I'm another who used to buy all the books, as I enjoyed the fluff and hobby articles / painting guides) within them. Now there are no hobby articles, the fluff is mostly the same, and the price has gone up hugely. I no longer buy any of the books.
I'm another who used to buy all the books, as I enjoyed the fluff and hobby articles / painting guides) within them. Now there are no hobby articles, the fluff is mostly the same, and the price has gone up hugely. I no longer buy any of the books.
I'm another who used to buy all the books, as I enjoyed the fluff and hobby articles / painting guides) within them. Now there are no hobby articles, the fluff is mostly the same, and the price has gone up hugely. I no longer buy any of the books.
The books seem to be more streamlined nowadays, with some additional fluff and the obligatory new monster/big vehicle. Nothing major on this side. Then you have the hardcover and coloured pictures. Well, great, some are just recycled pictures (several times for some), and in my opinion a picture in black and white is great if what's pictured is greatly drawn. Remember those Mark Gibbons art? They were all great, full of dynamisn and detailed, and in black and white and it didn't matter.
Anyway, those 2 new features hardly justify the dramatic increase in price (yeah I know, better binding presumably, I don't know, my old books never fell apart, am I a lucky one?), since overall the books are still the same and you will still have to replace them in 5/6 years (at an even greater price I'm sure)
Visit and rate my fantasy log : A lot of green against a feeble mind
Models painted 2011= 45 / 2012 = 62 / 2013 = 7
Originally Posted by snottlebocket
If GW starts asking $50 (USD) for a 96-page book, I'm going to laugh and stop buying books altogether. I'll make up my own rules at that price.
you will still have to replace them in 5/6 years (at an even greater price I'm sure
...and a little help comes in a little glass vial in a gun pressed against her anatomy...
You can always file off your nipples, it's easily done.
The hard cover books are a lot of money, but I am addicted and will pay. However, there will be a point when I say no. It seems as if this has happened with many people already. I really hope GW is about in 10 years and I know prices will rise, I just hope they don't price themselves out of the market.
Even though most people here are adults, who can well afford their toys, there also are a lot of people who will feel ripped off. I know people who have been playing as long as I, and have resorted to downloading the rule & army books, and buying miniatures second hand.
I still buy the army books that I need, but not the rest, mainly because of the lack of content. Like someone above said, the art and fluff is recycled, and some of the latter rather crudely copy & paste "edited" to fit the current background, e.g the piece about Gotrek and Felix in Sylvania which is originally from the 1994 WH Armies: Undead book.
Anyone remember the 3rd ed. 40k Codexes which were nothing more than small leaflets of rules?
Last edited by Late; 11-05-2012 at 07:43. Reason: mistake.
That must have been the 3rd edition ones. That edition made 40k into a completely different game, so they had to churn out new codices for everyone all at once.
Yeah third, sorry, we still play 2nd up here, so my memory is kind of fuzzy
I have ample income and definitely don't need to watch my spending. With that said, I have drastically cut back all my GW related spending due to the ridiculous price hikes. Whether you have money or not or have a well planned spending style, paying too much for a product isn't smart, nor is it justifiable in any way. That's like choosing to pay an extra $1.00 for gas at a station because their store looks prettier.
There is some merit to the improved product argument, but the problem is that some of the product isn't new nor improved and yet has been jacked up in price. Old sculpts have gone up as well (common goblins, Elf spearmen and bowmen, men at arms just to name a few). So the new and improved argument doesn't work for the price increases on models.
Note, people comparing GW books to PP isn't a fair comparison. First of all, the main rule book at my store is cheaper than GW's. Second, They have at most 6 books that are much larger in content. Oh, and they're color as well without hardbacks. Not an equal comparison.
Now, Hardbacks are in my opinion one of the most ridiculous things in literature. I have yet to buy a single hardback. The only difference is the cover and usually they cost at least twice as much.
Now, Gw only produces hardbacks. $41.25 for any book is seriously ridiculous. I saw years back all 3 "Girl with..." books sold in hardback for a total of $49.50. 3 hardcover books, well over 300 pages each for all of $8.25 more. And people seriously think pretty colors and rehashed pictures and fluff justifies it? If that's the case, I have this elixir that cures like cancer of all kinds, back aches, head aches, std's, pneumonia and Insanity. It even comes in a glass container (fancy, more durable) and your choice of color (blue, yellow, green, red or clear.) It's only $50.00. Send me your money.
Matt Schuur
"If i was Swiss cheese I'd kill myself!"
"If the pen is as mighty as the sword, then is not this feather as sharp as my wit?"
You would not like Australia then, $69 for the new books......
I'll tell you what mate; the fact that you've gotten 100% positive replies on Warseer of all places is as sure a sign as any that you should start the army.
