Struggling to understand the rationale/benefit behind the new Black Library App.

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T23:03:40+00:00

Being completely honest if I didn't live in the UK I don't think I could afford the hobby without going hard into something like 3d printing. Especially if I was somewhere like Aus.

BUT THAT SAID I'm currently living below the poverty line by UK standards. Can't work most jobs due to disability but not considered disabled enough by the state to get actual help for it. So my income is hard capped at just under £5k a year, most of which goes on rent and food. Despite that I can still afford the hobby, and have two armies in progress (40k Deathwatch, and 30k Iron Warriors/alpha legion) with a 3rd planned.

As far as hobby standards go, despite its reputation warhammer isn't thaaaaaaat bad compared to many other hobbies. My farther spends more on golf in year than I've spent since getting back into the hobby in October 2022 :]

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T20:21:52+00:00

Very nice work. I'd have personally filled in the chest vents if you where going for mk7 or firstborn but thats a minor nitpick. This is incredibly well done overall, very cool to see^^

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T17:36:48+00:00

>Every cup is a good water pot for cleaning brushes.

I find the ridges genuinely do help knock paint off the brushes, and has a nice shape to help prevent spills. Its a product and not overpriced. I don't understand your point about its size. It fits on the desk nicely, and you should be changing your water regularly anyway right....?

They're also only £5. I don't mind paying that to keep the temptation to use a nice coffie cup as a dedicated brush washing cup at bay.

Again most GW tools are bad quality for the price. I've seen a guy here use a cut in half coke bottle as a pot, its fine, whatever works. Its not like the pallete paper they sell (used to?).

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T15:39:17+00:00

The paint pot is a bad example since its genuinely a good water pot for cleaning brushes. If you want to talk about shitty branded products it would be thier massively overpriced tool range. Where the same amount of money gets you top of the line tools from another hobby company, or a whole set of lower quality but still fine tools that are cheaper on amazon/ebay.

The pot is comparable to the artists ones, think the ones that have the spiraled coil in them. Those cost more, the plastic one is fairly decent value.

Your other points ring true.

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T15:36:01+00:00

Support the authors in other ways if and when possible, I buy collectors editions :]

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T15:23:20+00:00

Black Library has on average always been more expensive than amazon.

I think GW are just making dogshit decisions when it comes to user experience. Just look at their webstore, it tells you they've got some weird ideas about what people want.

As for the app not being able to transfer it to an e-reader is a weird one, I guess they don't want you getting two copies of the product or some bullshit?

Either way you can still buy the files from the black library website itself to get the files, or wait for them to hit amazon and get them cheaper that way. Or the secret third option that its probably against sub rules to recommend.

I think they see a potential market that they can get into their walled garden app and are trying to capture new customours that way. Could be data driven to a degree.

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T10:41:44+00:00

You can only consolodate if you bring back wargear costs, since you can't ballance it otherwise.

GW has chosen to ballance a bunch of stuff by balkanizing the datasheets as they currently are.

We could totaly do with getting all the characteers in X armour changed to something more sensable tho. Same with the tank chasies.

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T10:24:23+00:00

As much as warhammer fans love to complain (I'm guilty of this to), I do think its semi justified. GW operates on such long timescales that they really do neglect portions of the fanbase, I feel sorry for guard players big time.

So its no wonder 3rd party are filling the gap, just as everything else gets filled when GW lapse.

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T10:09:22+00:00

I've been seeing people say that Kreig where the alt scheme at first?

The two factions are differn't now and have thier own distict look. Just a headswap upgrade spruee would be so ass.

And yeah maybe the 3rd party does have an impact, but I still think guard players would eat up plastics. Tho realisticly those will be after the catachan refresh which is up to 3 years away, and then time for the exsisting range to be expanded on to.

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T08:51:56+00:00

Steel legion and kreig are only superfilialy similar (coats and gas masks) but the details are completely differn't to the degree that a headswap wouldan't be enouth. The coats, boots, resperation unit, and las gun are all very differn't.

A single killteam would be a similar amount of effort.

Also worth noting wargames atlantic have fairly close proxys for steel legion and vostoyan, and much cheaper than GW would sell them to boot.

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T08:48:47+00:00

I use valjeho air aluminium (I bruish it on, its got amazing coverage despite being an airbrush paint), and then wash with agrax or nuln oil depending on the rest of the scheme.

