Well the new Orc and Goblin book for WFB is up on the GW website I don't normally feel compelled to repost this sort of thing but but these releases are newsworthy in what I see they could dictate about the future of Warhammer and the rumors I've heard about the end of the dragontail chasing, army book cycle. First up is the above book cover. It's cool to see what the style is for the new books considering this is the first official army book release for 8th edition but also notice it is a 112 page hardcover and almost $40. USD. for reference The WoC book is 16 pages longer and a soft cover. The hardcover on this book is indicative to me about the intention that these army books are supposed to be around a good long time. As in maybe its the last rules book you are going to see?. Rumor has that GW is seriously considering stopping being a rules company altogether and only being a miniatures company, while I am sure the income from Army books and supplements is substantial, the margins on creation costs have become thinner and thinner over the years..its just the realities of our current economics and technology.
Perhaps I am reading too much into it, but a hardcover army book combined with the rumors of 8th ed rules updates of all army books and "That's all she wrote" with only special optional rules released with miniatures in future (the way Forge World does) being the future. perhaps all those disclaimers of "we aren't really a rules company, but miniatures company that releases rules by popular demand", have come to fruition.
Then there is this:
The continuous release of these gigantic models is cool from an aesthetic standpoint, personally I am not sure about it from a rules perspective. From the rules I've seem rumored this thing is a monster on the game table, not so sure how or if its game breaking within the big up and downs of 8th ed..but it's clear GW isn't shying away from bigger, more elaborate kits that push the boundaries of not only plastic technology but your wallet. How or if- this has some tie in with the rumors out there, I am not sure...I just find the releases here interesting in the big picture of Games Workshop, what's that is worth is for you to decide.
Images copyright Games Workshop, used without permission.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Orc and Goblin Advanced Orders
Posted by JPL at 11:32 AM
Labels: WFB, WFB - Rumors
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12 comments:
GW will never stop releasing army books. Rules work hand in hand with models to drive sales. I'm sure everyone owning an Orc army will need to rebuild half of their force to take advantage of the new book.
The hard cover is no indication of a long term product - its just a way to increase the total sales dollars. Hell, GW has a history of creating crappy hard cover books. I'd wager good money that the hard cover will fall apart before a similar soft cover.
On the up side - I do like the cover art. Very 5th ed retro.
If they become strictly a miniatures company, then they're going to have to compete with companies that are releasing fantasy type models for cheaper. The "added value" of their miniatures is their rules systems.
I don't disagree with either of you, I mean they are writing rules to sell models. yet the rumors are out there.
On the hardcover thing, Rich that's easy enough to figure out if we had access to what hard cover vs soft cover books costs versus the 15-17 dollar price increase. maybe thats the trade off on the thinner margin on printing costs...there is a better margin on hardcover base versus the 40% retail markup...makes sense.
I do believe we will be asked to live with 8th edition for long, long time..redoing every book in hardcover with 8th rules with take years and years..
I'm rather pessimistic about the whole hard cover thing. I don't feel that the books are more durable than a soft cover. My 3rd edition soft-back 40k rulebook got just a banged up as the 4th edition hard-back.
My guess is the hard cover is just a ruse to justify the jump in price. I'm not impressed that the book is full color either, Battlefront has been doing that for FoW for a long time.
Also look at the BRB, it's 80 dollars, and this new army book is almost half that cost, but only 1/6 the page length.
I was actually waitng for you to post something on this new shiney 8th ed business.
I don't know where I stand on this one. I hate the price. And there is no way I'm buying right off the bat. The price indicates that they aren't releasing a soft cover later ( I was really hoping they would)
The end of fantasy? I don't know, I think gw as become its own worst enemy as far as that is concerned. 8th was a big enough rebuild, and if every army book requires to you massively rebuild...more people drop.
I had a nice, smart, articulate comment but it was eaten by blogger as wordpress demanded a password. Here is the summary: Book looks pretty, sad if it falls apart quickly, the spider is dope.
@ Jon, LOL well I am glad I didnt disappoint. I don't think its end of Fantasy by any stretch, that is as long as you can live with 8th..I think it just means we are going to have 8th edition through 14 hardcover army book releases and that's a long time by GW standards,
could they be done releasing rules?
perhaps for now...only releasing army lists for the next 5 years..it looks like it.
My experience over the long term is that the hardcovers haven't held up as well as the soft covers, and are more of a pain to lug around if you're gaming outside of your home.
Add the increased price tag in a horrible economy when many of us are cutting back and I'm really not pleased with the new direction.
I do agree, the spider is amazing. In fact, I like it far better than the Abom released for my beloved Skaven.
Personally I'll be glad if they stop making new editions of the rules from this point on. 8th ed WFB and 5th ed 40K are the best set of rules either game have ever had IMO.
112 pages, hardcover, and full color for $37, vs. 144, softcover (poorly bound) and mostly B&W for Codex: Space Marines. If the binding is on par with the new rulebook and the "uniforms and heraldry of the..." books, I'm happy to pay extra. Certainly, they've done good softcover binding in the past (my 5th ed. WHFB army books are still in lovely shape), but the last couple of years have not been particularly good for the binding on the books, largely I think due to increased use of glued bindings rather than sewn. Still, I'm a bit glad that the first one isn't an army book I'll be immediately compelled to buy- the spiders are really damned cool, but I'm not sure I can bring myself to look at one long enough to paint it!
Am I the only one who thinks the new O&G book cover is crappy? I used to have a huge O&G army, and if I had to get this new book, I'd be pretty pissed off that the "leader" pictured is kind spindly and sickly coloured. Too cartoonish compared to the new image WHFB is going for.
I watched two Skaven Aboms just totally destroy an entire half of a board yesterday and it was not cool. It was a allied game and the other players did not really know how to handle the hellpit but after that I am scared of what this spider may do
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