ChapterHouse Studios Will Return

Posted on November 18, 2014 by Ben Jackson

It appears ChapterHouse Studios will be open for business by Black Friday, thats 21st November 2014 if you live out side US culture. The owner of Chapter House Studios LLC posted the following information on DakkaDakka today.

“Hello folks, the web store will be up and going by the end of the week and I will ship out any orders that were not disputed this week as well. Hopefully the site will be able to stay profitable and I am hoping the defense lines will sell as well as some new products as well.

Thank you to those that supported Chapterhouse through the last years.

Nick”
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/7140/355433.page

So is seams Chapter House Studios will return. The information around the settlement reached with GamesWorkshop will never be known, however some information is clear. Games Workshop have not achieved they main goal of shutting down Chapter House Studios.

The most we will probably ever find out, will be in the form of the product lines that Chapter House continue to sell. It is clear that Games Workshop have agreed or accepted that the defence lines will continue to be sold. If I ever get a StormRaven for my blood Angels or Grey Knights I will add one of the ChapterHouse Studios conversion kits. I also like the land raider kit although I don’t think I would want more than one. I just like to have verity in my armies. Hopefully these lines will continue to be sold. I may also pick up some of their jet bikes as they are far more reasonably priced than those Games Workshop sell.

I for one am glad Chapter House Studios will continue, like them or loathe them they make the 40k universe a bigger place and offer more support to certain armies (that Games Workshop don’t give equal attention to as some others), they also offer less wealthy games a way to keep playing the hobby as Game Workshop continue on their price escalator.

It is interesting this all comes after games workshop have plugged many of the holes in their model range, by either producing the models such as the Tyranid Trannocyte Spore or removing the units from the Codex. It’s also interesting Games Workshop and have announced the appointment of a new CEO, this week. Perhaps the out going CEO Tom Kirby didn’t want this to take the focus on the incoming SEO Kevin Roundtree.

Games Workshops Storm Raven

Games Workshops Storm Raven with ChapterHouse Studios conversion kit.

It’s will be an interesting week end.

Chapter House Studios and UK Counterfit Laws

Posted on November 15, 2014 by Jon

If there was any doubt over who won the Chapter House vs Games Workshop court fight the outcome is now very clear. No one did. Chapterhouse were forced to move their business’s focus to a law suit instead of plugging holes in Games Workshops product range. They were then forced to stop selling a number of their products and are currently unable to do any trading as their owner had had his assets frozen, as in he can’t legally spend or take money from people and has no access to banking facilities.

Similarly Games Workshop were forced to shift there focus to a law suit, they have had to withdraw intellectually property from their books in the form of rules and artwork, they have had to delay or abandon certain products. No one but Games Workshop know what has fallen in to this category.
Games Workshop collectors have had to buy thinner rule books, have had to wait longer for products to be released and now can’t buy any of Chapterhouse’s products. In this lawsuit the lawyers didn’t even win. Games Workshops lawyers are internal to the business so made no more money. Chapter House’s Lawyers haven’t revived a single dollar in fees, as they did the work no win no fee.

So all around this thing was a total waste of everyone’s time and effort. If anything the only thing that has become clear to GW is what they need to do to protect their products, register all their Trademarks. It’s also clearer to other miniature makers what they can and can’t do without Games Workshops permission, and what the outcome will be if they go beyond these boundaries at least inside the USA.

I really think this whole debate has been a storm in a tea cup, when you consider there are businesses in China who are busy remoulding GW products and selling them at about half the price GW charge. Games Workshop can’t do anything about these businesses as intellectual properties laws are very different in China. Make no mistake this is hurting GW’s bottom line. Possibly far more than Chapter House ever have done. UK law offers GW very little protection because up until recently they had been no laws to stop people buying counterfit goods. The law only prevents the selling of counterfit goods. http://www.theguardian.com/law/2013/may/08/counterfeit-goods-criminal-offence
The European courts have recently introduced laws which allow customs to detain suspected counterfeit goods at the boarder. They can email Games Workshop and invite them to inspect the goods, however if Games Workshop decline or don’t respond within 10 days customs have to release the goods again. http://www.out-law.com/page-10457 then there is the question of if customs and GW have time to check on a small parcel full of resin. I don’t think your average customs officer knows what colour resin Forge World are using.

