Home » Warhammer 40k » Games Workshop & Their Ever-Changing Paywalls LATEST

Here is the truth behind how the Games Workshop paywalls have changed over the past few years, for better and for worse.

We all know the sales tactic by now, but have Games Workshop paywalls actually gotten better or worse as the years march on? That depends maybe on your outlook on things, but at times they have been much better, and at other times much worse.

So let’s start with the latest on Games Workshop Paywalls and then talk about the one that really got people upset!

Games Workshop Just Bought Back an Old Paywall Again!

Here is the latest from Warhammer Community, on the old paywall Games Workshop just brought back again.

Eidelwynne VanTarrion is the first Rogue Trader to get stuck into Combat Patrol, at the head of VanTarrion’s Voidsmen – putting the Rogue Trader retinue and Imperial Navy Breachers from Kill Team to good use in this fast and accessible Warhammer 40,000 game mode – datasheet cards included!* 

There are also rules for three and four-player games of Combat Patrol, and six missions designed to work with these increased player counts. Warhammer 40,000 coverage this issue extends to the deeds of Lieutenant Titus, and Kill Team rules for the Blades of Khaine.

While they are just Combat Patrol missions and rules, they are still 40k, and they previously were all available for free o Warhammer Community’s downloads section! If you’ve been playing 40k (or any GW game) for a while now, you may remember just how many rules they use to release exclusively in White Dwarfs. For a while, we’ve had a lull of paywalled rules in something like White Dwarf; however, this seems to open the door for it to come back.

They used to put more unknown Space Marine chapters, different detachments, and Regiments in them, and it looks like they might bring it back. This is also on the heels of the Epic Titan Death game mode paywall (we’ll have the details below.)

* These rules will remain exclusive to White Dwarf for a few months before becoming available later on Warhammer Community and the Warhammer  40,000 App.

At least this time around, they will be free eventually; it’s still not what many people want to see in these challenging times.

Games Workshop Really Outdid Themselves With This EPIC Paywall

Here is how Games Workshop explains their latest paywall hidden inside yet another supplement book:

The most seismic additions come with the new Titandeath game mode, which hurls entire maniples of Titans and Knights at each other in epic, city-levelling clashes. Players muster mighty 6,000-point forces from the Legion Support and Knight Household detachments in the Legions Imperialis Rulebook, meaning anything smaller than an Armiger has no place in Titandeath battles.

These rules bring a new experience to games of Legions Imperialis, as even the legendary Titans can be wiped from the field under a concentrated barrage, and deft tactics are needed to manoeuvre your god-engines through terrain ill-suited to protecting them.

So, just to recap, GW killed Adeptus Titanicus when they merged the models with Legions Imperialis (different bases, rules, etc.), at least in terms of new support.

Now, it seems that GW put Titans into a new game with infantry and tanks, then in the first expansion book, took out the infantry and tanks for a game mode to play with larger superheavies (like Titans). Even worse, they are making players pay for it! If you buy the rules for Legions Imperialis and this expansion, you’ve already spent at least $100… just to play Titan battles, which they already had a whole game for in Adeptus Titanicus.

Of all the comments we saw after this announcement, this post on X/ Twitter was by far the most amusing (at least to us).

Wait wait wait…wait.

You made a game in which titans kill titans,

Then took the titans out of the titan game and into the infantry and tanks game.

Then took infantry and tanks out of the game to leave

Titans killing titans? Titan death mode? You mean Adeptus Titanicus?

— Gonders (@Gonders) January 4, 2024

 

If you have an entire AT army, this is good in a way, as you can get some new rules and keep playing with your Titans.  However, if you have already bought all the rules and campaigns, it’s not going to feel good to buy another campaign book to play with your models that already have plenty of rules. Even though Adeptus Titianicus still has a category on the GW webstore, they have already said all future support will be through LI (Legions Imperialis).

It’s honestly just a little funny that GW already had a game to fight epic battles with the biggest war machines out there and then decided to put them in a game with infantry and tanks, only to take the tanks and infantry back out of that game at the first opportunity.

Oh, and you’ll have to buy another rulebook to be able to play those battles, too. Well played, Games Workshop well played…

Games Workshop Reinvents Their Paywall: (October, 2023)

Let’s start with the Cities of Sigmar release. As we have seen in the past, the initial army box bundle will have a bunch of units inside, and then you have to wait to get the miniatures inside seperately.

It’s not very often you can just order everything that came in the box when the rest of the army release wave becomes available.

 

For the launch of Cities of Sigmar, basically everything from the army box up for order at once.  Plus, Games Workshop made the single character sets from the Cities of Sigmar army box (and the Regiments of Renown) only available from them directly for the first time in recent memory.

