There’s been a lot said about Games Workshop’s most recent limited release, Dreadfleet, of both the good and bad variety. Internet forums have been raging about a few major points, most notably whether or not the production of Dreadfleet took valuable time away from other development, whether or not Dreadfleet is simply a half-assed attempt at a money grab, or whether or not Dreadfleet is too expensive for what the boxed set includes. I don’t think any of these are the most important matter to discuss; rather, I think it’s more prudent to explore why the release of Dreadfleet is important.
Phil Kelly really likes pet projects
While it’s obvious Dreadfleet can claim it’s origins with GWs defunct Specialist Game Man-O-War, it is unique in enough ways to be divorced from that product. Sure, they’re both naval combat games set in the Warhammer universe, but that’s about it. Where Man-O-War was about fleets of ships, Dreadfleet is implicitly about unique ‘character’ ships with very distinct captains. They’re different beasts, to be sure. Why is that important? Why does it matter? It shows us that Games Workshop isn’t simply relying on past Specialist Games and rehashing them (as was one of the ‘complaints’ in regards to Space Hulk); rather, they’re allowing folks like Phil Kelly an avenue to explore new designs outside of their core product line. Fostering the creativity of their development teams with pet projects like this was previously relegated to Forge World. The sheer existence of Dreadfleet shows us that GW is now encouraging this within their main hobby development departments. This is a big deal. Why? By fostering these pet projects, it is more likely that GW is going to be able to retain their quality developers like Phil Kelly for the future. Creativity is a the crux of what makes this hobby flourish, and this new-found leeway by GW Corporate can only help to grow that internal creativity.
Tons of Sprues. Tons of Detail
Dreadfleet also shows us that Games Workshop continues to push the envelope when it comes to injection molded plastic models. Anyone that has put hands on the Dreadfleet spures can attest to the obscene amount of detail on each ship. Even more impressive is the fact that the ships can feasibly stay together without glue. And this isn’t the stiff, denser plastic that was used to achieve the detail in the Space Hulk set. It’s standard, grey, run-of-the-mill GW plastic. Are the Dreadfleet ships more detailed than those released by Spartan Games in their Dystopian Wars line? They might be. Why is that matter? The Dystopian Wars minis are in metal and resin, materials that allow for deeper undercuts and traditionally greater detailed miniatures. The fact that GW has been able to achieve a similar level of detail in injected molded plastic shows us that GW is pushing those boundaries as far as they can.
Want this? Supporting Dreadfleet can only help
With both of the aforementioned points comes the biggest benefit for many: the proof that Games Workshop is dedicated to producing these one-off boxed games. I read so often from longbeards online that they miss the days when GW released boxed games and that they miss their Specialist Games like Warhammer Quest. The release and subsequent success of Dreadfleet will only encourage GW to revisit some of these older Specialist Games. With the 25th Anniversary of Blood Bowl looming next year, this can only be a good thing. I expect we’ll see some sort of Blood Bowl anniversary box next year, stuffed with plastic sprues overflowing with miniatures that are chock full of detail.
Despite whether or not you consider the “limited” nature of the product a “money grab” or not is irrelevant. You can think Dreadfleet is too expensive, or that it simply isn’t your thing. That’s fine. But seeing new products from GW that deviate from their core three product lines should be the focus, and THAT should garner your support. We clamour for more creativity from GW. We beg them for releases that don’t involved Space Marines. The release of Dreadfleet has shown us that they’re willing to try these new products out. For our hobby, that’s a good thing.
