Warhammer 40K: 5th Edition

Guess what I found?!

It’s been about two weeks now that we finally got all our stuff that was stored in California (coming from Japan) and Texas (left there in 2014). Holy poop do I have a lot of boxes! And books! And Warhammer guys! Finally see it all accumulated in one place honestly makes me feel a little ashamed of myself...

But I’ve learned that if you ever get rid of any of your Warhammer models, you later wish you hadn’t, and maybe even go so far as to buy more to replace the ones you sold! So I won’t get rid of any. But the books, I can do without some of those.

But back to the topic at hand: 5^thEdition Warhammer 40K.

I miss this edition! This was the game I came back to in 2008 when I also came back to the Navy and, as a single ensign finally making a decent income, I could actually afford to buy the toys I always wanted. And, boy, did I! Way too many. I can now easily field forces of chaos marines, daemons, eldar, loyalist marines (mostly crimson fists), and space wolves, plus some allied orks, dark angels, whatever! 

Flipping through this book makes me really want to go back to it. (No shit, I intend to find someone who wants to play. I probably still have all the codices too!) Some of the things I miss:

·      The Universal Special Rules only take up 3 pages of this mini-sized book, and one-half a page is a picture!

·      Vehicles don’t have hull points. Tanks and dreadnoughts take a beating like they should!

·      A power weapon cuts armor, period. No APs, just make your save or don’t.

·      Only three turns: Move, Shoot, Fight.

·      There’s offensive and defensive grenades, just general classifications. I like that. Offensive grenades allowed you to charge through cover without losing your Initiative (do they still have Initiative at all anymore?!). Defensive grenades denied assaulters the +1 attack for charging. (Okay, maybe the grenade rules weren’t the best ever… What fun are they if you can’t throw them at people and blow them up?)

·      I always liked that there were model types, like infantry, bikes, etc, that all functioned the same way for the most part. So you know the move rate, special rules, etc. 

·      You can charge out of reserve and assault vehicles! 6^thed, I believe, took away the main function of units like striking scorpions and genestealers by having them walk onto the board and then pause to be shot at. 5^thed knew better!

Today we kind of praise 8^thedition (which I still haven’t played, but would like to try it) for it being “simplified.” But 5^thedition was much more simplified than anything after it. It was easy to play, uncomplicated, and a hell of a lot of fun! 

Don’t get me wrong, I like some aspects of the further incarnations, but it sure seems like the adage of “If a little is good, a lot must be great!” was applied over and over again. 

Now that I have my toys, I’ll (eventually) try to get me some 8^thed games to try it out. But I’d go back to 5^thedition in a heartbeat! 

A few more of my unsolicited opinions:

FORCE ORG

I do like the new puzzle-piece 8^thforce org system. You can basically take whatever you want, but there’s a logic to it, a way to fit pieces together that make it more legit. I always enjoyed that aspect of list-building: that there is some structure you must follow, minimums to meet that keep everyone on an even keel. 

But those formations or whatever they were… Basically, the more money you spend the more special powers you get. That crap was unfair. Too much.

For a hybrid version of 40K, maybe you start with the original FO chart, but can purchase extra slots for points. So you can have that 4^thHeavy or 3^rdHQ choice, but it costs a little extra. (Personally, I think there should be a 3^rdHQ slot anyway—those guys are the superheroes of the war, after all!)

OVERWATCH

I don’t think there was Overwatch in 5^thed. I both like it and don’t. I think in 8^thyou can fire it at EVERY unit that charges you, can’t you? That’s way too much.

 I’d almost like to make Overwatch kind of like this: 

You get one use per turn of it. If you don’t think the first unit charging is going to make it, hold your fire, save it for that other, closer unit that you think it coming. 

Also, you need to make an Initiative test in order to pull it off. If you’re not quick enough, you don’t get your weapons up in time. The trade-off to that could be that you get to fire at your regular BS rather than only hitting on 6s. 

And I can already hear Tau players hating this idea! Especially since they generally have Inits of 2. Tau could then have an army special rule like “Disciplined Firing Line” or something to that effect, that gives them a +1 to Init for Overwatch checks.

PSYKERS:

I believe in 5^thpsykers can only use one power per turn too. (I don’t have the rule book in front of me right now.) I’d say that can be expanded by the psyker’s level. 

I did kind of like the Warhammer Fantasy “Winds of Magic” rules that came over to 40K (was that 6^thed?). A random number of dice where you have to use some resource management. 

