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Are Digital Edition Releases a Boon to Warhammer 40K?

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Clan Raukaan Codex Supplement

For the last month or so, longer even, Games Workshop Digital Edition really upped their output, releasing a torrent of digital Codexes and Codex supplements for Warhammer 40K. On a weekly basis, I’ve blogged about teasers and pre-orders for things like Sentinels of Terra, Codex: Adepta Sororitas, Codex: Inquisition, and – on sale today – Clan Raukaan.

#1 – The Upsides

On first glance, this certainly seems like a great development. More choice is usually a boon to any game. Moreover, Digital Editions are

  • Unshackled (it appears) from Games Workshop’s miniature-release pipeline. Though, sadly, this means that there likely wont be miniatures specific to eCodexes or Codex eSupplements, it also means they get to explore aspects of the background that don’t have as the “miniature-potential” for a full-fledged army release (e.g. Inquisition).
  • Sub-Factions. The eCodexes can explore sub-factions and sub-group of the popular 40K factions that are loved by (comparatively) small groups of stalwart fans, but may not have a following large enough for a “full” Codex (e.g. Clan Raukaan).
  • Staying up-to-date with the rules. eCodexes allow aging armies to stay on top of recent rules, even if (for whatever reason) new miniatures are failing to appear (e.g. Adepta Sororitas). Between the rapid release of Codexes and eCodexes, we may soon see an up-to-date 6th Edition army list for every (!) faction . That’s clearly a novelty.
  • Choice. There’s two sides on this, clearly. But many would agree, that more choice is always good. A highly vocal group of people have long been advocating that Forge World becomes fully “official”, mostly, presumably, because they felt the choice offered by non-Forge World GW is not enough. In the same vein, eCodexes easily expand player options.

#2 – The Downsides

That said, there are a few downsides, or possible downsides to consider.

  • English only. No Supplements or eCodex thus far has been translated into non-English languages. As regular Codexes are translated, it creates an odd two-part game in the non-English gaming world: those that use English books/supplements and those that don’t (admittedly, Forge World books suffer the same drawback).
  • Quality. Digital Editions is a new branch, possibly a new team. Hick-ups getting started are to be expected. Still, quality of digital releases hasn’t always been the best, and they appear to be cranking up the volume before the have their quality under control. Hmmm.
  • Sustainability. More choice is great. But what happens if I build an army based around an eSupplement, and Warhammer 40K 7th Edition comes round? What happens to Sentinels of Terra or Clan Raukaan, when a 7th Edition Space Marines Codex arrives? As much as GW is “up-to-date” with 6th Edition now, the vastly greater number of rules will mean a hell of a lot more updating on the next go-around… if they bother to update the supplements at all.

#3 – Thoughts?

My “pros-and-cons” so far. If  you have a few of yourself, feel free to add them.

Most of all, leave a comment and let me know if – all things considered – Digital Editions are making Warhammer 40K a better game? Or not?

Z.

Zweischneid

Zweischneid

I am Zweischneid. Wargame Addict. Hopeless painter and founder of Pins of War. I hope you enjoyed this article. Don't forget to share your favourite miniature pictures and wargaming videos at www.pinsofwar.net.
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  • D. B.

    Just ordered the Black Legion hardcover edition. Even if those books are a bit out of date at some point, they are still magnificent books of good quality. And we would never have these if it weren’t for eCodexes.

    I’m all for it.

  • wookieegunner

    One other pro is that it allows them to get the initial FAQ built into the printed version.

  • belverker

    My only concern is whether they will be supported or updated in future editions.
    Otherwise i am loving it, more fluff greater variety and the hardcovers do lpok nice when they are eventually released

  • hellhenni

    Things I like about the (e)Codex-Supplements:

    – they expand greatly on the fluff of each faction

    – they offer more variety on the field

    – they are mostly just tweaks and don’t make things OP (those idiots who spam 4 of uber-unit X are noone I like to play anyway)

    – they keep armies in the game (read Adepta Sororitas)

    Things I dislike about (e)Codex-Supplements:

    – english only! As you mentioned, the standard books are all available in a variety of languages.

