That it is getting a new edition is big news, that effects all Warhammer players. Unlike, say, a Skaven Army release which will be bought by a portion of the customer-base, the Rulebook will be a required purchase of all the customer-base. Its sales potential is huge. It is a necessity to the Warhammer Universe and all the tiny plastic figures and pots of paint that go with it. It is the water to the fish, the bread to the butter, the Sigmar to the hammer.
I will definitely be buying one.
As, I guess, will many others, but, is it too early. It is, perhaps, the topper-most top trump GW can ever play. A trump card that should not be played too often, as the more you play it the less effective it will be. The first thought that went through my head when I saw the news was "Its a bit soon since the last time I had to fork out for a new rulebook". It feels like I am still coming to terms with the Warhammer Rulebook and they have anounced that in July I will have to start again. As will all the other Warhammer players in the world. The last Rulebook came out in 2006, so it is only four years that the last edition of the Core Product has been on the shelves. Its a big ask of your core audience to re-invest after only four years. It seems a bit greedy and clawing to ask of us to buy a new rulebook so soon. I bet it will be answered though. Profitably answered.
And this is important. Despite what whining you may read on the internet Games Workshop is not a massively profitable company. It had a bad year in 2008 and is still recovering. It is still not close to the finiacial position it was in five years ago. But has been climbing, its share price has risen almost 95% this year. It is certainly putting its house in order. The following is a report from January.
Hannah Kuchler of the Financial Times, wrote on January 6th 2010: "Shares in Games Workshop, the model figurine manufacturer and retailer, rose 30 per cent on Wednesday when it announced that pre-tax profits would be more than 50 per cent higher than expectations.
The company increased its gross margins by rolling out one-man stores and promoting plastic rather than metal figurines. Sales remained steady."
Read that carefully. It made the pre-tax profits 50 per cent higher by cutting staff, and resource costs. (again despite the grumbling you may hear from people, GW does not make large profits, the figures for last year were they turned over £113 million pounds, but made just £7 million profit. And those profits were down to the cost-cutting measure they made. Just think how huge the costs of ticking Games Workshop over are!) The sales have remained "steady". They have not increased, they did not have a Christmas surge, they were merely steady. Stable. Same as. Stagnant. Stuck. The profit increase was a "False Economy". It was not based on what they were making more on what they shed. You cannot make a successful company that makes cuts every year. You live or die on what you sell. GW's sales are merely steady. So, unless they can make the same cuts again on places which have already been cut, they will certainly not make a 50% profit increase. They might not make a profit increase. Their business might not grow. What is left to do? How can you increase sales?
How? You make your core audience buy the core product again. And you focus on other core areas, like Space Marines and Orc releases. It is some sound tactics that any general would nod sagely at. Good Command.
I just want to make a quick refence to the statistics in the link again. Games Workshop is steadily climbing back to high position it achieved Five years ago, and the current Rulebook is Four years old. Do the maths. This rulebook has been published in a time when GW fell from the summit. It is perhaps inuendo to suggest that the current edition of the rulebook is responsible for this, as it is also true that for 18 months GW has been on a steady upward trend in share price, but it may need an update. In terms of playability, I will address this when I know whats in the book, i.e. I've once I've bought and read it with my own eyes, but I think many players and podcasts will be looking forward to this book.
Certainly the share price rise over this year has been brilliant, and they will want to take that on into 2010. So rather than being too early it might be just the right time to push on. The tide of battle is rising favourably to Games Workshop after some creative hard work and painful readjustments (think of the staff members at your local GW you don't see anymore and spare a thought for their morgage). It is at moments like these, long strived for moments where you can begin to taste a victory, that any good Warhammer player will look to press home his advantage with a decisive hammer blow.
And like a Twin-Tailed Comet here it comes.
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