Let's chat: White dwarf

[Arkiham]

1 hour ago, Captain Marius said:

Does it say if the july issue will be at the start of the month or half way thru again?

Probably back to 4 weekly

[someone2040]

Haven't got mine yet, but not really impressed that they interupted the schedule just for a new edition release.

Why not just release the new 40k at the start of the month? or use White Dwarf to hype up new Warhammer 40k even further by getting more sneak peaks into it 2 weeks out from release?

Dunno, just feels weird. I don't remember them ever doing this when they released a new edition of the game.

[Sleboda]

Still no issue arrival here.  With them not fixing problems with delivery and then delaying intentionally, I'm not sure why they would think I'd renew.

[RuneBrush]

22 hours ago, Captain Marius said:

Does it say if the july issue will be at the start of the month or half way thru again?

I looked last night and this one has a date of 7th July printed at the back of the magazine, so looks like a return to the regular schedule.

I'm actually wondering if the delay was production related but sold as a "synchronised 40k release".  WD works about 3 months behind so if there was a delay March time in them getting hold of something (prices, models, dice, range rules etc) it wouldn't take much to push back the publish date.

[RuneBrush]

20 hours ago, someone2040 said:

Why not just release the new 40k at the start of the month? or use White Dwarf to hype up new Warhammer 40k even further by getting more sneak peaks into it 2 weeks out from release?

My theory is that by doing it mid-June, GW may be hoping to tap into UK students who are finishing/about to finish their exams - what a lovely carrot to dangle for when they've finished   If released early June, the hype would have died down by the time they finished, release in July and students will have found something else to do.  Middle of June is a good date!  I'm also guessing that they've a lot of statistical data on optimum release points which they'll have taken into account - plus a 2 week pre-order window will have caught people who get paid at the beginning of the month.

[Captain Marius]

2 hours ago, RuneBrush said:

My theory is that by doing it mid-June, GW may be hoping to tap into UK students who are finishing/about to finish their exams - what a lovely carrot to dangle for when they've finished   If released early June, the hype would have died down by the time they finished, release in July and students will have found something else to do.  Middle of June is a good date!  I'm also guessing that they've a lot of statistical data on optimum release points which they'll have taken into account - plus a 2 week pre-order window will have caught people who get paid at the beginning of the month.

Good theory, it worked on me and ive never pre-ordered anything in my life!

[Lord Baerion]

I agree with Sleboda that the delivery issues for a subscriber in USA have been very frustrating.  However, I still find myself checking the mail each day with excitement which to me means that I really like the mag and it contains some really solid material.  I will definitely be re-subscribing, but might try to work something out with my local GW store so that I can pick it up on release day if the delivery to home doesn't get better.  That way I can at least have the magazine when everyone else gets it as opposed to 1-2 weeks late.

Really hopeful that the delivery issues are fixed and the WD comes this week!

[Arkiham]

that time again white dwarf! great lets see what news from the world of aos there is as last month was basically all 40k, gotta be some word on the up coming GHB2017

 

Nope.

there's another cover of a stormcast army... wooo... 

pictures of orruk waaaaghs.

slight discussion about vandus and khul

quick skirmish game

 

then 40k.

if you arent into 40k, and dont buy it just to read. dont bother

 

[Chikout]

1 hour ago, Arkiham said:

that time again white dwarf! great lets see what news from the world of aos there is as last month was basically all 40k, gotta be some word on the up coming GHB2017

 

Nope.

there's another cover of a stormcast army... wooo... 

pictures of orruk waaaaghs.

slight discussion about vandus and khul

quick skirmish game

 

then 40k.

if you arent into 40k, and dont buy it just to read. dont bother

 

Don't know what you were expecting. Aos had 3 months of pretty much uninterrupted coverage when it came out. This is the great remaining of 40k, gw's biggest endeavour for many years. I expect to see a little bit about Ghb2 next month and a little bit about path to glory the month after but I will be very surprised if we see another battletome before October.

[Arkiham]

12 minutes ago, Chikout said:

Don't know what you were expecting. Aos had 3 months of pretty much uninterrupted coverage when it came out. This is the great remaining of 40k, gw's biggest endeavour for many years. I expect to see a little bit about Ghb2 next month and a little bit about path to glory the month after but I will be very surprised if we see another battletome before October.

but they're hyping ghb2 up for a yearly release. so that's this month, the next 2 weeks or so as  the 40k global campaign kicking off on the 27th you'd have expected to see it discussed before that, but they'll be concentrating on that next month also just like they did with the AOS one.

 

so, the launch of GHB for this year is shaping up to be nothing more than a side note 

[Chikout]

12 hours ago, Arkiham said:

but they're hyping ghb2 up for a yearly release. so that's this month, the next 2 weeks or so as  the 40k global campaign kicking off on the 27th you'd have expected to see it discussed before that, but they'll be concentrating on that next month also just like they did with the AOS one.

 

so, the launch of GHB for this year is shaping up to be nothing more than a side note 

Recently they have covered releases up to the week after WD is published. I am expecting Ghb2 to go up for preorder on the 15th  (no insider info, just when I would release it if I was GW) so it would be covered in  next months WD. If it releases late or doesn't get decent coverage next month then I will join you in being rather annoyed but I don't think it is time for that just yet.

[someone2040]

To be fair though. This happens every time a major edition release occurs. You always end up with about 2-3 months of main focus on that system. It's just the way GW operates.