    – mainly e-versions. I prefer to have a book in my hands.

    – difference between the e-versions of Apple and non-Apple products (iBooks seem, from what I’ve read, way more user friendly.)

    – Price for the Supplements is a bit too high.

    So far I’ve bought one Forgeworld book (Imperial Armour Apocalypse back in the days of the 1st Apo-edition) and the Iyanden codex supplement. I love both books and don’t regret buying them. It sucks to have mixed language books though. Beeing german, I own all other rule books / codex in german. As some rules / items have quite different names, it becomes hard at times to get what is what.

    This june I’ve been to a tournament in England and I had a blast there. Thankfully everyone was forgiving when I managed to mix the proper terms up (“twin-linked” weapons are called “synchronisiert” in german, so I said synchronised most of the tourney… *le sigh*).
    The fact, that not every supplement will be released as a print copy is sad, but I can understand that. It is way easier to handle to a mass of different books without having to store them physically somewhere or even have them produced in the first place.
    Maybe I should get me an IPad someday…

    To sum things up: I’m glad the way GW is handling things these days. It’s still an expensive hobby, but a hobby I enjoy investing my money in! :-)

    Cheers,
    Hendrik

  • Badgerboy1977

    I don’t really think it’s likely they will update 6th edition digital codices/supplements to bring them in line with the next set of rules when they are brought out and to be honest I think its a bit much to ask.

    Generally speaking when they bring out the next version of a codex for example it includes a large amount of new artwork, some extra units, expansion of fluff and so on and would I imagine require play testing with the new rule set, to ask them to provide all that extra work for free isn’t very realistic if you ask me.
    I’d say the best way to go about it might be to offer an upgrade at a reduced price for those who’ve already purchased it, whether that’s viable or is likely to happen or not I wouldn’t know.

    I do agree that they need to start offering them in other languages however as I’d have thought that would be easier with the digital copies and would make financial sense.

    • dynath

      That’s an entirely reasonable assessment but then GW isn’t a reasonable company sometimes so I doubt there will be an upgrade discount on the ebooks/digital…

  • http://pinsofwar.net/ Zweischneid

    Well, cool to see that the general reception is still positive (caveats notwithstanding).

    Seems to be much grief out there on these books ,)

  • Chronosmaximus

    “English only. No Supplements or eCodex thus far has been translated into non-English languages. As regular Codexes are translated, it creates an odd two-part game in the non-English gaming world: those that use English books/supplements and those that don’t (admittedly, Forge World books suffer the same drawback).” Why is this seens as a downside. In a modern global world, everyone should be able to speak english, beside their native language. WE need a language in wich we can all communicate on without the barriers of different nationalties. If the frennch, spanish poles and germans finally learned english as we all do in Scandinavia, we would be able to host great international gaming events in english, where the understanding of rules wouldnt be a problem, because everyone is used to reading and understanding the rules in english. Kind regards from Denmark.

  • Yggdrasil

    Well, I don’t own an iPad (yet), and I’ve so far refrained from buying the “simple” ebook versions, as I think the “interactive features” are one of the main advantages of that kind of format.
    Still, I bought the “Farsight Enclave” in printed form, and I’ve more than happy with it. The fluff part, if partly known, is nicely written (at least, not worse than the regular Codices), and the additional rules allow for some unique twists in the lists.
    Of course, I’m not a competitive player, only a casual one, so I’m all for the “more choice” upside !
    And I’m not hampered by the English language barrier, so… Moreover, I’d add that with luck, some people will be “forced” to get to grips with English if they want to get those rules… So that might help the English learning cause !! :D

    As some pointed out, and even though that usually isn’t a deterrent to me, I have to admit that I’m a bit disappointed about those products’ price range… They’re definitely expensive !

    But hey, who ever said the Hobby was affordable ?

  • dynath

    You know what, I know people want to wank on calling them “digital editions” but they are still just ebooks. I have a textbook on computer engineering in ebook format, its got videos, zoom-able images, and a bunch of interactive functions too. Its still just an ebook.

