It may never happen, but an easy way for GW to build value would be to release Warhammer 40k rules and updates for free online, but still sell codex books…
How does would that even work? Okay, hear us out…
If we’re being honest, there are plenty of ways to get Warhammer 40k and AoS rules for free online, even though it might not be legal or even ethical, it happens pretty much all the time.
This is because, in part, that Games Workshop has insane rules creep with the soon-to-be multiple Chapter Approveds, supplements, FAQs, and books in general.
Worst yet it’s not just Warhammer 40k, AoS is becoming similar, and even games like Necromunda well good luck collating all those rules. Shockingly Adeptus Titancius has the same rules creep issue, but on a smaller more limited scale as well.
If you actually buy all the books, the price really starts stacking up, and let’s be honest it’s also a HUGE barrier to both new player entry and retention.
Free Warhammer 40k Rules Online & New Codex / Battletome Books
The first thing this would really help is piracy. How? Well, the majority of the sites that post rules sets directly could be considered piracy, if GW just did this themselves, it would mean a large portion of that would just disappear.
Plus they could charge a monthly fee for the privilege of access to this content. Apple proved a similar thing will work when they basically stamped out song privacy in the 2000s with iTunes and an easy legitimate way to access the content consumers wanted.
Secondly, it would get way more people into any of their games. When you look at just starting to play a single army, you have to buy the codex (which the price just increased to $55 now), any supplements (things like Charadon), and the Chapter Approved.
So right off the bat, that’s a lot. However, if you play Space Marines (the most common army for starting players) the money increases way more. We broke down how much it would cost to get all the rules for just Space Marines, which you can see in the whole article here, but let’s just look at the Space Marines cost below from 8th Edition Warhammer 40k.
Space Marine Codex Books
While you don’t need all of these, if you wanted to know what every Chapter did, you would have to pick them all up.
- Indexes (2): $50
- Codices (6): $240
- Supplements (6): $180
- Campaigns and PA (even more now…): $280
- Rulebook: $60
- Total: $810
That’s pretty wild to think just the Marine books make up for almost 45% of all the money buying each supplement in the game would require. They also got two main codices in one edition, and the first book of 9th.
When you think about the price of the game, the books are not helping! However what if you could access all that content for something like $5 a month? We think hobbyists would jump at the chance…
It Would be so Much Easier!
Not only would this save people money, keep new players in longer, and reduce piracy, it would just be so much easier! Every time Games Workshop updated something or came out with a new book, they would just have to upload a new PDF, and boom, it’s all good to go! It would reduce confusion over the many FAQs if everything was just updated in a new PDF.
Plus, this would allow for people to preview rules without going to other sites. Then, if they like the rules, they will buy minis. So, it could actually also get people buying more armies in the long run.
But what about the codex and battletome books? Well if you love the art and everything else in the codices sans the rules, guess what, Games Workshop could still sell them and plenty of people would buy them. We don’t even think it would change the sales that much.
Because if you love the faction, you want all the background and such. Heck, that’s why the collector’s editions work, and honestly, they would sell at least that many of a newly re-configured codex plus a portion of the numbers from the base codex books that they normally sell ON TOP OF some sort of online rules subscription.
Overall, it would just be so much easier, and possibly a value all to make Warhamemr+ Plus relevant again as a platform amid all the delays and technical shortcomings.
We hope Games Workshop decides to pay attention to the issues it faces going into a very difficult 2022 year as its stock continues to drop for a number of reasons including eroding consumer confidence.
Games Workshop was great once, and we’re here for when they will be great again.
Here are more articles on the issues that Games Workshop is facing now as their stock has dropped and investors have taken notice:
- Everything You Need To Know About Warhammer Plus
- Games Workshop NDA Leak More Damaging Than Their IP Policy
- YouTubers Have Started Attacking Warhammer TV
- Boycotts Don’t Work, Do This Instead to Games Workshop
- Lookout YouTube, GW Just Updated Their IP Guidelines
- Where GW Fan Creativity Ends & IP Infringement Starts
What do you think about the idea of free online rules for games like Warhammer 40k?
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About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
