Gavin Thorpe and Guy Haley‘s DK-published Warhammer 40K: The Ultimate Guide is of exceptional value.
Amazon is offering the hardcover, all 336 pages, for £26.67 as I write this post. The book is on pre-order now and due out in just a day or so, so perhaps it’ll quickly rise back to the recommended retail price of £35.00.
Do I even still play Warhammer 40K? No, but when I was offered a copy of the book, I accepted it for two reasons.
Firstly, we’re about to get Warhammer entertainment. I’m thinking about Henril Cavill’s Warhammer project that Paul recently wrote about. It’s probably Eisenhorn, but it might be The Horus Heresy or something else. I want to be in the Warhammer loop.
Secondly, as I’ve not played Warhammer 40K since my school days, I feel terribly out of date on the lore. Reading some of the C7 TTRPGs gives me some reference points and an idea of how much I don’t know.
In other words, I could learn more about the current Warhammer 40k plot and look geek-cool while doing it.
Warhammer 40K: The Ultimate Guide is not just an eye-candy collection of art and some stunning photographs of exceptionally well-painted minis. The book is also an easy-read catchup on the lore.
Inside Warhammer 40K: The Ultimate Guide
There is an introduction that includes the history of Warhammer and the hobby. Not only is this interesting, but I think it helps secure the guide as an unlikely coffee table book.
Okay, I don’t have a coffee table but the idea is that Warhammer 40K: The Ultimate Guide is a hardback you can have at hand to idly entertain guests before the game (or food). If they don’t know Warhammer, wonder why you’ve a book with a burly Roman-esq space warrior and start to browse then they’ll get the proper import and weight of the hobby.
As noted, though, more importantly – there are many interesting gems in this history.
The very next chapter, The Dying Empire is nearly half of the book. Here w look at the Imperium and we humans! Remember, we’re not the good guys in this dark future. I don’t think any one is!
Specifically, the book showcases models from and talks about Space Marines, Adepta Sororitas, Adeptus Mecanicus, Astra Militarum, the Talons of the Emperor and Other Imperial Forces.
I don’t know if Gavin Thorpe and Guy Haley were cursed or blessed, but they tackle these subjects as if the reader does not know much (and without treating us as idiots) and don’t feel it necessary to include obscure minutia that GW sometimes does. DK doesn’t, for example, care how many models you buy.
As a result, I found the accompanying text to the stunning photography here much more concise and that it got to the points I care about more quickly. Yes, I might have lost some detail or failed to foreshadow some future events but it does not feel like that.
By the time we get to the end of this chapter, we’re about halfway through the book. That, however, does not mean we’re light on the other armies… just a bit lighter than we are with The Imperium.
Chaos gets a whole chapter, some 45 pages for Chaos Daemons, Chaos Space Marines and Twisted Servants.
I’ve never had a Chaos army (I’ve always been the Imperial Army for my sins) but perhaps I’m bias because I agree that these villains/liberators of concern deserve a section of their own. It’s Chaos that shapes the future and they look impressive!
Therefore, almost the last half of the book is for the Xenos Threat. That means we get sections of Orks, Tyranids, Aeldari, T’au, Necrons and Leagues of Votann.
I was so out of date with my W40K lore I didn’t even know about the Leagues of Votann, who seem to be an evolution of mystic humans.
There’s a fat index and a scale reference to see just how impressive some of these models are.
Production value
The layout in Warhammer 40K: The Ultimate Guide is impressively tight and sharp. I thought I’d get a bit bored looking at pages of pages of models, but I just got envious and kept turning pages.
Whitespace is used well and is the glimmer of hope in the dark future.
I’m just taken aback, in a good way, at the cost of the full-colour book, the quality of the paper and the price! Is it because compiling photographs takes less time than custom crafting 330 pages of rules? I ask because if you compare the size and quality of DK’s book to, say, recently released A4/Letter-sized TTRPGs in hardback, then this stunner is of remarkably good value.
Overall
If you’re focused only on official GW books and winning battles, I concede that Warhammer 40K: The Ultimate Guide might seem a bit like an unnecessary extra in your collection. However, I’m confident you won’t object to being gifted the book.
My own stance is that I feel this book has caught me up significantly in this huge world with its rich history. I’m looking forward to Warhammer hitting my screen, and I will pounce on Secret Level when it comes to Amazon Video.
Ultimately, my prediction for the Ultimate Guide is that this is a book you’ll buy for the wargamer in your life and that they’ll thank you for it!
Disclaimer: Geek Native’s copy of Warhammer 40,000: The Ultimate Guide was provided for free and to review. Published by DK, the hardback is due out on October 3rd.
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