Free update to the iBook, Space Marine Codex (digital codex vs. FAQ differences added)

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**Bloodwin**

I saw on Twitter that the iBook Space Marine codex has been updated for New40k:

"The Digital edition of Codex: Space Marines is now updated for #New40k. For those of you who have already bought it, this is a FREE update.

Here's the link for how to update it:

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/content/article.jsp?catId&categoryId§ion&pIndex=2&aId=22200010a&start=3&multiPageMode=true

I think this is going to be very interesting if they continue to update the codices but this might just be a one off for the new edition and future versions might just get a single '6th' iBook edition.

yakface edit: I'm sticking a (hopefully) full list of differences between the new updated SM digital codex version and the online errata/FAQ put out by GW. Please note, that I have often paraphrased below, so you should not consider any of this to be verbatim rules text:

yakface wrote:References to 'assaulting' throughout codex changed to 'charging'.

Pg 57 - Vortex of Doom: describes what happens when the Librarian embarked on a vehicle fails his psychic test (centered over the vehicle, hits against its rear armor).

Pg 64 - Chainfist: as rulebook summary (with note about Dreadnought version being a Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon that rolls 2D6 for armor penetration).

Pg 65 - Dreadnought Seismic Hammer: Sx2, AP1, melee, concussive, specialist weapon, unwieldy

Pg 69 - Drop Pod Internal Guidance System: includes text about a Drop Pod suffering a mishap if it scatters off the board.

Pg 71 - Techmarine Servo-arm: grants the model a single extra CC attack, made separately with the following profile: S8, AP1, melee, unwieldy.

SM Stormtalon: Aerial Assault rule removed. Supersonic rule as in rulebook.

Pg 85 - Sicarius' Talassarian Tempest Blade: S of user, AP3, melee, coup de grace. Coup de Grace: Sicarius may attempt a coup de grace attack in lieu of his normal close combat attacks. If it hits, it is resolved at S6, AP2 and has the Instant Death rule.

Pg 86 - Rod of Tigurius: S+2, AP4, melee, concussive, force, master-crafted.

Pg 87 - Cassius' Infernus Boltgun: 24" range, S1, AP5, rapid fire, master-crafted, poisoned (2+). Flamer portion of the weapon is as usual (one use only).

Pg 91 - Lysander's Fist of Dorn: S10, AP2, melee, concussive, master-crafted, specialist weapon, unwieldy. Also against vehicles with no Initiative value, whenever the Fist of Dorn inflicts any damage result, it also inflicts a crew shaken result.

Pg 92 - Shrike's Raven's Talons: S of user, AP3, melee, master-crafted, rending, shred, specialist weapon.

Pg 93 - Vulkan's Gauntlet of the Forge: has same profile as a heavy flamer.

Pg 94 - Khan's Moondrakkan: Space Marine bike that can turbo-boost up to 36".

Pg 94 - Khan's Moonfang: No profile listed for this weapon (beyond its special rule of inflicting instant death on a roll of 6 regardless of the target's toughness). Given that the errata changed all 'power swords' to 'power weapons' I guess given that this weapon has some special rules associated with it, makes it an 'unusual' power weapon and therefore is just a base strength, AP3, weapon, along with the special instant death rule.

Pgs 97-103 - Wargear: All entries match their rulebook summary profiles (missile launchers are *not* listed as having flakk missiles).

Pg 99 - Relic Blade: S+2, AP3, melee, two-handed.

**Vaktathi**

While it's nice that GW are updating it (though it's odd we feel that it's a bonus when they do something we expect of others), having only one codex available for a single device still seems very odd to me. I get that they are likely going to add all of them but they certainly seem to be taking their time, though the bigger issue is that it's iPad exclusive. For every iPad I see in a game store there's a Samsung or another brand, and 3 cheap gaming laptops to any tablet, and half the people in the store have smartphones.

GW is 2 years late to that party, and with tons of PDF's available out there (yeah yeah, piracy is bad and all that, but it's existence is a fact and it's widespread and ignoring it is ridiculous) it feels like a botique product being used to try and play catch-up.

