Being in the US preorder window means getting an early look at how things may be going when it opens up in Oceania, a fact I talked about last week when things didn’t quite get off on the right foot. This week seemed to be a similar challenge, with inventory appearing to go out of stock almost instantly.
But this week, the real excitement seemed to be reserved for us in the North American region. And what a ride it was.
The preorder window opened up at 12:55pm EST for me right as rain. One minute Cain and the gang weren’t there, then they were. My must-have was the For the Emperor Illustrated and Annotated Edition, with the Special Edition of Rynn’s World a close second. The pair of library decoratives- the Cain/Jurgen mini and Valhalla banner- would be nice-to-haves.
My cart full, I went to check out with my pre-loaded voucher and got this:
That wasn’t immediately concerning; this is an error I see weekly, and usually a refresh or two puts it to bed and allows me to proceed.
Not this time. Refresh after refresh, the red box kept reappearing.
At first I wondered if there may be a rush on the site, the kind of thing we saw last June with the Era of Ruin special preorder window that was almost instantly crashed by botters. But very quickly the flags went up on the play in r/BlackLibrary, and the number of people saying they were having site issues told me this was a system issue, not a stock one.
Despite all the frustration, that came as some relief. Last week when Oceania’s stock went out immediately, some came back in an hour or two later. Perhaps we’d see that happen here?
Ten minutes went by, then twenty. Ordinarily that’s a death sentence for preordering, but at this point I was determined to see it through. I was eventually rewarded for my persistence with a momentary change of scenery:
You don’t say.
But I kept at it, because what else was I going to do. I saw this twice, confirming some sort of technical issue at work:
There won’t be a test, but this will be important later.
Sweet Success
The dam broke at 1:33pm, thirty-eight minutes after the preorder window opened. Someone posted on r/BlackLibrary that they’d managed to break through and complete their order, so I figured any refresh now would see my order complete. When it didn’t, I removed the Cain/Jurgen mini on a whim to see if that might make any difference. Whether that measure was causal or coincidental I’ll never know, but it worked on the very next attempt.
Then I went back and bought Cain, easy as you like.
When situations like this happen, an order confirmation never feels truly safe. It wouldn’t surprise me if three days from now I got an order cancellation notice from Games Workshop, but for now I’ll take the win.
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
Soon after, I dropped in at my local Warhammer store and chatted a bit with the store manager. He shared that they’d had some issues with the in-store preorder as well, but ultimately was able to resolve it and everyone waiting to preorder got everything they wanted.
Then he shared something interesting. While he doesn’t know any more about this stuff than anyone else (he’s a store manager, not GW IT), he suspected there might have been an issue with the newly-implemented product recommendation window that triggers upon checkout.
I didn’t connect the two things in my head right away, but upon reflection one certainly could call that recommended-product window a “carousel,” right? And it was intended to pop up during checkout, right?
Hmm.
The Fallout
On the one hand, system issues happen. It sucks and it’s frustrating, but there hasn’t been a site invented yet that is immune to them. Games Workshop should get a certain amount of grace here, not least because these are luxury goods rather than life necessities1.
But by the same token, we can’t have conversations around website reliability in a vacuum. That’s because at the end of the day, it’s all part of the consumer experience, a conversation that also includes:
FOMO capitalization
Artificial scarcity
Customer integrity assurance (read: anti-scalper countermeasures)
“Spend-ask” considerations
Premium product exclusives/incentives
Obviously, much too much to tackle in one go. But I think while it’s important to recognize Games Workshop’s efforts to make the Black Library consumer experience more enjoyable (anti-scalper measures, the introduction of de-limiting measures for premium products, and printing on demand come to mind), we also need to acknowledge when things fall short.
If you missed the carnage and want to see how the day went, here’s the subreddit’s preorder megathread. Have at it.
Of course, it wasn’t all bad news…
The Emperor provides?
Every Librarian’s Nightmare
Some people call us ‘worriers,’ but I prefer the term advanced contingency planners.
And of all the misfortunes that could befall a family, I have to imagine a house fire is way up there. In my mental imaginings of such a calamity, I think how I’d get my wife and five kids out of the house first. The younger kids upstairs can climb out onto the roof of the garage if they had to, while the teenager downstairs can clamber out of his window. Come to think of it, he’s probably started doing that already.
