Has anyone else noticed the price increase on the new squads on the products page? It looks like the 3 man squads are going up too $19.99 unpainted but the painted ones are staying the same. I thuoght the $15 for a 3 man sqaud before was a little rough... I'm a little concerned and interested what other people think.

Was just about to post the same thread! Yeah, it's a bummer. These units certainly don't seem any more special than the normal 3 man squads. Guess they're moving towards more typical wargame pricing. Bummer.

Bummer.

But it is to be expected. It is a business. Prices will probably go up yearly. Its a good release scheme though, they have been very smart about it. Next summer I assume with will see AC 4 Infantry and maybe lower AC aircraft to lure in more money.

3 figures for $20 is excessive, regardless of any business requirement.

While I much prefer the $15 price for infantry boxes, $20 for three special or larger figures is still not that far up there amongst miniatures games. $25 for the walkers is phenominal compared to most other similar games.

DUST at least is giving us pre-assembled, pre-primed, and decal decorated figures with nice quality.

The Hero box sets I can understand being more, because they will run with a much more limited demand. No player has much reason to buy more than one of either hero box, because there is no duplication of heroes in the game. Additional purchases would only be for the few who like multiple paint schemes for the same character. Fewer units sold means individual units have to offset development and production costs.

The heavy infantry sets may be a new price for all infantry boxes, or only for these few for some reason we do not know.

If they have been giving us starter units for a cheaper price, that's not a bad way to learn a game. So long as new units are not required for competitive play, those core units may be quite enough for people to use, and you'll only have to buy other units you decide are worth the cost. A higher price for some units does not mean all units will have the same cost. Having some units cost less encourages players to try the game.

I would prefer cheaper prices, because then I can buy more figures, but I would also prefer DUST thrive, so that I can continue buying figures and campaign expansions to play with.

Either way, I can play a good game of DUST with the units I have, and no purchases need to be made if I don't think the unit is worth the cost.

The price increase for 3 soft plastic figures is totally out of order and hoping it is an error, there is no reason at all for such a price hike all this will do is put off possible new players, I could buy metal models cheaper for a different WWW2 game. Being pre-primed is not a seller for a table top wargamer, 10 seconds with a can of spray undercoat will fix that.

If you consider that in europe the conversion is 19,90 $ -> 19,90€ (about 27$) the price for a single miniture isn't acceptable..

Basic Box 100€ price for 32 mins and 4 walker - 3,12 Euro for a single min (the walker are "gift")

3 man squad price 20€ for 3 mins - 6,66 Euro for a single min O_o

If FF get a profit from the basic box i must suppose that it's just to "squeeze" a bit our wallets, then i will avoid to buy the new squads, DT can be played anyway and it's still so funny

Not cool.

It looks like the increase is only based on public´s expectation for those new models. At 25 uss for walkers, 20 for three infantry feels like rip-off...not to mention 40 uss for the "big ones".

Also why straight 5? If raises where needed, then 2.5, or 3 would have been more ascceptable.

Maybe the prices we are used to were intended to be promotional.

Dust Tactics is my first miniatures game. The fact that its miniatures are reasonably priced is one of the main reasons I've gotten into it. Hopefully the prices that distributors and stores pay will not be as high as this price increase implies, and I'll still be able to get it for a reasonable price at online retailers and local stores, etc.

i dont know about you guys in europe, but here in the states the place i order from has all this stuff way cheaper.

the 3 man squad boxes are $9.99

the hero boxes and nco boxes will probably be $12.99

and they have the heavy walkers listed for $24.99

if you spend $100 it's free shipping in the US.

i would be shopping around if i were you guys.

Ok,, I have to interject a little. I understand not wanting to pay more and some miniature companies raise their prices every 4-9 months for no apparent reason. FFG has always been a great company with decent prices for what you get and I think they still are. Lets look at a few comparisons.

Games Workshop's prices are one of the highest in the industry and if you compare miniatures and models of the approximate size, you will see a marked difference. I am also adding in the approximately sized Warmachine figures too. Dust Tactics/Warfare figures are all assembled and have been primered.

GW > PP > FFG

Land Raider $66.00 > Khador Gun Carriage $84.99 > Heavy Walkers $39.95

Terminator Squad [5 guys] $50 > Khador Man O War unit [5 figures] $44.99 > Red Devils [3 figures] $19.95

Dreadnought [1] $44.50 > Khador Juggernaught [1] $34.99 > Medium Assault Walker [1] $24.95

All in all, FFG's Dust prices are still WAY reasonable.

I know this is all subjective [perception is reality] and these are actual retail pricing and not the discounts you can get from online retailers, but I am not going to complain as I don't always have the time to build my models and the primer on the figures works wonderfully.

True! that's why i play DT and i've never played lot of other mins games: 'cause it's price is rasonable.

