A different codex creep
I’ve been playing 40k for a long time and my collection of toy soldiers has become rather sprawling. I have three main armies, and each of those has a number of ancillary forces that can be allied in (or used together for an Apocalypse game). While I really enjoy the thematic idea of having a company of marines supported by a free blade, a requisitioned Shadowsword, and inquisitorial contingent, I’ve noticed a slight problem.
All their rules are really expensive.
Hidden figures
Your average codex will run you $70 CAD MSRP and gets you a full colour, hardback book loaded with rules, lore, and artwork, plus a code to unlock some of the rules in the 40k app (Crusade rules are book-bound). The length of codicies vary, but on average they are 120 to 130 pages. This, as far as I can tell, is the only legal way to acquire the rules for a given army.
There’s not exactly a comparable game to 40k that publishes large, hardcover army books. One similar wargaming tome would be Frostgrave’s core rulebook, which clocks in cheaper than a 40k codex at $40-50 CAD and has a page count of 225. A second is the Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook, coming in at about $60 CAD with a page count of 320. Compared to these, a 40k codex is not exactly great value. When you factor in the fact that some of the codex artwork, lore, and rules are recycled from previous editions, the cost of your average codex is quite high indeed.
Then there’s the life of your codex. If you’re a Space Marine player, your codex will be valid for the life of the edition–currently three years. Some books, however, are significantly more short-lived than that: the Astra Militarum and World Eaters 9th edition books were only valid for about half a year before they were indexed with 10th edition.
As 40k players, we generally accept that codicies don’t last forever and need to be replaced. You don’t need to buy every book that comes out, and for new players–who will typically have just one army–it’s not really a barrier as one codex and maybe a supplement is pretty minor. Or, if they play Combat Patrol, all the rules are free anyways.
Pinching pennies
I’m not a new player. I’ve been collecting for years and have models for a lot of different factions. For me to purchase the rules for my collection in 10th edition, along with narrative supplements, it would cost a pretty penny (prices are MSRP in CAD):
Core Rulebook – $80
Codex Space Marines (large Blood Angels successor chapter army) – $70
Codex Supplement Blood Angels (see above) – $41
Codex Imperial Agents (allied Inquisitors, Assassins, and random other Imperials) – $70
Codex Imperial Knights (allied Canis Rex) – $70
Codex Astra Militarum (converted Shadowsword & Traitor Guard army) – $70
Codex Chaos Space Marines (large Black Legion army) – $70
Codex Chaos Daemons (Khorne Daemon contingent) – $70
Codex Chaos Knights (allied Wardogs) – $70
Codex Death Guard (allied Plague Marines unit) – $70
Codex Thousand Sons (allied Rubricae unit) – $70
Codex Drukhari (Drukhari army) – $70
Codex Aeldari (allied Harlequin, Corsair, and Aeldari units) – $70
Pariah Nexus Crusade Supplement – $70
Unannounced 2025 Crusade Supplement – $70
Boarding Actions – $80
Total: $1,041
I think being expected to shell out more than a grand every three years to have the complete rules for the edition is a bit much–that could easily be another army. Even if I decide to not purchase the codicies for allied units, that’s still $500-600 for rulebooks alone (and, of course, there are matched play mission decks and codex reference cards as well).
Expectations
Purchasing any of these books is a choice. No one’s putting a gun to my head. But if you’re attending events, there’s an expectation that you have a copy of official rules (and, before tallying up the above, I shared this view) for the models you’re fielding.
Now to be fair, with the short life of an edition, I’m not necessarily going to have time to field every unit in my collection. I only play about one game a month and most of the time I’m sticking with the same list. And if I only need one unit’s rules, I could buy the card pack for the army, which are significantly cheaper than a codex (though do not provide access to the rules through the 40k app).
I think at its core, my issue is that codicies are not a great product: they’re bad value, a lot of the material is recycled, and they have a limited shelf life. GW’s target audience is new players, not old grognards like me with multiple apocalypse armies. For those new players, there’s nothing wrong with this system. You buy, build, paint, and play a Combat Patrol with free rules, then graduate to an army, where you just need to purchase your one codex and a set of missions (either a matched play deck, crusade book, or both). The rules overhead is relatively small.
But as a consumer who has purchased the company’s products for literal decades now, it would be nice to be factored into the consideration.
The digital age
With 10th editions detachment system, any allies units don’t gain special rules and stratagems. So if you’re fielding an allied unit, all you need is the datasheet for that unit.
GW already has a paid subscription and app in the form of Warhammer+: why not make allied datacards available on the app to subscribers? All the stratagems, detachment rules, and crusade elements are still exclusive to the codicies so that those cards are still relevant, and GW is still getting paid through the subscription.
Why would they do this when people will just buy the books? I’d argue they won’t. The sheer cost of purchasing multiple books for just a handful of datasheets is insanely high, and people can turn to any number of means to get those rules. Offering an alternative through a subscription ensures that GW still has revenue from those rules. Even if it was a higher subscription level, or the option to purchase datacards one at a time would be an improvement.
Warhammer…Warhammer never changes
Regardless of what the future holds, I don’t think we’ll see a change until the next edition. GW isn’t going to change their rules model halfway through an edition. I’m also under no illusions that someone at GW will read this or would make any changes if they did. Nevertheless, I feel like there’s an escalating problem with the value and shelf life of codicies and rulebooks. In previous editions, I’d eagerly buy codicies for ancillary armies and units. But with the increasing cost of these books I’ve become much more circumspect with those purchases.
This editorial spawned from a discussion in a local group chat. Thanks to Mike and Jeff for inadvertently helping with this!
