Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, this is a full-on scandal, as GW has failed in an epic way with the release of the 40k Indomitus Box Set.
Games Workshop hasn’t screwed up this bad since the release of Age of Sigmar five years ago, and technically this is CEO Richard Roundtree’s first real misstep at the head of the company (if you don’t count the Catachan Colonel).
I think everyone gets that COVID has made things hard on companies, worldwide, but this scandal seems to be more man-made than anything and in our opinion 100% preventable.
We’ll get to that in a second, but let’s talk about what led up to this situation first. Our solution at the end of this article is perhaps what GW should have discussed with retailers on Thursday instead of what actually happened…
The 40k App Scandal
On Thursday GW made two HUGE mistakes, the first one was announcing that the 40k APP that was supposed to be live on Saturday when the Indomitus Box went on sale would be delayed for “weeks”. Keep in mind, this APP was the first announcement by Mike Brandt after he joined the company, a statement that has since been walked back by Games Workshop.
But here’s the issue with all of this. Originally Indomitus was set to be on pre-order June 6th, with a June 20th release date…
Promo material sent to stores reveals the first pre-order date for Indomitus was June 6th 2020.
That has led to a lot of speculation by retailers as to why the app “not be ready” over a month after it should have conceivably set to roll out on June 6th? As we stated Friday, there is a lot of speculation that Games Workshop was worried sales of the new Chapter Approved book would be affected, if everyone had access to the new points in the app.
Win The Catachan Colonel: Enter Now
We personally have fielded a ton of questions from retailers about the book, to which we cautioned them that hobbyists may not buy it if they had the app already. We followed up with those same retailers to see how sales were for the Chapter Approved book over the weekend, and everyone we spoke with reported sluggish sales, and some said they sold more copies of the Open War cards than books even!
The 40k Indomitus Box Scandal
And of course the same day the App was delayed by Games Workshop, retailers started getting word that their allocations were drastically cut, and many were left scrambling to figure out how to keep their customers happy, as they would not be able to source enough copies of Indomitus to fill pre-orders.
This has led to rather heated posts on Facebook by various stores, brands, and customers, trying to get the new Indomitus box amid the adjusted allocation.
And then of course the box sold out on Games Workshop’s site worldwide as well on Saturday, which led to even more feel-badsies from hobbyists around the globe.
What We HOPE Games Workshop Will Do To Fix This…
The Catachan Colonel model was supposed to fix things too.
If all of these rumors and reports are true, it’s safe to say that a majority of the hobbyists that wanted a box of Indomitus will not be getting one as of right now.
If GW did indeed withdraw allocations from local stores to feed their website’s product levels, and potentially pad their books with millions of dollars in sales, there could still be an easy fix for stores and folks that missed out on the box set.
Games Workshop should, in our opinion, honor the original orders from stores for this box set. It could then be supplied to Local Games Stores later on as GW themselves have done for their own MTO releases and second publishing runs of popular products that have sold out in the past.
Stores should be allowed extended terms (financing), and potentially a larger one time discount to help make this right.
Print up another batch of Indomitus for stores as an MTO offering to them only
That way, the games stores who have helped build Games Workshop’s empire in good times and bad, get to collect proceeds now in a time where many of them really need a fresh influx of cash to help keep things going amid the challenges of COVID.
While the details surrounding this box set sounded great at first, this release has clearly been more of a hassle than a help in our opinion.
We hope GW does the right thing and allows stores to make as much from this release as possible, so all ships continue to rise with the hobby tide.
Indomitus Box Set: Pre-Order
As of this writing, the price has settled back down on the Indomitus starter set as well, and Amazon currently has a supply marked for release on July 25th with a delivery date of July 30th.
Indomitus is a phenomenal set. The culmination of some of the best work our miniatures, rules, lore and art teams have ever made, this box takes everything that makes Warhammer 40,000 incredible and puts it in one place. Two huge collections of amazing, brand-new models are packaged with the full Core Book – everything a 40K hobbyist needs to hit the ground running in the new edition.
We’ve got a pretty good guess on how much value the 9th Edition 40k Idomintus Box Set has inside.
What do you think about the way this Indomitus Box release went, is it a scandal?
Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, and make sure you enter the latest monthly giveaway for FREE today! This post contains affiliate links, as an eBay Associate Spikey Bits earns from qualifying purchases.
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
