So the most recent rumor to have come out is that the new Steel legion and some other IG infantry are going to be pushfit a la Chaos Cultists. Before you start whining, I would like to remind everyone that this is exactly what everyone has been asking GW for. Oh no you may say, I never asked for push fit models. But you did, you see everyone has been complaining and griping about the cost of models, finecast, and how overpriced in general GW is (Those mean people trying to run a business). So shockingly they have listened, since a company relies on its customers to stay in business. So they are making the changes you have asked for.
In order to bring you more affordable models, GW has to cut production costs. How do they do that? Well simple they make easier to produce models, making it cheaper to produce and lowering the cost on your end. Hell they already have it available, look on GW right now under the IG troops. What you see there is the kit of 5 cadian troopers. So for $20 you get ten guys that the regular kit costs 30 for. Yeah you will miss on a few weapons and options, but if you are looking to fill your ranks, that is the cheap and easy way to go.
While it may come as a surprise to some that GW listens to their customers, last year was proof that they do. Never have we seen such a rapid release of rules and models. Some will cynically say that it was just to make money. Well no shit, they are a business not a charity and despite what you may believe they don't make models for the pure thrill of it and to cater to your capricious whims. So now we will be getting what everyone has asked for, a cheaper hobby. Finecast is gone, push fit is here.
And one thing I found so funny about the complaints on finecast was that the same people that complained about the bubbles and the required cleaning, were the same people that would coo over FW models and state that the occasional bubbles and imperfections in FW were so worth it. Yeah ok, so if GW does they are evil bad people, but FW is amazing and I love them so and they can do no wrong. I have purchased both FW and Finecast and had the same imperfections in both, but one is apparently unforgivable. So no more will we have it. Thankfully GW is going towards an all plastic range, but the cost of this is going to be more pushfit, especially for models in their armies that are not high selling. Its cheaper for them to produce and focus money on the models that sell.
Now have ranted for a while and talked about all this doom and gloom, this is still not the end of the world. I have a few pushfit models since I have Dark Vengeance and they are by no means horrible. The cultists especially are decent sculpts and different enough that you won't notice too many copies unless looking closely. Yes diversity is lost, but as the rumor goes GW is only planning on going pushfit for core units, not the whole range. So with clever modeling you can still modify them and lets be honest, pushfit is still easier to mess with that metal.
So Steel legion will be pushfit, well if the sculpts are good it may not be such a horrible thing. I do hope that the veterans and stormtroopers are full fledged models, but they may end up being push fit as well. If this is the case, well if they look good enough then it may not be too bad, but I will still be sad.
Before you complain though, remember that if you have ever said anything about the hobby being too expensive and GW needing to lower their prices, well you are getting exactly what you asked for.
GG
Hmm, I hope that not all models will be pushfit.
ReplyDeleteThis could cause serious problems for my army.
I modified my veterans and soldiers with 3rd party resin bitz (head and torso replaced). I think this would be impossible with the currently available 2-part Cadians.
So for my part the pushfit models should be released as an additional cheap option but not the only one.
I don't want to loose the possiblies to build and modify the models. this is far more important for me than the price of the new boxes.
Well, I won't complain.
ReplyDeleteThe Steel Legion has only been metal (at least as far as I remember), meaning only one pose per model.
Instead of dropping those guys, they become more affordable, and with a bit of customizing they can still look good.
I for my part use pushfit Cadians to quickly and cheaply bolster my ranks, and with the possibilities of regular infantry boxes (2x sergeant, 2x flamer, 2x vox, 2x grenade, 2x simple special weapons arms), this saves a lot of money and time.
Of course they won't make every model pushfit, every current pushfit standard unit is available as multipart plastic kit.
And to be honest, they aren't that bad, quick to build and paint, and not to notice in the overall picture.
Every army has certain eyecatchers, apart from them most look the same, one way or another, as there are only limited numbers of different parts available anyway.
No they won't be making every model push fit. What you will see is options for the basic troops and may do other models ie ratlings and ogryns etc. Which I am fine with, I don't mind costs being cut. But I also am one that doesn't mind paying for quality either, it just seems that there are few that do. Troops are a good choice for push fit since as you said they look so similar, so push fit is not a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see the reaction to this though. I wonder how many who called for the death of finecast will welcome push fit in a wider range. We will see, but I would not be surprised to see this down cried.
Better than nothing for sure. I dont use GW troops (victoria miniatures is where the real guard are made!) so snap fit wont effect me. I just hope we dont see a hideous new model come out for them.
ReplyDeletePushfit itself isn't a problem anyway.
ReplyDeleteJust look at the the Dark Vengeance starter box, those models are ALL pushfit, and they are detailed and dynamic, so new sculpts make the difference.
The community was excited about those, so that would work out.
In case of the guard, if you go the infantry way you need so damn many models, you can't come up with a new pose for every single guardsman anyway, a few single-posed pushfits won't be noticed at all.
For Ogryns, it would be good to get pushfit.
The current models are expensive and rarely used, and there are only 4 poses anyway, a box of maybe 3 would be sufficient.
But older models could have one big problem:
GW cranks out new stuff for us to buy, and are probably less motivated to spend money on old units that are rarely used (Ogryns, Rough Riders), and most people who like them already have them.
There are rumors about GW only keeping units in the codex they sell a model of, and that would give quite a list of last codex models that would have to come out this time (Hydra, artillery, doctrine veterans, the latter two already rumored).
Additionally, we have lots and lots of old metal models, they haven't even been redone in finecast.
Well, we'll have to wait for the answer...
I don't see a problem with push fit either, as has been said Dark Vengeance is all push fit and isn't that bad. I just hope that they give you weapon options, is push fit flamers or grenade launchers as well as the standard lasgun.
ReplyDeleteAlso I agree that it would be good for the less well used units, Ogryns and Rough Riders, would be good, as I like both units but don't have the money for them at the moment. If push fit brings the prices down then I don't see that being a bad thing.
As long as the sculpts are good, nothing really is wrong with push fit, and when it comes down to it, do you really need new poses for random guardsmen number 73.
ReplyDeleteOh for Ogryns that would be amazing, the current models are so high priced that a plastic pushfit would go a huge way in making them playable. Plus I know metal is not cheap right now so going to pushfit plastice would save GW money in the production costs, so everybody wins.
Push fit can be good in many cases. But I also like to kit bash and convert a lot, and they tend to be a tille harder to do that than with standard models. But push fit are still easier to mess with than metal so if they do replace those metal models with pushfit, I am more then ok with that.
I agree that the molds are the key with these things. I don't think that they will go to push fit for the popular models, there is no need if people are willing to pay for the models as is.
ReplyDeleteTrue, if the popular ones will stay, but I could def see the lower production models going push fit. Will be really interesting to see, and I am fine if they reinvest the money into better molds for non pushfit models as well, I am more than happy to pay for quality.
ReplyDelete