Blood of Kittens on Removing Named Characters

Interesting article about how the fallout with Chapterhouse is linked to GW removing named characters in recent new codex (Tyranids - Doom of Malantai, IG characters, Orks - Wazdakka, DE - Asdrubael Vect). The beginning of the article is a little hard to follow, but that may be because of my limited knowledge of the chapterhouse case. Link to article


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Meat for Meta: The Ramifications of Chapterhouse coming home to Roost

Posted By TastyTaste on Sep 29, 2014

First they came for the the Doom of Malantai, and I did not speak out—Because I didn't play Tyranids. Then they came for the Imperial Guard characters, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Imperial Guard player. Then they came for the Wazdakka, and I did not speak out— Because I never used him. Then they came for Vect—and there was...

It wasn't till reports started coming through last week that Asdrubael Vect is being removed from the pending Dark Eldar codex; brought home how the Chapterhouse case has effected Games Workshop to their core. You can draw a through line to an often refereed quote I use from Rick Priestly creator of Warhammer 40k.
The modern studio isn’t a studio in the same way; it isn’t a collection of artists and creatives sharing ideas and driving each other on. It’s become the promotions department of a toy company – things move on!

It seems the Chapterhouse case has added the legal department to the list of people working in the design studio. At first, it only seemed logical, GW started to remove units which were only one codex cycle old. Units without old established canons and broken rules wasn't going to bring players into open revolt, besides GW looked to protecting itself in the quickest way possible. It wasn't till the newest Ork codex, things started to really change. The removal of a unit as iconic as Wazdakka Gutsmek from the Ork codex should have been a warning sign to everyone. Since, I had never made a Ork bike army I have to say I never gave it a second thought.

That brings us today with the demise of Asdrubael Vect the Logan, the Calgar, the Dante of the Dark Eldar. His removal is shocking and means the design studio is nothing but a pawn for the marketing and legal teams at Games Workshop. The amazing internal balance and consistency of the 7th edition is already broken, with the removal Vect. Not only is the Dark Eldar without their iconic leader, but they also have lost a FoC lost in Lord of War. Instead, GW wasted resources on a Logan Grimnar model no one wanted, when a Vect model should have been produced if time and resources were limited.

Moreover, has anyone else noticed the lack of new art assets being assigned to new codexes? At first I just thought this as a way to cut costs and quicken the production time for releasing codexes. These considerations seem sound, as the new codex have only added few pages new battle panoramas and little else.  It is becoming more clear though, the missing unit art is an outgrowth of legal flexing their muscle. Much of the Chapterhouse case revolved around old art being used by Chapterhouse to design models GW never made. Now GW meticulously makes sure  art only represents physical products they produce.

Combined with the loss of special characters and art two things are clear. First, GW at least internally knows they lost and will continue to loss the Chapterhouse case. Second, in classic GW fashion their response protects them in the short-term, but hurts them ultimately in the long-term. The correct answers shouldn't be punishing the player base because you cannot get your act together and make models for units given rules. Why not take the time and resources to give players with what they have eagerly been waiting for? As a Dark Eldar player, the removal Vect has killed all my excitement for this release. It brings back memories of the constant second class citizen this army has been for GW.
The blame is squarely on the shoulders of GW paranoia. Chapterhouse filled holes GW wasn't filling and now instead of filling the hole with the best models on the market, players are left with holes in their armies and their enthusiasm.
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It's all a bunch of shize! The slow death of GW continues.

Very little facts to back this up. I would think the named characters would be more secure than just generic models, but what do I know.