For lack of any better place to put this, I figured the shear amount of modelling ideas and inspiration this book as given meant it deserved to be touted on the P&M board.
Seriously guys, while more experienced members of the hobby may well have at least half the art scattered throughout old rulebooks, white dwarfs and previous art books, I heartily recommend this book.
It's pretty damn cheap on Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Emperors-Will-Agents-Imperium/dp/184970113X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328372178&sr=8-1) too which is a bonus (£13.50 from Amazon with free delivery, rather than the £25 RRP). 144 pages of brilliant Imperium-focused artwork from across the history of 40k. Plus it really is an artbook focused on the guts of the imperium, there are no space marines and barely a handful of what might count as guardsmen.
It could possibly be viewed as an updated Inquisitor's Sketchbook, but really it isn't, as the book features the work of over a dozen artists from sources ranging from stuff I believe dates to the original Rogue Trader 1st edition 40k right up to the Dark Heresy books. Whereas the Sketchbook was John Blanche's personal drawings for Inquisitor.
I would even go as far as saying this is probably my favourite artbook now over the Inquisitor's Sketchbook.
I got my copy on Friday and was utterly disappointed - mostly because I already have pretty much every piece of art elsewhere. It'd have been nice if they hadn't filled it with art that they've already published elsewhere, often in other artbooks. On top of that, I thought the lack of captions was really lazy - it'd have been much better with even a few sentences about what each picture was meant to represent.
I guess the value of the book depends how many other GW books you already have. If you don't have many then it probably is well worth the money - especially for the price Amazon is selling it for.
I'd considered giving my copy away as a prize at the IGT...
I was wondering how much cross-over there might be with The Gothic And The Eldritch artbook, which I've never actually looked at in person.
QuoteI got my copy on Friday and was utterly disappointed - mostly because I already have pretty much every piece of art elsewhere. It'd have been nice if they'd filled it with art that they've already published elsewhere, often in other artbooks.
I'm guessing there's a "hadn't" missing from one of those sentences.
I would be in agreement that if someone already owns several of the major artbook or background books then there is a lot less desirability. But for a good range of pieces and archetypes for someone who doesn't own any of the artbooks I'd still very much recommend it.
Oops, yes - I'll go put one in.
EDIT: Yes - anyone reading this, if you don't have other art books then it's a good buy and should provide plenty of inspiration for great characters/models or Inquisitor. I'd love to see people turn some of the concepts in there into reality. And less than £14 for a big hardback book is a bargain. There's a lot of art from various rulebooks, Dark Heresy books as well as other art books, so it's a great way to get the art without buying a whole load of books. (But if you already have a whole load of books then don't bother.)