Why are the new army books so expensive?

[HOGGLORD]

I just decided to start playing Fantasy (though I've played 40k for a good 6 years) and I'm gonna make an empire army. I thought that 10 handgunners for £15.50 was pretty good, then I saw the army book was £25! Why is it so expensive? I am under the impression that the only reason it's so expensive is because of loads of colorful pictures purely put in place to add to the price and the fact its a bloody hardback! Why do they need that? I found the fact that they were paperbacks to be helpful, it makes them more portable, if that's their newest excuse to squeeze a little more cash out then they are stooping to an all new low.
Don't get me wrong, I like the GW artwork and fluff, it makes the game more interesting, but I hope it's not the only reason they added to the price.

[Ville]

I like the fact that my new armybook is hardback and pretty. What I don't like are the recycled artwork (albeit in colour) and stories from the previous book.

[vinush]

The hardback army books are great. They feel much sturdier than the old softcovers did, and hardback allows for better binding compared to the softcovers, which I understand a lot of people have had huge issues with.

I myself went through two copies of 6th edition VC army book due to the binding falling apart, and the same of last edition's empire book, and almost had to consider a third if the new book hadn't come out as it was falling apart. this means that if they last a full cycle in hardback, then I'm quids in compared to having to buy three copies of an army book over the lifetime of the cycle.

THE \/ince

[Malorian]

Poor people are typically uneducated and have no grasp of tactics. GW makes their products expensive for the good of the game.

[DaemonReign]

GW stuff is 'expensive' mostly because the folks writing these rules, making these models, are real people living in a developed country with bills of their own to pay. The fact that they try to give us something extra, like real hardback quality, is really nothing we should be pissy about.

[decker_cky]

Isn't the empire new book largely new art,and true full colour unlike the O&G book?

[loveless]

GW wanted to revitalize Warhammer Fantasy. They did this by making the core rulebook massive and more expensive and by making the army books full-color, hard-backed, and more expensive. Clearly this allows them to attract far more players into the game - after all, if the rules cost that much, the game must be amazing!

[DaemonReign]

I'm not getting all the irony.
Everything in the Western Hemisphere is 'overcosted' for crist's sake.

[The Low King]

The new books are much better than the old ones, both because of the book and the rules (wich are more balanced).

If GW want to charge more for this then im fine with that.

[dimetri1]

First let me say the new books are great for the hobby. I don't think they are to expensive(unless you live down under, you are getting ripped off). Many people enjoy fluff, art and pictures. For me I find fluff painfully boring to read and I don't pay attention to the artwork. I would much prefer a small book with just the rules. That is just me though.

[EmperorNorton]

The hardback army books are great. They feel much sturdier than the old softcovers did, and hardback allows for better binding compared to the softcovers, which I understand a lot of people have had huge issues with.

I myself went through two copies of 6th edition VC army book due to the binding falling apart, and the same of last edition's empire book, and almost had to consider a third if the new book hadn't come out as it was falling apart. this means that if they last a full cycle in hardback, then I'm quids in compared to having to buy three copies of an army book over the lifetime of the cycle.

THE \/ince

This pseudo-argument is a pet hate of mine.
It's perfectly possible for a softcover to have good binding. GW chose for their softcovers to have poor binding, most likely because it was cheaper for them. The obvious solution to this issue would have been to use proper binding, but instead they switched to more expensive hardcovers - increasing their profits in the process - and there actually are people who are thankful for it.

When I bought the last edition of the Empire army book, it cost me 18€ (and I suppose the writers were living in a developed county back then, too). The new one is almost twice as much at 32,50€ and it has exactly the same function and, in fact, a lot of the same content.

[Why]

Yeah I will just wait until they come out on Scribd, unless it's a new wood elf book, if we ever get one

Most of the same content for almost double the price, I think I have a good reason to be angry. They just decided to be cheap and use bad binding with the old books. Not much has changed because my 8th edition hard cover BRB has been repaired twice because the binding is falling apart, so I guess they are still using cheap binding.

[Lance Tankmen]

my 8th edition BRB has its bindings falling apart too... makes me sad

[Lord Dan]

This pseudo-argument is a pet hate of mine.

So tell us how you really feel.

I have to agree with EmperorNorton on this one. Short of the Lord of the Rings price gouging this is one of the more obvious profit ploys on GW's part in the last year. The new books are pretty, but they're certainly not $41 pretty, especially given that just 3 years ago I was paying $20 for almost the same content.

[Maskedman5oh4]

Do you people purchase gasoline or fly around on Discs of Tzeentch? Haters gonna hate.

Go hate on BP for a while and their massive profits. Maybe you can get your government to subsidize your wargaming- or you could get a better job.

[GodlessM]

So people complain for years that Army Books and Codices alike are falling apart and need to be sturdier, and then when they make them so people still complain?

[Lord Dan]

Do you people purchase gasoline or fly around on Discs of Tzeentch? Haters gonna hate.

What?

So people complain for years that Army Books and Codices alike are falling apart and need to be sturdier, and then when they make them so people still complain?

Not everyone complained. More importantly your argument apparently ignores the fact that along with "what we asked for" we also got a 30% price increase.

"Excuse me, my steak is undercooked. Could you please get me another?"
"Certainly sir"
...
"Waiter, there seems to be a problem with my bill. You charged me more for my steak."
"We had to cook it twice."
"I don't understand"
"WE GAVE YOU WHAT YOU WANTED? WTF ARE YOU MAD FOR??!!!"

Unfortunately for our case, there is no steak involved.

[sturguard]

I have one of the new Ogre books and the binding on it as well as my 8th edition hardback ruleset are failing (and I dont play very often, perhaps 3 times a month). While I agree they are sturdier than the paperback, for the much cheaper price you could always hole punch the army book when the binding fell apart and put it in a binder (and save the extra $20). As Lord Dan explained, I think lots of people were asking for a better quality product at the same or close to the same price. I am quite sure GW would make a slightly better version for $100 a book if everyone was okay paying it, they might even add a few new pictures in the book as well. Honestly though, how many times do you read the fluff and look at the pictures. I enjoyed reading the book once through, but can't say I have read anything but the army options since.

[Malorian]

People brough it on themselves. I buy every army book that comes out for both 40k and fantasy. Do you know how many failed at the binding? ZERO!

Why? Because I take care with my books. I don't open all the wat flat, I don't press them flat, I don't stuff them full of papers and force them closed. In short, I treated my books with care and low and behold they didn't fall apart.

With the hard bound books I'm getting no personal advantage since I took care of them anyway, but to me I'm still happy with paying more for a professional looking book.

[MooseOnTheLoose]

GW wanted to revitalize Warhammer Fantasy. They did this by making the core rulebook massive and more expensive and by making the army books full-color, hard-backed, and more expensive. Clearly this allows them to attract far more players into the game - after all, if the rules cost that much, the game must be amazing!

Despite your sarcastic joke with this post, isn't kinda ironic this is the best set of core and so far army book additions for gameplay...