**bhsman**

Vaktathi wrote:While it's nice that GW are updating it (though it's odd we feel that it's a bonus when they do something we expect of others), having only one codex available for a single device still seems very odd to me.

The Necron codex was just released the other day.

**Vaktathi**

Was it? Well, that's an improvement at least

**Mahu**

For anybody who has it, what updates are listed? I am interested if they actually list AP values for things like relic blades, special character weapons, etc.

**Steve steveson**

Vaktathi wrote:While it's nice that GW are updating it (though it's odd we feel that it's a bonus when they do something we expect of others), having only one codex available for a single device still seems very odd to me. I get that they are likely going to add all of them but they certainly seem to be taking their time, though the bigger issue is that it's iPad exclusive. For every iPad I see in a game store there's a Samsung or another brand, and 3 cheap gaming laptops to any tablet, and half the people in the store have smartphones.

GW is 2 years late to that party, and with tons of PDF's available out there (yeah yeah, piracy is bad and all that, but it's existence is a fact and it's widespread and ignoring it is ridiculous) it feels like a botique product being used to try and play catch-up.

I don't think its a matter of ignoring it so much as avoiding a format that is open to piracy. Look at d&d. All the 4th ed books were being done in pdf, but they stopped because piracy say so bad. I'm afraid that it will be apple only until someone else can come up with something else. It's just not worth it for GW. Apple on the other had have a secure system for books and a much hire amount of apps sales per user (about 6 time android). I honestly can't see a way for them to do something on any other platform, which is a shame as I'd love my my codex on my HTC.

On the point of "only one codex" they have already said they will be doing one a month along with other stuff.

Bloodwin wrote:
I think this is going to be very interesting if they continue to update the codices but this might just be a one off for the new edition and future versions might just get a single '6th' iBook edition.

I don't know exactly what you mean, but if its what I think your saying, i can't see them updating it if there is a new codex, but I woulden't be supprised to see them updated with erata and faq's.

**yakface**

Mahu wrote:For anybody who has it, what updates are listed? I am interested if they actually list AP values for things like relic blades, special character weapons, etc.

Relic Blades are S+2, AP3, melee, two-handed.

**Mahu**

So, now we have information that can only be found in one version of a rulebook available to only a limited number of people who own an expensive device. Awesome.

**kenshin620**

Mahu wrote:So, now we have information that can only be found in one version of a rulebook available to only a limited number of people who own an expensive device. Awesome.

Umm isnt that info just in the FAQ?

**clively**

kenshin620 wrote:
Mahu wrote:So, now we have information that can only be found in one version of a rulebook available to only a limited number of people who own an expensive device. Awesome.

Umm isnt that info just in the FAQ?

Yes, the exact same information can be found in the relevant FAQs. It's just that the digital edition has it all rolled in, which is exactly what everyone wants.

**Bloodwin**

Mahu wrote:For anybody who has it, what updates are listed? I am interested if they actually list AP values for things like relic blades, special character weapons, etc.

From the update page:

"5) If you'd like to find out more about the updates, head to the Shrine of Knowledge section, and download the PDF of the Codex: Space Marines FAQ updates."

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Steve steveson wrote:

Bloodwin wrote:
I think this is going to be very interesting if they continue to update the codices but this might just be a one off for the new edition and future versions might just get a single '6th' iBook edition.

I don't know exactly what you mean, but if its what I think your saying, I can't see them updating it if there is a new codex, but I woulden't be supprised to see them updated with erata and faq's.

I'm not so sure they'll even bother with errata. It would be nice but I'm not going to hold my breath.

As for the PDF comments, this isn't a PDF. PDFs are a PITA to navigate and search with a keyboard and mouse. It's like comparing a slate and a piece of chalk to a printing press. Yes iPads are extremely expensive that's why I don't currently own one (I'm waiting for the mini iPad that's rumoured

). I don't think this is spectacular but it is more interesting to me to have an interactive experience from a device that can do more than just display books and pdfs. As I said I'm curious about how the updates continue and I'm very curious about the Warhammer Fantasy Army books because they already have FAQs and errata so an iBook version of those books might have more extensive changes compared to the 40k Codices. I'd also be interested to hear how the new psychic abilities are covered.

