Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Here's the question of the moment. When a new codex is released for an army you play (or want to play), do you feel compelled to rush out and buy the book?

Or do you feel like you can get all the information you need elsewhere and save the money for new dice/models/datacards/etc?

Yes, i buy the codex/cards tgatre relevant to my forces.

I usually buy it as soon as I'm likely to do something with it. The initial diagnosis and analysis of the content is done before I can actually get my hands on anything anyway. But I do make a point of owning it.

I grudgingly pick them up. It’s important to me to have a physical copy for armies I play.

I’d rather have more models for my hobby budget, but it’s one of the price to pay to play.

Not a fan of phone scrolling or flipping through printouts to play.

When I was playing more intensively, I bought the codex for each of my armies.

Since I didn't play a single game with my 9th edition codizes I haven't bought any for 10th. But I might get them for cheap when 11th is around because of the fluff pages which are usually the best part anyway.

Very important. I'm a tactile person and rules on a phone/computer are unengaging for me and serve to reduce my connection to what I'm doing in the same way that if my models were digital I wouldn't care for them like I do currently. OFC the books and cards are printed with wrong rules and points now, so it seems GW doesn't make content for me.

I used to care more back when I was new to 40k/WFB and they still had paperback codices and army books. It definitely felt like they put more effort into having newer content for both art and lore excerpts. I'll always be sad that they took away the timeline of events for newer books and great stories like Tuska da Daemonkilla and it was cool having entries for each army unit next to their stats.

Nowadays with how fast the rules turnover is for armies/codices and how expensive they are as hardbacks, they're not really worth the ink they're printed on in my opinion. GW should really consider just doing a full on lore army book and a smaller rules only paperback pamphlet/ringed booklet that's 20 bucks for playing.

Dudeface wrote:
I usually buy it as soon as I'm likely to do something with it. The initial diagnosis and analysis of the content is done before I can actually get my hands on anything anyway. But I do make a point of owning it.

I think this is broadly my position in 10th - I'm not going to get the book for any army if I'm just looking to paint/model something, but I'll grab it if I think I'll play with them.

Equally, in my opinion having the physical book or access to the Warhammer+ should be required for events, so there's a need there as well.

I don't think advocating piracy is a good look.

I prefer to have a physical book when I play, and I generally enjoy reading through the codices. That said, the current speed of edition churn is too fast for me to want to engage with. I have a more-or-less complete collection of 8th edition codices, so I'll probably just play 8th for the foreseeable future.

If I'm gonna be playing them at the store, I need the Codex.

Once back ye heady days of youth, a friend downloaded rules for the Warlord Titan from the Internet.

This Warlord Titan had the best stats possible and made it impossible to beat. These rules were complete bogus.

Myself dear readers, I had the actual printed rules from the Apocalypse rules which put a speedy stop to the craziest datasheet anyone had ever seen.

And that is why I will always use the actual copies of any rulebook over anything found online.

I like owning physical dexes; I spend more time reading, list building and fluff/scenario/campaign writing than I do playing or painting, so books are important.

I will say though that it depends on the edition. I held out on 10th for a long time- it took Kroot and Agents to convince me that the edition was worth a try with any investment beyond the original digital Indexes and Grotmas freebies.

So far I have Sisters, Emperor's Children, Agents, T'au, GSC, Guard and Eldar. I will get Drukhari when it drops... But that's as far as I go this edition.

In 9th, I was more ambitious: I had all of the dexes listed above (with the exception of Agents and EC, which didn't exist in 9th), but I also had Tyranids, Custodes, Space Marines, Deathwatch, Grey Knights, Admech and Ksons. The extensiveness of this collection is why 9th is my "forever" edition. I also have all the hardback campaign books, some of the mission packs and every Dwarf published throughout the edition.

I am not sure how deep I'll go down the 11th rabbit hole. If they ever torpedo Crusade, the GSC, Drukhari or Sisters, I'm done. I don't assume any of those are going anywhere, so it's possible that GW will keep me at least somewhat engaged... But it's going to get harder for them to do that as time goes by. Edition churn as a concept sucks, and it's unsustainable to have a multi-edition interest in more than one or two factions.

I am getting more comfortable with digital, but I prefer having the physical book in front of me at the gaming table.

I buy the codices for my armies - which is probably more than I'd like to admit. I also maintain a Warhammer+ subscription for full access to the apps.

For starters, the Crusade rules don't make into their apps, and are probably less likely to be 'found' online (which I'm fine with since I oppose piracy). I also very much prefer to have the codex handy during games - the app is to be used in conjunction with the codex in my opinion, not in lieu of. I even print out any Legends rules I'm using.

I concur that GW should probably find a new method, since the current churn and burn is getting dangerously close to pricing people out, and the frequency of updates can quickly render books less-than-reliable (obsolete is too strong a word). But piracy isn't the correct answer.

I always have the written rules for gaming, imo it's a necessary formality and good manners. I only don't own the current books because I don't play 10th.

In 2nd ed it was very important to me, each one was a tome that unlocked new aspects of the setting. Having the set was like 'completing' 40k.

With modern 40k's short lifespan and ability to engage with content through media that wasn't available 35 years ago, each codex feels insanely expensive for a temporary catalogue.


If GW committed to separating their Lore and Game products I might look at it more favourably. they could publish a new volume on each faction each edition and not invalidate the old ones, while the game products are clearly temporary and transitory as tweaks and updates come out.

In 10th, I like the codex but mostly for the code to work on the app, that’s what I use most. I wish you got the code with cards, I’d rather have them and the app than the codex. Been playing long enough now (10 editions) not to need a little bit of fluff for my forces.

