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Ok, this post may end up being more of a rant, but:
One thing that annoys me to no end is reading posts by people who obviously do not own a rulebook. In the same vein, I have encountered people who have downloaded an incorrect (read: old) version of their codex and are mystified by the advice that they are given. I understand it's an expensive hobby, but I feel that a baseline for playing should be to buy your own codex and at least have access to a rulebook (3 friends sharing one I can understand).

Has this been an issue for anyone else? Also, how would you approach someone who doesn't follow this principle if you encountered them in a game?

I admit this annoys me but im a bit of a hypocrit early on in the game i dint buy a codex or rulebook but now i always have a codex imo you dont need a rulebook IF you only play at say 1 club and they have a copy

"It's an expensive hobby" is not an excuse not to own a copy of your own codex at the very least.

The codex is part of the must-have initial outlay, like Tac Squads if you play Marines. If your codex isn't available because you play Sisters, then you might be forgiven for posting basic rule questions about them.

I had a few rule based questions myself, but my annoyance is when people dont give a tiny bit more help than just "google it" type of answer.

Well enough you are not allowed to tell the rules and cope&paste them in here, but at least tell the page number and maybe where on the page it is at times.

And if its in a FAQ, why not help the poor fellow where it is, you can say "its on their home page" instead of linking it.

Tho, i agree that people have to get their rulebooks and such, but i am more annoyed of the "helpful" people at times, those who try to be "helpful" and give only a minimum of help and is more annoying than helpful leaving answers such as "you can find it in the BRB" or "its in the FAQ"....no gak?

NEVER!!!

I like owning ALL the books. Which is as much money as a downpayment on a house.

PDFs are the the only way I'll ever obtain my rulebooks.

I print them out. Make photocopies, then cut up the photocopies to lay them out far better than GW (I'm a graphic designer).

Slap them all in a binder for easier reading and call it a day.

I'm not saying everyone should do this but it's the only way I can.

I pay for all the books I own - some are second hand, some new - but I have all edition of 40K and most Codexes for all editions- although sadly not the two most recent ones as I feel they are a rip off for what you get. If I see them cheap on ebay I will pick them up then.

Buy the books for the armies you play, pretty simple.

I don't mind using PDFs, or folks who use PDFs. I've even had folks who just jotted down the information they needed and made their own little codex.

However, I do have a...let's call him a 'Friend'...who outright refused to purchase his new Chaos Demons book because of how expensive it was. He insists on using the old rules entirely because he had the pdf and it was easy to obtain. THAT was frustrating...ESPECIALLY since the new demons were so much better.

So...I'm okay with pdfs. But only if they actually take the iniative to make sure they have the most up to date rules as possible. For good or for ill.

My oppinion is that if some one is asking about s rule give them the answer no harm no foul there. But if it is blateny obvious that some one doesent have their codex for their army and they say "i have this this and that builud me a list dakka" thats where i draw the line. I get annoyed when i see the same person has posted the same question four times in less than an hour saying what i said above.

 DeffDred wrote:
NEVER!!!

I like owning ALL the books. Which is as much money as a downpayment on a house.

No it's not. It'd be like £200...for a full set of high quality rulebooks. I don't know how much rulesets for other companies cost but I'd bet it's comparable.

Having said that I don't actually own any codexes. I don't have the time/money at the moment. Hopefully I a few weeks I simply won't have the time

They're like pokimons or yu-gi-o or VDs. Gotta collect em all!

 kronk wrote:
They're like pokimons or yu-gi-o or VDs. Gotta collect em all!

Dang that's a lotta reading!
Wonder if I could borrow them for a couple of months

 BryllCream wrote:

 DeffDred wrote:
NEVER!!!

I like owning ALL the books. Which is as much money as a downpayment on a house.

No it's not. It'd be like £200...for a full set of high quality rulebooks. I don't know how much rulesets for other companies cost but I'd bet it's comparable.

Having said that I don't actually own any codexes. I don't have the time/money at the moment. Hopefully I a few weeks I simply won't have the time

All the books including all the FW Imperial Armour books and expansions (Apoc, Cities of Death, etc.)? That's when you know you have all the books, and the Emprah will come down from the sky and grant you the perfect rule-set

Not going to pay more than 30€ for a 100 page book, sorry.

 washout77 wrote:

 BryllCream wrote:

 DeffDred wrote:
NEVER!!!

I like owning ALL the books. Which is as much money as a downpayment on a house.

No it's not. It'd be like £200...for a full set of high quality rulebooks. I don't know how much rulesets for other companies cost but I'd bet it's comparable.

Having said that I don't actually own any codexes. I don't have the time/money at the moment. Hopefully I a few weeks I simply won't have the time

All the books including all the FW Imperial Armour books and expansions (Apoc, Cities of Death, etc.)? That's when you know you have all the books, and the Emprah will come down from the sky and grant you the perfect rule-set

Or you'll collect for five or so years, only to find out GW's replaced them all with an even poorer set of rules that you have to buy again.
And then again...
And again...
Until they die / you run out of money

I download a PDF of a Codex to see if the army will do the kind of things I want; if I want to use it, read the fluff OR genuinely like the book, I will buy the codex.

