Hello all,
Rawdogger here to ruminate on the recent quarterly update poll for the ITC tournament circuit and give my thoughts on the changes. Ruminate is a big word for me. I actually had to look it up to see if I was using the word correctly, and it turns out my expensive private university degree in English has FINALLY paid for itself. While I may not be the best tournament player at Frontline Gaming, I do like to follow along with what is going on with the scene and how things are going with the ITC in particular (because Reece pays me money). Though I am an employee of Frontline Gaming I do sometimes disagree with what is said and done with the ITC and Reece and Frankie are always kind when I call them brown out drunk at 3 in the morning asking why a Wraithknight with a toe in ruins gets a 4+ cover save. Anyways, the following are the lists of changes this quarter to the ITC official rules and why I think they are a good and bad thing for this tournament season. If you would like to look at the official page where the results are discussed in a more constructive manner, you can do so here.
Note these are my paraphrased questions and do not include any followup questions. These are also my personal opinions regarding the results. If my opinions enrage you to the point that you begin to sweat and cannot type your abusive comments due to the amount of sweat on your fingers you may want to visit a personal physician.
1. Should we lift the restrictions on duplicate detachments? YES
I think this was a mistake, to be honest. While it is a good thing for Tyranid players who have absolutely no access to multiple flying monstrous creates, the rest of us are going to be LOVING the duplicate Fire Base Cadres and Skyhammer detachments. Who in particular was asking for this change other than people looking for yet ANOTHER way to add rocks to their tournament lists? Maybe Reece was being inundated with emails from Harlequin players wanting to take multiple detachments? Who knows.
2. Can an army ally with itself? NO
I’m not sure why the community decided to draw the line in the sand HERE, but I’m glad they did. With the ITC now allowing duplicate detachments we are one step closer to unbound play which I completely abhor so if this ruling is the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dam at least we have THAT stopping us from just letting people take whatever they want so they are not challenged in the slightest when playing Warhammer 40k.
3. Should we increase the amount of detachments allowed in the ITC? NO
Again, I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the vote go no on this one. If you’ve read my article this far without having a heart attack you may have picked up on my personal abhorrence to the ‘anything goes’ type attitude towards game play. I like rules and I like structure, which might be due to my slight OCD (IM WORKING ON IT MA!). You might say you want the freedom to take what you want in an army, I say that you are looking for anything to game the system and find ways to play around your weaknesses instead of learning how to overcome them.
4. Should we ban Battle Companies and War Convocations? NO
I guess there are a lot more Battle Company and War Convocation players voting than Dark Eldar ones. I think both (or any Decurion type detachment which was the actual wording in the poll) are bad for the hobby and just play into the hands of Games Workshop’s marketing department but what do I even know?
5. Should we change the ITC D Weapon Table? NO
This one is up for contention since the question was apparently confusing for some people so that one is up for a vote again. I personally say that we should keep the D weapons as written in the rule book *gasp*. With all the crazy stuff out there on the tables right now and people wanting to game the system all over your face why not just allow it in? Just my two cents.
6. Should we stop punishing Wraithknight and Imperial Knight players? NO
7. Should we allow Forge World army lists? YES
Why this is even a question in the age of Eldar and Battle Companies is beyond me. Why not let these players bring their FW army lists so they too can get blasted off the table by Eldar or play against an opponent with 500 more points than them because fuck you that’s why.
8. Should we stop punishing Daemonkin armies? YES
This was one of the only questions I thought should be in a poll like this and I was happy to see the community come together and say that Games Workshop should remember their own rules when writing a codex. The fact that per the rules of the game a summoned Bloodthirster has to spend two turns changing flight modes then charging is ridiculous.
9. Did Games Workshop forget to edit the Dark Angels codex? YES
Someone fell asleep at the old computer when writing the Dark Angels codex and forgot to give characters the Ravenwing special rule when on a bike which then completely invalidates the Ravenwing formation. Oops! Oh well they already printed the books and they don’t care enough to write Erratas or FAQs anymore. Sorry BRUHS.
10. Something about Tyrannocites, whatever those things are. YES
They can now shoot or something. Great news for anyone who bought that kit for something other than Mucolid Spores to cast.
11. Man I forgot how many questions there were. This was a poor choice for an article
12. Can Blood Angels have one viable tournament list? YES
Great news for the Dark Angels of 2015. For a codex that has been relegated to carrying Geoff Robinson’s Cult Mechanicum army into battle this actually gives them something that can catch an opponent off guard if they don’t know what’s coming. Still not a great list against a seasoned player but at least it’s SOMETHING.
What a hunk
So there you have it! Another ITC quarterly update on things that rile people up for some reason! So what are your thoughts on the results? Was the community spot on in their voting or is everyone wrong in this world except you?