Not One Book But Three For Warhammer 40,000 7th Edition
May 13, 2014 by brennon
We're getting a whole bunch of rumours about the new edition of Warhammer 40,000 at the moment as well as some sneaky peeks inside the rulebook which you can check out in our forums. On top of that Bell of Lost Souls also picked up what look to be the details on how the rulebook is going to be presented. Not one book but three...
Here's the thinking at the moment...
This Edition is to be presented in an new format reminiscent of the old rules with three hardcover books in a slipcover. It should come in at around 450 pages in total.
The Rulebook: 200 pages, Only rules.
The Grimdark: 128 pages - Fluff and history of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
The Hobby: 114 pages - Full miniatures and hobby book. All splash pics, and intro to the hobby stuff.
...does this sounds like something you'd be interested in picking up and does the new format suit gamers better? It certainly stops you from having to lug around a massive tombstone everywhere and weighing down one end of the board.
Something to think on!
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If they were sold separately I would be interested, already got enough about the fluff (unless stuff is getting retconned)
I think a mini A5 rule book would be more welcome as part of the set. There is always a big demand for them.
Which is exactly why it comes seperately in the starter box, that way GW double dip sales by making people buy the BRB so they can carry on playing as soon as a new edition drops, and then get the starter box a few months later for the mini book + models.
Yet still there is a substantial demand for them on ebay from people who will not buy the starter set.
And someone still has to buy the starter set and split it to put the book on ebay, which is still more sales for GW either way. I agree the mini book is awesome, and I’d love for GW to sell them individually, but they won’t because it’s not the best business move for them. To be honest I’m surprised they’re splitting the rules/fluff/hobby stuff into three books, since they could have kept it in one massive, more expensive book and people would still have bought it.
I think you may have to buy all three books together. Thinking about it the 200 page rule book will be more manageable and will probably impact upon the popularity of tge A5.
Sweepstakes on the price?
According to BolS these are going to be $80 which is around £45 to £50 for the book – not an extensively high increase over the past pricing.
£50 seems to be the price so a rise of £5 on the previous one.
I love the idea of the three books. You get all the content but only have to carry the rules when you travel. I’ll probably buy the books to read but also get the inevitable iPad version of the rules when it eventually comes out.
If people line up for this they deserve to have their money taken.
At least they would have an option
Robbed, robbedier or robbest.
Seems like a good idea tbh depending on how they split the content and pricing.
If it ends up costing as much for a normal single tome just to have sat, rules and fluff then
well… that’s going to happen isn’t it! lol
Well yeah, I don’t want to have to steal it.
If their sold separately I think it’s a great idea having three books.
That way regardless of what side of the hobby your into, there’s a book for you.
For instance I’m not much of a gamer, so I wont want the rule book,
but would be interested in the fluff and hobby books.
I’m guessing the price for all three will end up more than the current price for a rulebook even if there was allowance for the miniatures catalogue.
If they do allow you to buy the core rules for a decent price on their own though then it’s much more preferable than shelling out £40-£50.
Even if this weren’t GW we were talking about, three books costs more to produce than one, even if they end up the same number of total pages (which they won’t). This is one of the few things GW could do that does not seem like a total cash grab. People pay for the parts of the book they want, and those people who want it all pay more (which is fine because those people seem to want to give GW all of their money anyway). What I’m curious about is whether or not the books will be priced reasonably.… Read more »
Speaking as someone who works in the printing industry you’re right about the cost implications, it’s not so much the divvying up of the text element but the growing cost of covers and cover treatments that will really impact the price…
And back to second edition we go, which also came in three books.
And had BA vs orks!
Oh my god I’m 16 all over again!
(Now just need to remember everything I’ve learnt since then!)
And the sad thing is that I had to prepare a “normal” army list to annoy the crap out of Unbound army abusers. Not overly convinced about this release for now
I’m liking the sound of this, I’ll be keeping a close eye. For now, I have to say I think I’m IN.
Bring it on GW, you nefarious bandits!
Splitting the big book into 3 makes sense, a welcome return of another 2nd ed aspect. I’m not a fan of hardback books though, I’d much prefer soft back like the mini rulebook; its lighter and for me at least the extra durability of a hardback is not needed. I’m not interested in the fluff or the pics as I’ve seen it all before and haven’t bothered reading much fluff for the past 10 or 15 years…I have a copy of Rogue Trader for that. I’m much more likely to pick up either the box set (if I want the… Read more »
If they give the option to buy them separately , rule book for £20-25, and the other 2 books for £15 each.
And the option to buy all three for a ‘discount’ price of £45- £50.’
Then it would be a step in the right direction IMO.
How about downloadable pdf’s for ten bucks a throw… no print costs… no gouging of unfathomably loyal customers who are already bled white. Didn’t they just produce another edition of this book less than two years ago? I just don’t get it.
The printing costs are minimal part of the price point. Take them out of the equation and you’re not even into double of figures of pound savings. Then add on the costs of making and maintaining the PDF edition and the final price would be a very small saving. I’m assuming here that GW have their books printed in China. If that isn’t the case then there may be a bigger saving on a non-print edition.
I don’t know. I worked at, and then ran a printing company for a while, and it seems a fair chunk of change is involved in a full colour hard cover book such as this, and I’m guessing the pages will be glossy. Because it’s priced so high, the print run will obviously be low, greatly increasing the cost per unit. Most of the money laid out for printing is in the initial setup. Whether you print a thousand or a million is irrelevant to that prep and the costs associated with it. China is cheaper, but the margins are… Read more »
I do know :). And I know this from companies whose print runs are far lower than what the 40K rulebook will be.
And I’m talking direct comparison too, barring the slipcase.
How silly of me. I should have learned more about the industry before I worked my way up from layout artist to management.
My sarcasm sense is tingling ;). I simply mean that I am aware of the per unit production cost of a full colour, glossy page, hardback rulebook manufactured in China as people who have paid for them have told me. Once a certain threshold is reached, which the new 40K rulebook will be way over, then the per unit price is very low. If you’re industry experience means you don’t wish to believe me (no sarcasm, I mean that sincerely) then that is your perogative 🙂
“you’re” instead of “your”! Grammar fail 🙁
from the experiences I’ve had the last year or so, price of silk and gloss is fast reaching parity, bizarrely, it’s actually uncoated papers that are rising in cost the fastest… Like you say, it’s the initial design and set-up but then again, rising cost of pantones, treatments, it all adds up. The only saving grace of this is the drive towards better and better quality to not just win work but keep it…
3 books, all for the price of 3 books!
I’d like to see them release the books one page per week (hardcover) in a partwork publishing format over a decade or so.