**scarletsquig**

As someone who develops for both platforms, there is absolutely nothing stopping GW from making this available as an Android App as well, unless they were stupid enough to hire developers who didn't know how to write cross-platform code and scalable content.

**Nvs**

What is the quality of these books? Are they just effectively pdf scans of the books? Or are the fully interactive, animated, etc etc. And with the updates, what's the rule? 1 free update, free updates for a year? Always free updates (LOL!)?

**bhsman**

Nvs wrote:What is the quality of these books? Are they just effectively pdf scans of the books? Or are the fully interactive, animated, etc etc.

Yakface did a review and seems to have concluded that it was not just a .pdf-esque port but an iBook in its own right.

**Griever**

Nvs wrote:What is the quality of these books? Are they just effectively pdf scans of the books? Or are the fully interactive, animated, etc etc. And with the updates, what's the rule? 1 free update, free updates for a year? Always free updates (LOL!)?

There is a thread in this very forum where Yakface himself reviews it.

**ShumaGorath**

scarletsquig wrote:As someone who develops for both platforms, there is absolutely nothing stopping GW from making this available as an Android App as well, unless they were stupid enough to hire developers who didn't know how to write cross-platform code and scalable content.

Epub books need a lot of localization to devices and the market is significantly weaker than the iBook format for interactive content.

**yakface**

FYI, the Relic Blade is an example of something that seems to be updated but is not listed in the general FAQ. I'm sure there are more examples if looked closely enough. I will try to put together a comprehensive list when I can.

scarletsquig wrote:As someone who develops for both platforms, there is absolutely nothing stopping GW from making this available as an Android App as well, unless they were stupid enough to hire developers who didn't know how to write cross-platform code and scalable content.

Pardon my ignorance since I'm just a layman in this field, but given that GW has created their digital books in the iBooks v2.0 format (as opposed to an app), is it really so easy to convert? All my research has shown that while similar functionality can be found in ePub 3.0, there are core differences between the formats that require quite a bit of finessing to pull off.

**Sigvatr**

Vaktathi wrote:While it's nice that GW are updating it (though it's odd we feel that it's a bonus when they do something we expect of others), having only one codex available for a single device still seems very odd to me. I get that they are likely going to add all of them but they certainly seem to be taking their time, though the bigger issue is that it's iPad exclusive. For every iPad I see in a game store there's a Samsung or another brand, and 3 cheap gaming laptops to any tablet, and half the people in the store have smartphones.

GW is 2 years late to that party, and with tons of PDF's available out there (yeah yeah, piracy is bad and all that, but it's existence is a fact and it's widespread and ignoring it is ridiculous) it feels like a botique product being used to try and play catch-up.

I second that. I don't know why GW refuses to offer simple .pdfs to buy (at a f-ing LOWER price than the actual codex!). Those are around anyway, so...

**Bloodwin**

scarletsquig wrote:As someone who develops for both platforms, there is absolutely nothing stopping GW from making this available as an Android App as well, unless they were stupid enough to hire developers who didn't know how to write cross-platform code and scalable content.

Apple have a free app* for the mac that makes it easy to create iBook content. This means you can have all the bells and whistles with no coding hassles that might cause testing problems and bugs. On one hand it's Apple's way to help people make 'high quality' iBooks to show of their device in the best way. On the other hand it's also a way to lock content creators into their own device. This makes it hard for GW (or any content creator) to create content for rival devices. Also on Android the variety of devices means that you can develop for the high end (expensive) phones or make a more universal app that has less functionality.

*computer programs have always been called 'applications' on the mac hence the abbreviation of 'app'.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Sigvatr wrote:
Vaktathi wrote: ...it feels like a botique product being used to try and play catch-up.

