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I buy every Codex. The one codex I've bought and haven't given a read through is the Demon codex. For whatever reason, I have 0 interest in that army.

I've "acquired" a digital copy of all current wfb books minus the new beasts(give it time). I own the books for the armies I play or that I played in the past.

As for printing and binding, a full black and white copy of an army book from staples runs about $25+. That was the estimate I got, but that also was the full book with pics. If I altered my pdf's then perhaps it would be less expensive to just include the rules sections.

My other alternative is to buy an iPad or cheap laptop to drag along and read pdf's on scene at games. I will likely do none of these options, and instead will look at my opponents book if there is a dispute, and if my opponent doesn't have a book then game over anyway.

Sarigar wrote:I buy every Codex. The one codex I've bought and haven't given a read through is the Demon codex. For whatever reason, I have 0 interest in that army.

Could it be because GW scrapped one good army (chaos 3.5) in order to make 2 bland armies, one of which is a blatant attempt to get fantasy/40k crossover?

Mistress of minis wrote:When I was an active tourney player I lumped around copies of all the codexes. Many of which I had a freind at a copy shop put into a spiral binding- makes them sit flat on the table

But knowing your opponents army can also prevent them from pulling the 'creative interpretation' on you- something often referred to as cheating Occasionally its genuine ignorance, but sometimes its hard to believe that theyre really so dumb to twist a simple rule after playing a brilliant game.

Nope, sorry, it's it's a tournament, they are cheating. Period.

The second a prize or money becomes involved, Warhammer players turn into soulless jackals driven by the need to WAAC-off on each other.

If you can afford it sure, but remember your going to be buying constantly as new codexs are replaced. and there really is no garentee that it wont be obsolete in a year or 2. for myself i started, but then found it just a waste of cash. i now only own books for the armies i play. as do most of those around me.
The good side to this is i can always read from friends. it saves a ton of cash.
For tournament i play enough to know the rules just from casual reading and playing.. i Guess you can say that buying every thing out there isnt nessasary, but reading it is.

I buy the codex for the armies I play, but I download all of the other ones so i can read the background, also i have a gigabyte of novels on my computer (plus 4 gigs of the codexs)

It's expensive to do all at once, but as I've ended up playing at least half the armies in the game at some point, and then simply buying any new Codex that comes out, I think the only Codex I don't have anymore is Dark Eldar. I've got a nice courier bag with every Codex I own, the main rule book, the Warmachine rulebook, a big box of dice, a big box of counters, tape measure, GW blast templates, a few spare blast templates, GF9 Tac Template, Warmachine black templates, a couple White Dwarf magazines with some extra rules I like, the Planetstrike book, some extra random papers and sheets of GW related stuff...

One of these days this bag will collapse a table, if not simply tear my arm out of it's socket.

If you buy them when they are released, they're good for at least 4-5 years. But, I'm also taking into account if you've been in the hobby since at least 3rd edition.

If I got into the game now, I'm not sure I'd be buying every codex.

I buy them all. Know your enemy and all that.

If you in any way, shape or form think of it is expensive to buy all codexes released (2-4 a year), then you are in for a rude awakening when it comes to model acquisition.

I also buy them all. The fluff is getting "richer" and when playing, you really do want to know your opponent's strengths and weaknesses.

Know your Enemy, and what he may pull.

I own them all. Hell they are $25 a pop and come out maybe every 3 months. So you're paying $8/month to know the rules to the game you are playing. I can't imagine goign into a tourney relying on my opponent to let me know the rules, much less interpret them correctly!

I should also note that once a book has been updated to a new edition I cut out the color pictures and bind them for reference on future projects and in the event of certain models being discontinued( hard to find good pics of OOP models that are painted well). I may have to discontinue this practice though, as GW's standard of painting has declined greatly since 6th edition.

I buy all the army books, codexes, FW rule books, expansions, and the like. It's about $25/month to keep up-to-date, which isn't that much once you're simply keeping up and not having to make the initial investment.

