So with the new Codex: Craftworld being released tomorrow it brought to a mind a discussion we have been having here about Games Workshop and their releases which arrive with much fanfare, and then just disappear into the ether - the Ynnari are a perfect example.
The Ynnari were supposed to be a new 'sect' of the Eldar which united both Eldar and Dark Eldar under the banner of the doomsday cult of the God, Ynnead. This had a bevy of modelling options; mixing Eldar and Dark Eldar bitz together, fielding interesting forces and basically putting a new slant on older minis and allowing fans to try a new way to play. But where are they now? Go to the GW site and there are 4 entries under Ynnari - and most of that is Index: Xenos Book 1.
Now don't get me wrong, it's GW's business to do with it what they will, but why bother with something and then forget it. It's like their constant rewriting of the fluff. Some of that is 30 years old - leave it alone.
The Ynnari were supposed to be a new 'sect' of the Eldar which united both Eldar and Dark Eldar under the banner of the doomsday cult of the God, Ynnead. This had a bevy of modelling options; mixing Eldar and Dark Eldar bitz together, fielding interesting forces and basically putting a new slant on older minis and allowing fans to try a new way to play. But where are they now? Go to the GW site and there are 4 entries under Ynnari - and most of that is Index: Xenos Book 1.
Now don't get me wrong, it's GW's business to do with it what they will, but why bother with something and then forget it. It's like their constant rewriting of the fluff. Some of that is 30 years old - leave it alone.
The Ynnari may be one example, but think of a few others - the Deathwatch, the Corvus Blackstar - oh my God, when was the last time you saw that... anywhere?! Sisters of Battle turned up for 5 minutes and then disappeared.. again. The Kharadrons - great models, but they came and went and then more recently the Chaos Space Marines - no new minis and what was supposed to be a games changing Codex, but now it's popped off the radar too! The Horus Heresy miniatures - now those caused an absolute storm of interest in both the Games Workshop and Forge World communities- but that has now waned too. WHY?
Games Workshop seem to constantly chop and change and it's frankly confusing. It also doesn't leave with a sense of what is and isn't important. The thing is, it's not consistent! We get releases that go forever like the Nurgle, Stormcast or Primaris releases which were so voluminous and never-ending that it seemed to blot out the sun... and then others that just come and go.
The one that was a real shock were the Indexes for Warhammer 40K.... they arrived and within a week or two we were told they would be made invalid by the Codex releases. WTF? Again, a release that was important, but then wasn't important. It leaves a bad taste in the community's mouth and with this new focus on the community, it seems odd they persist with this practice.
Maybe it's a culture of having to have something new every week... they don't have to! Release some decal sheets, or upgrade sets to existing minis, or maybe a new novel or two, but constant releases that are then forgotten or devalued are a waste of time and it cries wolf to the community as a whole.
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Do you agree? Are you getting a similar vibe or have you got some examples? Let us know.
Games Workshop seem to constantly chop and change and it's frankly confusing. It also doesn't leave with a sense of what is and isn't important. The thing is, it's not consistent! We get releases that go forever like the Nurgle, Stormcast or Primaris releases which were so voluminous and never-ending that it seemed to blot out the sun... and then others that just come and go.
The one that was a real shock were the Indexes for Warhammer 40K.... they arrived and within a week or two we were told they would be made invalid by the Codex releases. WTF? Again, a release that was important, but then wasn't important. It leaves a bad taste in the community's mouth and with this new focus on the community, it seems odd they persist with this practice.
Maybe it's a culture of having to have something new every week... they don't have to! Release some decal sheets, or upgrade sets to existing minis, or maybe a new novel or two, but constant releases that are then forgotten or devalued are a waste of time and it cries wolf to the community as a whole.
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Do you agree? Are you getting a similar vibe or have you got some examples? Let us know.
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