Then, of course, the critters. The budgies first, as their tiny respiratory systems are the most delicate. Then the reptiles, the rats, and the guinea pigs. The cats are on their own- that’s what you get when you can’t be bothered to exclusively use the litter box. You want to make independent choices, do you? Well have at it.
With the pets rescued- thus avoiding lengthy therapy bills for the kids- I’ve got just enough time to dash in one last time, for the barest essential of family treasures.
Like I said, I’ve thought about this a number of times, replaying the scenario in my head. Drilling for the possibility should it oneday occur. The only part I haven’t quite figured out yet is how to explain to my wife how I managed to come out with an armful of Warhammer books instead of our wedding album. But I’m working on it.
Earlier this month on the Black Library subreddit, u/GovernmentFast9743 shared that this had tragically come to pass, and unlike my imagined scenario, he lost his entire Warhammer collection. Three armies’ worth of miniatures, five bookshelves’ worth of books. Terrifying.
But there’s a happy ending to this one, and that’s why I wanted to share it this week.
When u/dvduster read about what happened, he reached out to u/GovernmentFast9743 and offered to help rebuild his library. He had a score of Black Library hardcovers and Special Editions that he’d be happy to let go for about ten bucks a book. And if that wasn’t enough, he’d drive the four hours down to Florida to meet up and hand-deliver them.
In any collector community it can be easy to get caught up in the goings-on of the parasites and opportunists who make finding older books or preordering new ones such a painful process. It’s great to have a reminder that at the same time, the community does look out for its own as well.
Best of luck in your collecting, u/GovernmentFast9743, and glad it was only your material possessions that were damaged in the fire. For u/dvduster, you get this week’s Unsung Hero Award for your selfless generosity. Communities like ours are always the better for having people like you in them.
The Big Reveal
Exciting news dropped this week with another surprise tranche of reveals from the Black Library. While I’ll never be sad to see one, I always find this method of whetting consumer appetite to be a little… anticlimactic? Just as with this past March and some Ork-themed books, I have to wonder if there isn’t perhaps a way to use these tasty reveals that has a little more impact? It’s not like Games Workshop is any stranger to generating excitement about upcoming products:
But the important thing in the end is the books, and boy howdy do we have some treats in store!
Ghosts of Cadia, by Rob Young
Look who’s back! Fresh off Master of Rites (review), Rob Young returns to the Astra Militarum with this sequel to 2023’s Longshot. That story was sort of a 40K version of the movie Enemy at the Gates, with sniper Darya Nevic going scope-to-scope with a t’au rival, and I’m delighted that Darya (and Rob!) are back in action.
The book will be offered both in standard hardcover as well as a Special Edition (pictured above).
Longshot, by Rob Young
Now this is an extra surprise. Similar to what they did with Andy Clark’s Demolisher last December, they’re bringing back the preceding book in an upgraded format. While Steel Tread received the same Special Edition treatment that Demolisher did, here we just get a standard hardcover release. No complaints here, I’m never loved how the Astra Militarum Series books are softcover-only, and will be delighted to replace mine with a hardcover copy.
Mephiston: The Box Set by Darius Hinks
Brace for impact! Blood Angels deluxe editions command some eye-watering prices on the secondary market, and I expect this one will provoke a similar preorder frenzy upon release. Darius Hinks’ original Mephiston trilogy was released from 2017-19, and just from the pictures this looks to be one of the more attractive of the recent spate of boxed sets.
The Devastation of Baal, by Guy Haley
Originally printed in 2017 as part of the Space Marine Conquests softcover series, like Longshot this one from Guy Haley is coming back for a hardcover treatment. Over the years a good number of Black Library books have been released as softcover-only, so I like seeing opportunities for upgrades for those who like the look and feel of a good hardback.
We probably won’t have too long to wait for these, and with the Blood Angels highly involved with Armageddon there’s a good chance these releases will be tied into something… a Codex, perhaps?
The Big Summer Preview Show
Despite its recent run of technical issues, I always enjoy these shows and look forward to them even if there isn’t the promise of much Black Library content. After all, any library is only improved by having miniatures on display with the books, so even if there isn’t much for the Library, there may be some treasures for the Black Library Museum!
