instead of the £60 start collecting sets. The savings have decreased fairly dramatically (32% saved on the Deathwatch compared to 46% on their last one, and 33.5% vs 41% on the Space Wolves one) but just increasing the price by £25 is quite a jump in the sticker shock for what is meant to be an entry level product. 

I fear that "shadow&pain" box will be 25% more expensive than "Feast of bones" box : around 140 pounds/180 €

[Still-young]

4 minutes ago, Overread said:

Word from GW Facebook comments seems to be that the plan is to replace them. Though I've only heard that reported I've not seen GW comment myself (but then I've not been looking either). Which is why this is getting a bit more concern about it as we only just had the start collecting go up from £50 to a variety of prices based on content. 

 

 

[Ogregut]

4 minutes ago, Still-young said:

 

I guess AoS will follow suit if it gets a combat patrol equivalent. 

[Kramer]

4 minutes ago, cyrus said:

I fear that "shadow&pain" box will be 25% more expensive than "Feast of bones" box : around 140 pounds/180 €

given that the recent boxes that were persistently painfully priced* were all 30% more expensive than similar boxes released a year ago... I'm starting to suspect its the trend. Although €180 already sounds so expensive when you compare it to the currently still available Soul Wars box (€125). 

*not really, but I'm a sucker for a good alliteration 😂 

[Overread]

12 minutes ago, cyrus said:

I fear that "shadow&pain" box will be 25% more expensive than "Feast of bones" box : around 140 pounds/180 €

Going off the UK GW prices there's

£97.5 Daughters of Khaine Models
£80.5 Slaanesh Models

If we assume £20 for each character (which is pretty much the top unique character price, it might be cheaper) then that's £218 total for the set.

So if we wanted £100 that would be more than 50% off which I don't expect. If we go to 35% which seems to be where GW is heading, then it comes out at £142. Personally I think £120 would be a sweet spot, but I can't see it getting that low now. 

 

[Ogregut]

13 minutes ago, cyrus said:

I fear that "shadow&pain" box will be 25% more expensive than "Feast of bones" box : around 140 pounds/180 €

Before adding the new characters in the models coming in the box total £178 so I would full expect £140. 

[JPjr]

price changes aside, just from a marketing point of view I think the 'Start Collecting' to 'Combat Patrol' move is a canny one.

even with exactly the same figures within one implies 'here's a £70 (or whatever) box that can form the basis of both an army and a ruinously expensive hobby', the other 'here's an army in a box that you can start playing with right away'

psychologically I think that's a small but quite compelling change and all other things being equal I imagine GW would prefer people to have four 500 pt armies than one 2000 pt one.

Edited October 26, 2020 by JPjr

[Ogregut]

54 minutes ago, JPjr said:

price changes aside, just from a marketing point of view I think the 'Start Collecting' to 'Combat Patrol' move is a canny one.

even with exactly the same figures within one implies 'here's a £70 (or whatever) box that can form the basis of both an army and a ruinously expensive hobby', the other 'here's an army in a box that you can start playing with right away'

psychologically I think that's a small but quite compelling change and all other things being equal I imagine GW would prefer people to have four 500 pt armies than one 2000 pt one.

I agree. The basis of many of my armies have began with a start collecting box. 

Having a full 500 points in one box is a great incentive to start a new army. 

[Icarion]

I guess I don't see the problem with these boxes being more expensive, they include more. You're still getting a 35 % savings. 

[Overread]

12 minutes ago, Athrawes said:

I guess I don't see the problem with these boxes being more expensive, they include more. You're still getting a 35 % savings. 

The problem is more that GW is shifting the Getting Started set concept from £50 a year back to £85. 

Yes its a bigger set, but the actual percentage saving is less than before and the price is £25 higher. For many the worry is that GW is upping the cost to get involved in the hobby after they've spent a few years making Combat Patrol and Warcry and basically several methods specifically aimed at making the hobby cheaper to get into for new people.

 

For the vast majority of us already in the hobby these sets aren't a worry and whilst we might not like it as much, we can respect that GW was considering/starting to make Getting Started sets that were closer to a one time good purchase instead of an army expansion purchase (something that appears to be in the pipe line slowly with several approaches from using push-fit single option kits in the GS set instead through to adding more characters/solo units that you can't bulk up on in an army). 

[Icarion]

13 minutes ago, Overread said:

The problem is more that GW is shifting the Getting Started set concept from £50 a year back to £85. 

Yes its a bigger set, but the actual percentage saving is less than before and the price is £25 higher. For many the worry is that GW is upping the cost to get involved in the hobby after they've spent a few years making Combat Patrol and Warcry and basically several methods specifically aimed at making the hobby cheaper to get into for new people.

 

Sure, The perceived value has dropped slightly, but Looking at things on the shelf in a store, I doubt anyone new to the hobby is going to clutch their pearls over 1 larger box having 6% less total savings than another smaller box. 

Start collecting sets were never really enough to get a true feel for most games anyways, and you almost always needed an additional purchase to bump up to 500 points, which is the general starting points level in AOS and 40k. So odds were good you would have ended up buying the start collecting set with its 40% discount and then 1 full priced kit, whereas now you get all of that at a flat 35% discount. It's actually saving you more money to get to that 500 point level than before.

Seems like this direction is better value for new players and slightly worse for old players bulking up collections which is exactly what an entry level box should be.

[Ogregut]

My nephew wants lego for Xmas, I'll rather he was into GW stuff as the price of licenced lego makes GW look reasonable!! 

[Overread]

Just now, Ogregut said:

My nephew wants lego for Xmas, I'll rather he was into GW stuff as the price of licenced lego makes GW look reasonable!! 

Well relatives are permitted to make "mistakes" on Xmas lists They are just guidelines not actual rules. 

[Ogregut]

9 minutes ago, Overread said:

Well relatives are permitted to make "mistakes" on Xmas lists They are just guidelines not actual rules. 

Lol, true. Lizardmen it is! Kids love dinosaurs!! 

[Overread]

1 minute ago, Ogregut said:

Lol, true. Lizardmen it is! Kids love dinosaurs!! 

Perfect!