I second that. I don't know why GW refuses to offer simple .pdfs to buy (at a f-ing LOWER price than the actual codex!). Those are around anyway, so...

That'd be because GW want to make money and as much of it as possible for the minimum effort. That's what businesses are. GW have seen that iPads are popular among some of it's players, like many folks they are a bit cynical and they think that and iPad owner has more money than sense. Now who would you market your products to? A person with not much income who wants to play at the lowest price point possible? Or someone with more money than sense? I hear Forge World are doing quite well for themselves, and Black Library digital and audio are kind of popular too. Also on a tangent, look at the 40K IP - is it the great masses of humanity that get first releases? Or the humble new race on the block? No. It's the elitist Space Marines who are sold in small numbers for maximum profit. It's not really any wonder that there's a tight fit between GW and Apple, they both pander to the Middle Classes and aspiring upper working class with more money than sense.

So, no. I doubt you will ever see a cheap PDF from GW. Black Library on the other hand will take your pocket money and the pocket money of those who can't afford to play but love the fluff. (see the NYT best sellers list)

**Horst**

Why wouldn't they just release it through kindle?

has apps on android and iphone, and can be used on your computer too.

**yakface**

Sigvatr wrote:
I second that. I don't know why GW refuses to offer simple .pdfs to buy (at a f-ing LOWER price than the actual codex!). Those are around anyway, so...

You answer you own question right there!

GW have shown absolutely no interest in the concept that giving away free rules equals increased revenue. Therefore they do not pursue that concept.

So in their mind I'd wager that the idea of either giving away or selling PDFs at a cheap price would be completely counter-intuitive, as it would (in their minds) undercut the sales of the physical codexes and quickly be passed around the internet thereby undercutting the sales of their ebooks as well.

I know that there are plenty of studies arguing that this does not actually happen (that people will pay for stuff they can get legally and that often digital sales lead to increased book sales), however GW is not the first company to reject this notion.

By pricing their ebooks the same as the physical copy and putting them on an extremely closed platform, their goal (currently) with these ebooks looks very simple:

This is not a supplement for your paper codex, this is an alternative version of the same codex for those who have access to the format and are willing to pay the price. You do get an arguably better experience with the ebook than the physical codex, so there is some value for those considering going digital-only with their codex purchases in the future.

Automatically Appended Next Post:

Horst wrote:Why wouldn't they just release it through kindle?

has apps on android and iphone, and can be used on your computer too.

Again, Apple released a proprietary format called ibooks 2.0 a while ago that made it really easy for people to author really rich, interactive books. This was primarily designed for textbooks, but obviously has made it easy enough that it is an attractive option for companies like GW to publish on. But it is a proprietary format that apparently is not directly comparable to any other ebook format and therefore any transition to another format would require additional work, and given that the iPad dominates the tablet market, they likely do not see the proper sales margin worthy to make that effort, although that may well change in the future for all we know.

But beyond that, the fact that ibooks 2.0 is a locked format is also likely another reason why GW chose that format, and only that format. Once they create a general ebook file for any other device, it becomes much, much easier for that file to be passed around and used for free, which I believe is something GW is afraid of.

**Indarys**

Sigvatr wrote:
Vaktathi wrote:While it's nice that GW are updating it (though it's odd we feel that it's a bonus when they do something we expect of others), having only one codex available for a single device still seems very odd to me. I get that they are likely going to add all of them but they certainly seem to be taking their time, though the bigger issue is that it's iPad exclusive. For every iPad I see in a game store there's a Samsung or another brand, and 3 cheap gaming laptops to any tablet, and half the people in the store have smartphones.

GW is 2 years late to that party, and with tons of PDF's available out there (yeah yeah, piracy is bad and all that, but it's existence is a fact and it's widespread and ignoring it is ridiculous) it feels like a botique product being used to try and play catch-up.

I second that. I don't know why GW refuses to offer simple .pdfs to buy (at a f-ing LOWER price than the actual codex!). Those are around anyway, so...

