Roll for Initiative – Skaventide Boiler Room Push; WotC’s Love Your LGS Promo

Rolling for Initiative is a weekly column by Dr. Scott Thorne, owner of Castle Perilous Games & Books in Carbondale, Illinois and a marketing associate professor at Southeast Missouri State University. This week, Thorne looks at the “Boiler Room” campaign behind Warhammer: Age of Sigmar – Skaventide and Wizard of the Coast’s “Love Your Local Game Store” promotion.

From what I have heard, the sales staff at Games Workshop are under a lot of pressure to fill pre-orders for Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Skaventide this week (see “Rolling for Initiative”). Our store did not receive any calls, but I have read numerous reports of stores being called by GW representatives, some of them their regular representatives and some they had never dealt with before, who were on the phone trying to get the stores to order more of the set, almost like a boiler room. Some retailers even reported hearing cheering and applause in the background of their call as a representative apparently got a store to order more.

Most of the shops reminded the representatives of the Rule debacle when there was a similar push to sell an expensive box set that left many stores sitting in stock for years afterward; “But this set is different,” say the representatives. Maybe that’s so, but I’m still staring at the first orders of Rule is on the shelf about three years after its release, a pretty strong incentive to be cautious with another big Age of Sigmar The pressure that GW exerted to increase pre-orders of Skaventide makes me believe one of two things is happening:

1. They are convinced that the game has not been ordered in sufficient quantities and are desperately trying to help retailers ensure they have sufficient stock to meet the upcoming demand.
2. Orders are well below GW’s projections and the company needs to get as many products to market as possible before the release date, as sales would drop dramatically afterward.

Since most retailers place orders well below Games Workshop’s recommended per-store quantities, I’m leaning heavily toward #2. Much like comics, most sales of a new release are made after release and then drop off dramatically soon after. Considering that (as I’ve been told by GW representatives) Games Workshop begins producing new books about two years before the release date, Skaventide represents quite a large investment by Games Workshop. The low sales at launch must be quite worrying for the company. They did, however, send a nice promotional display to the shops.

Now, coming to Wizards of the Coast, the company announced another Love Your Local Game Store promotion last week (and everyone should love, or at least like, their local game store) (see “Wizards of the Coast Announces Love Your LGS Promotion”). Starting July 5, 2024, and while supplies last, customers can stop by their LGS and purchase either three packages of Modern Horizons 3 Play boosters or play in a Modern Horizons 3 Booster Draft. For participating, they will receive a fully illustrated textless Sakura Tribe Elder card, limited to one per customer per day, while supplies last. It’s a nice promotion from WotC, especially since in-store pickup is required (customers can purchase the packs online, but must pick them up in-store).

However, since the company announced this at fairly short notice, I assume that most stores have already planned events for July. If they have not already Modern Horizon 3 Designs planned, I assume that most stores will use the card to generate additional sales of Modern Horizon 3 Packages.

(Disclosure: I own stock in both Hasbro and Games Workshop.)

Comments? Has your business been inundated with calls from Games Workshop? How have Modern Horizon 3 Sales were? Email [email protected].

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the ICv2.com editorial staff.