It looks like GW have got rid of the collectors range and replaced it with one page of Vignettes.

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catal ... Style=lotr

Corsair

EDIT: Olle just pointed out that the models which were in collectors and aren't in vignettes are in the normal army lists. Begs the question of whether or not they are back in production.

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[url=http://one-ring.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=50&p=298502#p298502]Corsair's WIP Thread - 03 Dec 12 Update[/url]

Or something like that.


Edit: It seems like all the other stuff that was in the Collectors section is now in the Forces section, so no need to cry.

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Ole Blood'n'guts...

They haven't gotten rid of anything, all the other stuff has just been pushed in the regular categories (such as Ruffians being under Isengard Warriors, instead of the Collector's range).

Execpt a while ago they got rid of the armoured merry and pippin models.

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"Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!"

-Dwarvish war cry

I think I've read this before..

If you look at the times, he edited it whilst you were typing up your post. I did the same. Nothing personal Sean

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[url=http://one-ring.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=50&p=298502#p298502]Corsair's WIP Thread - 03 Dec 12 Update[/url]

Oh, blame me for not expecting anything useful from Olle after 'Or something like that.' ....

The Encounter sets are my favourites to collect, it's sad that so many of them are gone. I guess many of the minis are still available individually or in small packs, still not really the same.

I think GW isn't sure what to with LOTR anymore. It wasn't Specialist, so they couldn't just shelve it, WOTR has been a cataclysmic let-down (after so much initial positive hype, it's just fizzled), and it doesn't seem they want to go back to the SBG book formats.

Every time I look at my collection, both in the case, and unbuilt on the shelf, I ask myself: what the heck do I have this for? I have whittled down enough to make an Angmar and Moria army, and a Hobbit-Minas Tirith-Wood Elf army, but the rest I just keep selling off.

Sad, really. WOTR has killed SBG, and everyone wants SBG back.

Well, you can find most of the Encounter packs online in various places (and for generally cheaper-than-GW prices). So there's that.

But I suspect we haven't seen the end of the SBG. This year was obviously given over to War of the Ring. Next year could see something entirely different.

WOTR is complete-as-is. There doesn't seem to be an overwhelming need to make supplements for it (arguably they are missing the Woodmen and the Men of Dale profiles, but that isn't the end of the world). Any future WOTR additions or errata could be included in appendices of future SBG sourcebooks. Future sourcebooks could even be dual statted.

GW's problem, at this point, is that they are pretty close to exhausting most of the legendarium. They don't have it all. There are, indeed, hundreds of subjects which could be still illustrated. But these subjects grow more and more obscure, and further from GW's core marketting approach: sell little metal and plastic things whose value is in competitive game play at GW sponsored/approved/whatever events, using GW rules, GW scenery and GW whatever else.

GW's license comes up for renewal in 2011. That's around the time The Hobbit will hit the screens. They needed to ease out their last few marketable releases before the license renewal in order to maximise their return on investment.. Otherwise you get various business and marketing issues. (They have probably made some sort of timetable with Tolkien Enterprises, in which they get prompt approval for their products so long as they make X amounts of products per year and submit them for approval at such and such a date. And so on and so forth.)

With WOTR, 2009 was covered. 2010 (I can't believe it's almost 2010!) is the penultimate year of the license, if not the final year. GW probably wants some good juicy "sellable" core releases for next year. Rohan and Isengard have been mentioned. Perfect fits.

War of the Ring saved them the hassle of releasing their last few batches of good stuff too soon.

Gavin

Do you think GW will be able to renew its contract with New Line Cinemas to continue supporting SBG and WoTR?

I am pretty sure that GW have said that there will be no more books for SBG, which in essence, means it's dead. Apart from articles in White Dwarf to back up SBG profiles from WOTR stuff. I personally think WD isn't worth the paper it's printed on, and haven't picked up an issue in years. I used to get it free, but when that ended I sure wasn't going to pay for it.

One thing GW could do is make compilations for SBG from the White Dwarf articles so that people such as myself could have the stats. Some people will clamor for pdf files, I think printed out articles look cheap at the gaming table.

The next year or so will be interesting to see if GW can save this once great game, or whether WOTR has been the coffin with lid for the franchise. Oh well, I can remember the great days, I was there on opening day for the Fellowship boxed set, and I have all the SBG books.

They might, but there's three crucial questions:

1: how much does it cost? TE/New Line et al might (might? Almost certainly will) want more money.

2: what does that cost get you? The Hobbit will have a lot of new and unique imagery, but nothing compared to the trilogy.

3: For how long? GW probably will not want a ten year license. They may want a two year license, subject to review by both parties (Mithril miniatures has such a license. It's automatically renewed every two years). TE/New Line might want more more annually for a two year reviewed license than a ten year one.

Lots of people signed expensive license deals for the trilogy expecting 5 to 10 years of success, and discovered that the secondary market trailed off rapidly after Return of the King extended edition came out. GW probably does not want that experience again.

So, I strongly suspect we'll see a GW 25-30mm fantasy battle game of some sort released for the Hobbit movie. What form it will take and how long it will last and how it will be marketed, I have no idea.

I do not, however, think it will still be sold in 2015, nevermind 2020.

Gavin

GW are notorious for random unsourced statements that they'll contradict later. They'll claim it was a rumour, or misquote or something. But right now, they are taking the path of least resistance. Belt out random units as it occurs to them, stat them up in WD and call it a day.

I suspect we'll see some sort of book thing out of them simply because they make money. Cheap and quick to make and sold at a massive profit. Even if its just Legions of Middle Earth Redux. Might even do another One Rulebook before they call it quits and/or renegotiate their license.

As for saving the game? I am not sure it needs saving. Hobby things are notoriously difficult to evaluate: might be dead in one city and thriving in another. It's almost certainly fading somewhat, but dead? I don't think so.

Gavin

Explain to me how '1' mounted figure is a 'Vignette' ?

I always took these as very small diorama depicting a certain scene ?

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There are fouler things than Orcs in the deep places of the world