I enjoyed Saffgor’s writeup over at Tabletop Battles, and while I didn’t see much in the miniature department that screamed Black Library this time2, I was excited to see that there’s an upcoming animation. The Butcher’s Nails will be a one-shot episode for the Hammer & Bolter series, featuring the World Eaters. The first-person POV looks kinetic as hell, and you can be sure it’ll get reviewed here in an upcoming Show and Tell.
Arrivals & Departures
In this section I look at what’s coming up around the corner (Arrivals) and what’s landing on bookstore shelves (Departures).
Arrivals
Just one this week, the last of the Siege of Terra series in paperback from. Flames of Betrayal combines the Era of Ruin short story anthology (review) alongside James Swallow’s novella Garro: Knight of Grey.
Departures
We’re getting this glut of terrific paperbacks right now, so I hope folks who missed out on them the first time around in hardcover are taking full advantage. First up is Jonathan Beer’s Necron story Tomb World, which had a terrific focus on the Imperium’s logistical vulnerability. I reviewed it here, and interviewed the author here.
The Remnant Blade showed Mike Vincent taking on the Night Lords- no small task after they’ve been so closely identified with Aaron Dembski-Bowden for so long! Vincent leans a little less into a sympathetic portrayal, navigating the Byzantine intrigues of the Chaos warbands (review).
Mike Brooks’s Voidscarred cleaned up at the awards last year, taking Best 30K/40K Novel in the Goonhammer Book Awards as well as runner-up for the official Black Library Book of the Year. TTB’s Falcon40K reviewed it here.
Finally, the gorgeous Special Edition of Jude Reid’s Armageddon: Season of Fire arrived this past weekend for any of you lucky devils who managed to snare one. Fetching in black and gold, it’s pure shelf candy.
ICYMI
Here’s what’s been going on this week for Warhammer content!
Warhammer Wordforge
For this week’s featurette I jumped back into the pages of White Dwarf, taking a deep dive into the five-part serial The Chronicles of Bain by Black Library newcomer Neil Andrew Miller. I thought he knocked it out of the park, but don’t take my word for it- read it for yourself if you’ve got this year’s back issues handy!
For the RPG players, this week’s Warhammer RPG Weekly looked at the new Sons of Russ release, as well as how Cubicle 7 Games’ releases are performing on the DriveThruRPG bestseller list.
Tabletop Battles
The big news, of course, was that this was a Black Library Readers’ Hall of Fame week over at TTB. 2011 saw a trio of titles inducted, a respectable number but just a fraction of what got in for the star-studded Class of 2010.
Please don’t forget to vote! We’re using Google Forms now for the public voting, so it should be easy for everyone to make their voice heard for the Class of 2012!
I returned to the Beyond the Black Library occasional series this week over on TTB, penning a review of White Feathers, Crimson Leaves- Aconyte’s latest Legend of the Five Rings novel from Black Library veteran Josh Reynolds (Neferata, Lukas the Trickster).
While we’re afield of Warhammer for the moment, you can also check out Lynnding-Library’s BattleTech book review of By Civil Blood Betrayed, the third book in the Dominion Civil War tetralogy by Bryan Young.
Warhammer Community
The Pages from the Black Books series continued this week with an excerpt for the Ultramarines. This is taken from 2015’s The Horus Heresy: Book 5: Tempest, and is a free download at the mothership!
As discussed in detail above, here’s the link to the Black Library reveal this week. Plenty of goodies in our future.
WarhammerTV (paywalled)
The final episode of the newest animated mini-series, Aeronautica Imperialis, dropped this week on WarhammerTV. Here’s the announcement over on the mothership, but you’ll need to be subscribed to enjoy the actual show.
There’s also a new episode this week of Scribes and Scriveners, the Black Library interview feature. This time around they’ve corralled Denny Flowers to talk about Ghazghkull Thraka: Warlord of Warlords!
Around the Webway
The Black Library subreddit’s most recent book discussion was, appropriately enough, Helsreach, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden.
Jen and Keri of the WH40K Podcast took aim at Rich McCormick’s Zardu Layak: The Crimson Apostle this week, feeling it came up a little short. I can’t say I disagreed.