Knowledge: Know your own and opponents armies rules and units.
Experience: Good grasp of tactics and how rules impact on this.
Luck: At least getting an average deal from the dice.
Psych: Sometimes you can convince the opponent they are facing an uphill battle.
Which is fascinating, given that the AUS dollar is now technically stronger than the US dollar (.997 AUS for every US dollar as of this morning).
They're expensive because GW can't see a profit margin without trying to exploit it. Considering that the paperback army books now sell for £20, the £25 hardbacks don't really seem too unreasonable by comparison, but they still seem unreasonable in absolute terms. Compare with the Warhammer Forge books, which are more expensive but feel like much better value.
The Empire book is a particularly bad example, mind. It's exactly the same length as the old one and the content is virtually identical.
The sad thing is that back in the day I used to buy all the army books I could for "opponent research" and the background. I have copies of many (probably most) of the 4th-7th ed army books as a result (all of which, including the ones that saw regular use, are still in excellent condition, I might add). At >£20 a pop I felt I could justify this. Now, though, the price of the individual books means there's no way I'm going to get any army books I don't need, so where I might once have spent £100-odd I'm now going to spend £25. Nice work, GW.
I've never understood why they have to make their rules so expensive, other than the explanation I suggested in my first sentence.
I used to buy all of the books and carry them around with me. Now I will just buy the books I need and borrow the others.
Machete don't text.
You're right, I wouldn't like Australia. Frankly, I'm surprised Australia has a GW-based gaming community.
---------
So I'm picking up the Vampire Counts hardcover later on this week (or early next, something like that). Of course, I'm getting it for $31.25 instead of $41.25 and still feeling like I might be overpaying, but I've got an urge to revitalize my undead. So, once it's my copy in my hands, I'll be able to judge if the books are worth $31 of Loveless' money.
...and a little help comes in a little glass vial in a gun pressed against her anatomy...
You can always file off your nipples, it's easily done.
I agree, and I would add inflation as it happens all the time... even when you´re reading this...
I also used to buy all books and have bought empire, VC, OK sofar....i doubt ill get the others. Im earning alot of money etc but it jst doesnt seem worth it
Oop, $33, forgot I have to pay tax at B&M stores.
Okay, first of all, annoyance - the top left corner of the book is a bit smashed in. I'm pretty sure I've seen this on paperbacks, too, so it's not a hardcover issue - just a bad luck issue. As the store I had the discount at only special orders Fantasy, I couldn't make a swap - no biggie, though, it doesn't really diminish anything.
I will admit, the pages are decently high quality - they've got a nice finish and a nice feel to them. The book sits open well enough, but (likely from being a new book) "sticks" for a bit if you've left it open to a certain page for a while (like I did while going over Powers). I'm a touch disappointed in the art selections - while it's much the same as was seen in the 7th edition book, I don't get the same feel of inspiration (though it could be because I've seen most of it before!). I do like it better than the Tomb Kings books I've flipped through.
Verdict: The hardcover is still unnecessary, but it's "nice." The pages and binding feel a bit better than what I remember from handling store copies (though the Empire store copy seemed similar - not sure if it's a change in page style or just age that alters it a bit). $30-33 (US) is probably a decent price for the book, assuming you intend to use it. Still a bit much to start investing in a complete library of 8th edition books, but not bad for actual players. I can't imagine paying the full $41.25 for this, and if they get another price rise tacked on they might get too expensive from discounters. No buyer's remorse, which is what I was afraid of - I'll give that to my love of the undead, though. I think I'd be disappointed had I bought any of the other books.
...and a little help comes in a little glass vial in a gun pressed against her anatomy...
You can always file off your nipples, it's easily done.
Ultimately, GW charge so much for the army books for exactly the same reason they charge so much for their models: Because they can.
I am old enough to remember when White Dwarf reviewed books and RPGs.
Proudly Warhammer's most cynical player.
I dunno, it seems like a lot, but then again I don't find it surprising that GW has far higher prices in Australia than elsewhere in the world. Difficulties shipping, taxation, exchange rates, all that stuff that is usually mentioned...
...and a $15.51 hourly minimum wage ($15.56 USD/£9.64/11.95 Euros) that seems to be left out of the discussions.
That's one hell of a lot more than the minimum wage here in the UK (£6.08). Thus I am not surprised that a UK-based company is charging a far higher price for a luxury product in a country with a far higher (theoretical) disposable income, in addition to the above-mentioned factors in legally selling their product in Australia, and getting it there.
To put it another way, The Empire Army Book (£25) equates to 4.1 hours of work in the UK; whilst in Australia ($69) it equates to 4.4 hours of work. That seems pretty even, given GW will have to pay shipping, import taxes and all the rest of it too.
Last edited by Treadhead_1st; 19-05-2012 at 18:59.
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