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My Warhammer writing journey began in 2024, when I got the itch to start writing about games- something I hadn’t done consistently in about a decade1. I pitched a series to Tabletop Battles (then called Goonhammer), covering the history of the Black Library from a 40K perspective. They greenlit it, and I was off to the races!
I’ll never forget how excited I was to see the 40K History of the Black Library make its way into the world- and how embarrassed I was when no less a personage than Marc Gascoigne- one of the three people responsible for the Black Library’s creation- then noted on social media that I’d misspelled two of their names.
It was a teachable moment, one on the importance of getting not just the broad strokes correctly, but the fine details as well. Regardless of how it felt in the moment, I was grateful for the lesson.
I had a similar moment with last week’s Warhammer RPG Weekly. In the column I talked about Jeff McAleer of The Gaming Gang, who was holding a big Summer sale of the review content he’d been supplied by gaming companies. It seemed to me a win-win-win: Gamers get deeply-discounted merch in like-new condition, Jeff’s charity of choice (Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital) gets a welcome donation, and Jeff gets to reclaim some shelf space in his game room.
After the article went live, I noticed this interaction on the r/40krpg subreddit:
Wait, 'calling out?' That wasn't my intent at all!
Perception is Reality
As a writer, getting the right words- and getting words right- means a great deal to me. While it genuinely surprised me that my piece could be read as 'calling out' a fellow creator for doing something I wholeheartedly endorsed, the upvotes made it clear that this reader was not alone in their interpretation.
A positive conversation with the poster helped clarify where my words had missed the mark, and I went back and refined the original piece to ensure my intent was clear. But it was a good and timely reminder of a hard truth in writing: if enough people are getting the impression of something, it doesn’t matter what my original intention was. My intent takes a backseat to their perception- and that becomes the reality.
It was also a useful lesson in ‘reputational capital.’ While I’ve developed a recognized voice in the Black Library community, I’m a relative unknown in the RPG space. I haven't yet earned the benefit of the doubt here that I might expect when covering Warhammer fiction.
One week older now, and hopefully a little wiser as a result, all of this also got me thinking about the idea of what I represent here. What are the ‘guiding principles’ that define the tone of the Warhammer Wordforge?
Here’s what I came up with.
The Six Guiding Principles
If you’ve been following my Black Library work, some of these should already sound familiar, but this is the first time I’ve sat down and written them out formally.
No snark. I’m not here to tear things down, but rather to give my honest opinions and assessments. I can dislike something without feeling the need to diminish it through mean-spiritedness.
“There Are No Bad Books.” This one comes straight from Magic: the Gathering’s head designer Mark Rosewater, who has often noted that there are no bad cards, just cards that aren’t for you. If I don’t like something, it doesn’t mean that someone else won’t love it and I always try to consider who the intended audience might be for something.
Protecting the "First-Time" Experience. You only ever get to experience something for the first time once, and I always seek to preserve that for the reader. I try to avoid or limit the number of spoilers I disclose, and will announce them in advance when necessary for discussion.
Knowing My "Lane" as a Reviewer. There’s no such thing as a universal reader- we all come into Warhammer with different levels of engagement, experience, and knowledge. How a novice perceives something may be different than a veteran, and that’s important to bear in mind when reviewing. (For instance, I’m a 40K vet but an AoS rookie).
Assuming Good Faith. Whether it’s the choices and decisions of individual writers, the editorial team of the Black Library, or Games Workshop as a whole, I always try to assume good faith as my default posture. I’ve been wrong far more often in life than I’ve been right when I’ve allowed cynicism to guide my thoughts and actions.
Responsible Reporting. Finally, truth and facts matter. While calling myself a “journalist” would feel a bit highfalutin, I share that profession’s value of factual accuracy in what I write. I don’t do clickbait or sensationalism in an effort to drive up engagement.
