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Sisters PDF Delays Explained?

21K views 285 replies 37 participants last post by  Tawa 
#1 ·
Doing my usual check for Sisters news I ran across something interesting. While it's no means an answer on what's going on behind closed doors, it might be the reason we haven't seen rules online yet. (SOURCE)

Following up on some frustration I encountered from some onlookers during a game last week who said they could not get hold of the WD magazines containing the WD 'Codex', I contacted GW today to suggest that it might be a good idea to put a PDF version up on the GW site as they had done for the Witch Hunters codex. I suggested that they would probably sell more models if they did this. The answer I got was most interesting.

They told me that despite meaning to, they have been holding off from doing exactly that until they hear back from the design studio. They told me that they have been pestering the design studio recently but have not received a reply yet. I was advised to keep watching the website and WD.

Now, this could just be a stock response of some sort intended to deal with unwanted enquiries, but the mention of the design studio, rather than something more generic, was interesting. Why would the design studio play a role in not putting up a PDF of something that is supposedly current when there are models available already?

There is a new Sisters novel expected from James Swallow some time next year. Okay - that is BL rather than strictly GW but the two are hardly unconnected. Similarly in the Aeronautica Imperialis book, the Avenger is obviously a naval craft but it is specifically tied to the sisters in the description. Again, FW is not strictly GW either, but they are hardly unconnected. At the BL Weekender someone from BL also told me that they were recently looking through Deviant Art to identify potential illustrators who might be good enough to work for them.

So none of this is conclusive, but before the gainsayers start shouting that it means nothing, I would have to say that it does look as if GW might be intending to send some love the sisters' way, perhaps sometime in the middle of next year and that the one or two scraps seen so far might be pre-positioning from a release of some sort. Could the reticence of GW to put a PDF up be an indication that sisters may come back looking a bit different and thus not like what is seen in the WD 'codex'?

Too much to hope for or something to look forward to?
 
#2 ·
TAKE MY MONEY!!!


Seriously though, it's as good a theory as any I guess. Here's hoping! :)
 
#4 ·
I really hope it's just a rumour.

The forum scene would be incomplete without all you SoB fans jumping at every shadow in the hope that it contains info on a release.
I hope it's a rumor in the sense that the design team isn't actively (or even unconsciously) dicking the Sisters of Battle over.


(that was a joke, please don't purify me :hang1:)
But what am I supposed to do with this torch and pitchfork now?
 
#5 ·
I'm not so sure there ever was going to be a PDF release to be honest, the way things are now its far more likely that the Sisters WD Dex will be released as a digital codex, straight onto Ipad. It could be what has caused the delay with the design team, trying to make a half arsed codex look almost good enough to actually charge money for.
 
#10 ·
It's incredibly possible there were no plans for a PDF, but GW hasn't shied away from telling people "nope, none for you" in the past when asked. This does offer some plausibility to the idea of a digital codex, or perhaps an update to the current one to use the 6th Edition rule set in a much more complete manner (drop the Seraphim Pistols, change it so the Battle Sisters AoF gives Preferred Enemy while in combat or shooting, ect).

Either way I wouldn't be surprised if workloads were preventing it from being addressed.

adds stock to the idea that the Administratum is designed off GW it's self. The left hand doesn't know what the right is doing... and subsequently, nothing gets done.
Completely possible. Having a government job now (albiet the military part of the government) I can say this is a pretty common thing. There is a lot of "what are they smoking?" that comes up in day to day operations in regards to other units and so on.

This.
Flush your hopes.
Hardly. I have no hopes, just a vested interest in sharing rumors and news (especially when they pertain to an army I like) with the folks here so we can talk about them. I live the Hope to the Sisters proper.

Oh yay, digital..... :(
Digital would be a step in the right direction I think. FAQs would regularly be updated, new pictures (instead of them recycling ones they've been using since 2nd Edition) and updating the rules to match the ones in 6th Edition would be better than what we've got, and would be more generally available.

Yes we run into the "still only on iPad" problem then but that's more available than two OOP magazines.

Sorry, but I don't see the connection between "Scanned copy of WD not being released" and "May get new stuff next year".
I'm not even sure where this connection is coming from unless you're referring to the product list (which just may have been a list of when they'll start printing packages, or who knows...the whole argument there started getting confusing and generally it seems like it's group consensus to pretend it never happened unless it turns out to be right.)

Either way I was just sharing a rumor I ran across that I found interesting and discussion worthy.

It's the work of 20 minutes (if that) to scan 12 pages (or even copy by hand into a new document) and upload them to a website.
Actually presuming they still have the original documents that were used to make the WD Articles then it shouldn't be that long, but without knowing what's going on exactly I can't really say why they haven't done it or if there is something more to it exactly.

