Hey ya’ll,
Rawdogger her to talk about my re-emerging appreciation and excitement with Games Workshop. Like a lot of people I know I have been growing more and more disenfranchised with Games Workshop lately. Since anecdotal evidence is known to be the best evidence, my experiences certainly mean that the majority of Games Workshop customers are feeling the same way as me. A combination of being smoked at a couple of tournaments by extremely powerful lists and the fact that my job now requires me to be inundated by wargaming all day er’ day was leading to some major 40k burnout. Recently certain actions by Games Workshop has rekindled the fire in my loins to put together little men and march them across the table top. So without further adieu, here is my list of reasons my 40k excitement levels are about to explode.
1. New Releases – In the last couple months GW has been releasing new content at breakneck speed. Not only are they releasing new armies and kits but they are seemingly coming out of nowhere. First we had are sneak Harlequin release followed by the first of hopefully four Daemonkin codices. This week we are seeing the release of the Skitarii codex with an all but confirmed Eldar codex soon to follow. Who knows what will be next! Will the Dark Angels finally be given the love they deserve? Will the Adepta Sororitas stop being treated like a step child forgotten at the park after soccer practice? Who knows! But I’m excited to see what the very near future holds for these factions.
2. Potential Codex Fixes – While some might argue that the latest Necron codex made the army more powerful than it was in it’s previous iteration, I happen to think that it toned down some of the more powerful and ridiculous units and wargear options. Sure they became tougher to take down but it fits into the fluff and is entirely dependent on the synergy of certain units working together. I applaud Games Workshop for tackling the Eldar codex next. Though it is not the oldest codex to get the hard back treatment it is in the most need of an update. The current Eldar codex has too many undercosted and overpowered units. We all know what needs to be fixed so there is no need to stir up that hornets nest but good on Games Workshop for recognizing the need to update the codex to fall in line with the power level of other codices.
3. New Models – Nothing makes a gamer turn their head faster than the release of new models. With the Harlequin codex we received tons of new characters and vehicles and with Daemonkin Khorne we were treated with the beautiful new Bloodthirster model. Codex Skitarii is an entirely new faction and GW certainly out did themselves with a model release sufficient for such an event. You can say what you want about GW’s business practices but they are certainly still at the top of their game with some of these new model releases.
4. New Ways to Build a List – List building is one of my favorite things to do in my free time. Starting with the Necrons codex and followed up by Daemonkin Khorne we are seeing a new style of list building options. Players are now being given a type of risk/reward list building programs in which they can receive incredible detachment bonuses if they take set amount of units. Though this is a great way for GW to sell kits, it does force players to set aside a considerable amount of points in order to take these detachments and the equally powerful formations that are unlocked. A great way to shake up a list building program stuck in the stone age.
5. Player Excitement – Seeing other players who have been out of the hobby for a long time getting excited about these new releases is really great to see. We had a local player who had all but quit the hobby for several years and when the Harlequin release happened he was so excited that he came in and bought up several kits and the codex and started writing lists again. GW has certainly been pumping new blood into the system and seeing these old timers’ ears perk up when hearing about the Mechanicum release and seeing the young bloods excitedly pouring over the newest White Dwarf has really invigorated my own love of the hobby.
So what do you think? Have you been getting reinvigorated for the 40k hobby with these new releases or have they been pushing you further towards the abyss?
Best time for 40K since mid-5th edition. IMO, even better actually.
I am so excited!!!
Seriously these are the kinds of releases I have been wanting for years, all these little side factions and now with allies and tournaments openning up a little I can bring them.
I now dont have to rely on Serpents as a crutch to be able to deal with(you guessed it, serpents). I can now run entirely imperial and not get my face smashed in. I can run so many different varieties of lists just because there are so many options and do alright.
Honestly I have lost a full day to just list building with all the imperial factions….I had to limit my options to not lose my mind lol
Honestly at this rate, I would not be surprised if Squats came back in 2016…
I would love that!
I’ve only been playing for less than two years, but since I’ve started this has been the best time for 40k imo. We’re seeing releases fast and hard, and my FLGS on the regular has 15+ people on game night. When I started playing, we would have been lucky to get more than 6.
Your point on List Building hit the nail on the head imo. There’s so many ways to play the game now that people are just chomping at the bit to play with new things and against new things. My Necrons have seen so many iterations – Decurion, CAD, formations – all of them are so exciting!
