GW Grognard: I sometimes miss 30K

Hey everybody! Adam, from TFG Radio, here to talk about something other than 40K. That’s right, 30K!

I’ve loved the Horus Heresy from the beginning. Back when it was just used as the background for Games Workshop’s new giant robot game, I was enthralled by the stories and setting of the civil war set far in the future. I was ecstatic when the series but books started and even more so when the Horus Heresy miniature game became a thing, I was finally able to see Games Workshop’s vision of the primarchs and the space marines in that era, not to mention all the new and re-imagined units from the Heresy that have been brought to life and is usable in normal games of 40K. With the transition to 8th edition interest in the game has dropped off somewhat, and has disappeared in my area, so here are a few things I miss and don’t miss about the 30K game.

Blast Templates

As both a judge and player, I do not miss blast templates. I can’t tell you how many “discussions” have been had over the placement of the templates and in determining how many models were hit by the template. When it was removed from the game with the introduction of 8th edition I was glad for it. Unfortunately Horus Heresy stayed with a modified 7th edition ruleset that still uses blast templates and that put a damper on my enthusiasm for the game. I got rid of most of my extra templates but I still have a set, just in case and for other game systems.

The Directional Die

Although I didn’t like blast templates, I do miss the directional die that is associated with them. I think the main reason is that the die was also used for deep striking. If you never played before 8th edition what you had to do was nominate a point of the table, roll the die and 2d6, and move that point in the direction and distance indicated on the die. There were 2 “target” sides and that meant you landed where you placed the model initially. If you rolled double ones your unit was “lost in the warp” and destroyed. There was no distance restriction so you could land as close to the enemy as possible as long as you didn’t land on top of them as that would also destroy your units. It was always a fun time watching your enemy units get destroyed because of a double 1, landing on enemy units or landing off the table. Much fun. I still have a bunch of those dice.

Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus

If you don’t know, I play Black Legion. In 30k I have a small Sons of Horus army. I actually like their color scheme and was able to get a bunch of the Forgeworld paint before they discontinued it. Before 8th edition I was hoping to expand the army but lost interest when 8th edition launched and 30K didn’t follow suit. I may just go back to the army just to round it out to a proper size so when, or if, 30K gets a rules update I can be ready to roll out and fight for the Warmaster once more for the benefit of humanity!

That’s all for this week. Hope you enjoyed the article. Let me know what you think, and what you miss or don’t miss from 30K, in the comments section below. Don’t forget to visit our Facebook, Twitch, and Patreon pages to stay up to date on what we’re up to and when episodes drop!

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