Games Workshop – Love ’em or Hate ‘em?

Whilst I would not say that I have ever actually hated Games Workshop I certainly used to look down my nose at them. Not ‘proper’ wargaming  - overpriced figures – overly simple rules - played by kids who didn’t know any better would have probably summed up my views.  Although I did give Warhammer Ancient Battles a go when it came out and had some reasonable games I wasn’t overly impressed by the bucket of dice approach and felt that the characters were far too powerful .

In recent years, having joined a number of internet forums, I have been exposed to the wider world’s take on GW - everything from the fanboys to those who consider it to be the evil empire.   Those that post do tend to be those with the more extreme views but I was surprised at the venom in some of the anti GW material that is out there.

I became something of a convert to the gaming side when I moved up to Scotland and joined the Falkirk club. There I found a number of the members gamers playing Fantasy Battles, 40k and Mordhiem and decided to give them a shot.  I found that I enjoyed the games and, in a non historical setting, throwing lots of dice and having powerful characters worked quite well.

My view now is that they are an important part of the hobby providing good games in their own right whilst acting as an introduction to the wider hobby for those that want to broaden their horizons.  Their figures are expensive but as I don’t see the company making huge profits I presume that this is because they have significant overheads to cover.  I can’t see myself buying very many, if any, of their products directly but then again 90% of my purchases are in the second hand market anyway.  Their rules are generally well written and fun to play.  So pretty much the opposite of my original position, although not quite Love!

What has prompted this blog entry is the fact that my first game of the year, on the 9^th, will be with the 8^th ed. Warhammer Fantasy Battles rules.  Last year some of the guys at the Falkirk club ran a campaign which sparked my interest and I decided to see if I could get hold of an army to join in.  Eventually I picked up a painted second hand Chaos Warriors army, although by then it was a bit too late to join the campaign.  It has been on the table a couple of times and I intend to expand it and get fully up to speed with the rules this year.  I’ll post a report of the game and hopefully will be able to  include some pictures from my new camera.