Monday the 16th - The End of the World?

[Mike the Pike]

Right then, I think this wee discussion has probably done its dash then. Manly handshakes all round.

[Admiral-Badruck]

And there goes Pike with his bromance touching again...

[Mike the Pike]

Huh?
And there goes the madmiral with another incoherent comment

[ashmie]

Well it's done, the last gasp for my big GW shopping. Expect Skaven a great number of them.
Eek I know skaven, why skaven? Well someone had to do it didn't they and what better army to choose for a last ridiculous big spend. Better get painting. Got to finish my orcs yet. I've put aside this month to get them done then it's on to flames of war Brits (honest guv), character models for Call of Cthulu, Romans and Celts and then.....the Skaven. With any luck it will all be over by Christmas bar the bloody shouting.

Setting my self a project a month. Do you think I can do it? Watch this space (the painting blog at least.)

I used Maelstroms 18 percent off offer, code is GW-ROW

[Primarch]

Well it's done, the last gasp for my big GW shopping. Expect Skaven a great number of them.
Eek I know skaven, why skaven? Well someone had to do it didn't they and what better army to choose for a last ridiculous big spend. Better get painting. Got to finish my orcs yet. I've put aside this month to get them done then it's on to flames of war Brits (honest guv), character models for Call of Cthulu, Romans and Celts and then.....the Skaven. With any luck it will all be over by Christmas bar the bloody shouting.

Setting my self a project a month. Do you think I can do it? Watch this space (the painting blog at least.)

I used Maelstroms 18 percent off offer, code is GW-ROW

That reminds me, I need to get my skaven glued together....
Too many armies, too little time.

[ashmie]

Hail fellow ratman. What theme are you thinking of going with? Do we pick one clan or do we play them all together as one?

[Primarch]

Hail fellow ratman. What theme are you thinking of going with? Do we pick one clan or do we play them all together as one?

I have a mixture of various bits and pieces. I haven't finished building them yet so I haven't tried anything out.

[Colonel Voss]

Just remember to provide the proper incentive to the troops before a battle. Put some cheese over on the opponents side

[me_in_japan]

@pikey - fair enoughski *shakes hand graciously* until we meet again, eh?

@Ash - eeh? skaven? madman. ACtually, you could do a cheese themed army. y'know - little bits of cheese scattered around the minis. CHeese army badge, that kind of thing. that way, when people accuse you of being cheesy, you can say "well, yes, I am. Well spotted that man"

[Mike the Pike]

An explanation of sorts...
Originally posted on an Aussie forum/Farcebook/BOLS

Dear Anthony,

Thanks for contacting Games Workshop about the change in our trading terms for European accounts. I know this has frustrated you and for that I am truly sorry. As a long standing customer, you deserve to know why we made this decision.

As you know, we introduce people to the Games Workshop hobby of collecting, painting and gaming with Citadel miniatures through our Hobby Centres and local independent trade accounts. Games Workshop Hobby Centres run introductory games and painting sessions, beginner lessons, hobby activities and events. We provide all these services free of charge. We only recover this investment if customers then buy products from us.

Where we don't have a Games Workshop Hobby Centre, we support local independent trade accounts. These businesses provide a convenient place for customers to buy our products close to where they live. We support these businesses with local customer service teams and warehouses to ensure customers have immediate access to our best selling products and new releases. Many customers discover the hobby this way.

In addition we invest millions of pounds every year in our design studio and factory to ensure that each month we release more new products. This makes the Games Workshop Hobby more exciting for existing customers, helping them stay in the hobby longer. We can only afford to do this because of the volume of customers we have recruited and developed through our local Hobby Centres and trade accounts.

It is for this reason that we have changed our European Trade terms. Over recent years, a number of currencies have moved a long way from their historical relative values, and this has opened the door for some traders to try to take advantage of these currency movements and offer deep discounts to overseas hobbyists. This has been the case with European internet traders selling to some of our customers overseas.

While this may seem great in the short term, the simple fact is that European internet traders will not invest any money in growing the hobby in your country. Their model is to minimise their costs and free-ride on the investment of Games Workshop and local independent shops in creating a customer base.

We on the other hand have to keep paying our Australian staff, rents and utilities in Australian dollars. While some customers have suggested we halve our prices, the only way we could do that is if we halve our Australian staff's salaries, default on our rents and not pay our suppliers until exchange rates move back into alignment. That's the reality of what a price reduction of this scale means. And we both know that customers who are motivated by price are not going to change their behaviour if it was any less than that.

The inevitable consequence if this was allowed to continue is that Games Workshop would not be able to operate Hobby Centres, nor to support local trade accounts. And if this happened in more territories outside Europe, the loss of volume would leave Games Workshop no choice but to scale back our investment in new product development, further eroding our customer base. Not something that we or our customers would want us to do.

That is why we took the decision to take legitimate action to restrict European trade accounts from selling the goods they purchase from Games Workshop outside Europe. None of the other alternatives were viable.

While I understand that you may still be unhappy with our decision, it was taken to ensure we can continue to support the Games Workshop hobby communities around the world through our Games Workshop Hobby Centres and local trade accounts. And to ensure we continue to invest in developing the best possible new product releases every month. I hope therefore that over time you will see the benefits of this decision for you and your hobby.

Yours sincerely,
Mark Wells
Chief Executive
18 May 2011

Have at it