And whether or not people personally enjoy Maelstrom, there’s no doubting that it shook up the game and created an entirely new playstyle by itself, one that’s really mobile and encourages new and different armies like SM Scouts or Lictorshame.
I’m having so much fun playing and working on 40k right now, and I’m glad everyone else is too!
I keep reading about how amazing 7th is becomming, it would be awesome if I could find someone who lives within 40 miles of me that didn’t quit to try it out. I would probably bring my eldar, tau, or knigts in lance formation or some variation to feast on their delicious tears. They may or may not be fixing eldar, but I don’t see the knight fix coming anytime soon.
IMO you can tell yourself how amazing the game is etc, but at adepticon everyone I spoke to playing in the team tournament told me how terrible it was….anecdotal sure, but when 12 people tell you they are having zero fun, my interest in trying it out again still remains zero. If you enjoy 40K an really want to go back to the fun you had in 5th don’t waste your money on the newest limited edition blah blah blah of the week. Order up a bolt action rulebook and starter army….it is the game you should be playing.
No matter what GW does in terms of nerfing codexes, I will say thanks but no thanks to their limited editions, high prices, and maelstorm missions. When they hire someone who can actually write a decent game I will consider playing again.
If you are a good player you can beat eldar, or tau, or adamantium lance, or really any army even without your own “net list power build”. There are a lot of powerful killing units in the game right now which means if you are a bad player you will get exposed and curb stomped. You will get beaten so badly you will also probably blame the game itself instead of looking at the choices you made and how they may or may not have lead to the outcome.
I am sure a skilled tourney player can beat a 12-year old playing AL, eldar, or tau…the issue is when you go to a national tourney with other tourney players and they are all rocking the beat face books…..or 5 flyrants lol….The game still has serious issues with power levels of the various books/ dataslates and IMO its disingenuous to argue otherwise. Basically it becomes a race to the bottom where only certain books are viable…how many pure CSM or DA armies placed in the top 20 at Adepticon…bet the answer to that one is zero. Any army that included those books did so for maybe a hell turkey or a librarian that sort of the thing just a small dip given they allowed any number of books an formations etc in the GT. If you have fun with it at home more power to you, I like to go to tourneys and this is just what really makes me not want to travel to play it.
But when has it not been like that? If anything there are more answers out there and new combos that are being found (lictorshame). 2 editions ago you had 3 power builds. Hell 3rd edition was basically what book came out that month was most powerful.
The game will never be balanced like chess, but it’s getting better via a firehose worth of options.
Tournament players at adepticon shouldnt’t be upset by the nasty they saw… What else is there to expect at one of the largest tournaments?
So the person who got second at the lvo played a scout army, the person who won adepticon played a single detachment daemon army. It’s skill not army that wins games. Like I said blame the army or the games for the results or maybe actually think how you could beat a 5 flyrant army (with the understanding that the answer does not need to include kill most of the Flyrants).
In 5th edition it was GK with everyone else being a noticeable step down. Now there at least 5 top tier books.
>In 5th edition it was GK with everyone else being a noticeable step down.
That was never true. GK never significantly outperformed the other top-tier codices (Necrons, SM, SW, BA, IG) in terms of wins-per-attendance. The fact that a huge chunk of the population jumped on the bandwagon didn’t actually make the codex strong, despite seeing a lot of wins; when 1/3 of the people use the book, it’s no surprise that 1/3 of the winning armies are GK.
I definitely see where you are coming from John. Tournament play is difficult at the moment and unless you are willing to scale up to match the hard hitting lists we are seeing you will be steam rolled. We actually are getting into Bolt Action here with a couple of us guys getting the starter sets.
I am am not kidding about Bolt Action being a breath of fresh air for old school 40K players…it was really like coming back to the game I used to love. Single source format, game play that was reasonably straightforward (which was a big advantage over GW), some general knowledge of what your opponent’s stuff does….IMO after playing 6th and 7th and then playing something like Bolt Action you get a feel for how far afield GW has gone in the last three or four years.
I understand some people are really into the whole colectible LE thing an others are into the whole millions ways of building my army thing and want to be able to field an army that has orks, grey knights, and chaos demons joining forces for whatever reason. My real concern is the rules never needed to be written to allow you take whatever, when I was in high school in the 90s we played some games of second edition that way an never needed permission.
