FFG vs GW Product Lines Duke it Out
With GENCON50 behind us, the Warhammer vs Star Wars fight is heating up – and consumers are the winners!
You will recall that last September FFG and GW publicly parted ways, ending a long multi-year licensing deal.
With FFG and GW now being the General Motors and Ford of the tabletop industry, their competing product lines are heating up in a play for the consumer’s hard earned dollars. Let’s do a quick rundown to bring you up to speed:
Games Workshop:
A new energized GW focussed on the customer is here and hitting things out of the park, release after release after release.
Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition
The grimdark is the crown jewel of GW and is white hot with the recent launch of 8th Edition. The fans have embraced the new system, and it looks poised for major success. GW makes top shelf minis that continue to wow customers. A usual, they maintain an impressive weekly release schedule that keeps the plastic crack flowing.
Warhammer Age of Sigmar
The “new guy on the block” for GW is turning 3 this year and has found it’s sea legs. The General’s Handbook revitalized this game overnight and it is starting to really emerge as a unique high fantasy universe. Ranges like Kharadron Overlords are showing that GW is willing to break past tired fantasy tropes and make innovative new designs.
Specialist Games
From Shadow Wars Armageddon, to Necromunda, to Adeptus titanicus to Blood Bowl, GW is bring back the fan favorites with modern technologies. The sky is the limit on these products. they are getting GW back it’s roots in the boardgame / skirmish segments.
FFG
FFG has the Star Wars licence, perhaps one of the most potent on the planet and they are leveraging it into almost every sub-genre in the industry from tabletop to RPGs, boardgames to dice games, to card games. I’m sure more will be along soon. These are complemented with other non-Star Wars games testing new waters for FFG.
X-Wing
Now a staple in the industy, combining gorgeous pre-painted models, fast gameplay and one of the lowest barriers to entry for new players. X-wing has been the success story every other company out there wants to emulate.
Star Wars Armada
X-wing’s fleet based counterpart – lets the thinking admirals duke it out among the stars. The miniatures again are amazing and fans await the games’ continual expansion.
Star Wars Legion
Brand new out of GENCON50. Here is what everyone was waiting for. Tabletop miniature wargaming at roughly the same 30mm scale of 40k, set in the Star Wars universe. The minis look nice, the price point is solid, and the gameplay is fast, easy to learn and combines familiar elements of Star Wars Armada, and Runewars. Again – the Star Wars License sells itself.
Runewars
Runewars has 3 factions out now with a 4th unveiled at GENCON. FFG’s take on a fantasy rank & file game with a hobby element is pushing into new waters for the company and putting other companies on notice.
For the first time in decades it looks like the “grand tabletop miniatures” market now has multiple top shelf companies out there pushing top quality games. I have no idea what the future will hold for all of these products, but the word on the floor of GENCON50 from almost every vendor was unexpected record sales. We are truly in a golden age of tabletop and it looks to be growing into mainstream culture more every year.
~It’s great time to be a tabletop gamer – what do you think of GW and FFG’s offerings as of now?