    GW is a bit late to the market on all of this and has missed a lot of the things that have come before. And like finecast I feel the digital supplements are a bill of goods.

    Cons not mentioned.
    Price – Ebooks are generally cheaper in all other market segments. Not just by a little bit but drastically. Supply chain being limited price is less of an issue and thus is usually lower.

    Recycling – a decent percentage of the text of these books is recycled. even much of the artwork is repetition. Taken from other sources its already paid for, driving costs lower and though reformatted it can’t take a terribly large design team to construct one of the supplements as a result.

    Rules Glut – This is touched upon by the OP but I see it as a much bigger issue. Its mentioned as an issue of sustainability but I feel its more an issue of play ability. In past articles its been mentioned that some players use forgeworld without knowing the rules of forgeworld units. its the same potential problem with these supplements. to many exceptions to rules and to many special circumstances to keep strait. no one can know them all. Its a potential sink whole for arguments and drains entertainment out of the game.

    Unwanted Features – I’m not among the group that is bothered by this but I thought i should mention it. I have a friend who has an old,old,old version of the iPad, he buys the digital codex and constantly complains about their poor performance on the old device. Here’s the rub about it though. I tell him that’s his iPad not the ebooks but he argues otherwise. His defense, he doesn’t actually want the 3d rotations or pretty zoom able images of armies he doesn’t build. All he wants is the index, the actual rules, digital, and referable as a stand alone product for this army. Something that isn’t 400mb and lagging his device. He was the first to point out to me that the rotations and pretty pictures are generally marketing materials taken for the GW website which you can get for free in your browser. Funny.

    In the long run I feel the digital codex’s as they are are a money tap for GW more than something I actually want. I’d like to see the whole product come down in price or simply add more value I cared about. That said I’ve bought a couple ebooks in place of physical codex’s. At half the price, i’d probably by them in addition too which would be better for GW.

    Edited: because i miss spelled addition (face palm)

    • Badgerboy1977

      Just wondering why your friend with the iPad problems doesn’t buy the cheaper ePub versions without all the bells and whistles, surely that would solve those problems and save a few quid at the same time and also mean he’d have the option to use them on far more devices than just the fruity one?

      • dynath

        I can’t really answer for him why he chooses to buy something that isn’t what he wants but I believe what he actually wants is just the interactive index and maybe the 10 pages of each book that are actual rules. Even the epub version of the book isn’t just that. I’d have to say that a lot of the tournement goers I know would prefer that over the full codex or epub/pdf versions when available. My point was simply that the product just isn’t suitable for all players and so long as you are releasing a product for some players that other players have no or limited access to you are inherently making a walled garden that prevents adoption of your products/games.

        • dynath

          Sorry, he says it should have the index not just show you what the unit’s rules and essential options are but also include a basic picture of what the model generally looks like. A model identification function i guess. That’s a tournament useful function I’d say. Which arguably GW doesn’t support tournaments so not surprising it doesn’t exist.

          He also should open his own disquss account too.

          • Badgerboy1977

            Lol, yes he should :-)

        • Badgerboy1977

          Not sure I agree with you there, the ePub is available to anyone with a smart phone, tablet, laptop, pc and eReader and contains the same information as the ibooks version.
          The ibooks version may be more convenient but unfortunately is only available on the Apple eco system due to there not being a similar system availabe on any other device, that’s hardly GW’s fault and neither really is the lack of power in earlier iPads.
          They’ve produced something that has all the flair for those that have the equipment to access it and charge a premium for that due to the benefits it provides and then you have the ePub and quite often a print copy for the rest.
          Can’t really see how that excludes anyone to be honest.

          • dynath

            We will have to agree to disagree on the subject of exclusivity. In a laissez-faire economy price is an indication of rarity and exclusivity. IE demand outstrips supply resulting in inflated prices as a result of not everyone can have the thing they want and as a result part of the value of ownership becomes you have something others don’t. Thus exclusivity.

