When will GW start to improve the quality of their books again?

>namefag
>starshadow
Kill yourself, my boy.

Yes.

Yes they do.

I really wish people would try to make an effort if they're going to criticize GW on art. Doing stuff like only portions from the 40k codices that are meant to illustrate color schemes or more usually AoS maps is scraping the bottom of the barrel. It's like taking any of the maps from the Fantasy army book and presenting it as representative of all the artwork within.

The reason why FW's stuff is so good is because you pay for it. Don't think people would complain as much about art if the alternative was each codex costing $80+ dollars.

The WHFB old timey maps were way better than the modern, poorly drawn deviantart stuff.

I remember when GW used to hire talented artists instead of deviant art tier "artists".

>Doing stuff like only portions from the 40k codices that are meant to illustrate color schemes

Aside from the fact that a good deal of the art in recent GW codices and supplements has been pretty fucking terrible, I don't see how these mspaint fill bucket images convey color schemes any better than something like OP's image would.

Also, nigga we have digital painting now (though ser honesto, pic related doesn't give me much faith in GW's digital artists). They could fairly easily paint up an image like in OP's pic and then, through the power of layers 'n sheeit, modify the details, colors, etc. to show off whatever variations they wanted to without it looking ugly as fuck.

>They could fairly easily paint up an image like in OP's pic and then, through the power of layers 'n sheeit, modify the details, colors, etc. to show off whatever variations they wanted to without it looking ugly as fuck.

Im 90% sure thats what FW does when they do stuff like this.

Yeah, but they probably pay better, and pay attention to detail and narrative, sometimes using the painting to create artifacts that tell stories in and of themselves.

Also they don't operate like GW for the most part, organizing themselves somewhat independently and not treating their veterans like shit.

I'll bet this guy can summon power mauls from his chestplate.

FW marine diagrams are good enough to be used as banners used at conventions and sold for $90 as collectors' items.

GW's...not so much.

They're styled differently, but detail wise they're the same as what you see in the AoS books or worse.

That was a time when things were different, when GW released things at a snail's pace and there was seemingly less demand for the artists in general from everywhere within the greater market, not just the one focused on miniatures games.

We don't know the facts, it could just as likely be that certain artists no longer want to work with GW or are unable to as it is GW being cheap.

>Aside from the fact that a good deal of the art in recent GW codices and supplements has been pretty fucking terrible

In your opinion, I have a hard time imagining that every single piece of older art was a winner. Nostalgia preserves what was good and ignores the bad.

>I don't see how these mspaint fill bucket images convey color schemes any better than something like OP's image would.

Because they're clear and easy replicable for the purposes of showing minor variation in colors and markings.

People like to use FW as an example without acknowledging the fact that you pay more for a book from FW than you do GW and as far as the HH goes, you get nowhere near the number per page that GW provides. You get one or two at best.

youtu.be/gjbWDjzTM0A

>In your opinion, I have a hard time imagining that every single piece of older art was a winner. Nostalgia preserves what was good and ignores the bad.

Eh, most of it was servicible, if a bit painterly at times. Most of it was greyscale, though, which likely saved quite a bit in printing costs.

>Because they're clear and easy replicable for the purposes of showing minor variation in colors and markings.

You don't have to go full on coloring book filled in with the paint bucket tool to achieve this. Even this pic related silly 80s art does a better job of it. Hell, even the fucking online marine painter app can be arsed to do a better job at rudimentary gradient shading.

>Howling Griffons
>no helmet
Oh?

Isn't the helmet in these schematics a little small than it should be?

>Still better than the right half of the image in the OP
I rest my case

>It's like taking any of the maps from the Fantasy army book and presenting it as representative of all the artwork within.
The maps of the old fantasy army books were absolutely great, however.