I'm sure it was the same when AoS released as well. I seem to remember July and August at the very least being filled up with AoS, terrain, accessories, Stormcast and Khorne releases.

 

What frustrates me more is when we get 'no release' weeks. Where it's just repackaging existing models in different ways, or like last week, just put a bunch of 'Made to Order' stuff up and called it a day. Essentially when that happens, there's not really anything new and exciting to talk about regardless of what system you play (Other than, neato! I can save X% if I buy this box as opposed to the separate kits).

[Sleboda]

19 hours ago, Arkiham said:

the launch of GHB for this year is shaping up to be nothing more than a side note 

So?

Really, does the annual update publication have to be hyped?  I mean, really as a simple update shouldn't it actually arrive with very little fanfare?

I would be pleased if almost nothing in it changed other than point values. 

The handbook is no supposed to be AoS's next edition, thankfully. I don't want rule changes for another 3+ years.

[RuneBrush]

We've likely got at least another month if not two of 40k focused coverage within WD.  We've the 40k summer campaign which will likely feature heavily on the community site and website as well.

AoS received a lot of coverage on release and then a lot of coverage with the generals handbook which flowed into the Seeds of Hope campaign.

I'm also going to throw in a very controversial point.  We know that GW plans everything months/years in advance based on reaction and attendance at their events.  I was lucky enough to attend every Open Day put on last year and will say that the AoS Open Day had the lowest attendance by a mile, probably half the attendance of the FW one and well under the attendance of the 40 Open Day (which actually ran over two days).  The free Seeds of Hope finale event they ran wasn't sold out either.  So if GW were basing releases and events on last years attendance and support they're going to be thinking that AoS has a much smaller group of customers than their other product ranges and to coin the popular phrase you've got to "smell what sells"...

[Charles]

Is the ask Grombrindel question about Stormcast Eternals this month? 

[Tzaangor Management]

3 hours ago, RuneBrush said:

We've likely got at least another month if not two of 40k focused coverage within WD.  We've the 40k summer campaign which will likely feature heavily on the community site and website as well.

AoS received a lot of coverage on release and then a lot of coverage with the generals handbook which flowed into the Seeds of Hope campaign.

I'm also going to throw in a very controversial point.  We know that GW plans everything months/years in advance based on reaction and attendance at their events.  I was lucky enough to attend every Open Day put on last year and will say that the AoS Open Day had the lowest attendance by a mile, probably half the attendance of the FW one and well under the attendance of the 40 Open Day (which actually ran over two days).  The free Seeds of Hope finale event they ran wasn't sold out either.  So if GW were basing releases and events on last years attendance and support they're going to be thinking that AoS has a much smaller group of customers than their other product ranges and to coin the popular phrase you've got to "smell what sells"...

It seems to me that the AOS experiment probably has a pre-planned time line that runs for at least three years and which would include planned releases. That is not to say that they won't alter this as time goes by, but I believe that major releases, such as new armies, or updates for existing ones, have likely been planned in already and that we won't see the influence of things like event attendance until some way in the future. 

That said, events probably do give a very useful snapshot of the health of the various game systems and it's certainly no surprise to hear that the 40k events are far better attended than the AOS ones. To state the obvious, I'm sure that sales and sales growth play the largest part in their releases. However events and the new focus on the community, particularly the online community, likely help GW forecast interest (I am sure that there are other factors involved as well).

 

[Guest]

I do understand the frustration some people might have with the paucity of AoS content in WD at the moment. Last month it was slightly tiresome to see 3 separate articles about Primaris Marines all essentially saying the same thing in slightly different ways - if you're going to sideline AoS at least make sure that the 40K content taking its place is diverse, interesting and good value. They did a similar thing when the Karadron overlords were launched - you'd think a new faction would spark a deluge of creative content rather than being used as an excuse to sit back and repackage the same basic information multiple times within the same issue.

Flicking through July's WD it looks like more pages than you might think are given over to AoS content, but it's pretty perfunctory stuff for the most part unfortunately. There's the usual new product announcements, an Illuminations dedicated to Orcs/Orruks, a Skirmish article that basically amounts to an advert, a Stormcast army showcase (again), a brief Shattered Dominion painting guide and some readers' models. Obviously it's easy and inexpensive filler content for them, but in the age of social media I really don't need WD to show me other hobbyists' armies and models. Illuminations are nice but it's hardly meaty content. The Skirmish article would be acceptable if it's the first introductory part of a series that will explore Skirmish in more depth, but that seems unlikely, so it just stands as a prettily presented list of reasons to buy a supplement that I already own. And I'm sure the 4 people who own the Shattered Dominion realm of battle board will find the half-page painting guide to be... quite pointless. So nothing at all this month to sink your teeth into, and a rare example of a modern WD that has feels like a genuinely pointless purchase for AoS players.

WD has come a long way since they switched back to the monthly format, but there's so much more they could do to bring it back to it's former glory. Is it so hard to give both AoS and 40K at least one 'meaty' article apiece every month? Proper background articles, short stories, mini-games, rules supplements, new battleplans, etc? To be fair the Blades of Khorne background article last month was very good.

[Sleboda]

Just wanted to see if other Chicago folks got their current issue yet.  I have not. Still.

 

Uodate: I called for a replacement, and the rep mentioned that they have had more calls for replacements on this issue than the previous two combined.

So, if you don't have yours yet and you are in America, you should probably call.