Since Gang War? Eleven hardback books currently (at £30 a pop), and at least twice that many “card packs” (many of which contain rules not found in the other eleven rulebooks). So as Gerry said about the rules being broken (and playing Deadzone instead) “I don’t need to play a game where I need fifteen rulebooks to climb a flight of stairs”, which sums it all up really.

So “if” you wanted to bring your game up to current GW “standards”, even if you could find a source of the cards selling at retail…you’re looking at over £500 (retail) for ALL the rules (plus about £60 in outdated rulebooks like the gang war series and the (£30) “Gangs of the Underhive” being almost being outdated other than for the table for trading that GW hasn’t reprinted in any of the other ten rulebooks). Talk about rules “bloat”.

I really have a love/hate relationship with the game. I really love the minis, the background, the whole grimdark aesthetic (I always felt it was the closest game to a Blanche painting the GW did). But I LOATH what GW has done with the rules in marketing selling a hardback rulebook almost every time they release a plastic boxset (and adding rules for rules sake). The books ARE a work of art, but usually contain about ten pages of “new” content over what was published earlier. I do feel “locked in” (FOMO), as I’m that heavily invested I dare not stop (or I’ve wasted the money already spent in keeping up to date). The problem in stopping arises when you turn up to a game when everyone has rules that you don’t (and you end up trying to absorb the rules for half an hour while your co-gamers wait around for you to read up on things). Trying to run a campaign? then you DEFINATELY need access to all the rules.

Necromunda went from being two books in the 90s that did everything you needed to a 40Kesq “codex” style rulebook release meaning you need a whole library of books to play the game alas.