Does the addition of Allies rules boost sales?

[jason_sation]

I don't play Fantasy, but the latest edition had Allies rules, and now 40k does as well. Is this a marketing strategy, and does anybody know if it worked for Fantasy? Did they have more overall sales?

I can imagine on one hand it is, because for somebody who has invested heavily into their army, it now gives them the chance to go out and buy other models they like without having to shill out for a whole new army. And since people can always change their lists, an Imperial Guard player who has had his eye on starting a Chaos Marine army could go out and buy a squad of Marines to paint up along with that Demon Prince he's had his eye on, and try them out on the battlefield. Then after building up a Chaos army, that IG Player could try recruiting some Tau and eventually expand that force. It leads to a person only having to make ONE big investment in an army in the beginning, and then slowly building up their forces from there. Instead of just buying for YOUR army. The whole range is opened up for a player to buy. (Well except for Tyranids.)

On the other hand, I suppose it does lead to people just cherry pick the units they want and never build another army, but I imagine you'd spend the same as if you stuck with one Codex anyways.

Thoughts?

Mods please feel free to move this thread if it is in the wrong location. Thanks!

[jack da greenskin]

It definitely would inspire me to pick up a few units of many different forces, if I still played. I've stopped however, and selling off my 40k armies.

[shelfunit.]

It will certainly increase the variety of units people will purchase, but the real question is whether it will increase people's spending. If (as many people do) you have a set budget for wargaming then no additional money will change hands as a result of "Allies", people will just spend their normal amount, but on a different thing.

[Chaos and Evil]

It might inspire extra longevity for players in the hobby, who'll be able to gradually transition between armies instead of having to start entire armies anew from the beginning each time they want to play a new army.

[iamfanboy]

Isn't it really just a return of the allies rules from 2nd edition 40k/4th edition WFB? *looks in old Codex* Hrm, says here that 25% of my army in 2nd edition could come from another army book....

[Max Jet]

Well of course it is a way to get you to buy miniatures you like, even if you don't want them in your army. There is nothing wrong about it, Mantic is doing this too. In a lot of circumstances this enhances the overall narative.
Problem is the GW rule writers aren't encouraged to take a deep look at fair rules. A really good ruleset doesn't let the competitiveness be ruined by marketing driven mindset or Beer and Bretzel attitudes. However in the case of GW Rulesets this doesn't apply. One can easily have both. Fair rules AND a driving force behind selling miniatures.

[loveless]

Well, it makes me consider buying some Craftworlders to go alongside my Dark Eldar...though I don't know what I'd add other than some units "for the lulz" (necromancy is amusing).

It also means all of this random Marine models I have from 4 different codices could probably work together without any counts-as required...so rather than expand any of those forces, I could just lump them all together and not have to buy anything else.

[Tay051173096]

Personally I expext the sales of IG to go up as their range can plug holes in any army, I feel sorry for the nids though.

Depends on the starter set as well, it means anyone can use it with allies rules.

[Lord Inquisitor]

Yes, I imagine it will be a real help for sales.

• People will buy models for competitive purposes.
• People will buy models because shiny new releases tempt them and they can now use it with their army
• People will buy mandatory choices to get whatever shiny new thing into their allies
• Buying a whole new army is now insanely expensive. Ally rules are a real way that people can start a new army and get playing with the models straight away, transitioning onto a full army later on.

I'd imagine in the short term it'll be a big boost. We'll see whether it has a negative impact on game balance or become something that people regard as "opponent's consent" or "not tournament legal" later on, in which case you might see a drop in the financial advantage of allies.

[tiger g]

Well I bought the Dakka jet to go with my orks from AOBR so I can use them in a game and get the jet.

I have also bouth some SOB to add to the few I already to make a legal detachment.

Otherwise I would just have those models in a box unpainted. (also bought paint to finish off the models).

[loveless]

Additionally, I haven't been watching too closely, but are the Lost and the Damned and Inducted-Guard Daemonhunter players all jumping for joy right now?

[Inquisitor Engel]

It means I can use my Grey Knight Terminators with my Imperial Fists again without having to collect an entire GK army! This makes me happy. All I need is to take Draigo and another Terminator Squad and I'm set!

[Lord Inquisitor]

Additionally, I haven't been watching too closely, but are the Lost and the Damned and Inducted-Guard Daemonhunter players all jumping for joy right now?

