By now, most of you have seen the prices for the new Apocalypse stuff. Many folks have also read the whining threads and posts about just how damn expensive everything is. "Que the QQ"

Then, in the dark hearts of a few there is a hope these new exorbitant prices will be the final straw to break Games Workshop high price fever.

So, after people you get over the irrational hate of the Khorne Tractor, I do have news for the haters: Apocalypse won't fail. Apocalypse has always been the place where the well off gamer has gone to show off just how amazing (big) their collections are.

Games Workshop knows this.

It was Apocalypse that brought Forge World to everyone's attention, it was Apocalypse that gave us clear rules for titans. My memories of Apocalypse are vivid; game stores running monthly events, with folks finally having the excuse to bring their entire collections.

Now you can point out, Apocalypse the first time around gave gamers access to amazing bulk deals, providing an easy-bake oven for Apocalypse frenzy.

GW isn't targeting that middle of the road gamer this time around. The prices are so high and the marketing strategy is pointed squarely at folks already with large collections. The true addicts. They know these players have the means to spend on these new rules. These are the original Forge World customers-- never blinking an eye at GW pricing schemes.

These are also the players that don't spend most of their time trolling forums; that 18-34 crowd has already been priced out of the hobby. Those left (average wargamer) who don't pay attention, nothing really changes, they can still join in on Apocalypse-- with a store owner or rich guy fronting the bill for the rules. Apocalypse as a group experience makes it easy for players to sneak in and out, as only the core maestros care about the outcome of games themselves.

Apocalypse also does a great job selling the rest of the Games Workshop brands. Seeing tweens going gaga over 20,000 point battles with hundreds of models across a battlefield is easy morphine to the veins.

The big problem with Apocalypse is the sucking of many gamers away from playing pick-up games, and many stores can only accommodate one Apocalypse game. Leaving other wargamers without any space to play.

Personally, I never enjoyed Apocalypse it always seemed like an escapade into vanityville. A game where a small group of rich gamers spend about two hours setting up their models, take pictures of them all spread out, and then calling it quits after turn two because it's almost midnight.

If you are the type of person that gets jealous easy Apocalypse can create a certain Warhammer-envy, and only reinforces the perception of Warhammer as a game not for the average pay check. Then there is the lunacy of  10 v. 10 games when suddenly, Apocalypse becomes the ultimate exercise in causal beardyness, as players that don't know the basic rules start arguing over the additional Apocalypse rules.

Alas, while Apocalypse is not the 40k for me, but it does fill an entertaining role for many players. It is also a gate way to narrative play which is always rewarding.

So, while the Internet chatter class will focus on the ridiculousness of GW one-click formation prices or the insanity of the Collector's Edition, the gamer 1% will continue to shell out a pretty penny to get the biggest toys for the biggest games.

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Warning

Meat for Meta is rated editorial nonsense. These articles are meant to complain about some group, somewhere, that is playing the game for all the wrong reasons or simply to just make fun of 40k nerd rage.