But no, I’d say psyker tests are back to Leadership tests and that they can use a number of powers equal to their level: elite or unit-based models would be level 1, HQ psykers level 2, special characters level 3. They can use that many powers per turn, once each (no repeating powers in the same turn). And they would know that number of powers as well, unless otherwise stated in their special rules (like superhero characters who know all in their discipline.)

“Deny the Witch” I think was a newer development…  We could keep that, but maybe like this: Only a psyker can attempt a Deny the Witch. The “spell” would have to either originate or target a model within 18” of the Denier for them to be in range. They would make their own Leadership test. If it beats (is lower than) the caster’s roll, they deny it. A power that went off on double 1s can’t be denied. 

Psychic Hoods extend that range to 24” and give them a +1 (well, -1 really) to their Deny roll.

Okay, that’s enough nostalgia and day dreaming for me for now. Just know that discovering that little lost rule book deep inside a box stored away for 4 years really brought me back. 

And speaking of bringing back, BRING BACK 5^THEDITION! 

Or, as I tell my friend Josh all the time, you can play any damn version you want if you and your buds agree on doing so. So, who wants to play some 5^th…?

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P.S. - I don't blog much here anymore. Join me at https://BrinksChaosTheory.com from now on!

40K Eldar Fire Dragons: Finished Painting the Squad

I don't generally blog on here much anymore — moved the whole operation (and then some) to http://BrinksChaosTheory.com — but I thought I'd repost my dragons here.  This was my hobby blog for a very long time, after all.

After starting them in July, I finally wrapped up my "Black Phoenix" Aeldari Fire Dragons.  And I'm pleasantly surprised at how well they turned out!

This probably doesn't look like 3 months of work.  Because it isn't.  I stuck to a very basic concept: base colors, wash, highlight, DONE.  And I decided not to get bogged down in the fine details, like painting every little gadget on their belts a different color or whatever.  Kept it simple.  It just took forever because I went weeks between painting sessions.  Still spent plenty of hours on them, but as I did a whole squad, one color at a time, I made pretty good progress.

Still didn't master dry brushing, which I seem to think would make all this way easier, but hitting the highlights very deliberately instead still worked out well.

I also considered trying to lay some green plasma looking stuff into the grills of their fusion gun muzzles to match their eyes and give the guns a cool look.  (And tie in another color to bring them together.)  It's still tempting to try, but I'm also afraid of screwing them up in the process…

It's funny that they're done now, because I swam laps yesterday and had a flashback to 2009 or 2010 when I used to think about "How am I going to paint those fire dragons?" to keep my mind occupied while I swam.  And now, like 8 years (!) later, they're done!  (Actually, I don't think I had my "dark" aspect warriors built then—it was classic Eldar dragon models at that time.)
Almost finished with my custom Fuegan.  I hollowed out a cloak for him that I have to paint and attach.  His sword I might just keep simple too rather than try to pull off some great magical effect that doesn't turn out how I want.  We'll see.

New 8th Edition Warhammer 40K Books: Quest for the Tomes

Not too long ago, I received an email from Games Workshop (via the general mailing list) saying, “Get these codices while you can,” because a new edition was about to come out.  Get these expiring and about to be useless $50 books before we take them off the shelves because they won’t be valid anymore. 

I thought, “You sons-a-bitches.”

I wanted to fax them a picture of my middle finger.  Or my pale, hairy ass.

The cycle of new 40K editions over the last several years has come across to me (and others) as greedy ways to boost short-term sales.  Kind of like all those terribly pricy text books you had to buy in college.  “We changed 3 things and rearranged some tables, come buy all our books all over again.”

So when the new rumors went to flying, I was naturally skeptical.  Very skeptical.
I’ve been stationed in Japan for nearly 3 years now and in that time have only played once.  So I wasn’t too worried about a new edition.  Haven’t been playing, and now not planning on playing.  Screw those greedy corporate bastards.

But then I started actually reading the rumors and leaks.  That this edition wasn’t just bolting on a few new rules to the clunky old machine, haphazardly spraying on an uneven coat of paint, and charging $200 for a new go.

This was “the edition you asked for.”

No, really.

So between getting actual gamer feedback and simplifying the rules to look more like their well-received Age Of Sigmar redesign of WH Fantasy, the game was starting to sound pretty good.  (I was also skeptical of the Age of Sigmar reboot of WH Fantasy, btw, though I was never a huge fan of the Fantasy system anyway: even more complex than 40,000 Rules and seemed to require a calculator to even play the game!)

