Saturday 26 February 2011

Thank you Battlefront, and goodnight...

This is going to be a bit of a rant, so if you don't like reading that kind of thing it's best you look away now.

I've been a pretty damn loyal customer of Battlefront for a long time now. At last count I've purchased something like AUD$5,000 worth of their kit so hopefully that gives some credence to me writing this. I'm trying not to sound like a whining, jilted ex-lover chucking my toys out of the pram because I don't like change but I'll let you be the judge... ;-)

So here's the thing. At some point Battlefront (makers of the Flames of War range of 15mm miniatures and rules) turned into a Big Games Company with all the downsides that entails. In the beginning Battelfront marketed themselves as (and I believe really were) a games company run BY gamers FOR gamers. Not any more. Don't get me wrong, companies should make a profit and reward their staff well with decent salaries, etc. but there are limits.

What provoked this post is a recent development between Maelstrom Games, a UK mail order / storefront  and Battlefront. I've read a fair bit of both sides of the argument and from what I can see Battlefront are taking issue with Maelstrom selling their kit cheap. Cheaper that most, if not everyone else. Battlefront see this as some sort of threat to their storefront retailers because it eats into their margins. They believe that in the end gamers will lose out. How does that help gamers though, especially ones without access to a good local games store? It doesn't. It's anti-competitive and very close to, if not really and truly price fixing.

Moreover, the way in which Battlefront have dealt with Maelstrom left a bad taste in my mouth. Business is business but that doesn't mean you have to treat people with a lack of respect or can't have a bit of give and take.

Unfortunately this episode wasn't any real surprise as it fits well with the direction Battlefront have been heading for quite a while now IMHO. This got me thinking about all the changes that Battlefront have made over the last few years that have gradually been eroding my liking for both their products and their way of doing business. Here's some of the stuff off the top of my head...

Quality. Since the move to Malaysia for manufacturing the models have been getting progressively worse and worse. The resin is often broken, the metal littered with mistcasts and the mispacking has increased dramatically. I recently bought a whole pile of Russian stuff and one of every three resin bodies was broken. Yes they replaced them but the percentage of damaged good to begin with was ridiculous. Customers are still paying the same for a model though. That means Battlefront are making more money at customer's expense.

Less for your dollar. Remember when you got a bailed crew figure with a tank? Or when you took in an old rulebook and got a free replacement? How good was that? Nobody else cared about their customers that much. Not any more though. That costs money.

Not listening to your customers. How long did it take Battelfront to get round to Early War? I know lots of people were interested in Late War but a whole lot more were not. Moreover, why do we need codex supplement after supplement covering a few weeks at a time when people are begging for consolidated theatre books and more scenarios?

There's plenty more but that's enough by way of example. So what does this mean? It means that Battlefront have shifted from truly caring about customer satisfaction to being a business driven purely by profit. Where once they understood their success was based on loyalty they now believe that for every customer who walks away another will turn up to take their place.

Fortunately there are plenty of alternatives out there at a decent price. I'll continue to buy models and support Maelstrom because they have always done the right thing by me. A little loyalty and respect goes a long way...

PS. Feel free to comment. I'm interested to hear what others think.

PPS. If you are not aware, Maelstrom are selling all their remaining Flames of War stock at 25% off retail. I picked up a bunch of stuff to fill holes in what I already owned so I can start afresh with non-Battlefront miniatures for future projects. It's a shame it has to be that way but there you go.

Cheers,
Millsy

Sunday 6 February 2011

T-34s. A whole mess of em...

This was my Christmas project this year. Having sold Cory my old Tankovy for which I felt less that enthused I used the opportunity to do another. Don't ask why. I'm not 100% sure myself to be honest. Obviously it has something to do with my collecting issues but let's leave it at that.

So here it is. A Flames of War Late War Tankovy. I bought so many T-34s because I want to be able to do three lots of eight or two lots of ten (the third lot of eight would support my Strelk when fielded together). Remeber to click for the larger versions.






As is traditional for us on long weekends we have a big battle planned - a sort of late war Kursk. 4,000pts a side, almost all amour. We'll post some pics after the event.

Cheers,
Millsy

Wednesday 2 February 2011

Diverted!


The handsome chap above is the reason things have been quiet on the Ogre front lately.
In short, a young friend got the Assault on Black Reach boxed set for Christmas, and asked me to paint up his commander figures for him. I hope to have a picture of the Ork Warboss to post here, but in the meantime, here's the Ultramarine Captain in all his glory.
I'm quite pleased with the result, and it was well worth the time taken to get it just right. I'm also impressed with the quality of the modelling on this guy, and the amount of detail certainly warrants taking care with the paint job.
So who knows, maybe I'll grab a box and resume work on my 40K Orks at some point... although I confess that I also offered to paint up the Black Reach Ork Nobz for young Patrick, since they're also very nice figs, but the commission will have to end there. Pretty good practice though, and I've picked up a few pointers on making the most of the models. Patrick is painting his rank-and-file groundpounders as we speak, so that will work out nicely.
But, I made a commitment to complete the Ogres to a playable level, so that's going to be the project for the foreseeable future. Still, it does you good to get out once in a while, and break the monotony!
More later....
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