Even if they were producing new SoB stuff next month, it's not an excuse to not release the PDF.
I am in 100% agreement with you here. The codex is a year old already and we haven't seen the rules become publicly available? That's a little weird.

What is far more likely is that, as mentioned above, they are putting it into the interactive iCrap program, to force people to actually spend money. Because that's software and stuff, the delay is a little more understandable (if not forgivable) than if they were simply uploading photocopies.
I don't know about the codexes themselves, but as I digitally subscribe to the WD (no mail delays, I can actually get it ON TIME every month) I don't think the program is bad, but it needs some tweaking as there are some strange issues regarding how long pages take to load sometimes.

Either way, delays are understandable in that respect but if they knew they were going to do this (and they must have to get all those books ready for the launch) then someone could have taken some time to do the same for the Sisters.

But for the time being, any google search will reveal a virus-free copy of the dex that you're free to download at any time, without recourse to torrenting.
While true, I don't believe being able to find something online fixes the lack of support shown by the company. I can understand not doing a new codex until they have a model range to support it, and fixing the problems that come with that first. I can even understand the reasons they changed the Sisters they way they did through WD (6th Edition ally rules, updating out of wack points costs on things (Rhinos), shuffling the Inquisition to the Grey Knights so the Sisters could return to their 2nd Edition roots and re-balancing the few shared models that were left so they had the same rules and stats), but to not make the rule set available on a long term scale actually puts Sisters at a greater disadvantage than anyone who tries to play Forgeworld, because at the end of the day you can still get the Forgeworld rules legally.
 
#7 ·
...
Now, this could just be a stock response of some sort intended to deal with unwanted enquiries
...
This.
Flush your hopes.


...
its far more likely that the Sisters WD Dex will be released as a digital codex, straight onto Ipad. It could be what has caused the delay with the design team, trying to make a half arsed codex look almost good enough to actually charge money for.
And this.
 
#8 ·
Oh yay, digital..... :(
 
#9 ·
Sorry, but I don't see the connection between "Scanned copy of WD not being released" and "May get new stuff next year".

It's the work of 20 minutes (if that) to scan 12 pages (or even copy by hand into a new document) and upload them to a website.

Even if they were producing new SoB stuff next month, it's not an excuse to not release the PDF.

What is far more likely is that, as mentioned above, they are putting it into the interactive iCrap program, to force people to actually spend money. Because that's software and stuff, the delay is a little more understandable (if not forgivable) than if they were simply uploading photocopies.

But for the time being, any google search will reveal a virus-free copy of the dex that you're free to download at any time, without recourse to torrenting.
 
#11 ·
I find it interesting that "the design studio" is mentioned. Which one? GW likely has more than one, each dedicated to one or more facets of the company and product lines. You could presumably have studios for model design/concept art, illustrations, web design, White Dwarf layout and photography and codex design and layout. The list isn't inclusive and departments could be combined but they still likely have more than one studio. So, which studio is dragging its heels?
 
#14 ·
Really sounds like a stock response "Oh we are just waiting to hear back from the other guy..." and of course "Keep looking at the website for new stuff".

TBH it's pretty disrespectful towards their customers. Whenever I handle the retail section at work I be sure to pass on any knowledge I get from companies at update schools or visits to the factory. There's no need to mislead your own customers short of flat out telling them what is coming out and when.
 
#15 ·
Oh fun, so instead of GW giving us the faildex for free (As they should), they'll instead whack a $400+ price tag on it.
 
#20 ·
At least you could use the "as is" rule grab a marine dex and use flamers/meltas. Models are models at the end of the day. I would of painted them all up and used them "as" marines for the time being.

But considering the army exists and their homeworld hasn't been ete by nids the GW should still support them, were's the love?
 
#21 ·
I would have rather kept the old WH codex. The kitted out Canoness was very very fun, 11 Immolators on the table with melta sisters shooting out of the tops, AP1 flamers... oh Emperor, it was good.

That said, despite the boring-halfassed WD, it's still good enough to beat most players... except the lack of flyer support, the one huge glaring issue with the WDdex.
 
#24 ·
LOL, not a bad idea the Sisters guys would pay out big time I reckon..... me too probably
 
#26 ·
GW won't do that, they won't even put the effort into releasing a PDF which takes only a matter of converting the digital files they already used to print the WD.

Imperial Armour Aeronautica is great and all but my FLGS decided to no longer support Forgeworld due to gripes from the player base that it was OMGUBEROVERPOWEREDDD!!!!111!!
 
