Disjointed ramblings ahead.
40K is very annoying. More of the same that everyone has complained about for years I know, but the speed of things lately has exacerbated it. Lots of cool stuff coming out, but the pace that things are being released, and especially replaced, is kind of silly. Eldar codex being replaced within two years with supplement being invalidated. Knights being introduced ONE YEAR ago and already their book is replaced. The 6th to 7th edition jump was shocking, but overall a better rules set so I didn't mind too much, but at some point I would like 40K to settle down again. GW may even be shooting themselves in the foot a bit, aside from all the rage-quitters I'm sure that there are plenty of people who are putting off new armies that keep waiting for the next book before they decide. When it was six months in between, you had time to get and build one army before the next. Now by the time you finish building an army you may start hearing rumors on your new codex. I know several local Eldar players who I'm sure haven't finished their 6th ed Eldar armies yet, and here we go new book. Too much.
40K is giving me mixed signals. On one hand they give me cool things like Khorne Daemonkin with fun rules that bring the fluff to the tabletop and neat things players have wanted for years like Adeptus Mechanicus. On the other, they keep upping the power and scale beyond what I really want to do most of the time. Knights and such are cool, and I eventually plan on having a Stompa, Baneblade, maybe some other big kits, but mostly I prefer smaller scale stuff. By the time we get to titans, I'd rather do some version of Epic.
I had hopes for 40K. Supplements, campaign books and expanding into things like AdMech made me think they were going to take root for a while and take the game broader and deeper instead of just recycling the basic rules and codexes every few years. Oh well.
No serious painting for me lately. I worked on some of the Bones II set and set aside a bunch of models for building a Khorne Daemonkin army, but got sidetracked by possibilities and general malaise. I ran a small Combat Patrol event (and due to odd # of players, played as ringer) and that was fun, especially as sonofsonsoftaurus came along and helped me set up and run things. He also served as combat photographer, but unfortunately most of the pictures we took didn't turn out. Here's the few that did, mostly just army showcase:
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| (Skitarii) |
Yes sadly 40k is little more than an arms race and I can't afford to keep up. Not only that, but I the imbalance so far off that I really have little want to try (much less play it). My forces keep declining and I think combat patrol/killteam sized games are where I'm headed to now.
ReplyDeleteI'm reminded of the Overlords' cliche "small allied detachment".
DeleteCheck out combat patrol. Most of the games are in the 500 point range. Very fast, very fun.
ReplyDeleteYep. As noted at the end of the post, ran a small Combat Patrol event partly to drum up interest. In anything that's not narratively organized Combat Patrol, Zone Mortalis and the like are drawing my eye more and more.
DeleteI'd agree with Greg that kill team and combat patrol games are great fun.... putting some limits on your games ie: max 1000pts stops the profusion of special rules becoming unmanageable and reduces the number of crazy uber units and formations.
ReplyDeleteYep, love small games. Things that are overlooked or swatted aside become scary at small points. That Razorback is immune to bolter fire and has a *twin linked* heavy bolter? Take cover!
DeleteThat's how I feel, too. The pace is just too much. Too overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteMaybe when they turn back to focus on Fantasy 40K will cool off for a while.
DeleteI'm not sure if you'd be interested in the musings of an old smurf, but I wrote a little article back when the petition for GW to change their ways was circulating:
ReplyDeletehttp://musingsofasmurf.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/games-workshop-must-change-petition-to.html
I was disenfranchised by GW at exactly the point when I realised that I'd been tricked into paying twice as much for a single codex (Orks and Ghazhkull). That and the new format codexes are now content deserts! Just perfect for all those full price DLC like expansions and supplements they're keen on. Well fool me once and it's shame on me, which is why I'm not willing to be fooled with my money again.
With regards to the game....well it's no longer for me really. The result of leaving GW for a year has meant that I've tried quite a few other game systems and found them to be fresh and enjoyable. Maybe I'll try 40k again sometime in the near future? For now I'm happy as I am