I have a codex for everything but; Nids, GK, WitchHunters (lol), Space Wolves and Black Templar.

Rest assured; if I ever pursue the army, I will be buying the 'dex. Can't beat having the book in your hands.

I'd love to buy the 5th edition Sisters of Battle codex.

Sadly, it is not for sale.

Thats is a fair point and purely GW's fault - I would have no problem with people using whatever method in that case.

If they can't be bothered to have a army list in print for a current army.................

Nah you don't want to buy codex then fine, and glad to help. Those are such an obvious rippoff that I don't feel the need to tell people buy it, don't pirate it or whatever. Many people I know don't buy the books at all, ussualy after spending a last dime on models to be able to play a 1500 point game.

i don't even play the game, but i've bought pretty much every book GW has published for the last 25 years...
i love the stories, images, and painted minis...
i want the artists who create worlds i enjoy to stay employed, so i do my little bit...

this is why i don't pirate anything...
not because i think it's wrong (personally, i don't judge what someone else chooses to do), but because it's my way of showing my appreciation for the artists...

cheers
jah

 DeffDred wrote:
NEVER!!!

I like owning ALL the books. Which is as much money as a downpayment on a house.

PDFs are the the only way I'll ever obtain my rulebooks.

I print them out. Make photocopies, then cut up the photocopies to lay them out far better than GW (I'm a graphic designer).

Slap them all in a binder for easier reading and call it a day.

I'm not saying everyone should do this but it's the only way I can.

Are you saying that you torrent these PDFs or otherwise obtain them illegally?

If so, you are a thief. Plain and simple. It's not the "only way you can". Sorry. Not buying. You can tell yourself that all you want if it makes you feel better about being a thief, though.

Whatever. I am not judging you. But it galls me when people on this forum try to justify criminal activity with the flimsiest of excuses. Just come right out and say you are a thief.

Oh no he downloaded the PDF. Someone call Interpol FBI and cops now.

I'm a thief. ^^

No, not really. I actually own physical copies of almost everything I've downloaded.

 Xenocidal Maniac wrote:


Are you saying that you torrent these PDFs or otherwise obtain them illegally?

If so, you are a thief. Plain and simple. It's not the "only way you can". Sorry. Not buying. You can tell yourself that all you want if it makes you feel better about being a thief, though.

Whatever. I am not judging you. But it galls me when people on this forum try to justify criminal activity with the flimsiest of excuses. Just come right out and say you are a thief.

The real thiefs are GW and their ridiculous prices for their books and products, I say its just getting even, good job on him for being smart and bypassing a system that is cheating players like you and me everyday.

Yea, i agree if youre going to try to save money on this hobby the BRB/atleast YOUR codex shouldnt be getting the budget cut.
I own my own brb/ork codex/tau codex, but i have pdfs for the rest because i dont play them its just so i can learn the race a bit better w/o stealing someone else's book lol.
You can tell my ork codex has some age on it. Its all sun-bleached and frilled while my Tau is brand spankin' new (no i didnt buy it either someone gave it to me when i mentioned i was gonna get some tau for my orks to ally up with)

PDFs only urk me when people use their tiny android phone to read it on. For statlines, its easy to read, but for bigger rule descriptions ... ugh...

Print the pdfs, everyone wins

Let's not forget about the FAQ though, people need to carry those around as well. They are more important than the BRB because you will always have a BRB where you play, but chances are you don'T have the FAQ handy.

 BryllCream wrote:

 DeffDred wrote:
NEVER!!!

I like owning ALL the books. Which is as much money as a downpayment on a house.

No it's not. It'd be like £200...for a full set of high quality rulebooks. I don't know how much rulesets for other companies cost but I'd bet it's comparable.

Having said that I don't actually own any codexes. I don't have the time/money at the moment. Hopefully I a few weeks I simply won't have the time

Yeah but I have every single codex, White Dwarf article, Imperial Armour, FFG, Black Library (art related only) and rulebook from every edition.

That would all cost a pretty penny.

Also got all the Warmahordes rules too.

GW aren't stealing anything. GW are setting their prices at the top of what the market is willing to support.

You're the fools who are keeping them there.

I usually try to carry the FAQ for my races, BRB FAQs people tend to memorize pretty quick (least i do anyway) and most of it doesnt even affect my army to begin with (exception: the new Out of Range "FAQ" that dropped a month or so ago).
Hell, as Tau you almost just need the FAQ right now. Almost the entire codex is FAQed lol.

Tired of people saying the hobby is too expensive. It's not an excuse. So what is next then? Stealing minis then? They are way more over costed than the codicies.

While GW is expensive, it's not an excuse to say it's ok to steal.