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.

Seeing the lag right now in the catch up of Codices to this edition, mixed with the confusion and what not in everyone's minds about what is going to be next. why isn't a certain army coming and so on I've started to wonder why GW stopped making the 'Mini-Dex'

Before I took a four year break some of my favorite armies came from those small books (I am also including campaign books into this as they are kind of the same thing). Armies such as the old Black Templars, Salamanders, Craftworld Eldar, Dark Angels and Blood Angels from second edition or whatever it was. Why don't they do this anymore?

I assume production costs on the little books are far less, leading to more being pumped out. Also, if they kept doing this they could probably just pump out either five or so small marine books, or just make one big one (like they did with Craftworld Eldar). And I mean seriously, how 'different' are all these marine chapters?

My biggest issue with the whole power wheel of release dates is that I choose my army because of what I like, not what is the strongest. Whereas most people in my area are picking up the new armies because it's almost a guarantee that the new army is going to be stronger than an existing codex. I just feel with the smaller edits and updates there could be a more level playing field, as well as a more varied opponent probability.

Anything that requires players to buy multiple books to play an army is pretty universally reviled.

The mini-dexes were largely hated for that, and for the same reason as the normal 3rd ed codexes: the lack of fluff and hobby material.

Which is why GW have been slowly moving back towards the larger, more 2nd Edition-esque codexes.

I liked the min-codices as well they probably did it cause fat gamers bitched about reading to much or something, or could be they didnt want to expand to much as were would you go for the future. Its all about money in the end so maybe it was to costly to print them out and have the rules made and play tested..etc. There are dozens of reason why they could of stopped to come to think about it. But i liked them was cool to see all the codices out in the stores.