Would love to play this game

Thank you. I was feeling very academic as I wrote that. LOL.

And they are keenly aware of it. But you can only lead a horse to water (the distributors being the horse)...

And you can buy Hawk products directly from them, and with an order of £100 or more, it's free shipping, which isn't hard if you're just starting out, or have a buddy to go in on the order with you. They would prefer that you get their products from a brick-&-mortar LGS, as they support those, but if you really want their stuff, you can always go straight to them.

Yeah, checked with Hawk tonight (morning for them), no production issues, shipping as normal. It's the distributors that are the problem; they need to shift their paradigm, and actually listen to their customers, the LGS's.

Bug your FLGS owner/manager (don't waste time on the peons, go to those who place the orders), and nicely be a pest about asking them to carry Hawk products, and if they try to pass it off onto the distros, ask them (nicely) to call up their distros and bug them about ordering adequate supplies of Hawk products on a regular basis, just like you're bugging the FLGS owner/manager to carry the game in their store, and actually have product on the shelf when people get the urge to buy it.

Then, in the meantime, order what you need from Hawk. You'll get it within 3-4 days. When you show up at the FLGS to play games of Dropfleet, and the owner/manager sees that you got what you wanted anyway, and are playing it in their store (it's a sure-fire way to attract new players), the message is clear: Here's a bunch of stuff that you bought anyway, and from which they received no profit.

Then, you can point out how few SKUs they actually need to stock in order to carry the full line of Dropfleet Commander products, so they're less likely to get stuck with those onesy-twosy blisters that just gather dust month after month.

Be visible. Be vocal. Be consistent. But be nice about it.

Eventually, the steady pounding of the waves against the rocks of the shore produce sand. Nothing is immune to constant, consistent pressure; the rocks will eventually be tuned into sand...

To turn the conversation in a more philosophical direction....

Why, in this day and age when most industries have cut out the middlemen and companies sell directly to customers, does the gaming industry still use distributors?

You can cut out the middle man and order directly from Hawk. It might not make sense from a shipping standpoint for the end user if you aren't in UK, but the option is always there. I can only assume the LGSs order from distributors rather than from Hawk directly to get better prices. I doubt any LGSs have large enough orders to justify bulk discounts, and even if they potentially could, they'd rather not have that big of a massive cash outlay.

Clearly the US based web stores are getting a better price than ordering from Hawk directly as their prices are pretty close to direct (baring exchange rate fluctuations) and still well under MSRP.

To turn the conversation in a more philosophical direction....

Why, in this day and age when most industries have cut out the middlemen and companies sell directly to customers, does the gaming industry still use distributors?

Because the "middle man" does part of the work at least if he does his job correctly they handle part of the customer relations like missing parts, advising stores what to buy and advertise them to have the product etc. if the distributor would do nothing then increase the price he would be cut out (if the involved parties realise this).

Also, a LGS can order many different games, in small quantities, from one distributor, rather than having to order directly from the manufacturer; this eliminates multiples of shipping charges, as well. It also simplifies what Hawk has to package and ship -- they send large shipments of many units to the distros, many more units than a single LGS could reasonably stock itself. It's more efficient for them.

Very few manufacturers sell directly to customers, or very much, its just not practical for them; and even when they do, it's often outsourced, you're actually dealing with a third party.

Distributors serve a purpose, as Lorn points out, otherwise there would be no use for them...