Privateer Press and Free Riders

Privateer Press put out a press release today indicating that all of its North American distributors have signed up to its "no free riders" policy, which Privateer hopes will discourage high volume retailers that add no benefit to the hobby such as offering play space or conducting hosting tournaments or organized play. The stick to get stores in line is delayed access to new releases from Privateer Press.

There is no indication yet as to how Privateer plans to police the retail level to insure compliance. I assume the company will first look at those retailers with a history of egregious discounting with no in store play to support them and direct distributors to delay new releases to those stores.  No indication if the new policy applies to Amazon, arguably the most egregious "free rider" of them all.

Free Warmachine and Hordes Rulebooks

BELLEVUE, WA, August 31, 2015 – The rulebooks for the award-winning WARMACHINE and HORDES tabletop miniatures games, Prime and Primal, are now available in PDF format for free download from www.privateerpress.com.
To coincide with the release of the WARMACHINE and HORDES rulebooks, Privateer Press is also hosting a contest in which players and retailers can win WARMACHINE and HORDES prizes. Players will have a chance to win a complete army just for purchasing a WARMACHINE or HORDES Battlegroup Box or Two-Player Battle Box from their local gaming store. The retailers from which those purchases are made will also have a chance to win a prize package of Privateer Press product worth over $400 MSRP. Retailers can increase their odds of winning by tweeting their store’s name, alongside a photo of customer purchasing a WARMACHINE or HORDES Battlegroup Box or Two-Player Battle Box, to @privateerpress. For contest rules, see www.privateerpress.com/free-rules-contest.
WARMACHINE is a fast-paced 32 mm tabletop miniatures game set in the steam-powered science fiction/fantasy world of the Iron Kingdoms. Each player commands an army of detailed miniatures including a warcaster, an elite soldier-sorcerer who possesses incredible arcane power and the ability to mentally control a force of steam-powered mechanical automatons known as warjacks, and his supporting soldiers in a battle to vanquish the enemy warcaster. The fully compatible feral twin of WARMACHINE, HORDES, puts players in command of a battle mage known as a warlock who can control an army of powerful warbeasts and leads her own army of warriors into combat to destroy the enemy warlock.
“Now that WARMACHINE: Prime and HORDES: Primal are available for free, tabletop gamers everywhere will be able to see why these critically acclaimed games are loved by so many,” said William Shick, Director of Business and Brand Development for Privateer Press. “This exciting release is great news for anyone with an interest in WARMACHINE and HORDES. It will welcome new players, bring even more enthusiasts to WARMACHINE and HORDES communities worldwide, and open the doors for more customers to friendly local game stores everywhere.”
To download WARMACHINE: Prime and HORDES: Primal, visitwww.privateerpress.com/the-rules-are-free.
For full contest rules, see www.privateerpress.com/free-rules-contest.

Privateer Press: The Undercity

Privateer Press just announced its new boardgame The Undercity. Unfortunately, I can't get too excited about it for two main reasons:

1) Track Record.  Unfortunately, their other non-miniature games (Infernal Contraption, High Command, Grind) have proven less than successful. They are quite playable games but have just not caught the boardgaming markets interest. I think they would better spend the money on a national campaign for WarMachine.

2. Price.  $95 is quite a bit for a boardgame. The only three companies that have had success with games at this pricepoint are Games Workshop, with several sets out priced in excess of $100, Fantasy Flight, again with several boardgames near or over $100, and Cool Mini or Not,which uses Kickstarter to regulatory produce and sell Zombicide which also bumps the $100 mark. Cool Mini or Not and Games Workshop both have specific markets they target, while FFG has developed a reputation for high priced, high quality games.

I hope Privateer does well with the game, as I have heard it plays well and you get a lot in it but I, as you might have noticed, have doubts.

A Tale of Two Paints

Probably going to drop the Howard Hues line of paints.  We brought these in about two years ago and have sold less than half a dozen bottles, despite their quality and value.  We currently stock, in depth, the Games Workshop and Privateer Press lines, because both of those sell steadily, the GW paints outselling the PP ones by a factor of 4 to one, mainly because of the high number of Warhammer 40,000 players compared to Warmachine and Hordes players in the area.  We have looked at expanding the Reaper line but haven't been able to get any info on a rack.  We have toyed with bringing in the Vallejo line of paints as well, as people speak quite highly of them, but the Vallejo paint sets we brought it, to test the waters, moved very slowly.  Ergo, we are pretty leery of bringing in the entire Vallejo line, given that it would amount to a significant investment on the store's part to do so.

July from Privateer

WARMACHINE MKII

· PIP 31078 Cygnar Storm Strider Battle Engine (white metal and resin) - $84.99

· PIP 31091 Cygnar Gallant Heavy Warjack Character Upgrade Kit (white metal) - $13.99

· PIP 32085 Protectorate of Menoth Blood of Martyrs Heavy Warjack Character Upgrade Kit (white metal) - $13.99

· PIP 33087 Khador Black Ivan Heavy Warjack Character Upgrade Kit (white metal) - $14.99

· PIP 34093 Cryx Erebus Helljack Character Upgrade Kit (white metal) – TBD*

· PIP 41083 Mercenary Warcaster Captain Damiano (white metal) – TBD*

HORDES MKII

· PIP 71064 Trollblood Trollkin Scattergunner Officer & Standard Unit Attachment (white metal) – TBD*

· PIP 75036 Minion Targ Character Solo (white metal) – $13.99