>They're styled differently, but detail wise they're the same as what you see in the AoS books or worse.
Two things
>more details != quality, look at the new chaos knights or at the new archaon, they are shit compared to the older, less detailed models
>they actually look good, and better, they looks like maps

>that pic
Wait, is that official artwork for AoS? I've been gone for way too long.

Be strong user. Be strong.

Yeah, no. Just read the pastebin and the wiki. Not muh Warhammer Fantasy, etc etc.
Stuff like that map is just icing on the cake. Not like I ever hoped GW would treat their IPs with more than a modicum of respect, but still.

Be strong about what? Continuing to support a shit company? Naw, fuck GW.

They are already regretting their decisions.

If the Betrayal at Calth outsold so hard AoS, then clearly it was a bad decision for them to can Fantasy.

Is it bad that I prefer those Red Scorpions? They actually have red on them.

Oh, hey, look, it's the DOW3 trailer in the middle.

>The Forgeworld books are still good though.
the art is ok, design wise they can't set type for shit. Pretty sure none of them have found the kerning settings yet. They need some typography 101 lessons.

>They are already regretting their decisions.
Are they though? It doesn't sound like the GW I know.

>that blending
>that extremely obvious use of the lasso tool
>that complete disregard for color theory
>those flat-ass copy-pasted corpses
>they just took a photo of some pebbles and used it for the ground of the left and right islands
Please tell me this wasn't published in an actual book.

well Kirby Steped down as CEO, his Successor Kevin Rountree is pushing specialist games for revival, and working to implement super easy entry level kits to be sold at hobby shops and toy markets to younger kids for cheap, like snap together, no glue needed and paints included

it was, it is literally the worst piece of art they have ever produced

Sometimes, yeah. I'm only familiar with the HH books. The biggest one I've seen is not listing the points for a rogue psyker. Most of the time you can still understand what they want, but they left that area fucking blank so we were kinda boned then.

The point is that GWs quality used to be as good as FWs

>Loyalists in traitor legions hand inscribed aquillas into their breastplate

That's fucking cool.

Man, I love Kopinski's art.

late 3rd/early 4th edition had some great codices and art

Hoping Rountree will do something right.

Then again, Kirby's influence is still around.

Why was this allowed?

Forge World books are actually terrible. Constant glaring typos, constantly repeating the same words, especially adjectives (ARCANE ARCANE ARCANE), stats and point costs seemingly determined by the results of a game of darts (unless it's Ultramarines, they gave a damn about making sure they're good as fuck across the board).

The stories are fun to read, but Forge World books are a nightmare to go through, especially as a writer.

Also defacing his own legion's heraldry. It tells a story of a Heresy not so clean-cut as the history 10k years down the line would have you believe.

It was the herald of the new age, the shape of things to come. It should have never come to this, and those more prescient of us saw the horror that what was marching steadily over the horizon.

5th edition Space Wolves were already a clear sign of the future

>I will allow Games Workshop to piss directly into my mouth, and defend them for doing so

Why? Would 40k really be as foolish as to assume each traitor legion turned to a man without hesitation? That they had non among their ranks to disown their traitorous brothers?

...

Because they were trying to replicate the Power Loader scene from Aliens.

Ignoring the fact that the Power Loader left the pilot exposed because it's not meant for combat, it's meant for construction, maintenance, and heavy lifting, and the fact that Ripley was using it to fight the alien queen was a sign of how desperate she was to use anything to her advantage. It's like trying to fight in a forklift. You wouldn't do it unless you had nothing better to use.

The Grey Knights already have the best weapons and equipment the Imperium can give them, and there's nothing that the Dreadknight could have done for them that a Dreadnought could not have also done. The Dreadnought is already a big stompy mech that doesn't leave the pilot exposed; even the exposed pilot thing being hand-waved with a force field is a lazy justification for both leaving the pilot open and giving the Dreadknight an Invulnerable save at the same time.

It's also because Walkers are woefully underpowered compared to Monstrous Creatures, and the Dreadknight allowed an army without any creatures that are monstrous to use Monstrous Creature rules.

