40K vs WFB: Hey What’s Up With the Army Books???
Warhammer Fantasy 8th launched last autumn with a monumental hardcover tome, an over the top boxed set, and fancy army books – so why isn’t 40k getting the highbrow treatment?
So ok, ok, we all saw how last year Privateer Press kicked out MarkII and a full color soft/hardcover faction book every month of 2010. I considered the bar to have been raised for wargaming rulebooks overall.
Then Fantasy game along with that crazy 3 inch thick coffeetable/home defense rulebook, and I considered the challenge accepted by Games Workshop. The arrival of the full color hardback Orcs & Goblins army book was a radical departure from what we’d seen previously.
But then Grey Knights came out and its the same old softcover mostly black and white we’ve seen all along for Warhammer 40,000 army books. So what gives?
Is it just a matter of time till 40k gets the fancy production values we see everywhere else? It the fancy treatment we’re seeing in the Fantasy products a sign of strength, or a sign of weakness in the market? I’m a sucker for highbrow printed materials (hence my Forgeworld book addiction) – help a guy out.
Your guess is as good as mine, but its hard to not feel like a second class 40k citizens these days compared to all the other systems out there with fantastic printed materials… What gives?
