While there’s probably a reasonable case to be made for overextension of resources, the nice thing about Cubicle 7 Games having six1 different Warhammer game lines is that there’s always something new to talk about.
I sometimes like to put on my thinking cap and play, “If I Were Dom2 for a Day,” seeing what I might change up at the company. One of the things I would do would be to start a weekly Product Update article, let’s say on Wednesdays, which would ensure a steady drumbeat of anticipation on the website’s blog.
There’s content there currently, but it’s irregularly-paced. You can get two articles in a week, for instance, or only one piece in two weeks; it’s just whatever they feel like releasing. This way, fans of Warhammer RPG’s would know to check in each Wednesday to see something new or upcoming.
Games Workshop has a mixed handle on this. The Sunday Preview is the crown jewel, something many of us look forward to reading each week. That’s terrific for generating anticipation amongst the consumers, but it sort of tapers off a bit from there. Since I cover the Black Library beat very closely here, I’m always excited to see new book announcements- but they’re as random as anything else. And when things are random, it’s harder to build up much excitement for them.
Now, with my Dom for a Day hat still on, I’d then connect with each of the six product leads and ask them to provide a substantive, public-facing update on their line (at least) once every six weeks. This would form the core of the steady content, covering a fairly broad range from a preview of an upcoming product to a designer interview, or even, as we had this week, a new product announcement!
The Quality of One’s Enemies
With the 5th Edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay still top of mind, we’ve got a new cover reveal for Imperium Maledictum! The Macharian Adversary Guide serves as a follow-up to last year’s Macharian Requisition Guide, and will greatly flesh out the GM’s stock of opponents to throw at the players as they try to uncover dark mysteries on behalf of their patron.
One common concern about the Imperium Maledictum’s base game you see expressed in the community is regarding the range of “starter enemies” included in the core ruleset. This is, admittedly, a fairly universal grievance; RPG’s with a robust bestiary good for fueling loads of early adventures has tended to be the exception more than the norm in my experience.
Not only that, but the new book promises also to bring ‘Champion Role’ enemies, allowing GM’s to bring Astartes of all sorts to the table.
No word yet on a release date, but it won’t be too much longer!
Breaking News from the Underhive
This afternoon saw the livestream of The Big Autumn Preview over on the mothership, and easily the biggest surprise for me was the announcement of Warhammer: Necromunda Roleplay!
With its tighter emphasis on narrative and character growth, Necromunda has always had something of a foot in two sides of the hobby, but this newest product promises to much deeper on the RPG aspect. More tactics-minded role-playing games like Pathfinder have long been popular options, and while it remains to be seen what the ultimate breakdown is between skirmish and role-playing components, its a very exciting reveal.
It’s also notable that this is an in-house design rather than something licensed, which tends to suggest it might not be a full RPG (though the Preview show mentioned the ability to create your own characters rather than being limited to pre-gens like a more traditional board game experience). If it is, that means that Games Workshop has produced its first inhouse RPG for the first time since it handed off the license to Fantasy Flight Games in 2008.
That said, it certainly sounds like it could be a full RPG:
You play as a group of bounty-hunting Venators taking on jobs set by the Arbitrator, the equivalent of a games master, who presents the story to the other players, adjudicating on the rules of the game, and unfolding the narrative created by the actions of the players. It’s compatible with the full range of Necromunda miniatures, and comes with some fantastic and characterful new models, starting with those representing your team – these four Iconic Characters.
Even though I don’t play the tabletop wargames, I still always make it a point to tune in to these Preview shows because you never know if you’re going to see something that grabs your attention. As noted earlier, Games Workshop is hit and miss when it comes to anticipation management, but here’s definitely one where they’re doing a solid job.
As a licensee, Cubicle 7 certainly benefits from the licensor company’s own efforts to raise brand awareness and engagement. In addition to the passive brand-building GW engages in as part of its core business model, but there’s also an annual “Relics” showcase of officially licensed merchandise that Cubicle 7 has featured in. That’s a fine start, but represents only the basest of groundwork operations. To truly thrive, any licensee needs to do the bulk of its heavy lifting itself.
To be clear, I don’t think Cubicle 7 is doing a bad job of that. But I’d love to see them elevate it to the next level, and begin actively cultivating a more regular audience for its updates and offerings.
More regular and steady product updates are a great place to start- and for relatively modest capital resource expenditure.
Right then, that’s enough MBA talk for one day, let’s see how those books are doing!
RPG Bestsellers
Bookwriters get their New York Times bestseller lists, so why shouldn’t we enjoy the same thing? While we don’t have any aggregated sales lists, we can use DriveThruRPG’s top-seller list as a reasonable barometer- and here’s this week’s snapshot!
