Games Workshop Drakenburg – German HQ

Yesterday, on 26 February, I was invited to the German Games Workshop Studio in Düsseldorf. They took some time to show me around the studio, answer a few questions and talk about the development of tabletop gaming scene in Germany.

The studio is located above Drakenburg, the largest GW store in Germany. If you're expecting sterile office space and stiff guys in shirts and ties, you're completely wrong.

The first impression clearly shows that people enjoy working here. Anyone who has seen pictures from one PC game development studio or another will see clear parallels here. There are countless posters and large wall decorations that make it clear right from the reception desk who you are visiting.

In addition, the offices (regardless of whether they belong to sales agents or department heads) feature display cases in which the studio employees exhibit their miniatures. The desks are also cluttered with work materials, moulding frames, half-painted miniatures and all kinds of funny gimmicks and toys.

After lengthy negotiations and a few Jedi mind tricks, we were also able to take some highly exclusive pictures of upcoming releases. Concept drawings for new unit types and entire armies that will be released on 1 April. The last picture even shows the prototype of the plastic Ent for Lord of the Rings for the first time.

Alexander Elpers and Nicolai Wachalski were available for a lengthy discussion on various current topics, as well as general questions about Games Workshop Germany.

We discussed the development towards complete plastic armies. It was clearly confirmed that one of the objectives is to offer all core units and a large part of the elite troops as plastic miniatures. Character models will remain pewter models.

This is not just a question of cost, but also of value. The Empire will be the first army that can be fielded entirely in plastic. In addition to a considerable number of Collectors Series miniatures in pewter, the product line will be expanded by three plastic boxes (steam tanks, two-handed fighters and archers).

When we asked why the third box would feature archers and not knights, we were told that the horses were a bit older, but that the knight kit itself was still very presentable. We also asked about the background book for the Empire. This will be published by Games Workshop (not Black Library) and will therefore also be translated. As part of the additional sprue frames being released for various armies, it cannot be ruled out that there will be more to come. So we have a lot to look forward to in June.

Another point we discussed at length was the current situation on the German market. The statement that Games Workshop will open almost 100 new GW stores in Western Europe over the next three years, 30 of which will be in Germany, has been confirmed.

This initiative, similar to the support for tabletop clubs in schools, is intended to promote the hobby and, first and foremost, increase the number of players. Compared to other Continental European countries, Germany has a large tabletop scene, but in relation to its population, there is still room for improvement. This is good news not only for Games Workshop, but above all for the players. After all, greater awareness of the hobby also leads to more players, better opportunities for organising leagues and tournaments, and the establishment of hobby clubs. A further positive side effect is that the hobby will become more widely accepted.

During the conversation, we also discussed the individual aspects of the hobby. From painting and modelling to collecting and various gaming experiences. It quickly became clear to us that Alexander and Nicolai (and also during the brief conversations with the other studio employees) were not just employees of some company, but hobbyists just like us. We quickly exchanged anecdotes about how we got into the hobby, our first miniature, our first painting attempts with Revell paints, and the difficulties of getting hold of miniatures in the early days of German tabletop gaming.

Games Workshop as an employer also supports its employees' connection to their hobby and their identification with their job. For example, there is a wall of honour for employees who have been with Games Workshop for five years or more. They are affectionately referred to as ‘veterans’ and listed in the studio's entrance area.

For the true veterans (you could almost call them longbeards), there is another very special honour. Employees who have been with Games Workshop for ten years or more are immortalised in a painting under the banner ‘Lords of Drakenburg’ in Drakenburg. One of the most famous faces in the portraits is undoubtedly Idilio Rodrigues Santos. There is also special leave and a special veterans' party in Nottingham for loyal employees.

In addition to upcoming releases, such as the War of the Ring and the Imperial Army in May, we also talked about some of the longer-term plans and discussed a few of the – sometimes very abstruse – rumours. Here is a brief overview:

• Warhammer 40,000 spin-off with Star Wars licence (similar to LotR). This has been requested on and off for at least 10 years, but it is simply not financially viable. (The licence fees from Lucas Arts exceed the financial resources of the entire tabletop division by a considerable margin).
• A film based on Warhammer / 40k. Again, this will not happen due to the extremely high costs. The demand would also be far too low. After all, we must not forget that tabletop is a niche system.
• Other curious projects with high financial investment that are ‘also being done in the video game industry’. By way of comparison, Blizzard generates almost as much revenue per month with World of Warcraft alone as Games Workshop does with all its subsidiaries in an entire year.
• Forge World and Warhammer Fantasy. The focus here is clearly on Warhammer 40,000 and tanks / Space Marines. However, this is not, as is often assumed, influenced by marketing. It is simply because the team around Tony Cotrell and Mark Bedford are absolute 40k fans and they mostly build whatever they feel like. In the long term, however, there are plans to expand into fantasy, depending on how far designers and suitable concepts can be found.
• Games Day 2009. It will take place as usual in mid/late August. Rumours that last year was supposed to be the last German Games Day were quickly laughed off and explained. GD 2008 was the 10th German Games Day, hence the special promotion with the remaining limited edition miniatures. A few cool concepts are already in the pipeline for GD 2009. Those who were sceptical in recent years should definitely visit GD 2009.
• Development times for miniatures. Many projects are sketched out with mind maps years before they are actually released. Ally Morrison designed the Stampfa more than two years ago, and the post-processing, optimisation, feasibility, etc. took a huge amount of time. The final decision on whether a product meets the requirements of the designer and developers is made relatively late, and if a product does not meet these requirements, it is revised accordingly (see Airbrush or Game Board). This is why some projects, such as a Codex Space Wolves, are constantly being postponed, or why there are already vague ‘rumours’ about the Necrons, even though a finished Codex, let alone a translation into German, are still a long way off.

At the end of the event, we took a tour of the Drakenburg, photographed a few gaming tables and talked about the latest releases. Here, it was clear once again from the enthusiasm with which people talked about various events that even at the top level of Games Workshop, they deal with gamers and collectors – hobbyists like myself. This was particularly evident when Alexander (Sales Support) proudly pointed to the display case filled with limited edition miniatures and said with a big grin, ‘The Tzeentch Mage in the front is mine.’

My clear conclusion is that it was very nice to meet some of the people behind the yellow and red company logo who ensure that German sales, support and everything else runs so smoothly, and I am already looking forward to the next meeting at the RPC 2009 in Cologne.

Link: Games Workshop