Ha, yes. I have both of those armies. Where did I put my mutants?

[tiger g]

Terrain sales will also increase sales as they are now part of the FOC. So even if you do not plan to expand your army you might add a piece of terrain or two.

[x-esiv-4c]

In my case, no. I already have Renegades, Nurgle CSM and Daemons. What more would I need?

[Killgore]

All these extra little units I'v collected here and there over the years finally have a use

I'm very happy and intend on expanding a few of these mini forces to take advantage of the allies rules.

[Inquisitor Kallus]

Isn't it really just a return of the allies rules from 2nd edition 40k/4th edition WFB? *looks in old Codex* Hrm, says here that 25% of my army in 2nd edition could come from another army book....

Yes it is, and your point being?


I imagine like others have said it will encourage some to go and get new units theyve not used before, which may turn into armys.

[Scaryscarymushroom]

Terrain [is] now part of the FOC.

... wut.

OK GW. Whatever.

On the topic of allies. I think it's hard to say it'll definitively boost sales. Some players set about the mentality of designing an army, and then going and collecting the army. For them, it may open up new avenues, but design is still a part of the process. Room for growth with this demographic is limited, because they need to find a reason (aesthetic or otherwise) to include the allies in the first place. It will encourage some growth, as people say to themselves "...ok. Maybe 500 points of sisters of battle would work well with Inquisitor Coteaz," but not rampant growth. The existence of the allies rule won't encourage the aforementioned player to purchase tons of SoB, then Guard, then Kroot mercenaries for their Guard, then Tau for their Kroot, and then Chaos Space Marines for their Guard and Kroot, and then Feral Orks to go with their Kroot, and then Daemons, and then they'd rebase their Daemons on square bases (while still using them for 40k) and then a second fantasy army to get their buddies to play. And then Mordheim, because they've already jumped game systems once; what's another one?

For other players, they simply collect what they want and before they know it they have 12,000 points of blood angels, 20,000 points of chaos and 6,000 points of 'nids. I do not think it will boost sales for this group because every 37.25 spent on Kroot is another 37.25 they didn't spend on a rhino. Rather, it will simply diversify their collection. Nothing wrong with that!

And then you have players like me, who view the rules as sort of general guidelines for how to play games with strangers. When you play with your buddies; homebrew codices, house rules, allies and proxies alike live happily under one roof. But whatever you do, you always try to play with well painted minis on a beautiful table because it's just more fun that way. And don't forget the b33r and pretzels. The allies rule could boost sales in this category, because we do what we want. But the player is empowered, rather than Games Workshop.

So I guess I think it will encourage a marginal growth in sales with the first group. The group that says, "OK. I'm going to collect 3 more drop pods and then this army is complete... but what about a small allied contingent? Maybe 1000 points of guard would look good with these space wolves."

But let's be honest. An extra 1,000 points of Guard is expensive no matter what way you cut the cake. GW's prices are a huge hurdle to get over for any value conscious buyer. And then for buyers that don't think so much about value-for-money, they fall into 2 categories. People who have never had much responsibility with their money (i.e. the internet's favorite stereotype: Timmy), and people who have enough money that their responsibilities are met by a huge margin, and as a result they have a lot of expendable income (i.e. the upper class and a small selection of adults who manage to keep their cost of living pretty small). But money and prices are a different topic. Sort of. I'm treading dangerously close to a post that should be in the GW pricing feedback thread.

[Reinholt]

To lay my thinking out, you essentially have three possible reactions to allies:

1 - Buy less
2 - Buy the same
3 - Buy more

I doubt there are many people who will buy less because of allies (unless the game itself is horribly imbalanced because of them, but one could argue that's not an intrinsic issue with allies, it's just an issue with poor design/balancing). There will probably be large numbers of people who buy the same.

However, there are some people who will now add units to armies they otherwise would not have. Any of these incremental sales are sales that GW would not have otherwise made, and it also means that people will be more likely to start additional armies (they already have some of the army if they bought allies).

To that end, I'm not sure the impact will be large, but I suspect it will be a strict positive overall. I like this move from a commercial perspective for GW. The cost is essentially zero and the gain is non-zero. Also, if handled well going forward, it could be a stronger positive with time.

[Torga_DW]

I'm not sure it'll boost sales so much as it will diversify what gets sold. People will still have the same levels of spending money available to them.