That seems to give the army box (or the Regiments of Renown from summer 2023) a bit more value if the new release miniatures inside those bundles are not available at a discount from retailers when they are released separately

If you think back to something like the Strike Force Agastus, hobbyists had to wait eight months to actually buy the models on their own.

While this is a bit of a change, the new Darmbringers Cryptborn’s Stormwing bundle box that retails for $170 is where things get really wild.

This is where Games Workshop really reinvents their paywall with both Ionus and Belthanos, as they are actually giving a tone of value in these bundle boxes! Generally, when they paywall something, like the 40k Kill Team releases, there is some value, but it comes in the way of terrain and rules for the game.

So, while you save, if all you want is one $60 kit, you may have to shell out close to $200 for it and potentially get a lot of stuff you won’t use…

This time, things are different as the Stormdrake Guards are $110 for that box alone, and there’s no way Ionus riding a Dragon will only be $60. This means you are actually getting quite a bit of value in the box.

Generally, dragons or characters on big mounts range from $130-$170 (the new Tahlia Vedra for Cities of Sigmar goes for $150). She is also on a 100mm round base, the same as Ionus looks to be, so it seems to be a comparable miniature scale-wise. 

This means you probably save close to $60-$70 with this box. So, if you need some Stormdrakes, which can even tank wounds for Ionus, this is actually a good deal. 

Then, for Belthanos, which retails for $160, the other models in the kit cost $125 by themselves! So we can’t expect Belthanos to be cheaper than $60-$75 like the other Sylvaneth models on 105mm oval bases.

This means, again, you actually get some value that is not paywalled behind terrain or rules that have a shockingly short shelf life as of late.

Games Workshop Paywalls, Then & Now (November, 2022)

Wow, this one got people quite angry (understandably), as you basically paid $160 for 12 minis (which seems cheap now by 2022’s standard). If you had no intention of playing Kill Team, all the “extra value” was wasted. So, the value on the box was terrible (as the minis were basically the same price), while the Heavy Intercessors and the new Flayed ones had never been released. S

o, while you did get those early, the value just wasn’t there.

Probably the thing that angered hobbyists the most was that the Heavy Intercessors were the one thing left to release from all the Indomitus previews in the summer of 2020, but were trapped inside this paywall in the spring of 2021.

So, this one gets a big fat F for a grade, but how have the boxes done moving forward? 

Eldar & Chaos Kill Team

This box was at least a little better, considering the terrain inside was usable for actual 40k games. While you still only grabbed 20 minis, at least the terrain had value through all game systems, and the minis weren’t held out for nearly as long as Pariah Nexus.

So, definitely an upgrade from Pariah Nexus for Eldar and Chaos players. Grade B-

Kill Team Moroch

We’re going to say this one was a downgrade from the previous, as it was more expensive, the minis inside were recycled, and the Space Marines simply got an upgrade sprue. While the terrain was really cool, it was quite expensive for an upgrade sprue and recycled minis.

At least in its defense, the lead time was very short to get the minis afterward. Grade: C

HH Dreadnought Sprues

This was actually a good paywall, as instead of having to buy a brand new box, you could just buy the sprues and upgrade your dreads. However, they were MTO and have been sold out a lot recently.

Still, this is almost a reverse paywall, so we’ll be happy if they keep going this route! We hope they keep doing this, as it gave extra value to all the Horus Heresy players out there.

Grade: A-

Chaos Knights Army Box

While the box itself didn’t have much value, it had early access to the codex and the new knights. However, this one doesn’t get a bad score because the models came out so soon afterward.

So, while it wasn’t the best, it almost wasn’t a paywall, as the models came out within a month

Grade: B+

Leagues of Votann Army Box

This one still has so much left unknown. As the minis inside are now released a month or so later, and there was some okay value inside, plus early access to the codex.

Grade B+

Shadowvaults 

This is the most recent box, and again, the terrain isn’t super useful for 40k, but getting the new Kasrkin is totally sweet! Unfortunately, this one sold out, and there have been huge logistical problems with it.

On the secondary market, Kasrkin are going for around $100 a squad, which in 2022, is just ludicrous.

Grade F

Beast Snaggas

We’ll end on a high note, as this was a paywall to the new Orks (at the time), but you got every new Beast Snagga model inside, which sold out in minutes. This was the way to go if you wanted new Orks before anyone else! Plus, there was a decent value, and then the models inside didn’t take too long until the models came out on their own.

Grade B+

There are, of course, more paywalls than that, but these are the ones that stuck out in our minds from 2021 to 2022 (or so).

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.

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