Games Workshop Website Relaunch

Games Workshop recently relaunched their website. I must admit that I prefer the cleaner look and the less cluttered feel. Additionally, the website is super responsive, and even features a mobile site. Another surprise was the limited edition figure that you get when you spend over £60. 

Copyright Games Workshop

Furthermore, when you get this chap you also receive a code that entitles you to order another exclusive figure when you next order. The cynics amongst us might snort in derision, "Look at Games Workshop forcing us to buy from them. *Insert rant about corporate greed*." I actually have no issue with this. GW have to compete with other retailers selling their own stuff at a lower price, and their new emphasis on exclusive figures, a no questions return policy and web exclusive figures, is a fresh break from simply trying to smother their own vendors. I suppose it is a more positive approach, trying to win business by offering the customer something that they can't get anywhere else. 

I was also pleased to see the rerelease of the Imperial Guard, or Astra Militarum. The new figures look exceptional, and the bundles on offer actually represent a saving. Well, certainly the Cadian Defence Force at £100 saves the buyer a few pounds. I don't know if it is really enough to stop me from buying from a independent who can probably save me more money, but it is good to see GW trying to understand that their customers expect a good deal from a bundle. 

As an aside, I don't have the new Astra Militarum codex. Firstly, I will continue calling them Imperial Guard, I understand why GW have rebranded them as Imperial Guard is impossible to defend as intellectual property, but the name irritates me. I have a degree in Latin, not the smartest choice career wise but there you go, and if you translate Astra Militarum it means something like "Stars of the Military" which is pure nonsense, in fact Militarum is nonsense and means nothing. I wouldn't be surprised if they used Google Translate. Now, I understand that high gothic in 40k is supposed to be a corrupted version of Latin, much like how Medieval Latin was a corruption of Classical Latin, but this irritates me so intensely that I will simply keep calling them Imperial Guard. 

I already have a large force of Guard, so I don't really need to buy anything. However, the codex is a must have so I will pick that up as and when I find the time. Suffice to say, I like where Games Workshop is going with the new website and the latest launches, they have also been active on YouTube which is really good to see. There are showcases of the new releases and also how to videos, which represents a nice shift away from charging you for that content either through White Dwarf or iBook downloads. Have a look at their channel you might be pleasantly surprised.

And here for good measure is my work in progress shot of Librarian Turmiel for my Dark Angels HPC.