Thanks for the response Volt J
For me, the introduction of Primaris changed a lot of things. In regards to the story it caused some change in the structure of a lot of Marine chapters organisation. Though none so much as the Dark Angels.
Prior to the start of 8th, very little changed in the past 20 years. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing; the background was solid BUT it was 20 years old after all. I for one have gone and come back to the hobby 4 times over the last 2 decades and I found little had moved on and was almost willing a change to come about. So for me, the introduction of the Primaris line was very welcome.
There are big arguments to ask why a force built on bikes and other such fast vehicles would initiate a marine who can’t fit in the saddle but I assume these questions will get answered down the road.
I like the story of the Dark Angels, having initially been extremely cautious of Primaris Marines more so than other chapters, beginning to see the worth in these warriors and starting to break tradition to find ways to use their skills to help in the hunt for the fallen. TL:DR, Dark Angels are making bigger bikes for their heavy set brethren J
But consider the opposite, Primaris units come on board but stay as greenwing and do nothing that a vanilla chapter unit cant (even less if you look at the recent supplements!). It gets a bit boring and this player thinks … “Why cant I have new toys??”
From a financial standpoint, new rules means more money for GW. You will always have those that collect for the sake of collecting but others will only part with their hard earned cash for something they see as being a solid addition to their force. I sit firmly in the latter!
With Vanilla marines, it’s an easy sell. With the more exotic chapters it’s a little harder. We rely heavily on our bespoke units to do the business so don’t necessarily see the need to invest in a new wave of multi-factional models when our older models are the backbone of any force. However, give that player a real reason to play these units and you’ll see more sales. Give that player a reason to combine new and old, you sell more.
Sure we may see some shoe-horned in fluff but I would argue even the most ridiculous is at least acceptable in the crazy grimdark world of the 41st Millennium.
As you say, these past 3 years GW have been in a superb position financially. In my opinion for two reasons.
- Their embracing of the community and being more transparent
- Constant updates to their settings, rules and miniature lines
If they take that pedal off of the proverbial gas for a minute, they may see a dip in gains. Go back 10 years and the company was not as profitable if at all!
I remember seeing a case study once (admittedly MANY years ago) on how not to run a company. The study used GW as its example. Nowadays I would imagine a similar case study centred around GW would be more on how you run a very successful company.