Because offering a version of your rules at half price pisses off distributors? It's why digital video games are the same price as retail ones--no one blasts steam for pricing new games at 60 bucks, because it makes sense. It doesn't make any sense to sell one version of your codex 50% off, all you'll do is piss off distributors and retailers.

**ShumaGorath**

Indarys wrote:
Sigvatr wrote:
Vaktathi wrote:While it's nice that GW are updating it (though it's odd we feel that it's a bonus when they do something we expect of others), having only one codex available for a single device still seems very odd to me. I get that they are likely going to add all of them but they certainly seem to be taking their time, though the bigger issue is that it's iPad exclusive. For every iPad I see in a game store there's a Samsung or another brand, and 3 cheap gaming laptops to any tablet, and half the people in the store have smartphones.

GW is 2 years late to that party, and with tons of PDF's available out there (yeah yeah, piracy is bad and all that, but it's existence is a fact and it's widespread and ignoring it is ridiculous) it feels like a botique product being used to try and play catch-up.

I second that. I don't know why GW refuses to offer simple .pdfs to buy (at a f-ing LOWER price than the actual codex!). Those are around anyway, so...

Because offering a version of your rules at half price pisses off distributors? It's why digital video games are the same price as retail ones--no one blasts steam for pricing new games at 60 bucks, because it makes sense. It doesn't make any sense to sell one version of your codex 50% off, all you'll do is piss off distributors and retailers.

Valve doesn't typically set the price of the products on steam.

**Sigvatr**

Indarys wrote:
Sigvatr wrote:
Vaktathi wrote:While it's nice that GW are updating it (though it's odd we feel that it's a bonus when they do something we expect of others), having only one codex available for a single device still seems very odd to me. I get that they are likely going to add all of them but they certainly seem to be taking their time, though the bigger issue is that it's iPad exclusive. For every iPad I see in a game store there's a Samsung or another brand, and 3 cheap gaming laptops to any tablet, and half the people in the store have smartphones.

GW is 2 years late to that party, and with tons of PDF's available out there (yeah yeah, piracy is bad and all that, but it's existence is a fact and it's widespread and ignoring it is ridiculous) it feels like a botique product being used to try and play catch-up.

I second that. I don't know why GW refuses to offer simple .pdfs to buy (at a f-ing LOWER price than the actual codex!). Those are around anyway, so...

Because offering a version of your rules at half price pisses off distributors? It's why digital video games are the same price as retail ones--no one blasts steam for pricing new games at 60 bucks, because it makes sense. It doesn't make any sense to sell one version of your codex 50% off, all you'll do is piss off distributors and retailers.

Compare price changes online vs offline. Most games on steam frequently get discounts, drastically lowering the average amount of $ you need to spent on games compared to buying retail.

And seriously, at the price that GW offers their codex, they should just give each customer a redeeming code for a free .pdf version. "OH NOES THE PIRATEZ". Point? If people want to pirate stuff, they wouldn't have bought it anyway.

Like..seriously, I am not going to bring that huge, heavy BRB everytime I play a game of 40k. My ebook reader is a *lot* lighter.

**ShumaGorath**

Sigvatr wrote:
Indarys wrote:
Sigvatr wrote:
Vaktathi wrote:While it's nice that GW are updating it (though it's odd we feel that it's a bonus when they do something we expect of others), having only one codex available for a single device still seems very odd to me. I get that they are likely going to add all of them but they certainly seem to be taking their time, though the bigger issue is that it's iPad exclusive. For every iPad I see in a game store there's a Samsung or another brand, and 3 cheap gaming laptops to any tablet, and half the people in the store have smartphones.

GW is 2 years late to that party, and with tons of PDF's available out there (yeah yeah, piracy is bad and all that, but it's existence is a fact and it's widespread and ignoring it is ridiculous) it feels like a botique product being used to try and play catch-up.

I second that. I don't know why GW refuses to offer simple .pdfs to buy (at a f-ing LOWER price than the actual codex!). Those are around anyway, so...

