Empty Vessels

I've started working on the Bolsheviks....

Cue blurry photo...

Whilst searching for stuff to flog on ebay, I found some ECW pike and musketeers that I painted as the vanguard of a counts as Empire army for WFB. What struck me was how delicately painted they were - and indeed how well painted. Which is not to say the French I have been working on lately are badly painted, it's just that I haven't bothered about detailing them.

I thought I would go back to the detailed work for the Bolsheviks.

Anywho...

A couple of days ago a rumour emerged on the forums that GW plans to stop supplying independent retailers like Maelstrom. Like most of these rumours, it was based on a conversation with someone in a GW shop - I mention this in part because the rumour-monger is a member of my local wargaming club.

Now being the internut, and being as it appeared on a forum, the numpties started jumping up and down, making wild statements, arguing with each other without the slightest reference to what the person they are arguing said, before strapping on the sandwichboards and marching up and down declaring the End is Nigh for GW.

Incidentally there is a marvellously ironic thread on Dakka about the silent majority. Anyone who has ever read Dakka will know that there is a gaggle of ten, or so, posters who post on every thread about GW (despite all of them declaring that they don't play GW games), they shout down anyone who disagrees with their idiotic theses, and generally act as trolls to derail any sensible discussion. When faced with the question of the silent majority, I found myself giggling at the self delusion of the gang members in their assertion that there is no silent majority, and that they are representative of the 'community'.

Anywho...

Back to the rumour that GW is to stop supplying independent retailers.

This is clearly nonsense. Not least because the stated reason for the change in the supplier contract to enforce regionality is to protect independent retailers within the sales territorities.

However, I can see it as perfectly feasible that GW could stop supplying independent retailers like Maelstrom, and indeed Wayland Games.

After all they are the companies feeding the nerd rage - Wayland in recent times have threatened GW with legal action, declared that they have found a loophole that allows them to break the regionality stipulation, and today have announced they will stop selling Finecast and have done so in a very aggressive fashion.

What is odd about the actions of Maelstrom and Wayland is that they have been very vocal in their dealing with GW. And if you are the type of numpty who believes what is written on forums, you might be forgiven for believing that these two companies are the only internet retailers. Which is frankly not true. They are not even the cheapest - indeed they are both among the more expensive - though when Maelstrom has a sale they do become more comparable (depending on your order size) - not to mention that Maelstrom has terrible customer service.

Wayland in particular interests me.

I do wish I wasn't so anal with my inbox and deleted the email they sent me when they started, because I seem to recall that when they started up they stated that following a successful career in the City, they were seeking to put into practice the business practices they had learned and by using a just in time ordering system they would be able to offer discount wargame figures - or something like that.

However when they adopted the role of Robin Hood in recent times - they claimed that the business started in a back bedroom, and painted a picture of being Del Boy and Rodney.

Of course both may be true, but they certainly paint a different picture. The former picture seems more likely given their supposed use of lawyers - which don't come cheap (and perhaps shows the value of the VAT carousel that they are so annoyed at losing)

I suspect - and time will tell - that the Finecast announcement has less to do with being the gamer's heroic guardian and more a PR stunt. It certainly offers a face saving out should GW pull the plug on the supplier contract for them breaking the terms of the retailer contract.

But it still doesn't answer the question as to why Maelstrom and Wayland have been so vocal and turbulent over recent events, when other companies such as Triple Helix, Total Wargamer and Dark Sun have just got on with business.

peace:)