            Choosing to have the flagship product for a game be tied to a product that is already exclusive due to price is, in its self, an exclusionary decision. Its true that a product exists for lower priced tablet markets but it is inherently different and thus a person must “settle” for a product even when they want something else. It’s the same idea as Limited edition codex’s in print. Its true a standard edition exists but it doesn’t make the limited edition any less exclusionary. Except of course that some of these products won’t see physical print and may thus are inherently exclusive to digital adopters only. I personally feel that this exclusive practice of putting the best product on iPad devices is detrimental to the hobby but that doesn’t have to be your interpretation.

            Its true that the practice does include some outlet for those without an iPad. But its still a form of exclusivity that limits the potential customers even from within the limited pool of those who have already adopted the 40k game system. This is what i mean by a walled garden, you have a limited selection of customers and you actively section them off into camps based on what device they support and whether that are even buying via digital releases. This isn’t necessarily a malicious decision on the part of GW but it doesn’t make it a good practice in my eyes.

          • Badgerboy1977

            I feel you’re missing the point though, GW didn’t choose to only produce an interactive version for the iPad. It’s simply a case of the tools not being there to create something similar for Android and Windows devices. They could possibly create individual apps for each item with similar functionality but that could well be cost prohibitive and definitely more complex. ePubs for now are the only viable alternative really.

          • dynath

            No I understand the tools that GW is using are made for iPad. However there are equally robust tools available for google play books. Google play’s functionality is remarkably similar allowing specialized search index’s and cross referencing, internal and external linking, embedded audio and video, embedded picture viewing, and popup reference linking. Literally everything iBooks does that GW is using.

            But functionality is tangential to my argument. I think we see this differently on a fundamental level. In an abstract way your argument is that a man goes into a tool store to buy a wrench for a specific job and that wrench is only available in metric. Not his fault, no harm no foul. However I argue that a man is building a project that a customer has to assemble themselves (needs product and tablet both), the man chooses to only use metric bolts knowing full well a portion of the market only has standard wrenches. It’s a choice right or wrong they chose and someone doesn’t get a book shelf as a result. The argument that they can’t buy the kit for a 5 shelf book shelf but they can but the one for a 3 shelf book shelf doesn’t enter into it because they still can’t get what they want.

            Frankly my friends issues with an out of date iPad isn’t Games Workshop’s problem. Their decision to make more limited products on non-apple plateforms is their problem. You are right it may be a cost issue, or a staffing issue, or a tools issue. but it’s their issue and they choose not to tell their customers anything but “iPad only”. I just don’t think it’s healthy for a hobby that GW is purportedly interested in growing to have the best quality experience be tied to a specific device.

          • Badgerboy1977

            There really aren’t the same tools available for Android at all actually, I use Android phones and tablets myself and there are remarkably few interactive books available for it. All of which are individual apps which aren’t in the book store and the majority of which are US only.
            The only books and magazines available through the Play store (in the UK at least) are either ePubs or what appear to be pdf’s in the subscription based newsstand.
            There is absolutely no equivalent that allows the creation of those elements you describe in Google’s system, which is one of the few things I’m jealous of being an Android user

          • dynath

            the epub 3.0 standard is what android follows, which allows for and provides tools to construct interactive features using html5 and xml. epub 3.0 was released in 2011 and adopted by android in 2012. The technology exists whether people use it or not. I have a couple interactive books that include some videos and a popquiz in google play books that run on my clunky chinese android tablet. Given my 50 buck gingerbread knock off isn’t nearly as sweet as an iOS device but it can do it even if no one generally does. I’m sure its far easier to just scan a book in and call it done or convert an indesign document into epub directly but those features do exist.

          • Badgerboy1977

            I stand corrected, my info was clearly out of date I apologise.

            Maybe this should be pointed out on BL’s FB page or emailed to gw for a definitive answer as to why they’re not using that standard.

            Either way I refuse to believe that gw purposefully neglect a large part of their audience, it makes no financial or business sense to do so unless there is a specific reason otherwise unknown.

          • dynath

            As I said I don’t think any of this is malicious. But a lot of GW’s practices seem to defy certain common sense practices to me. They likely have their reasons but I don’t know what they are. I think that was over all my point, not that ebook products are entirely bad but that they require more work to be put into them before they serve a significant part of the population.