Have you been waiting to buy new 40k units to futureproof your army against any new Chapter Approved changes? Let’s look at the bigger picture.
It seems that on the Independent retailer side of the hobby the stores we polled recently all are reporting a slump in sales from Oct to now, during a time that traditionally should steadily increasing (if not exploding) as we head into the holidays.
Even interest in the new money-saving Battleforces seems to very low, compared to previous years.
But why? Well, if retailers are to believed, everyone is waiting for Chapter Approved 2018 to see what’s going to be good.
People don’t want to waste their money on already-expensive models only to have them be sub-par on the tabletop. Question is: What should GW do to fix this?
Here are our ideas:
Chapter Approved DLC
Here are some honest thoughts on how we feel Chapter Approved should be to better support the game, and retailers.
- A Free Digital Download
- It should constantly be updated with the most current information
- Chapter Approved should drop right after the Fall FAQ (more on that in a minute)
We feel that it should be on behalf of GW’s company to release the Chapter Approved changes online and for free. Mainly because the players spent enough money on their models, hobby supplies, codex, etc (many of which are already outdated on release). But you could also make the argument that this book fixes what some would call “loose” rules writing, and keeps the game moving forward- something that hobbyists should not have to foot the bill for year after year.
This would obviously be an act of good standing form the company for its player base amongst a string of PR missteps from raising prices massively on Forge World and some isolated but yet draconianly harsh hobby policies.
The benefit to having Chapter Approved online for a digital download would be that GW can update the changes whenever the spring FAQ comes out, and players could just re-download the page and have all of the latest information in one spot. That way every major update to the game itself would be in one easily accessible and updated spot.
Doing this could cut down on resource bloating from past books/FAQs.
Vigilus Defiant and Chapter Approved are practically releasing at the same time. Will players want to drop nearly $100 just to keep playing? Make one a free download and the other an optional supplement (that could still be released in the holidays etc)
You might be thinking But GW won’t make any money if it’s a free download and in our opinion, you couldn’t be any more wrong.
They won’t technically make money off of the free download but remember the third bullet point?
- Chapter Approved should drop right after the Fall FAQ
If Chapter Approved hit the community after the Fall FAQ, it would prime their holiday sales like nobody’s business. We’re in a time now where people don’t want to buy anything because they don’t know the future of their faction’s units. Any retailer will tell you that is NOT where they want to be sales wise right now.
However, if Chapter Approved dropped months ahead of the holiday season, people would have a chance to digest the information and decide what will be worthy of the tabletop. Then, when the holidays roll around, they will start buying up those units, as well as the holiday releases alike!
Another reason is the lead time and change. It takes about 3 months to just get a book printed and into warehouses to be ready for release. That lead time makes it super difficult to “move” the CA book to another release spot during the year as it would interfere with the Premier Wargaming Convention of Adepticon in March and the smaller east coast-centric Nova Open in the last week of August.
If GW has the digital CA Book ready to be finalized going into late August that any final changes gleaned from that event can be added into “living” document, and then released alongside the FAQ or perhaps a week later.
Furthermore how awesome would it be to have smaller “cut-out” areas in the back of the document like the old days that you could remove and glue stick into your existing codex book with the latest changes- all formatted for that exact spot?
That could make folks feel better about all the changes to the game, and help keep new and old players alike more organized and aware of the current version of the rules.
As of right now, we have a hunch that Primaris will be getting stronger and have even more support coming their way. But this is really something that should’ve happened at the beginning of 8th edition. The point is, all GW has given us to go off of is the Battleforce boxes being full of Primaris. Obviously, as a business, they want to make something good so it will sell well.
Bottom line is that we are stuck with speculation and guesswork. When it comes to money, people don’t like to guess. They end up holding their hobby dollars and wait until everything is released.
Do you think Chapter Approved should be a digital resource that constantly gets updated? Should Chapter Approved drop after the Fall FAQ so people can see the changes before holiday shopping starts? Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group.
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.