Because offering a version of your rules at half price pisses off distributors? It's why digital video games are the same price as retail ones--no one blasts steam for pricing new games at 60 bucks, because it makes sense. It doesn't make any sense to sell one version of your codex 50% off, all you'll do is piss off distributors and retailers.

Compare price changes online vs offline. Most games on steam frequently get discounts, drastically lowering the average amount of $ you need to spent on games compared to buying retail.

And seriously, at the price that GW offers their codex, they should just give each customer a redeeming code for a free .pdf version. "OH NOES THE PIRATEZ". Point? If people want to pirate stuff, they wouldn't have bought it anyway.

Like..seriously, I am not going to bring that huge, heavy BRB everytime I play a game of 40k. My ebook reader is a *lot* lighter.

Clearly it's a market they don't actually care about. Much like privateer. Much like most of their competitors really. Selling PDFs without a proprietary or locked format is generally regarded as an abysmal idea in industries that are rife with piracy (as gaming is).

**yakface**

I believe this is (hopefully) a complete list of information that you can find in the digital version of the new SM codex that isn't covered by GW's FAQ/errata. Note, that I have often paraphrased, you should not consider any of this to be verbatim rules text:

References to 'assaulting' throughout codex changed to 'charging'.

Pg 57 - Vortex of Doom: describes what happens when the Librarian embarked on a vehicle fails his psychic test (centered over the vehicle, hits against its rear armor).

Pg 64 - Chainfist: as rulebook summary (with note about Dreadnought version being a Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon that rolls 2D6 for armor penetration).

Pg 65 - Dreadnought Seismic Hammer: Sx2, AP1, melee, concussive, specialist weapon, unwieldy

Pg 69 - Drop Pod Internal Guidance System: includes text about a Drop Pod suffering a mishap if it scatters off the board.

Pg 71 - Techmarine Servo-arm: grants the model a single extra CC attack, made separately with the following profile: S8, AP1, melee, unwieldy.

SM Stormtalon: Aerial Assault rule removed. Supersonic rule as in rulebook.

Pg 85 - Sicarius' Talassarian Tempest Blade: S of user, AP3, melee, coup de grace. Coup de Grace: Sicarius may attempt a coup de grace attack in lieu of his normal close combat attacks. If it hits, it is resolved at S6, AP2 and has the Instant Death rule.

Pg 86 - Rod of Tigurius: S+2, AP4, melee, concussive, force, master-crafted.

Pg 87 - Cassius' Infernus Boltgun: 24" range, S1, AP5, rapid fire, master-crafted, poisoned (2+). Flamer portion of the weapon is as usual (one use only).

Pg 91 - Lysander's Fist of Dorn: S10, AP2, melee, concussive, master-crafted, specialist weapon, unwieldy. Also against vehicles with no Initiative value, whenever the Fist of Dorn inflicts any damage result, it also inflicts a crew shaken result.

Pg 92 - Shrike's Raven's Talons: S of user, AP3, melee, master-crafted, rending, shred, specialist weapon.

Pg 93 - Vulkan's Gauntlet of the Forge: has same profile as a heavy flamer.

Pg 94 - Khan's Moondrakkan: Space Marine bike that can turbo-boost up to 36".

Pg 94 - Khan's Moonfang: No profile listed for this weapon (beyond its special rule of inflicting instant death on a roll of 6 regardless of the target's toughness). Given that the errata changed all 'power swords' to 'power weapons' I guess given that this weapon has some special rules associated with it, makes it an 'unusual' power weapon and therefore is just a base strength, AP3, weapon, along with the special instant death rule.

Pgs 97-103 - Wargear: All entries match their rulebook summary profiles (missile launchers are *not* listed as having flakk missiles).

Pg 99 - Relic Blade: S+2, AP3, melee, two-handed.

**olcottr**

If you take the Relic Blade as an Axe, is it then S+3, AP2, Unwieldy?

**HeadClot**

Would pay GW money if they did this for the Kindle or Nook as well!

**Breotan**

Rules questions go here:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/forums/show/15.page