#27 ·
GW won't do that, they won't even put the effort into releasing a PDF which takes only a matter of converting the digital files they already used to print the WD.
Well that and the internet is something that GW doesn't seem to get how to use just yet. They're getting better, but there seems to be some upper management that seems to think the internets are full of tubes and evil.

Imperial Armour Aeronautica is great and all but my FLGS decided to no longer support Forgeworld due to gripes from the player base that it was OMGUBEROVERPOWEREDDD!!!!111!!
So basically your FLGS sucks. GW really needs to put on their big boy pants and just make FW an official supplement that covers anything they don't. They only stand to make more money by doing it honestly.
 
#28 ·
FLGS isn't bad but the owner is more interested in Magic the gathering since he holds the state championships there and gets several hundred people on a weekend. There's just no organised cohesive group and even tourneys get all their rules waffled until the day of the event. Would do it myself but between work, a family, new record deal, I barely have enough time to assemble my models.

The only thing I can truly say is f-ed about the new WD dex is the single troop choice and lack of flyer support. Also one huge advantage people forget is that no one knows the army, so when you show up and move your Immolator out of your deployment zone before first turn or stand Celestine back up and your opponent says "Can he do that!?" You can just laugh.
 
#29 ·
FLGS isn't bad but the owner is more interested in Magic the gathering since he holds the state championships there and gets several hundred people on a weekend. There's just no organised cohesive group and even tourneys get all their rules waffled until the day of the event. Would do it myself but between work, a family, new record deal, I barely have enough time to assemble my models.
Oi. That's still a bad place.

The only thing I can truly say is f-ed about the new WD dex is the single troop choice and lack of flyer support. Also one huge advantage people forget is that no one knows the army, so when you show up and move your Immolator out of your deployment zone before first turn or stand Celestine back up and your opponent says "Can he do that!?" You can just laugh.
I've been playing the army since the WD came out and it hardly catches people by surprise with that it does these days. We've started to refer to the games where Celestine doesn't get back up as her "having tea time with the Emperor".

Single troop choice is a bad place to be, and while I have some ideas for how this could be handled they involve new models. For what we've got right now I think GW did okay.

Flyers only became an issue when 6th came out. On the flip side you can have Multi-Meltas running across the board chasing Flyers if you want and the effect is the same as if you were shoot it normally.
 
#30 ·
I think a new codex would do wonders for the Sisters. It really turned around the Dark Eldar ... until 6th ed anyway. Maybe it's just my personality; come from playing DE and now CSM, but I'd like to make a Dark Ecclesiarchy army. Something where the rank and file think they still fight in the Emperor's name but their leaders have been corrupted. They claim to fight Heresy but are the true Heretics.
 
#47 ·
I think the Ecclesiarchy is one of the few armies that can't easily be made renegade. They are trained to recognize Heresy anywhere and even the lower ranks would notice a corrupted leader. If they still had Inquisitors you might pull it off as few dare question one of the Ordos. But it is an interesting concept.

All the departments are part of "The Studio". Discussion between each department is actually very good, as all it takes is a 10ft stroll to reach the other department...

The PDF issue is one I've been chatting with my old work colleagues and friends about on a regular basis. The ones in WD were genuinely surprised it hadn't been put out on the website yet. Those who actually know what's going on gave me smiles and changed the subject. I smile back, and am happy to see what happens next. In the meantime, some of us scanned our WD first chance we got, and have a PDF version sitting on the desktop... :wink:
Thanks for the clarrification on that. By the quick change in subject, I would guess something is on the horizon. Whether it is a good something, only time will tell.

A couple months ago there was a rumor of releases for ipad and one for December was SoB.
http://www.heresy-online.net/forums/showthread.php?t=115271

So hard to say what that release actually is or if anything has changed in their plans in the last 3 months or so, or even if it was real in the first place but from Silver Tabby's response there is something.
Any release/update is a step in the right direction. I feel the same about the BT rumor of a WD update. At least they are getting new point costs and updated rules.
 
#35 ·
I'm reading this slightly differently, I believe it means the WD dex for SoB will be altered which is why the design studio were contacted. I don't think it'll mean a new codex, a proper one, just maybe a re-released WD one.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love Sisters to get a proper update, but they have more popular armies to update first. Remember after Blood Angels got their WD dex it was 18 months later they got a proper one. Who knows.
 
#36 ·
It was longer than that. It was closer to 3 years. You are right though; who knows when Sisters will get a proper update. I think that if they want to keep the codex alive though they need to start doing something more. A little more support wouldn't kill them. Give Sisters an 'official' plastic flyer of there own or a cool fortification at least.
 
#42 ·
Decembers issue? :(
 
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