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Get Ready to Explore Warhammer 40,000 With DK Books Expansive Guide



I remember this being announced a while back, but couldn't find a thread for it.

RRP: £35.00 for Hardback, or £9.99 for eBook.

Despite being named "The Ultimate Guide", I bet they completely ignore the pre-Forge World licensed models in any historical model sections.

It looks like they at least are going to touch on OOP classic models, but how much history is this book going to cover? That would be the main draw for me. If it’s just “here is the current catalog with some commentary” and the only nods to history are showing the old versions of new stuff to show the glow up, the whole thing will be a hard pass.

Amazon has the back of the book, but none of the retailer pages have anything useful.

 Nevelon wrote:
It looks like they at least are going to touch on OOP classic models, but how much history is this book going to cover? That would be the main draw for me. If it’s just “here is the current catalog with some commentary” and the only nods to history are showing the old versions of new stuff to show the glow up, the whole thing will be a hard pass.

I fully have a feeling that last statement is what this will be, sadly.

 Platuan4th wrote:

 Nevelon wrote:
It looks like they at least are going to touch on OOP classic models, but how much history is this book going to cover? That would be the main draw for me. If it’s just “here is the current catalog with some commentary” and the only nods to history are showing the old versions of new stuff to show the glow up, the whole thing will be a hard pass.

I fully have a feeling that last statement is what this will be, sadly.

On the bright side, my wallet will be happy. Still might be interesting as a modern fluff bible of sorts, but I’m more a sucker for nostalgia mining.

Looks to be pretty much a catalogue with a few brief simple explanations and pointing out the most basic details. That cover art of just a photo of Guiliman's Miniature just seems so bland and uninteresting too.

A shame if it's something not really intended for people who are fans already, seems the sort of thing primarily for those starting.

Isn't that just the Champion from the generic Chaos Space Marines box?

beast_gts wrote:
Isn't that just the Champion from the generic Chaos Space Marines box?

I don't think so, I don't believe either of the CSM Champion tabard bits have a pair of skulls hanging from them.

That axe is different too.

It's just a current Chosen.

If there's a decent amount of older minis in there that could be an interesting book, but I fear the Chaos page example is about as much minis history we could get per faction.

Plus that cover is absolutely horrible, giant closeup of the not-that-great-Guilliman mini is as lame as it could have been. Could have used a few generation of marines instead (because it had to be marines I guess) to show the progression or something.

 Lord Damocles wrote:
It's just a current Chosen.

Ya, the same mini is even featured in the photos for the Chosen kit on GW's page, just not a full body shot.

I would treat myself but there'll be only a new edition in three years time....

Books like these become fascinating time capsules in time.

JewelKnightJess on Twitter has got a demo copy:

 Polonius wrote:
Books like these become fascinating time capsules in time.

Exactly. It may not be interesting now, but twenty years from now, you’ll be glad to have it.

Its £26.67 instead of £35 at mo on Amazon, with release date of next Thurs.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0241661315

Edit: I just noticed i pre-ordered mine on the 4th March, proper eager beaver lol

Wow, cant believe people actually consider paying for this.
I suppose its a good buy if you have enlisted for a terraforming project on mars.

 Fayric wrote:
Wow, cant believe people actually consider paying for this.
I suppose its a good buy if you have enlisted for a terraforming project on mars.

Many would say that about people buying miniatures... Tend to ignore those type of comments but on a toy forum someone mentioning this is just too ridiculous.

It looks so basic as to be near mindless.

 NAVARRO wrote:

 Fayric wrote:
Wow, cant believe people actually consider paying for this.
I suppose its a good buy if you have enlisted for a terraforming project on mars.

Many would say that about people buying miniatures... Tend to ignore those type of comments but on a toy forum someone mentioning this is just too ridiculous.

Yeah, sorry, it was not a very clever comment on my behalf.
My point is it dont contribute anything new and will be outdated in 6 moths or less. If you have access to internet, you have a wast, superior source of content, mostly for free. Its nothing like buying toy soldiers to use in a game or to build and paint for fun.

Remember when White Dwarf split into one weekly issue of articles and one monthly "showcase" edition that focused on photo articles, golden daemon and such. I gave it a chance back then, but everyone involved quickly realised it would ad nothing to the hobby as long as internet is a thing.
To me, it looks like a rather shameless attempt to sell a hack job to people who want to believe it will somehow be a classic someday.

I could also make a personal reference: I once found a nice big book with Neil Gaimans Sandman, a kind of Sandman companion book, with foreword by the author. Owning every other Sandman publication I gladly payed the rather expecive price for the book. And then I find, already in the foreword, Neil himself states he have a hard time understanding who would buy it, because it dont contribute anything new and is to niche and expencive to be aimed at new readers. Yeah, he was right, the book was a compleat waste of time and money. Probably ruined my goodwill to books like this.

I remember looking through my 2004 catalogue until the pages got thin.
Can’t imagine buying this “ultimate” guide though, now that we have a website with a 360 view option.
I would be interested, if it deserved its name and had ALL the miniatures GW ever made. (Split up by different games)
It would be cool, if the layout had shown the evolution of minis or if it was by faction and chronologically.
This? Meh. Would feel like buying(!) an Apple 2024 product catalogue or an Amazon show guide.

Lexicanum's miniatures portal is pretty great for seeing miniatures through the years - https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Portal:Miniatures

It's probably considerably more complete than the book will be.

I imagine we're not really the target audience for this, I suspect it's aimed more as something that might be picked up by a parent etc. as a Christmas present for someone fairly recently into the hobby. I've seen fairly similar books about Lego by the same publisher (usually for under £10 in The Works).

I'm guessing it will be available in fairly mainstream bookshops etc. and I would think for the target audience it could be quite cool, rather amazed to see any Forgeworld at all in there, but looks like it has a spread on the Manta at least (and I suspect some Titans as well), so it may well blow little Timmy's mind!

Yeah, DK makes lots of these Ultimate Guides. They are aimed more at people with a passing interest in a topic who want to learn more.

As far as pictures on the internet go, some people prefer books. They are not fools; they simply have a different preference.

 Pariah Press wrote:
Yeah, DK makes lots of these Ultimate Guides. They are aimed more at people with a passing interest in a topic who want to learn more.

As far as pictures on the internet go, some people prefer books. They are not fools; they simply have a different preference.

I prefer physical books myself, and don’t deem myself a fool I’m one of those weirdos, that flicks through old white dwarfs just to look at the pretty pictures with toy soldiers on them.
But “35 quid” and “aimed at people with a passing interest”, like in this specific example, is a bit of an oxymoron. I don’t doubt, that there is an audience. It’s just that it’s a 5 pound idea in a 35 pound package. (It’s GW, I know, I know)
Maybe I’m just sad, that it has no value for me whatsoever- little to no legacy of citadel miniatures on display.
I just have no idea what kid (or an adult) would prefer to get a book, when he can look at the same current minis on the website, instead of a proper kit for the same money/as a present?

One to keep an eye out for in The Works in a few months, I reckon. Won't object to picking it up cheaply that way, but I wouldn't pay RRP for it.