So tl;dr: The Dreadknight exists because GW missed the point on why the Power Loader scene from aliens is awesome, and also to give the Grey Knights a cheese unit.

>marine on the far left has accidentally ejected his bolter's magazine.

you sir need a reward

That was the model that started the "Gamesworkshop action figure" era. Then they started making bigger models.
Tau big battlesuit, riptide or something.
Eldar big robot wraiththing.
Knights.
SM centurions
Fantasy death god whatever his name was.
Chaos Space Marine robot model from old epic. The track monster.
Biggerer deamons
Their plan is to enter action figure business I guess.

>No articulation
>Too fragile
>Sold disassembled and unpainted

They're pretty shitty action figures, in that case.

How many pages like your example did you really get though? I know from looking through at least a few of the 7th Edition codices that GW devotes around 5 or 6 pages at least now to showing off color schemes and markings for both troops and vehicles.

That is really what I'm trying to get at, GW probably went with the style they did because it's easy and cheap to do over a couple pages.

Honestly I probably should have never tried to compare the two in the first place because they're apples and oranges. The maps in the Fantasy army books are actually maps and that is part of why they look good, in contrast the AoS maps are seemingly more akin to if you were somehow able to get a view of the terrain itself. That they're a bit more unique in their details is simply something I find nice about them.

Ultimately my point was not to argue that all of the current art is superior, but to just call out the people who post things like the 40k color schemes or the AoS maps, not because they're concerned with the quality or feel like they're owned better, but because they're salty as fuck and have an axe to grind with GW and will grab at any excuse they can to criticize them.

Truthfully though I really shouldn't bother anymore, the people I've pointed out above are hurting themselves more than my words ever could by obsessing over a company they obviously though care about anymore and making themselves toxic in the process. Not to mention how they overreact by weeping and wailing like they've just witnessed pictures of something like a mass grave, making utter fucking embarrassments of themselves.

I kind of like the first, though I can't recall off the top of my head how much they differ from the color scheme FW uses for the Red Scorpions. Second just looks unappealing to me in it application.

>mfw people complain about GW being too expensive
>as if GW is the only company/toy that does this

It's like they've never seen those 6" $75 Japanese action figures with 200 points of articulation and enough accessories to fill a military hangar.

>and there's nothing that the Dreadknight could have done for them that a Dreadnought could not have also done.

The Dreadnought is nowhere near the size of a Greater Daemon, the existence of which is lorewise the entire reason the Dreadknight exists, so that the GK can go toe to toe with a Greater Daemon.

Not to mention Dreadnoughts are not available in ample supply, they're hard to manufacture and reserved for those who are viewed as worthy of or need to be preserved.

>even the exposed pilot thing being hand-waved with a force field is a lazy justification for both leaving the pilot open and giving the Dreadknight an Invulnerable save at the same time.

How in the fuck is it a handwave? By that logic you could probably handwave a bunch of shit in 40k. Considering the pilot is in Terminator armor which is some of the strongest armor the Imperium is capable of fielding, they're not exactly entirely exposed either.

This also feels like a good time to point at that the Dreadknight was apparently designed and sculpted by Jes Goodwin, another example of how those who have and still do good work don't always hit the mark.

A lot of what you listed is basically stuff that existed in the past which it's felt can finally be done justice due to the technology available.

The only things which don't are the Riptide and the Centurions, the latter of which I'm pretty sure are nowhere near as big as anything else on the list. The Riptide is meant to capitalize on the fact that the Tau are the mecha army and Centurions are based on older concepts by Goodwin to give the SM something new.

Considering how well some of what you've mentioned as sold (Particularly the Imperial Knight), it would appear that those who shit themselves in anger over big models are in the minority.

When pigs fly through a frosty hell, buoyed by the rising souls of a billion sacrificed infants each clutching a few thousand dollars.

right because we need "bare bones functional" pictures in a 50 dollar hard cover.

