Games Workshop, Forge World and Black Library December 2013 Book Releases

Summary of all physical print products released by Games Workshop, Forge World and Black Library in December 2013

Games Workshop

Codex: Space Marines Ultima Edition - £150
Warhammer 40,000: Stronghold Assault - £20
Warhammer 40,000: Escalation - £30

Games Workshop Limited Edition Releases December 2013 - Ultima Edition, Chaos Collection and more

Games Workshop have really outdone themselves in book releases, 4 (yes 4) limited edition books are on sale from Games Workshop for the Christmas period as well as a number of new rulebooks in standard edition.

Three of these have a lot going for them in terms of being lovely collectors items. As of 13/12/2013, none of them have sold out, but this isn't too surprising considering the number and cost (£430 all told).

Codex Space Marines Ultima Edition

Spotlight on Collecting: Inferno! Magazine

This is a quick introduction to collecting Inferno!, the short fiction magazine from Black Library publishing.

Black Library and Games Workshop have published a whole host of specialist magazines, of which the most well known is possibly Citadel Journal. All except White Dwarf have died a death, and it is unlikely that there will ever be any other physical magazine prints due to digital focus (e.g. Hammer & Bolter in 2012)

Traitor's Gorge - Mike Lee (2013), Review part 1

Following on from my review of Mephiston: Lord of Death by David Annandale (2013), I thought I would do the same for the other current limited edition "Traitor's Gorge" by Mike Lee (2013). This is an "Event Limited Novella" That means that if you don't live in the UK and also go to one an event here where Black Library are in attendance then bad luck, you can resign yourself to waiting for the eBook or using Ebay. Slight Change: These will also be available at Adepticon in Chicago, USA, and Mike Lee will be there as well, so the lucky few can get them signed. As with my Mephiston: Lord of Death review this is part 1, a look at the book itself, A review of the story will be in part 2, coming at a later date.

Here is my full list of Limited Edition Novellas, Chapbooks and Anthologies published by Black Library for reference.

On Black Library Limited Edition Signature Pages

In my post Mephiston: Lord of Death - Review part 1 I talked about the Signature pages in Black Library Limited Edition/Time novellas and how I felt they could do with improvement. It was pointed out to me by "Emeryt" in the comments section that Black Library had briefly touched upon this in one of their "Brotherhood of the Storm" email updates (sent to people who had ordered the Novella and were waiting for it to arrive).

Mephiston: Lord of Death - David Annandale, Review part 1

My copy of the latest "Limited Time Novella" from Black Library: Mephiston: Lord of Death by David Annandale arrived yesterday and I could barely contain my excitement as I opened the  parcel. This review will be in two parts; part one will focus on the product itself, basically what you get for your £35. Part two will be a review of the actual story contained within. Here is my full list of Limited Edition Novellas, Chapbooks and Anthologies published by Black Library for reference.

Black Library Live! 2013 - Write Up

I realise this is somewhat after the event but here is my write up of the event which took place on 2/3/13. This is mostly focused on the "experience" rather than the information disseminated by authors and editors as I feel these are pretty well covered already, have a look at Warseer, Bolthole & Heresy-Online, check them out if you want to know stuff.

Shadowsun by Braden Campbell – Up for Pre-Order

Just a quick one to say that Shadowsun – The last of Kiru’s Line by Braden Campbell is up for pre-order now form the Black Library website  and will be released later this month. Here is the over the top trailer if you want to get excited.

New Horus Heresy Limited Edition/Time Novella Announced: XIX – Raven Guard

Black Library has put up the teaser trailer for their next “Limited Time Novella” to be formally announced on 29^th March 2013. 

Horus Heresy Weekender - What we know so far

On Wednesday, Black Library and Forge World jointly announced the Horus Heresy Weekender, heres a sumary of all the infomation released so far (which isn't that much):

Chaos Demons/Daemons of Chaos - 40k and Warhammer Fantasy Battle Codex/Army Book Release

This Saturday has seen the announcement of and pre-orders go up for a joint release of WHFB Daemons of Chaos and 40k Chaos Daemons. There are a lot of models if you like that sort of thing but now onto the good stuff, the Codex and Army Books.

Death From The Skies - Selling Well?

Death from the Skies, the new flyer compendium from Games Workshop has apparently been selling fast. Games workshop released the following little snippet on the product page:-

Mephiston: Lord of Death update

For those who have ordered Mephiston: Lord of Death, Black Library have been sending out emails weekly updating purchasers on the 8 week process to bring to book to print and post it out to people. Here are the 1st three, which by my reckoning makes it five weeks until I get my hands on this!

The Masque of Vyle - Premium Hardback Novella up for pre-order

The Masque of Vyle by Andy Chambers is now up for pre-order on the Black Library website here (and has been for a little while!).


