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Editorial- Digital Releases ARE they Supplemental?

By Rob Baer | August 12th, 2013 | Categories: Editorials

Well it’s August now and Games Workshop is once again set to release another digital supplement.


So what does it all mean?  Will GW continue to drop these supplements on is first via digital, and then via paper form?  Well no one really knows, but I read a great article the other day, that has some real good food for thought.

Check it out below. -MBG

Courtesy of Blood of Kittens

GW Apologist: It’s only Supplemental Folks!

Posted by  on Jul 29, 2013

Reviled as a bad company, proving everyday with a price hike their or a frivolous lawsuit here, and seemly getting in the way of their amazing IP and products. That is a general refrain from many chatter heads on the Internet. These folks usually fall into two categories.

They either have a model addiction then complain about not being able to kick the habit or you have the 12 steppers who have kicked the habit, but continue to complain (gloat) about the company.
So, with that in mind, I understand how it would be hard to get excited with GW recent trip into the digital frontier with 40k Supplements. I get it, they are too expensive and they only work on a Ipad, oh wait you can get them cheaper on any device. Besides the high price and digital medium you only end up getting overstuffed fluff, pictures, and two pages of rules.
Once again the general public isn’t the target, and this fact seems to be lost on everyone. This is for the player that has a love affair with the very small segment of a particular faction within a faction.
If you don’t like Iyandan don’t buy and don’t feel cheated because you won’t or can’t. This is what you always begged GW to do: expand on the 40k universe. Shall I remind you supplements in the past have always been small and over priced. The damn 2000 Craftworld codex was only 24 pages, for what $20 bucks?
Now you get 74 pages an entire fluff section, gallery, rules, and somehow they charge you for it, so you start crying… give me a break. GW knows if they mass print these things they would loss money since so many would sit on shelves after people copied the rules. True, the “collectors” edition and print editions are money grabs, but they know the limit of actual players that would buy a hard copy.
GW is giving players everywhere exactly what they want: Choice. 6th edition and its codexes are the most consistent rules set I have ever seen; now some claim 6th has created blandness. These are the same people who only ever see every unit by itself in some isolated forest without any trees.
They are also the same people who spam the same unit and can only build one list, but 6th is bland. Did they know that combining allies and fortifications has created a truly dynamic game system. Now with supplements, players will eventually get the faction they love, and at the same time keeps “bland” codexes fresher.
I personally, don’t own any of the supplements yet, but I will be the first to buy the Bad Moon supplement and Genestealer Cult, because I love the back story and the nostalgia. That is the target player GW is aiming for, they don’t intended every player to buy every supplement. I think their intention is for people who like a faction to get a fraction.
Besides if they weren’t digital GW wouldn’t even bother; the quickness and nominal cost of digital has made this all possible, and still people bitch. The supplements are maybe the best thing to happen in a long time. If you can look past the price for once, and understand they’re not a requirement, then maybe you can see why some people are happy their little corner of the 40k universe got some love.

About the Author: Rob Baer

rob avatar face

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.

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