Would you buy a 'Lore Annual'?

[Carnelian]

I would definitely buy the Malign Portents stories if they bound those up into a single book. I think they have it away at Adepticon but I wish they'd sell it too. 

[Popisdead]

the latest Rulebook is a synopsis of lore for the first 3? years.  

The problem was GW released $80 campaign books with no points during the Kirby years.  

Another issue is lackluster lore.  The 40k Psychic Awakening were slandered for $50 for rules and some terrible lore.  On the flip side I heard the Everchosen book had AMAZING lore.

It's such a hit or miss prospect.  

[Skreech Verminking]

If it has anything skaven related, definitely!

[Ggom]

Given that I avidly follow the Heresy series from Forgeworld, which is basically a 130 USD campaign book every 2 years, I would say, yes - if it was good. Alas, I think “good” means many things to many people even in our niche hobby, so to elaborate:

A thick tome of lore, written from a mature standpoint (not just “he did this, so they did that, then something happened” which the current battletomes read as.) The lore has to explore fascinating characters, motivations, morality. You cant explore morality if its just “our guys versus their guys” thats just power rangers with a different set of names. You cant have real attachment to characters if there is no tragedy. Its also very hard to have any mystery when the books are written with an omniscient narrator. I get that the entry level products need to be read by 12 year olds, but I don’t think campaign books are an entry level part of the hobby because you need to already be pretty invested in models and base rules, at which point you probably arent 12 (or maybe kids these days got the moneys, I could be wrong)

Beautiful art - like, actually well done sketches and lavish color plates with accompanying text. I think some of the art in battletomes is pretty run of the mill in terms of quality - looks ok if you squint. I am happy to pay a premium but I want to do so for something Frazetta-esque.

Long term support - the Heresy rules change fairly slowly and they only put out 1 book every few years. I don’t feel like they are just churning out quick money grabs. Theres alot of community engagement and its reflected in designer commntary and how they adjust rules and stats based on feedback. Units get updated profiles and they put out beta rules to test the waters. The answer to something being over represented in events isnt just a points bump or drop - they adjust the actual rules!

[Trout]

Personally, lore has never mattered to me. I doubt I've read more than 20% of the lore in the battletomes I already own, even for my main armies. So, no I would not buy such a book. However, I really liked the format of the old "The Realmgate Wars" books which included lore/narrative content alongside additional battleplans, battalions, and other game content. I never got around to purchasing any of them because I always felt the price point was too high but I would purchase them at a lower price point.