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Hello all!

I've been dutifully painting up my Iron Warriors Tactical Marines and have a copy of the recently released "Legiones Astartes : Age of Darkness Legions" book on its way.

Question #1
I thought I had read somewhere that the "Legiones Astartes : Crusade Army List" was also being updated, so I haven't bought it yet. Is this true?

Question #2
I notice that Black Library is selling an ePub version of the Taghmata Army List (http://www.blacklibrary.com/horus-heresy/hh-cod-sup/HH-taghmata-army-list.html). I'd really prefer to have ePub versions of the other books as well. Have there been any rumblings about Black Library releasing ePub versions of the Crusade Army List or Age of Darkness Legions books?

I don't want to waste money on a book that is going to be replaced shortly. I also don't want to waste money and storage space on a physical book when there will be a cheaper ePub version available.

1) apparently they are working on it, though thinking about it, it will probably be out later this year (maybe) when they are said to be releasing book 7

2) so far it's only mechanicum, but I imagine that the rest will be ported over. I like the price, I'm just partial to actual books since you can't ruin a book's 'screen' as easy as you can a tablet, especially at a crowded lgs.

 Brennonjw wrote:
1) apparently they are working on it, though thinking about it, it will probably be out later this year (maybe) when they are said to be releasing book 7

2) so far it's only mechanicum, but I imagine that the rest will be ported over. I like the price, I'm just partial to actual books since you can't ruin a book's 'screen' as easy as you can a tablet, especially at a crowded lgs.

So, sounds like I can reasonably expect the current Crusade Army List book to be valid for maybe 6 months or less. I think paying ~54 USD (32 GBP + Shipping) for a book that is going to become a paperweight before year's end and THEN paying another ~54 USD is a little much. I'd much rather pay 35 USD (for an ePub version) once. I guess I'll keep mooching off my buddies and wait for the new edition to come out.

I'm not particularly worried about ruining my tablet. I rarely play in gaming stores and when I do, I just print out the relevant unit entries. If someone complains and wants to see the "original rules", I just pull my iPad in its very protective Otterbox case out of my bag and show them. I think I've ever only had one person ask.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I doubt they'll respond with anything useful, but I just emailed Black Library asking if ePub versions of the other rulebooks were in the works. Who knows, the new GW seems a little more open. I might get a useful response.

I know how you feel. I sprung for the nice leatherbound version in the isstvan collectors edition.

So, I got a response from Black Library. It's oddly honest.

Black Library <contact@gwplc.com>
4:42 AM (3 hours ago)

to me, contact
Hi kris,

Thanks for yoru email. If I am honest this will depend on how popular the taghmata ebook is. If there's a market for it then almost certainly.

Thanks


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I think there's going to be a huge market for e-book versions of the red books, especially outside the US. I think a lot of gamers will also pick these up so that they can leave the physical books at home and just bring the tablet with full rules on it to the game store. Everything I've seen so far in regards to responses to the e-version of the Taghmata book has been overwhelmingly positive.

My concern is that the Taghmata book was probably a poor choice of book to test the waters of digital and that it not selling well will be blamed on ebooks not being in demand rather than the content itself not being in demand.

Seriously, they couldn't have led with the crusade legions book?

 Dr_Keenbean wrote:
My concern is that the Taghmata book was probably a poor choice of book to test the waters of digital and that it not selling well will be blamed on ebooks not being in demand rather than the content itself not being in demand.

Seriously, they couldn't have led with the crusade legions book?

That was sort of my thought. Then again, we have no idea how many copies they have to sell to justify the effort. Presumably, there already exists a finished electronic copy of the book that could relatively easily be ported to ePub3 format. I'm assuming this process involves some testing and format tweaks, but it's probably a one person job. The infrastructure to sell these things online already exists and is in house. In other words, I doubt they have to sell that many copies to financially justify the effort.

Kind of makes sense to NOT lead off with one of the other books. Let's say the ebook version totally cannibalizes sales of the physical version. You'd want to test the waters with your least popular book. If you lose physical sales, it's not as big of a hit.

On the assumption that the mechanicum list is the most likely to need updating or have new units added i think it makes sense IF the intention is to offer free updates for the digital versions. I don't know how the 40k codex e-book editions work though, would/do they do that?

I know that the iOS exclusive "Enhanced Editions" do update. I don't know about ebooks purchased directly through BL getting updated or not.

Wasn't one of the first leaks of the Black Legion and Crimson Slaughter supplements that got re-released a few weeks ago from someone getting the update on their iPad?

No joke though, if the Legion books came out digitally I would buy them yesterday.