Is 40k in Need of a 10th ed Hard Reset?

A while back there was a rumor that GW was going to do another hard reset for tenth edition. This would involve major changes to the game alongside resetting the factions to indexes again. While I don’t believe this will actually happen next year (when the safe money predicts it will be released), it has been interesting to see some of the discussion around the vague possibility of it happening.

To start with we should acknowledge that hard resets are bad for both the company that makes a game as well as the players. While they might get a boost from players having to buy new rules you also loose sales on any codexes that were just released (I find it hard to imagine the Votann getting a codex right before being reset to an index mere months later). You also run this risk of souring your player base (*cough* AoS *cough cough*, unless you really hit it out of the park with the initial release. Players typically hate the resets as they typically liked the old rules, or are new to the system and are just learning the rules when they need to start over. Thus we would need to see some truly extraordinary issues be present before we would expect GW to make an index-level reset.

Much of the discussion I saw about the need for such a drastic overhaul centered on Stratagems. I think it’s safe to say that strats have been one of the more controversial aspects of the 8th/9th editions and the source of the most egregious power creep. Furthermore, they tend to be unpopular because they have recently been used to strip units of abilities in favor of stratagems or they are dense, difficult to use, and are bloated. We have seen GW try and address these issues by restricting the number of Command Points available to players as well as nerfing strats that are deemed oppressive.

In many ways I agree that the stratagem system is beginning to outlive its usefulness. When it was released, it was touted as a way to have more interactivity in games. Rather than one person just dunking on the other (except in melee) players would finally be able to counter their opponent’s move. However, when you compare the stratagem system to the current reaction systems in Age of Sigmar or 30k it appears very clunky and dull. Thus I agree there is a need to reform the system, but I don’t think it requires an overhaul.

One of the ways GW could do a soft-overhaul could be to introduce a new reaction system in 10th while also invalidating existing stratagems. While the players who bought the last book before 10th might be disappointed, I think many are looking for a less cumbersome way to provide player interaction. What do you think? Is there a half-measure you would recommend? Or do you think a total overhaul is needed? Let me know in the comments!

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