Here's the cover:

The Mark of Calth - Horus Heresy 25

Mark of Calth - Horus Heresy XXV, that's the 25th book in the Horus Heresy series is going to be released soon. Here's some pics of the finished "premium hardback" edition that were posted on Facebook today. RRP £20.

Black Library Live! 2013 schedule: examination

The Black Library Live! 2013 schedule has been out for quite a while but I haven't had a chance to look at it properly until now. It's available here.

There are 9 authours attending. These are:-
Dan Abnett
James Swallow
Nik Vincent
Chris Wraight
Guy Haley
John French
Andy Smillie
Peter Fehervari
David Guymer

Traitor's Gorge - Event Exclusive Novella

So Black Library have announced details about their "Event Exclusive Novella" today.

Traitor's Gorge, Mephiston: Lord of Death and other Black LIbrary Live 2013 news

Just read on the Black Library blog that there will be an exclusive "Space Marine Battles" novella entitled "Traitor's Gorge" authored by Mike Lee This will be on sale for the first time at Black Library Live! 2013 (2nd March) and other Black Library events only. This probably means that you will be able to pick it up at the Weekender and perhaps Games Day 2013.

No mention of it being a limited edition though so chances are it will be in the format of Flesh of Cretacia and Yarrick: Chains of Golgotha (see here of a rundown of Black Library Limited Editions). Hopefully this means it will be retailing at £12, not £30-35 like the limited editions. I will be most likely picking up one or two at BL Live this year, although Mike will not be there in person to sign them for me...

Mephiston: Lord of Death released in less than 24 hours, with new pictures

Just a quick update with a couple of new pictures of Mephiston: Lord of Death, showing what the product actually looks like, rather than a mock up. Have to say that these have me even more excited, definatly getting my copy tomorrow.

A Brief Look at Warhammer 40k Role-playing Games from Fantasy Flight Games

Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) hold the licence to produce role-playing games produced in both the Warhammer Fantasy Battle (WHFB) and Warhammer 40,000 (40k) settings. They produce one WHFB game entitled “Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay” and (currently) five 40k role-playing games with a degree of interchangability between them. These are Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader, Deathwatch, Black Crusade and the latest addition: Only War.

Each game is based around the same system but focused on a different aspect of the Imperium:

Dark Heresy: Inquisitorial Alcolytes and conspiracies

Rogue Trader: Rogue Traders and the frontiers of space

Deathwatch: The Deathwatch and space marine combat

Black Crusade: Chaos and a view from the other side

Only War: The Imperial Guard and human combat/war

The Emperor's Might: Warriors of the Imperium, Art Book Review

The Emperor’s Might:Warriors of the Imperium is the 2^nd in John Blanche’s latest series of art books published by Black Library, following on from “The Emperor’s Will: Agents of the Imperium”. It retails at £25 from the Black Library website but as it’s not an exclusive you can pick it up on Amazon for around £16. It was released in November 2012.

"Mephiston: Lord of Death" and "Yarrick: Chains of Golgotha"

Two fancy new releases form Black library announced over the past couple of days.

Number One - Mephiston: Lord of Death

Firstly the latest in the Black Library Limited Edition/Collectors Novella category “Mephison: Lord of Death” written by David Annandale. 

Warhammer Forge Next Book: Battle of Black Fire Pass

Here it is, the cover of the next Warhammer Forge release: The battle of Black Fire Pass.

The Wonderful World of Black Library Limited Editions

Updated 16/03/13 to include latest releases

 
I hope to do a number of pieces on various aspects of the Games Workshop publishing arms; this is number one, looking at the rise of the phenomenally successful although financial contentions Limited Editions from Black Library.

Black Library has produced an increasing number of limited edition books over the years. These can be divided up into three categories: novellas, anthologies and chapbooks. The Novellas are all hardcover with a high production quality, almost always signed and numbered containing a bookmark ribbon and some form of internal art pages and are usually 128 pages long. Anthologies are hardback, unsigned 128 pages long, with a lower production value and all contain six short stories from Warhammer and 40k almost always including a Horus Heresy and a Time of Legends short story. The Chapbooks are always softback and without a spine, never signed and usually only 32 pages long. These chapbooks are all tie-ins to either UK Games Days or Black Library Live! events

January and the future

I have just realised I missed out on getting the new Dark Angels Limited Edition Codex, at least its no longer available for order on GW's site. If these were like the Chaos Space Marine Limited Editions then there were 1000 of them. At a RRP of £55 I felt these were very highly priced considering that IA books are generally <£45, the "limited edition" tag really seems to command massive prices although it remains to be seen if these editions retain their value or if they find themselves devaluing like so many "limited eds".