If they could thin 40,000 Rules down to 8 to 12 pages, that was an amazing revelation to me.  I was now interested.  And the more I saw, despite my own hardened pessimism, the more I liked the way it was looking.

Within a week, I was actually excited.

Getting the books themselves, then, proved to be a worthy quest.  (Relatively speaking.)
I had to find locales in Japan, and books in English.  There are 3 or 4 GW stores in Tokyo, but that’s a ways to go for me.  In my store search, I also got a few other pings for non-GW stores, one much closer to my base.  Long story short, I ended up journeying to a city I’d never been to before, in a foreign land, using a paper map as a guide (I’m not into the whole cellphone omniscience thing).  I’d called the day before and spoken to a woman who kind of spoke English and reserved me some books.  Namely, the Rule Book, the Marines Index, Eldar Index, and Chaos Index.  A hefty, blind purchase.  But I figured that I hadn’t spent any hobby money for a long time, so why not?
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the new datasheets were being combined into affordable softbacks with multiple related armies all in one book.  Given the easy of access, I figured I had to buy those books.  With three affordable tomes, I had all colors of Space Marines, Eldar, and Chaos Marines and demons all covered, plus Necrons for good measure.  Easy peasy.
But I ended up paying more than the listed market price for everything.  I don’t know if the markup was simply because we are in Japan or if my shop owners charged a little more, but I honestly didn’t mind.

This was a very small little hobby shop owned and operated by a very nice elderly couple.  The husband didn’t speak English and the wife just barely enough.  The shop was more about model airplanes and trains and modeling supplies than it was a gaming shop, though they did have a rather impressive selection of Warhammer stuff, as well as a rack full of Citadel paints.  There were a couple small displays of painted models too, most of which had been painted by the owner.  His wife bragged that he was a beginner, but, damn, did they look nice!  Way nicer than my meager, atrophied painting skills could manage, and I made sure he knew as much.

I spent about half an hour on the trains getting there, and a little more time walking the streets, so I took my time to check out all the nice toys on their shelves.  Saw some cool new stuff I wouldn’t mind having (like the 30K style termie models), but I’m not in a hurry to buy more.  Not using all the stuff I have now.  When it came time to pay, I found out they only took cash.  Darn it.  So then it was a quest to find an ATM that would take my American card.  The two bigger banks with whole lobbies full of ATM machines didn’t work.  It looked grim, my long quest cross country for naught.  Then I found a little booth with a single machine and that one worked out.

So my mighty quest was a success.  I might have paid a bit more, but it went to the mom and pop shop of a really nice elderly couple, so money well spent.   In fact, the venerable Papa-san rounded down the total price for me, threw in a couple of (no doubt expensive) Citadel-brand paint brushes (after I told him about my waning painting skills), and a few odd sprues to boot!  I didn’t even find out about the sprues until I got home and opened up the tiny plastic bonus bag.  Three marines and one of the cool Age of Sigmar space marine wannabe guys with a hammer and shield.  (Which I think could make cool special space marine units too—especially the winged guys for angelic vanguard vets.)

So there’s my long-winded story about how I fell back into love (obsession) with the new 40K and made the perilous journey of a lifetime to score the new books on opening day in a strange land.
I’m sure I’ll be blogging further about my impressions as I get into the books.  I’m actually about to take 2 weeks of leave to relax with the family and supposedly to get some writing projects done.  So much for all that…  I’m sure this new distraction will impede those lines of progress.  But at least I’ll enjoy being delayed!

As I get acquainted with the new rules and datasheets, I'll be posting about my impressions.  So, more to come…

On my new blog site, that is.  Click here to go there (or just remove the "blogspot" from this URL).  This may well be the last post that goes to this blog site.  Please find my newest exploits at my new wesbite: BrinksChaosTheory.com

Space Marine

In the last couple days I've started playing the old Xbox Space Marine game again.  (If you ask me something like "the first one or second one?" it's probably the first, 'cuz I'm not aware that there was more than one.)

This is a really cool game, though the game play isn't the best.  The marine you control can't jump or climb anything — your path is pretty much 2D, walking only where they want you to. The targeting isn't the best as, even in sniper mode, nudging the stick generally makes a big jump and it's hard to be precise.  So I'm not going to say it's the bestest game ever.