I like collecting books for their own sake - since they're pricey hardcovers nowadays I'm not quite getting the whole set like I did back in 3rd, but I've got a sizeable stack of codices and the reasons I bought them can be alarmingly flimsy, ranging from 'I collect this army' to 'I might collect this army' and 'I kind of like this army' and in a couple of cases 'I'll probably never open this besides glancing through the gallery pages then shelving it, but I don't have one of these already'. There are a few absences, when a codex I didn't have any specific need for got released at the same time I was deliberately putting money aside for something else, but even so there aren't a lot of gaps.

I don't actually bring them to games though (they're heavy), after several revisions I've distilled the stats and rules for my current army down to one A4 page - if I were going to a 'proper' tournament against strangers I'd use the actual codex so there's no ambiguity in where I'm getting my info from (I have done a lot of least-words summarising rather than reproducing the rules word for word), but my gaming group's a casual all-friends type so it's not an issue.

I got a little sick of having a pile of useless books for 40K so I buy the minimum I feel I need.

I would probably be happy with an app purchase now, but I actually think GW benefits from that separation. It’s much easier to charge for a book each edition than an app purchase that people can actually be quite money wise about.

I need to update my app as well since I just been using print offs and screenshots for like 90% of my games as it’s much easier to organise better than GW does.

 Apple fox wrote:
.... screenshots for like 90% of my games as it’s much easier to organise better than GW does.

Glad to know I'm not the only one who does that.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:

 Apple fox wrote:
.... screenshots for like 90% of my games as it’s much easier to organise better than GW does.

Glad to know I'm not the only one who does that.

Honestly I’m surprised how often people don’t do it when it’s a feature basically all phones/ tablets have that’s easy to use.

I bought rule book and codex for my army for 7th, 8th, and 9th but I only played a couple of games of each and couldn’t justify the investment for 10th.

I used to own pretty much every codex and armybook for the armies I played since 3d Ed 40k to 8th, and 6th Ed. Fantasy until AoS launched, but nowadays I find codexes to be completely irrelevant, and they have been for at least 2 editions now.

Mainly because they're outdated before they even hit the store shelves, which results in them (sadly) just being a waste of space and money.

Don't get me wrong, I prefer the current model of GW updating rules and pts on a regular basis instead of once every edition (if even that), but it has without a doubt made codexes and armybooks waaay less appealing.

I've been playing for 35+ years. I have to have the physical book of an army/RPG character that I'm going to play. Its just the way that I am.

I really like the codices as just books to be honest, I have a few favourites like the 3.5 Dark Eldar edition or the Waaagh Ghazgull supplement that I regularly go back and read.

So in that sense they are important to me, but also Im in no rush to buy any particular Codex or book as Im happy to play with the ones I've got at the moment

Essential.

Ever played someone who “knows their codex by heart”? Ever played someone with a home printed codex with curious and totally innocent honest “misprints”?

I use the codex mostly for crusade rules and the app code. I occasionally also flip through them to read some fluff, but that's not enough of a reason to buy them.
I also buy the datacards because they are the fastest ways for me to track datasheet rules during a game, and creating something of similar quality is either more expensive or takes a lot of time.

Since 9th edition, I also take a very close look at the codices before I buy them. If the rules feel half-assed I won't buy them anymore.
When listbuilding, checking rules or discussing the game with people, I almost exclusively use wahapedia.

From my opponent I expect them to have a codex OR datacards OR GW app with key OR a rules printout from new recruit.
If you make me flip through a pile of printed leaked photos or make me check your rules on wahapedia or try to make me use an app I don't know on your phone, I'm not going to be happy, and I'll ask you to prepare better for the next time we play.

I sometimes check datasheets on my phone so my questions don't give away what I'm planning. If I find your self-made datasheets or printouts to be altered to your advantage, I will call you a cheater, immediately pack up, never play you again and I'm going to be very loud about it. I'll make sure to let as many people as possible know about your cheating. I've been dealing with this gak for years, no more. Better make sure those things absolutely error-free.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Essential.

Ever played someone who “knows their codex by heart”? Ever played someone with a home printed codex with curious and totally innocent honest “misprints”?

"I don't need a codex, I know my army. Of course that psychic power is 24" range, just like all eldar powers." - player removed from the gaming group against his will

Buy the codex for the code (not a fan of this sales strategy).

I use a tablet during games. The 40K app works very well and I use Tabletop Battles to keep score.

I am not a fan of digital subscriptions but I would pay GW for one just so I can get the army rules for every codex release.

It used to be important to me.

However, around the time we moved paperback codices to hardback ones, my desire to own a physical book declined substantially.

For one, a lot of the fluff in newer codices is just copy-pasted from older books. That's fine if you're starting the army for the first time. But if I already own the older books, then it's hard to feel like I'm getting value for money.

There's also the fact that recent editions of 40k have been short, and somehow GW still hasn't worked out how to release all the rules at the same time. So if your codex is released at the tail-end of an edition, there's no guarantee you'll get even a year's usage out of it.

Probably less because the various FAQs, patches etc. mean that it will be out of date almost immediately. I don't mind these things, but it seems odd to still try and force the purchasing of rules, rather than just having free PDFs that can be readily updated.

The last point is entirely subjective, but I'm just not a fan of the art in later books. I found a lot of the older art to be very evocative, while a lot of newer art (at least for the armies I play), looks like something that was cranked out by AI. And not even a good AI. Though a lot of the pictures aren't even art at all - just catalogue photos. And while I don't object to catalogues, I do raise an eyebrow at the idea of paying for them. Generally a catalogue is something you would give away for free. You know, because the whole point is that it's trying to sell you the products in the catalogue.

Put simply, every codex I've bought since 5th I've regretted buying.