I think one of the problems is that epic is a static game, theres not very much room for growth as nothing really 'new' is able to be made for it, as epic is GW game, and pretty much everything needed for it has already been made.
What (at least imo) is more exposure to 6mm gaming in general and less 'models-made-for-epic'.
Another problem is At 6mm a lot of people buy a whole army in one go, and therefore after the initial buy don't really need more minis for it in the future, unless expanding the whole army, but even then may have left overs or able trade for bits.
Though I dont agree with GWs business practice as a whole, there is good reason to ditch old versions of the game repeatedly, and make new models, make old models obsolete, and turn the non-sellers in to this years WAAC desirable unit. I'd hate to see 6mm go this route, as lets face it, GW has really **** on its fans as of the last tens years- but they are clearly still turning over enough profit to keep churning out new stuff!
Perhaps its time to make 6mm more profitable by expanding the 6mm hobby as a whole. A lot of people might not be interested in this- they like epic and the fluff of 40k and dont want to play other games/other type of settings, but if 6mm sci-fi became less 'just epic' and a few odd people playing 'odd obscure games in 6mm' then it could become a hobby on its own and might then have room to expand and grow.
I will be fully disappointed if Troublemaker stop making stuff, as they have a lot of stuff out now that I still want to add to my collection- but if they, and other 6mm makers go under, then I still have more than enough epic minis to last a life time of battles. Helped by the fact i never paint armies, as I have not played any games for more years than I care to remember, my spending is a lot less than some one that buys new armies for tournaments or games at homes. I just buy what I like/can afford and dont always buy enough to really cover the cost of the postage!
Another issue I have noticed (which is less my opinion and more fact as I have seen this for myself) is the increase in epic traders and 6mm traders on places like ebay. Some people buy GW epic stuff at stupid prices for reasons, perhaps they dont know about proxies or want the official models, but I have seen a lot of troublemaker stuff on ebay at stupid prices, claiming to be epic proxies. Yes, they are used as proxies but often the re-seller is failing to point out that these minis are not the forumware or limited edition proxies they (at least to me) seem to be trying to make out to be.
6mm sci-fi is not a loved scale. I put up a picture log on dakkadakka (only stuff I have posted here over the last two years) and thought it might conjure up some more exposure to the new wave of 6mm but have received only 100 views and 1 reply. Yes, im not a fantastic painter, and yes I tend to ramble (see above post for proof!
) but I was surprised at the lack of interest it gained, even If all I was expecting was a few "omg how do paint some thing so small" or "lol epic was awesome in the day but now its dead lol"
Maybe its because my log isn't as full of talent like some on here, but I wasn't expecting such a silence!
And if 6mm sci-fi is bad, then how do you think 6mm fantasy gamers must feel! We are even more neglected!
/Rant over!