But the visuals and very cool and the 40K-ness of it is fantastic.  It really captures the feel of the 41st millennium.   The marine armor is great, very detailed, looks like a model come to life.  But my favorite part is the bolters.  They aren't spraying light machinegun fire; they're launching mini-RPGs like a bolter should!  And at a high rate of speed!  

The challenge level is kind of weird.  It seems like you walk through large areas with no resistance, and most of the time the killing is pretty open and low-threat, but then you'll hit certain boss-type combats that are just murder to get through!  That's when I quit playing years ago, when I hit that wall over and over again and couldn't get past it.  Orks and gretchen and squigbombs in waves, and those damn squigs get right up on you and blow up.  And again, targeting isn't that easy, so you shoot the hell out of a bunch of gretchen that couldn't hurt you if they had plasma pistols in each hand, but you miss the squigs that blow your legs off.  And then when you finally make it past the squigbombs and take them all out before they get you, this big mutha of an ork comes in and beats the hell out of you! 

FINALLY this morning I got past that part, first try of the day.  Then, eventually, I came to a really cool ork dropship that reminds me very much of a Reaver boat in Firefly.  You have to plasma cannon the thing while it's shooting you with some megashoota type double-barrelled machinegun and the best shot in all of orkdom is manning the thing!  And THEN, if that crackshot doesn't gun you down, they drop orks to engage you while you're trying your damnedest to shoot down the ship with an overheated plasma cannon.  

It's hard.  But it's fun!

I know this is all old news to most anyone who will read this, but since I buy mostly old games on the cheap and never quite get around to playing them (got two on clearance last Xmas that I haven't even opened yet), I'm pleasantly surprised right now to come back to the year 40,000!

(This post, btw, is simul-cast on my new blog too, BrinksChaosTheory.com.)

Eldar Dark Reaper: I Painted Sumfing!

It's been a good 1.5 years since I indulged in ye ole Warhammer 40K hobby.  (With my schedule, it's either hobby or writing, not both, which is why I managed to get a lot more writing done last year.)  Yesterday I got out of work early, it was a sunny, warm day, and I decided that I was going to camp outside and do some painting, damn it!

And I did so using my new painting philosophy, which is: keep it simple, stupid! If I ever want to get even half of the irresponsible horde of models I own painted one day, I'll have to keep each one pretty simple.  That means relying heavily on washes and dry brushing for details, and keeping the perfectionist in me at bay.  Overall, I'm pretty darn happy with this guy.

I usually paint the first one by him- or herself to figure out the scheme, and then I can paint more than one at a time once the design it determined.  So hopefully, completing my squad won't be far behind.  There's only 3 more models, after all.

You might notice that these are not the Craftworld Dark Reapers you are used to.  The "new" (at that time) Dark Eldar models are just so much cooler than the old Craftworld ones, that I decided to build a lot of my aspect warriors using DE kits.  That's my "Black Phoenix" Craftworld, and these badass aspect warriors are no exception.

They are basically DE Warrior bodies with WH Fantasy dark elf masked heads.  I also added a DE accessory behind the head to act as "reaper range-finding" gear.  The weapon, I believe, is a DE dark lance.  To me, the Reaper Launchers are not mini-missiles but quick-fire railguns.  Each time they pull the trigger, two very thin, javelin-like munitions are magnetically fired in rapid succession.  The poor targets at the other side are dead before they even hear the report of the gun.

I don't know when I will get another tiny pocket universe of time to paint more, but this was sure nice.  And I completed him in only an hour and half, which is pretty good for me, especially being rusty and all.

And here are links to blog posts when I first built these reapers TWO YEARS AGO:
— Reapers
— Exarch (which I'm not sure I like anymore — may just use the female model for the exarch)

40K Queen of the Damned, Resurrected

I recently rediscovered this rediscovered blog post sitting in my drafts box…

***

I was thinking of models that I'd like to use as a Herald of Slaanesh and remembered this cool vampire countess.  I also remembered one of the first blog enteries I made, which was making up a 40K character for this model.  So I thought I would revisit Decembra and revise her for 6th edition...   

Decembra, Queen of the Damned

A countess of the nobility of an Imperial world, her orgies and human sacrifices drove her further and further into the clawed hands of the Chaos Powers. She eventually became as close to the mythical vampires as any of their fallen servants.

WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv	Pts
5	4	4	4	3	8	3	8	--/5++	160?