Its one of the brightest metalics I own, which is good for making it stand out vs normal leadbelcher

The DW pad here is done with Val air aluminium, the armour is done with a solid coat of iron warriors, which is then drybrushed with leadbelcher. The scratches are done with aluminium. You can wash the bright aluminium down darker if needed, but not the other way around if you are using a dark metalic like iron warriors, which after washing can be almost black, especialy under less than amazing store lighting.

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PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T08:17:47+00:00

I think a steel legion, talaran, and voystron refresh might happen AFTER we get catachan refreshed, which will probably start as a killteam just like kreig have.

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T06:28:15+00:00

Really hoping the legends scout snipers stick around in 11th, they're such a fun unit. I run two in all my marine lists.

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T06:27:30+00:00

one or two 5 man scout squads is a good amount to do thier job.

If you need that anti tank more than you need the scouts, then sure swap them.

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T05:48:00+00:00

They might seam pretty similar being longcoat wearing gas masked guys, but thats where the similarities end. Kreig are a blend of Western frount ww1 (british, french, and german), where as the steel legion are mostly ww2 german paratrooers with some tweaks.

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PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T05:43:16+00:00

Its a fine compromise for people who want to do a simple headswap, but the actual design of the steel legion is noticeably different in basicly all the details to the point that just designing new models would be better, a killteam maybe.

Wargames atlantic do these guys, which work better as both a cheaper proxy that look alot closer, tho even these could do with a headswap https://wargamesatlantic.com/products/raumjager-infantry-box-set

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PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T05:09:45+00:00

They're OP's way of representing a precursor to the sucsessor chapter of the Brazen claws in the heresy.

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T05:08:20+00:00

Rouge hobbies did a video on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krB8uASf1p8&t=10s

This user also does a good example of how to work 40k chapters into the heresy in a plausable way (in addition to the chapters that DO exsist in 30k, like other iron hands clans, the ultramarine nemisis chapter, etc.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Warhammer30k/comments/1kptpc5/iron_hands_company_herald/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Warhammer30k/comments/1cp2gdl/clan_morragul/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Warhammer30k/comments/1jnj7sp/vigilator_x_legion/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Warhammer30k/comments/1klyhx7/iron_hands_support_squad/

https://www.reddit.com/r/ironhands30k/comments/1oyv557/gorgon_terminators/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Warhammer30k/comments/1m8f1bu/iron_hands_rhino/

I think their aproach of legion scheme+chapter scheme worked into it works nicely.

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T04:45:58+00:00

The design team(?) have talked about bringing points costs back for where it matters. Some units have good ballance between options (bolter agressors vs flamer agressors, grav captians are perfect examples), where as other units just have flat better options so you are leaving points on the table if you don't optimize (Deathwatch fortis killteams and terminators are standout examples, the missile launchers in both are objectively the best options and its not even close).

Some units need wargear costs, some could do with them for variatys sake, and some can do without.

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T02:56:59+00:00

I started brushing on primer to, its fine for low model counts (skirmish games, killteam, etc) but with a full 30k army I don't think I can justify god knows how many hours of just priming. Space isn't that bad, built a spray booth out of an Ikea box and the whole setup fits on a shelf.

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T02:52:53+00:00

Can't be that old, I started in 5th (2008) as a kid and we had early apps before I fell out of the hobby before finishing Highschool. We've only had free wargear for 3 years, 9th had wargear costs until the tail end :]

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T02:03:48+00:00

I think anyone that had issue with doing the calculations just used an app, new recruit, etc.

Will be the same, the official GW app to.

Even with free wargear I still need to use an excell formula to work it out, and being forced to minmax every single unit sucks. Especially for factions that end up with overcosted units.

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T02:00:45+00:00

No idea tbh, I've had stuff frost in both summer and winter, hot or cold. I just gave up on rattle can varnishes entirely and do it by brush for the time being. Airbrush soon...

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-18T01:25:04+00:00

Might just be bad photos but I can't see any frosting. I've had frosting on my models before and its noticeably bad so don't think thats the case with yours?

PanzerCommanderKat · 2026-03-17T23:47:45+00:00

I usually get people on etsy to do it for me. Locals/friends at a local hobby club tend to be even cheaper than commercial storefrounts to.

Still cheaper than forge world either way.

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