>50 dollar hard cover.
>mfw I know you're trying to make that sound extravagant but it's not expensive at all

I don't know if I'm this way because of college textbooks or because of FW.

Or maybe it's because $50 isn't even half a day's wages.

The whole point of the Istvaan Drop Massacre was to kill of the remaining loyalists in the future Traitor Legions, and it was pretty effective, which is why only a handful of loyalists from those legions survived the heresy

i tried user

Woah, you work for $100 a day? As in, USD?

What do you do, shovel pig shit in Latvia?

Selling because something's rules make it the OP flavor of the month does not mean it is necessarily a good idea. In most releases, a faction will get one or more 'must have' units that a meta will revolve around until the next release.

And surprise surprise, some of these pieces have more staying power than others. Like I doubt that Knight-scale units will be leaving the game any time soon. Yes, Knights existed in earlier fluff. But if you had asked anyone in 2010 if they thought that most factions would have a Knight-equivalent by 2016, they'd have laughed you out of the thread.

Which is exactly why I have a problem with it. If I'm going to get charged $75+ for a single model, it better have some nice bells and whistles on it.

Now that is cool.

>Selling because something's rules make it the OP flavor of the month does not mean it is necessarily a good idea. In most releases, a faction will get one or more 'must have' units that a meta will revolve around until the next release.

We have no way of knowing if the rules truly sold those kits though.

In fact a recent survey that has been touted would suggest otherwise since only 38% of the respondents said they liked competitive play.

As far as the Imperial Knights go you could also argue that the fact that vanilla Space Marines alone make up for the most owned army among those surveyed with Imperial Guard not far behind leads to a lot of them being sold, besides people just liking the model.

Tau are owned around as much as Imperial Guard, which could explain sales of the Riptide.

The fact that 40k is seemingly mostly casual does not surprise me since the same was and probably still is true for Magic, a vastly bigger game.

>it is literally the worst piece of art they have ever produced

Have you seen the other maps?

Post examples.

>Honestly I probably should have never tried to compare the two in the first place because they're apples and oranges
Yeah, AoS maps could better be compared to the old WD battle report maps.

And still lose.

>I really wish people would try to make an effort if they're going to criticize GW on art.
Why the fuck should we? THEY put in zero effort.

This is so cheap

It looks like fanart on deviantart, but it can't be because the person who drew it clearly isn't all that familiar with 40k.

Come on, people on deviantart know how to blend in copypasted elements

Well, regarding that particular image, Alex Boyd is certainly still around. I know I've seen new AoS stuff by both him and Dave Gallagher getting torn to pieces here.

>This also feels like a good time to point at that the Dreadknight was apparently designed and sculpted by Jes Goodwin, another example of how those who have and still do good work don't always hit the mark.
He did receive partial credit for it and came up with the idea together with Mat Ward, but judging from the designers' notes, the work on the actual model was done by Dale Stringer and Tom Walton, who've been behind a lot of mech/vehicle kits. And Martin Footitt did the pilot, as he was one of the guys who worked on the Grey Knight infantry sets.

Given Walton's comment about the scale creep, it also seems the design may have moved away somewhat from however it was meant to look at the beginning (as opposed to kits like the Razorwing and Venom for instance, both of which began as top-down sketches by Goodwin that were then translated into 3D by Stringer and Walton respectively). The full-page Dave Gallagher illustration at the beginning of the 5e GK codex might be indicative of the Dreadknight's originally-intended appearance, at least at some stage in development: the pilot is still exposed - as they say, that's the visual element that the whole thing is built around - but his lower legs are housed within the Dreadknight's, so he looks more like he's actually wearing the exoskeleton rather than just strapped to the front of it. It's also noticeably smaller than the final version, in keeping with what Walton said about the model's original proposed size.

Back to Jes Goodwin, with the above in mind, looks like the only sculpt he personally contributed to the Grey Knight release was the Jokaero.