HQ model, Independent Character (infantry), Daemon

Love’s Cold Touch – This is the name she’s given to her sword, a dreaded weapon that drains the blood and soul from its victims.  Her close combat attacks are AP3, unless she rolls a 6 to-wound: these wounds are AP2 and inflicts Instant Death no matter the victim's toughness.

The Deepest Eyes: Decembra’s gaze goes beyond enchanting. Her beautiful dark eyes become endless wells that swallow the mind of anyone who gets lost in them. Units wishing to fire Overwatch against her charge must pass a Leadership test to do so.  Decembra also causes Fear, thus robbing the competence of those who face her, and suffers no initiative penalties for charging through cover (as with offensive grenades). 

Shadow Walk: Appearing from the darkness itself, Decembra may Infiltrate and she and her unit have the Shrouded special rule.  When alone she moves as a shadow, ignoring Difficult Terrain and Impassable Terrain. She may also start the game in reserve and Deepstrike, bringing any unit she’s joined with her whether they normally Deepstrike or not.

Bloodlust: She has the Fleet and Rampage special rules.

Immortal: Having absorbed hundreds of souls over the millennia, she has become an eternal evil.  Decembra counts as a Daemon (fearless and invlun save) and if killed, she may make a Leadership test.  If she passes place Decembra back into reserve with 1 wound remaining.  She may then reenter by outflanking (per Infiltrate), deepstriking (per Shadow Walk), or entering from her own board edge.

Queen of the Damned: So alluring are her wicked charms that souls not strong enough to resist are forced to follow her beyond the grave.   Whenever Decembra kills a non-vehicle, non-monstrous creature in close combat, place those models aside--there is a chance they'll rise as one of her Suitors.  At the end of the Combat Phase, roll a die for each.  Those models whose Leadership is equal to or greater than her own (so Ld 8, 9, or 10) return on a 6.  Those with a lower Leadership return on a 5 or 6.  At the end of the turn place the appropriate number of Suitor models (undead something-or-others) either in coherancy with her (as they join her unit) or with each other within 6" of her (as they form their own unit--minimum of 3 to make their own--or join another existing Suitor unit).   

Suitors: Those who have given their lives for her embrace go on in undeath as her Suitors.  Any army that includes her may also include Suitors as a Troops choice.  Decembra may also have one unit as a retinue of Suitors--these count as an HQ choice that does not take up a Force Org slot.  This retinue may Infiltrate or Deepstrike with her and count as Shrouded while joined by her. 

WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv	Pts
3	3	3	3	1	3	1	5	--	5

Unit: Infantry, 5-20 per unit.

War Gear: Cold clammy hands with gnarly fingernails (CC wpn)

Undead: The Suitors are soulless slaves who are Fearless and Feel No Pain.

***

So what do you think?  I tried to make a fun vampiress who is somewhat well-balanced.  Yes, she has a lot of special rules, might never be truly killed, and can convert enemy units into friendly ones. BUT her stats aren't that great, neither are her Suitors, and she's pretty vulnerable to shooting attacks.  She'd be fun to play!

40K Chaos Cult Formations

Before you get too excited, this is not a rumor blog, whether supposedly confirmed via secret toilet paper messaging system from GW's outhouse, or unconfirmed via drunken nerd convention.  I was actually just talking on the phone with a friend who was telling me about the wildly amazing new Eldar formation bonuses.  Which are very very nice, but, let's face it, terribly outclass ever other codex out there.  Then again--golly gosh!--I guess GW will just have to put out all new $50+ codices for every single army all over again, and every year until our wallets are all emptied out and we can't keep up anymore. 

Oops, I'm getting off topic...  

Anyway, in an indirect way, the conversation made me miss my Chaos, and then I started thinking about different formations and rules that they could do for CSM.  Each chapter/cult/warband could have special formation blocks that grant special rules appropiate to their fluff. 

I did a similar post in November of 2013 when the last Space Marine codex came out with the new chapter tactics.  So most of what's here is copied from that post and slightly added to below.  I'm not putting much into this, just killing some time in the wee hours on a night shift and avoiding the work I should be doing...

These are just a few underdeveloped ideas that I thought up just for fun. 

When I say "Block" it refers to the minimum core units needed to make the formation (I don't know what GW calls them in the books), such as 1 HQ, 2 CSM units, a dedicated transport, etc.
 