I think we are just all hoping the price will not become next to the price of some other production. Probably we are reaching a "cost for min" next to maximum that some people can afford, and they are just worried about the possibility of having to stop the expansion of their armies

edit:OH i forgot: for me heavy walkers are already to expansive for what you get, i prefer buy some new boardgame whit 40€ that a single model obiuvsly it's IMHO

Gobbo said:

The cost of vehicles isn't the issue and you have compared a 5 man multi-part hard plastic kit which are also a lot bigger, with 3 soft bendy models, hardly an equal comparisson. If you want to compare to a simliar product, then you need to compare with GW's Space Marines at $8.25 for 3. Even their metal scout marines are $15 for 3!

Gobbo said:

And also the fact that for some of us(me included), the cheap cost was the reason I started playing Dust instead of one of the bigger games. Still a "bargain" I guess, compared to them. But the closer they get to the prices of the big games, the less likely people will be to play this instead of one of them.

Not to mention in those games there is a broader player base, so you only need to purchase one army's stuff. Here, at least in Orlando, I can't find anyone else who's even heard of Dust, so I have to buy both sides.

Yeah - same for me. I have to buy both sides as I don't know anyone else with the game. I don't mind doing it, but I won't be able to afford to play this game (or at least continue to expand it) if the prices approach that of games like Warhammer.

Major Mishap said:

Assembled and pre-primed is not a big deal for some, but it is for others. I teach people to paint miniatures, and know how much some people are intimidated by it when they start.

We can't say how out of order the price hike is. Have any of us gotten access to FFG's ledgers, to know what kind of profit margin they run with DUST figures? I've known several companies that started a line with minimal or no profit simply to get an entrance to the market. DUST is treading on territory GW has controlled for years, so they need ideas that will help them grab a share of the market to let the game thrive and survive.

I've bought hundreds of WW2 figures cheaper than DUST figures, but the DUST figures and game are something I've found worth the price for what I get from them. You will pay for quality, and DUST figures have quality, even if they are plastic. Buying them also supports a game I enjoy, so I vote with my pocket bok with every purchase on whether the game is worth it. So does everyone else.

I much prefer $15 per infantry unit, and will have no problem ignoring units if the price does not appeal to me compared to how much I value the unit. Nobody has to have specific units to play and enjoy the game.

If the rest of the current units are going up in price, I would have expected some word from gamers with retail information about it to have spoken up. If it is only these few units, there could be some other issue we know nothing about.

Right now, we have a partial image, a price, and a text blurb. Any of those could be in error. Any of those could have more about them we don't know. Large scale condemnation and panic gains nothing.

If someone from FFG could address the fears this has generated, it would be nice, but I don't know if any of them are interested in facing an online lynch mob.

ReaverRandall said:

where? It's not illegal to mention a store name on FFG's forums, is it?

Gimp said:

I would have thought a 30% rise on any product would be out of order.

It all depends on production costs and such. If the 3 man [Armor 3] troops boxes [which are the same size as my 40k Terminators] take new molds [which are not cheap to make for plastics] or if the plastic being used has gone up ion price or the cost to print the boxes is increased by the printer or... etc..., can we expect FFG to just eat that new cost? Unless we know all the specifics, I think we should just expect that FFG is not just trying to gouge us and either live with the increased cost of the models or just decide if they are worth the extra cost to us.

I do not work in an industry that would let me know anything about it, but I can say I know enough people who work in the gaming industry to know most companies [not all] are not just asshats and are not trying to drive their players away. Most companies [and I assume from past dealings with them that FFG falls in to this category] are not in the business to rake over gamers.

Sure, the increase sucks. Yeah, it may make some players unable to get as deep into the game as they want and I know I am going to have to be careful on my own purchases so that I can afford the minis I really want. I have always been a proponent of games being cheaper, but I am now a little more informed [having done some freelance work for a few game companies] as to what goes into making these games. It is not cheap and most companies barely make enough to be really successful, but I think players need to understand where the company is at and if there are increased costs to them to make a game or product, that we need to be understanding of that.

If you have an FLGS that sells what you want, I ALWAYS encourage you to buy there first, but if you don't [or your LGS sucks] buy online, the deep discounts you can find online do not affect FFGs profits, they buy the game at the same price as your LGS, but don't have to pay for power, rent, gaming space, etc, to stay open, so they can afford to sell cheaper.

Sorry, I normally don't rnat like this and I hope I have not offended any of you as that is NEVER my intent. If I did, I apologize profusely. I love this community and its diverse opinions and points of view, I just think that getting worked up over this kind of thing is not really productive.

Again, this is all my opinion and nothing more.

$20 for a 3-man infantry squad isn't that much considering that they are assembled and primed. It is soft plastic, but it still has as much detail as hard plastic. Plus soft plastic doesn't break when dropped (but that's just a plus for me).