The funadmental problem I have with ever coming back to GW is quite frankly I don’t trust them to pull a 6th edition all over again or creep the power levels of new books up to insane again. After getting off the 40k treadmill they need to do something that would just utterly impress the heck out of me to get me to come back.
GO SQUATS!!! Well, since I still have some in my collection and use the figs in my AM force, why not? Though I must admit, I do enjoy the flexibility of allies I can see where some players are annoyed with it. Are codices out of whack? Yep. Will that ever change? I very much doubt it. Will GW realize they are pricing themselves out of the market? Only with a significant change in leadership, probably from the outside as they are persistently inbred for management it seems. Will that happen in the near future? No. Should we make the best of it, shut up and play? Absolutely. So says the whitebeard!!
Best part of article: Reference to the “caffeine” episode of Saved by the Bell.
I’m so…..SCARED!!
Best time to be a 40k player.
Worse time to be a broke 40k player
Nice one! Totally true.
I play tau and sm. Ifeel rumors of a leviathan style supplement is true my wallet will hate me for a few weeks.
I totally agree best time to be a 40kplayer so much better than past few years of stale same old death stars. I have not been as happy and enjoying the game since before gray knights filled every tournament table in 5th
I like the pace of the new releases, but I refuse to say I’m totally satisfied until some Chaos factions other than Khorne get represented!
Are we sure Rawdogger wrote this? Not nearly enough fucks, assholes, and various other bits of fun color. 😀 In seriousness though, cool article!
Piss
i’m fairly lukewarm to 40k nowadays. Which is an upward shift from ice cold. 40k died in our area and recently narrative campaign leagues have risen from those ashes. We all just kinda agree to not take feel-bad units and not take it very seriously. Malifaux is getting big in our area, and after playing that a lot. I simply cannot take 40k seriously as anything more than a silly badly written game thats fun to chuck dice at every now and again. 40k has a lot going for it. But rules are not one of those things.
Good on you Raw Diggly. This game is super fun. I love the break neck speed GW is dropping new stuff. True, it makes it hard to make a TAC list, but that’s something that should be difficult. It also keeps the net listers off balance and keeps the game interesting. I mean, the 40k universe is a WHOLE universe, there should be no end to the possibilities for new enemies and allies in an infinite arena.
Yeah, I think you’re right, buddy. It keeps the game fresh and exciting to have new stuff coming our so quickly, I dig it in a lot of ways.
Makes keeping the FAQ current a bitch, though, lol!
This is not a raw dogger article, where’s my hate my vitriol where’s my venom!!! Next time you write a prancy happy GW article like this please use a pen name like “Mary sue loves rainbows and sunshine” or something lol
I’m so stoked right now. I’ve been waiting 20 years for AdMech to get some proper inclusion in the Game, and I’m all giddy with excitement waiting for my Ruststalker edition and models to get here so I can get going with them.
Really hoping they make it through all four Daemonkin books. Nurgle and Slaanesh are much more my style when it comes to Chaos, and I hope they don’t get left out.
Honestly, my biggest problem with 40K at the moment is picking an Army and a List each time I manage to get a Game in. In addition to the stuff that’s coming up, I’ve been having a blast with my Space Wolves, have started getting my Blood Angels back on the field, have a ton of options I still haven’t gotten around to trying with my Nids, and have Cron and Tau forces starting to come together.
My biggest problem with the game is just how bloated it has become. You have codexs, dateslates, formations, fortification, and lord of wars coming out way to fast to keep up with. On top of this you have the more recent inclusion of Forge World in most events just makes the game to bloated. To many I got you moments playing at a tournament. It also makes the game bog down, having to look up rules and how different units/formation rules interact with each other. All of this done with no help from GW with FAQs. Each tournament and store plays each rule differently or have different restrictions, which even pushes the complication and bloated feel of the game. Making you changes lists and buying different models to stay remotely competitive for each tournament.
With previous editions it only required minimum effort to be able to stay in touch with the game. My favorite part of the game was creating lists to be able to counter the meta, now it seems the shit has hit the fan. Its impossible to design lists to be all comers, which is frustrating.
The game is busy, busy at present, and it can be difficult to keep up with at times, but, I really enjoy the variety that comes along with that.
Hey Remember when this was the best edition of 40K ever and GW put out the new over the top eldar codex and trolled all the people that were trying to fool themselves into thinking this was the best edition ever? Priceless you all got workshopped yet again and everyone still in the hobby deserves what they get for putting any faith into the clowns running nottingham.