I've also got digital copies of them all on my netbook, which is what I take with me to game, so I'm not lugging a million books around. As I've paid for them all, having a digital backup copy is within my rights.

I do find it interesting that DVD's are now offering digital copies with them for use on mobile devices etc.

It would be nice if GW did the same. Hell a cd with a pdf on it wouldn't cost more than $1 and would add alot of value to the books for having official non scanned pdf's. I would likely buy every WFB book and addon book if they came with such a feature.

Or even a downloadable purchase for pdf's on their site would be nice. I don't much care for their binding as a single afternoon in a car during summer renders the glue worthless and I end up rebinding the book anyway.

I think it is a bit much to buy all of them and anyway I play IG. To know your enemy is Heresy! All Xenos cheat and lie and the only understanding I need is my flamer

I've almost every Codex, not necessarily to learn about my opponent's armies (though it does help) but with three kids and a few friend that play the collection just grow (partly because my friend are forgetful and would leave their own copies at home, and the kids would not settle on one army) but many I enjoy reading the background stories.

aerethan wrote:I should also note that once a book has been updated to a new edition I cut out the color pictures and bind them for reference on future projects and in the event of certain models being discontinued( hard to find good pics of OOP models that are painted well). I may have to discontinue this practice though, as GW's standard of painting has declined greatly since 6th edition.

I agree. but it makes sense. before they were "'Eavy metal." now they've switched to "Loit plastic." still i cant say all the painting is bad, but they do tend to have alot that i look at and just shake my head at.

The new lizardmen models have some pretty harsh highlights, and now the beastmen are the last nail in the coffin for GW having decent studio painters. I've seen staff painting that is better.

I have hardcopy codices for the armies I play.
I have other copies of the rest for when my club runs tourneys and I am volunteered as TO (except daemons - no-one plays them anyway).

I buy most of them, because I usually (though not at the moment after buying a house) have the disposable income available and I enjoy reading the background sections whilst trying a few army list combinations.

I have to say though, if the models look awful (take a bow, Beastmen), I generally won't buy the book.

I would also like to point out how nice it is to play someone who knows the rules from all the books. Now I am not saying BUY ALL THE BOOKS! RAR! But there are resources out there that let you know the rules without having to drop money that you do not want to spend. I cannot tell you how many eyebrows I have had raised at me when playing.

"Lootas get D3 shots?!"

"Fateweaver does what?!?!?!"

"Hive guard do not need line of sight to shoot?!?!?!?!?!?"

It makes a game go so much smoother when you do not have to pull out your rule book for every other unit just to ensure your opponent you didnt just make up a whole new unit for the game. =)

there is a torrent that contains all of them....

acreedon wrote:there is a torrent that contains all of them....

SILENCE!!!

the first rule about bit torrents is you do not talk about bit torrents.

In this day and age we all know they exist, we know how to find them, and on sites like this we do not mention them. It's like prostitutes on the internet. Although for those you need to go to craigslist.

I own all of them, except DA/BT/INQ

I enjoy reading them, and knowing what my enemy can field.


I don't know about you guys, but I go to staples and get them all spiraled, it makes life SO MUCH EASIER. It's relatively inexpensive as well.

I know a guy that did this. Fact is, his collection went out of date too quickly and he just stopped buying them. He decided to focus on the armies he owned (3).

Then again, reading through the codexes and army books is highly entertaining in and of itself. A great way to familiarize oneself with the backstory for other races.

I can't afford to buy them all. And honestly I'd rather buy more models for the armies I do play than buy books for armies I don't.

His collection went out of date too quickly? Half his books are probably still current! Hell if you buy orcs, DE, and Necrons thats close to 30 years of rules for $75 ... not bad =)

Yep, I buy each and every codex.

I buy the books for the armies I play and read the pdfs for the armies I don't