I think they had to increase prices because of the labor costs in China. Recently labor costs in China are getting pretty high and I bet it would be higher for this kind of labor with small parts and such. If their profit margin is minimal in the first place, this would hurt them more if they left the prices the same. I don't see this as a money grab, but that they are increasing prices base on labor costs. The moulds should not be too expensive as they are using only a cetain numer of torsos on the models which saves them a lot of money.

Major Mishap said:

Except that no products have been confirmed as having a change in price. All other products in the range are still at the same price .

Characters will always cost more, because fewer sales dues to limited use (never more than one of each) means individual units have more production costs to offset.

New units may cost more for a variety of reasons other than an across the board price increase.

Even if there is an across the board increase, we do not know whether they priced the original game at minimal or no profit to gain an entrance to the market.

When 3rd edition D&D first was released, all of the books were priced well below what was planned for later, simply to give established players more incentive to try the new system. After a period of time, the price was raised to a pre-planned amount that allowed a functional profit for the company.

We do not know what the price for a few new products entails for units that are already available. FFG may have made DUST more accessible for new players with 'loss leader' pricing on several units, where profit was minimal, or even non-existant. They would not be the first company, gaming or otherwise, to work to gain market share by taking a hit on some products to attract customers.

When we know what is happening, players can make an informed decision to either restrict the units they use, abandon the game, or simply keep on buying miniatures for a price they may feel is reasonable. Condemnation and panic without proof is counterproductive.

I do not want to see higher prices for all new DUST products, but if it happens, I will simply choose units I feel are worth their price for any purchases I make. I may, or may not, buy the character packs, as I have a lot of characters already. I may become more selective in purchases if the prices are higher, but that is always my choice as a consumer. Nobody has to buy every unit.

Actually for the FLGS, I think the biggest thing that hurts them is the middlemen. At least mine cannot match the average 15% discount you can get from Amazon on Dust stuff, even when I was willing to eat the local sales tax for it. Too many distributors in the chain would be my diagnosis, with the online guys getting themselves set up as "distributors".

Algesan said:

The online retailers frequently have no actual storefront, so their overhead is quite a bit less. A warehouse, or simply the family garage, no employees waiting for customers, and other expense dodges make it much easier for online retailers to be profitable selling below MSRP. If the online retailer can get set up buying direct as a wholesaler, taking out a single layer of overhead makes them much more profitable.

A store buying from a wholesaler is likely to be buying with a 40% discount off MSRP togive them enough margin to be profitable. The Wholesaler they are buying from is getting a discount of 40% from their wholesale price, or they would not be able to operate. A wholesaler selling direct at 20% off MSRP is making more money than they do selling to stores. With the numbers I noted, which do apply to many businesses, the online retailer makes 24% of MSRP selling to a store, and 44% of MSRP selling direct with a 20% discount. That makes it hard for storefronts to compete with direct sales from wholesalers. Direct sales from the manufacturer run an even higher profit margin, because they get the wholesaler's normal profit, as well.

I have no problem with people making a living, but the FLGS is where we get most new players, so if nobody supports them, gaming in an area will suffer. I understand gaming on a budget, but people need to remember where they get to find out about new games and new opponents. Buy wisely, but give the local guys some support, or you may suffer from the result.

Gimp said:

I definitely support my FLGS's as much as I can (especially the ones I play at), but wow, those numbers! I'd never known that. I mean, that's just a systemic thing. The system needs to change somehow if the stores want to stay competitive. I love shopping at my FLGS, but no way am I going to buy the big box Dust Tactics there for $100 when I can get it for $60 online. That's stupid savings.

I guess it's: online retailers offer the best prices, FLGS's offer play space and community. So I skirt the line between supporting both.

There is also a variety issue in the game. When I buy a box that has a squad of troops for Dust, thats it.. End of story, That squad is played the way it comes in the box. These are the guys, these are the weapons, these are the stats.

Other games have the diversity of the build and have left over bits and so forth. A box of 10 Imperial Guardsmen costs roughly twice the price of 10 Recon Grenadiers. But I can choose to arm the IG blokes with different weapons, equipment and gear and in the game I can reflect this with how the look, are built, with how I spend my army points on them.

It is the one thing about 40K I like way more then Dust Tactics. I can individualize my army as I wish and that goes down to a near squad/member level.

Each box of 40K minis I buy will have left over bits I can use in other models. I cannot do that in Dust.When I modified my Bazooka Joe figure (to not look like such a R3T@rd ) I lost another figure in the process. And I cannot get single figures anywhere to make up for it.

So yeah, as the game Dust was back earlier this year, the product line and prices were fine. But as we move on into the era of Dust Warfare, the price hike isnt fine, the rigidity of what you get when you buy stuff isnt fine and I think I have only a few more purchases before I am done with new stuff for Dust (not even sure I need the Heavy Walkers, but I do want Totenmeister LOL).