40K Death From The Skies – Half a White Dwarf?

Last autumn, Games Workshop pulled a surprise release with the Crusade of Fire campaign book. No previews. Back than, none of the rumour-mongers saw it coming. Now, the rumour-webs are abuzz with a similarly, even scarcer release in the pipelines for Warhammer 40K: the flyer expansion Death From The Skies. It is rumoured to even recycle rules from Crusade of Fire.

#1 – The rumour…

Via Faeit212

OK readers, its now official. I have the information for what will be in Death from the Skies and of course I am sharing all of it that I am allowed to. Here are the details.

No longer a rumor. Even I had concerns the image above was photoshop’d, but it is the real cover. There are no flyer releases listed out from what I have seen. Hopefully next month?

I also wonder which version of the Stormraven codex Space Marines and Black Templar will be able to use.

Death From the Skies (Direct only – Range item) 60040199031
sale through Direct on Saturday 16th February (no advanced order)
•A 72p full colour, softback, Warhammer 40,000 Compendium
•Contains a fantastic showcase of flyers available to collectors,
beautifully painted by the ‘Eavy Metal team
•Contains all the updated 6th Edition rules for the following Flyers:
- Stormraven (that can now be used in Codex: Space Marines and Codex: Black Templars)
and Stormtalon Gunship
- Valkyrie and Vendetta
- Ork Dakka Jet, Burna Bommer and Blitza Bommer
- Necron Night Scythe and Doom Scythe
- Dark Eldar Razorwing and Void Raven

•Includes the rules for the Space Marine Stormtalon Gunship and Ork
Bommer previously available in WD
•Contains cool new content – new scenarios as well as the Dog-fighting
rules from Crusade of Fire
•This compendium will be promoted on the web and by the blog
•English language only
•Please note: This product will go out of stock for short periods if
demand is high

#2 – … and what it means!

Why?

I really don’t get it. One one hand, it could have been a nice gesture by Games Workshop to re-publish the Dog-fighting rules from Crusade of Fire (which, in my humble opinion, aren’t that great) for those who missed that book (or simply don’t care for the Crusade of Fire campaign). It would even make sense, if it were a regular supplement. More so, if it has official additions and/or changes to existing Codexes, as this one is rumored to have (Dark Eldar Void Raven rules?).

One the other hand, publishing them again in an ultra-limited format speaks against that.

Moreover, the choice to only publish the book in English feels off. Why? Because they already published the dog-fighting rules in several languages with Crusade of Fire. Sure, they aren’t all that will be in Death from the Skies. However, if Death of the Skies has a similar, ‘image-heavy’ format as Crusade of Fire (and this rumour claims as much), it wouldn’t be much text to translate.

To the cynic in my, that just screams lazy.

40K has been riding high on the binge of limited editions, and some of them are nice. I have a limited edition Dark Vengeance box and a limited edition Dark Angels codex. Yet limited editions remain conspicuously absent from Warhammer Fantasy.

But 76 page (half a White Dwarf) booklets mixing re-cycled rules (which people may already have) with official rules (Void Raven!!) that many will desperately want, and rightly so, screams ruthless money-grab like little before. Yet while I can live with blatant money-grabs to an extend, this one seems almost deliberate in driving a wedge into the 40K meta-game.

Not good.

Your thoughts?

Z.

Image: ‘The Valiant’ painted by T1m0thy77. Many thanks. 

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