Will I always get it perfectly right? Almost certainly not. There will undoubtedly be more typos, misreads, and misunderstandings down the road- that’s just the nature of putting words out into the world. But having these six pillars as the bedrock of the Warhammer Wordforge ensures that when I do inevitably stumble, I have a clear map to help me find my way back.
Ultimately, covering the Black Library, the Warhammer RPG’s, and the wider Games Workshop universe is an absolute privilege. My goal is always to do right by the writers who pour their hearts into these books, and by you- the community- who share this passion with me week after week.
Now, let’s get to those books!
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!
#15 ( - ). Warhammer The Old World: Talagaad Adventures
#23 (-17). Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus GM’s Guide
#84 ( - ). Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Player’s Guide
#104 ( - ). Imperium Maledictum: Core Rulebook
#121 ( - ). Wrath & Glory: Core Rulebook
#141 ( - ). Imperium Maledictum: Core Rulebook (German)
#171 ( - ). Imperium Maledictum: Inquisition Player’s Guide
#174 ( - ). Warhammer The Old World: Player’s Guide
#198 ( - ). Imperium Maledictum: Inquisition GM’s Guide
#200 ( - ). Imperium Maledictum: Macharian Requisition Guide
An awful lot of dashes here, indicating that last week these titles weren’t in the top 200 of bestsellers. Terrific progress! While it might look like only the Adeptus Mechanicus GM’s Guide lost ground in the standings, some other titles fell off completely. Sons of Russ, the Wrath & Glory sourcebook for the Space Wolves, was a healthy #48 last week, now nowhere to be seen. Same with Temple of Spite (was #34) and Champions of Chaos (#25).
The German Edition of Imperium Maledictum’s Core Rulebook coming in at #141 was nice to see, since it appears to only have been released within the last week. Willkommen, Freunde!
Overall a lot of movement this week, highlighting the volatility of this measurement. The Zelda-inspired Twilight Sword RPG2 arrived with a splash with a number of offerings crowding the upper range of the bestsellers, but it’s still a solid week for Cubicle 7 Games.
ICYMI
Sticking with DriveThruRPG for a moment, they have loads of Warhammer RPG titles discounted for their “Christmas in July” sale, many up to 50% off. Zekiel of Ill Met by Morrslieb provided a great roundup here.
Careless Conjuration posted the next article in its series The GM’s Guide to the Enemy Within, focusing on streamlining the running of chapters three and four of volume one.
Meanwhile, Awesome Lies reviewed Hirelings of the Old World, a PDF release that contained four NPC’s usable for WFRP’s 4th Edition.
Ill Met by Morrslieb, on the other hand went quite a bit further back for its review this week, with this assessment of WFRP 1st Edition’s Warhammer Companion.
Coming Attractions
Here’s a list of the known upcoming 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.
To make this section more useful, starting this week I’ll be breaking them out by game.
Undated
Sylvania Setting Guide
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 Q2
Warhammer: the Old World Roleplaying Game, Grand Duchy of Talabec Map Pack (May 2026)
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 Q2
Warhammer 40,000: Wrath & Glory, Adventures in Gilead
Shipping Q2
Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay, Imperium Maledictum: Adeptus Mechanicus Character Sheet Pad
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
Undated
(Nothing at this time)
Thanks for reading! If you found this week’s Warhammer RPG Weekly useful or interesting, might I ask that you kindly consider sharing it with others who may as well?
I used to write extensively about Magic: the Gathering, first on my own site (Ertai’s Lament), then paid writing for Quiet Speculation and Gathering Magic (now CoolStuffInc.)
Here’s The Gaming Gang talking about it, for the curious.
Thank you for such incredible writing......always great to read!
I'm trying to buy the Warhammer Fantasy RPG books and the Imperium Maledictum core books and searching for on-line availability plus reasonable shipping (in Europe) occupies almost as much time as a hobby. I'm not sure if it's a "warhammer scarcity" thing or a printed Ttrpg phenomenon in the European market.