Warhammer RPG Titles in the Top 200:
#1 (+1) Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Fifth Edition Core Rulebook
#16 (+2). Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Sylvania: The Cursed County
#99 ( - ). Warhammer The Old World: Player’s Guide (Polish)
#117 (-14). Wrath & Glory: Core Rulebook
#135 (-21). Wrath & Glory: Lex Imperialis
#161 ( - ). Warhammer The Old World: Gamemaster’s Guide (Polish)
#167 (-19). Imperium Maledictum: Core Rulebook
Total Books in Top 200: 7 (+2)
Just like a recent drop of Spanish-langue translations made a nice little splash on the Top 200, so this week our friends in Poland have warmly responded to the release of the two core The Old World books. Wspaniały!
5th Edition reclaimed the top spot after dropping one last week, while Sylvania even managed to claw a couple spaces back as well. The other books have shown a predictable decline, which is the typical pattern we’ve seen as books flare up for one reason or another and then slip back down the charts.
ICYMI
We’ve begun moving from the ‘early impressions’ stage to the deep-dive reviews for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay’s 5th Edition, and kicking things off here is Zekiel’s piece for Ill Met by Morrslieb. “At the end of the day I like the 5th Edition rulebook,” he notes. “It succeeds in retaining the strengths of the 4e rulebook while addressing many of its weaknesses.” It’s a terifically in-depth look, and well worth a read!
Jason Volk of TTRPG Fanatics also dropped his just today. Calling it “a step in the right direction, even if it is a small one,” he ultimately awards it a respectable 17 out of 20.
If you’re still on the fence and the early reviews haven’t quite sway you, here’s one more reason to pull the trigger on 5th Edition. Cubicle 7 is giving away two complete sets of The Enemy Within Collector's Edition for any who buy any core 5th Edition product before 30 September. And if, like me, you’d already picked up your preorder, you’re automatically in!
Careless Conjuration’s running series The GM’s Guide to the Enemy Within dropped its latest this week, with Death on the Reik reaching its climax!
Finally, It Always Rains in Nuln had an update on making their library of fan-made Warhammer RPG product publicly available.
Coming Attractions
Here’s a list of the known upcoming physical releases from Cubicle 7 based on the available preorder information we have. Note that Cubicle 7’s own delivery estimates appear to be just that- estimates- which is why many products have an upcoming delivery listed for Q1 while we’re already past that.
This section will be updated weekly in this column, with new or updated info presented in boldface.
Undated
Necromunda Roleplay Core Set
Shipping Q3
Limited Edition Warhammer Fantasy Map Bundle 1 (July 2026)
Limited Edition Warhammer Fantasy Map Bundle 2 (July 2026)
Shipping Q4
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Temple of Spite (Q4)
Shipping Spring 2027
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fifth Edition: Core Rulebook (standard hardcover)
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fifth Edition: Core Rulebook (collector’s edition)
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fifth Edition: Character Sheets
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fifth Edition: Reikland Dice Set
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fifth Edition: Monsters & Adversaries Deck
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fifth Edition: Conditions & Injuries Deck
Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fifth Edition: Reikland Map
Shipping 2027
Sylvania: The Cursed County
Shipping Q4
Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Starter Set (Q4)
Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Gamemaster’s Screen (Q4)
Shipping 2027
Talagaad Adventures
Shipping Q1
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Dark Gifts Card Pack (Q1)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Spells Lore Card Pack (Q1)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Artefacts & Wargear Card Pack (Q1)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Core Rulebook (Standard and Collector’s Edition) (Q1)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound, Champions of Chaos: Bloodwind Spoil Map (Q1)
Shipping Q3
Limited Edition Age of Sigmar Map Bundle (July 2026)
Shipping Q1 2027
Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound: Champions of Chaos: Carngrad Adventures
Shipping Q4
Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory, Adventures in Gilead
Shipping Q3
Limited Edition Imperium Maledictum Macharian Sector Map (July 2026)
Shipping Q4
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay, Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Collector’s Edition
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay, Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Player’s Guide
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay, Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Gamemaster’s Guide
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay, Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Character Sheet Pad (Q4)
Undated
(Nothing at this time)
Thanks for reading, and happy gaming!
Even if one of them- the Horus Heresy RPG- is for the moment the equivalent of a ‘lost Primarch’ of the lot
Dominic McDowall, CEO of Cubicle 7 Games. If your mind went somewhere else, I can only blame Slaanesh.
Great job, Thanks!
I agree it’d be nice to get regular scheduled updates from Cubicle 7. This is my weekly product update so thanks for doing it!
Yeah I’m hoping Necromunda Roleplay will be a full rpg too. In the announcement he held up a slimmer book that I think he said was the first adventure book? So hopefully there are plans to expand the game.