We got a two-fer this week from Cinderfall Gaming! First up was the review of Death Rider by Rhuairidh James, and then Tom Huddleston’s The City of Lifestone. If that second one isn’t quite coming to mind, it was part of the “Warhammer Adventures” series aimed at younger readers. Not something you see reviewed every day!
Cold Open Stories
This week’s featured story has an intriguing premise. My Name is Roboute by Jennie Ruskin looks at the life of a normal, everyday person in the Imperium, one whose name carries no small weight. “A name can affect a personality, in ways that go far beyond self-perception. It can influence not only how a person sees themselves, but how others see them too. Worse still, it can great expectations. His name is Roboute. His name is grand, a marker of greatness. But he is not.”
Quick Hits
It’s Scribe Award season again! These awards are kind of like the Oscars for the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers (IAMTW), awarding those creative voices who bring excellence to the world of tie-in writing (such as for Warhammer or any other established property). A number of our Black Library writers made the shortlist this year, and the winners in each category will be announced next month at the San Diego Comic-Con.
Josh Reynolds was nominated for Return of the Monster Men (Adapted)
Tim Waggoner (Skin Man) had three nominations: Terrifier 3: The Official Movie Novelization (Adapted), Conan: Spawn of the Serpent God (Original Novel – Speculative), and Conan: Marked for Death (Short Story)
Carrie Harris (The Strength of Symbols, A Forbidden Meal) for Snagged (YA/MG)
Sarah Cawkwell (Silver Skulls: Portents, Valkia the Bloody) for Thunder’s Edge – Echoes of Memory (Original Novel – General), which I reviewed here.
The latest from Adrian Tchaikovsky (Starseer’s Ruin, On the Shoulders of Giants), Green City Wars, which he describes as “a cyber/solarpunk noir detective story starring a raccoon” arrived in bookshops this week!
Gareth Hanrahan (Castle of the Exile, The View from Olympus) did an AMA over at the r/rpg subreddit, on the occasion of his latest venture, the Merryshire Detective Club RPG. Its crowdfunding launch is just three weeks away, and you can check out Wargamer’s terrific feature on it here.
Coming Attractions
Here’s a list of the known upcoming releases from the Black Library based on the available preorder information we have. As always, take all of this with a grain of salt unless it’s Games Workshop-confirmed.
This section will be updated weekly in this column, and anything in bold has been added (or updated) this week.
Upcoming but Undated
Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh! (Illustrated and Annotated Edition), by Nate Crowley
Ghosts of Cadia, by Rob Young (hardcover and Special Edition)
Longshot, by Rob Young (hardcover)
Mephiston: The Box Set, by Darius Hinks
The Devastation of Baal, by Guy Haley (hardcover)
Current PODs in Production
Hive, by Dan Abnett (Special Edition)
Upcoming in 2026
False Gods, by Graham McNeill (hardcover and Premium, 7/4)
Horus Rising, by Dan Abnett (Saga edition paperback, 7/4)
Gloomspite, by Andy Clark (hardcover, 7/4)
Rynn’s World, by Steve Parker (Special Edition, 7/11)
For the Emperor (Illustrated and Annotated Edition), by Sandy Mitchell (7/11)
The Sabbat Worlds Crusade, by Dan Abnett (hardcover, 7/11)
Krakenblood, by Marc Collins (paperback, 7/11)
Vagabond Squadron, by Robbie MacNiven (paperback, 7/11)
Starseer’s Ruin, by Adrian Tchaikovsky (paperback, 7/11)
Siege of Terra: Flames of Betrayal, by various (paperback, 7/18)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: The Ultimate Guide (hardcover, 8/11)
Archmagos, by Guy Haley (paperback, 8/11)
The Relentless Dead, by Steve Lyons (paperback, 8/11)
Words of Waaagh!, by DK Books (hardcover, 10/6)
The Sundering, by Gav Thorpe (paperback, 10/6)
Thanks again for joining me for all the going’s on in the Black Library, and see you next week!
Debatably.
That doesn’t mean I didn’t see some absolutely incredible stuff. The Exodites. The Old World Chaos Knights. The Necromunda box. So many goodies…