Of course if you decide to buy these fakes from China you better not try to resell them yourself as you would be breaking the law. When you are done with them you can only give them away or throw them in the bin. If you do buy a lot of these you run the risk the police could take the view you intend to resell them and prosecute you any way. So you better paint them fast.

A few Internet Gurus were calling out for GW to drop the Chapterhouse lawsuit and focus on plugging the holes in their own product range rather than waste time on other activities. In hindsight may they have been right?

With a new CEO at the helm, who could have had at lot of input in to this decision as CFO I don’t think GW will call off their Wolves. So those thinking GW have no appetite for these court cases better think again.

What ever way you go about increasing your collection without going bankrupt, good luck.

GW price around £500. Approximate resale value £300
Remoulded price £250. Approximate resale value £0 or £250 with a possible jail term.

An End to Fort Pain at Warhammer World

Image | Posted on November 12, 2014 by Ben Jackson

During the building works at Warhammer World, Fort Pain has been retired. It is currently unknown if the board is set to return. While being one of the few boards featured in Games Workshop publications it was not the most popular. While it looks great it is not the most balanced or level board. It is great for a game of siege the castle and one of the few ways many people can afford to play on the Forge World Fortress, but not good for a balanced game of 40k. Some general relish this prospect.

I was able to play a game on the board with Ben’s Space Wolves against Gareth Tau and another mystery army. Here are some pictures from my one experiences of Pain!

Fort Pain Spave Wolves vs Tau, Warhammer World

Ben’s Desk – Ruins and Emperor’s Children Legion

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Jon

Ben had updated his blog again. This time he has been rebuilding ruins, what a Techmarine he is. He has also made some progress on his Emporer’s Children Legion.

Ben told me he pulled all his ruin’s into bits and then put them back together again, afterwards he realised he could have got the same result by just taking one of the pieces apart and attaching it to the others. But that wouldn’t have been as much fun.

You can find his blog here chaptermasters blog .
Ben’s Sisters of Battle getting an outing defending what’s left of a Basilica Administratum.

Games Workshops ruined buildings really are a lot of fun to put together. While the Shrine of The Aquila at 25 Goblin units is the best value for money in that it provide enough plastic to build a small solid ruin or an open ended long ruin, it doesn’t provided as many build options as the Basilica Administratum or Sanctum Imperialis. However to make a solid building you will need at lest two boxes of either of these.

Ben has painted his ruins using his Grey Primer over Black technique. He tells me this works just as well dry brushing Grey over black. The gold is dry brushed over the sprayed building and then wash with brown, which brown depends on what sort of end effect you want for the gold. Light shades provide a clean gold, while darker shades make suit a more scorched look. Ben recommend this grey over black technique for most building colours as it provided pre-shading. A technique Forge World’s army painters use. Getting the amount of Grey right is very important, washed of null oil can be use to tone the grey down if too much is used. After applying the grey Ben will dry brush other colours on top if he wants a blue, red or green result as seen on his bunkers or other buildings below.

Horus Heresy Weekend 2015 – Warhammer World Building Works Continue

Posted on November 9, 2014 by Jon

Forgeworld have announced the dates for the 2015 Horus Heresy Weekender. The event consists of new release and developments from Forge Worlds Horus Heresy department. Traditionally pictures of unreleased models are show along with future art work and books. Large groups of grown men will also go along and spent £100s of pounds on resins models, to the delight of their wife’s and girlfriends (if they are fortunate enough to have them). This event will probably herald the release of Horus Heresy book 4 and feature new rules and models for Ultramarines, World Bearer, Imperial Fist and Iron Warriors or the Cult Machanicas. They may also be a new Forge World display board with armies not yet covered by the Horus Heresy books.

The event is being held at Nottingham Belfry Hotel. This is probably a good indication the Building works at Warhammer World will continue into February .