ALPHA LEGION: They are described as being "disciplined almost to a fault" and as insurrectionists who sow deceit and chaos by infiltrating societies.
Block:  A block unit might include a minimum of 2 cultist squads to show they've been recruiting by "sowing deceit."  This would grant them bonuses, such as:
Disciplined to a Fault: The core units are Stubborn.
Insurrectionists: Up to three of these units can deploy as Infiltrators/Outflank.

BLACK LEGION: These are the once proud warriors of the Warmaster Horus himself. Of course,the character Abbadon mostly has this covered if you field him.
Block: Units that resemble Space Marines, such as a lot of CSM units, maybe 1 or 2 Dreadnoughts from the olden days, and at least 1 Chosen squad.
Black Crusader: All these units get Hatred vs. Space Marines. 
The Warmaster's Chosen: Veteran Chosen units and Dreadnoughts may pick a bonus trait from these: Infiltrators, Scouts, Tank Hunters, or Prefered Enemy.

IRON WARRIORS: Masters of the siege and builders of war machines.
Block: The block must contain 2-3 Warpsmiths.  These don't count against any HQ requirements or limits.  It also included Forge Fiends and/or Mauler Fiends, and it'd be nice to see some corrupted servitors.
Let the Seige Begin: All units get the Tank Hunter special rule and may reroll Penetration against buildings.
Masters of the Machine:  All Warpsmith's get +1 bonus to their repair rolls. 

NIGHT LORDS: Masters of terror and terrorist actions, they stalk the darkness as predators in search of prey.
Block:  A Lord or Sorcerer with a jump pack, as well as having as many Raptors as CSMs.
Lord of Terror: Your HQ/Warlord has the Lord of Terror Trait, thus causes Fear.  Raptors already cause Fear too.
The Hunt:  Raptor units (along with the HQ if he's attached) may deploy as either Infiltrators or Scouts.  They also start the game with Shrouded until they move, and have Stealth thereafter.

WORD BEARERS: The most fanatical of all Legions in their dedication to the worship of the Chaos Powers.
Block:  The core block must include 2-3 Dark Apostles (that don't count against you for HQs) and an equal number of cultists. 
Shepherds of the Faithful: The number of cultists that these Shepherds lead is never-ending.  Every time a cultist unit is completely destroyed or routed off the board, place it in reserves.  An identical replacement unit comes in on a normal reserve roll.
Dark Crusaders: All Word Bearers in the block unit have the Crusader special rule.

* * *

In my original post I didn't include the god-specific legions, such as the Thousand Sons, Death Guard, World Eaters, and Emperor's Children.  I figured they had marks so they didn't need other chapter rules.  But, brainstorming right now, a few possible Formations might be...

Thousand Sons:  Obviously a Block would include Thousand Sons and be led by a Sorcerer HQ. Having this Formation might unlock some new bonus spells for any of them to use, like a big sand storm or something.  And to go along with the Egyptian theme, I'd like to field some fantasy mummies as cultist/zombie-type units (but that's just me). 

Death Guard:  Would of course include Plague Marines, and I'd like to have access to zombies without having Typhus there all the time.  I could see giving some units (say some ragged Spawn) a disease that they can infect the enemy with, like a Soul Fire effect that lasts after the fight until it burns itself out. 

Emperor's Children:  An HQ with the mark, along with Noise Marines minimum.  Their persuit of perfection might give their dedicated CSM +1 to WS or BS (like the aspect warriors get in the new Eldar blocks).

World Eaters:  Berzerkers required.  Taking the whole formation might give them Fleet on their charges or Crusader, as well as Adamantium Will.

Red Corsairs:  I'm a fan of the Red Corsairs and especially of Huron Blackheart.  He would lead a Block, which would include some Fast Attack units, like Bikers.  His Warlord Trait is to make Infiltrators.  I'd also like to see some kind of sabotage rule or something, something "piratey", like causing a vehicle to fail on a roll of 1 the first time it moves or something.  There's got to be a way to work in a pirate theme there somehow...

* * *

Okay, I guess I should get back to more constructive crap around here.  If you have any other ideas, please comment!

Warhammer Fantasy Battle 25th Edition: WFB vs 40K

I was flipping through my 8^th edition WFB hardcover (you know, the one that weighs as many pounds as it costs), just for inspiration, and I thought again about how I’d like to play that game but…  I just don’t care that much for it.  WFB and 40K are two very different animals, and have traditionally been so for specific reasons (like those who play them like them that way), although it sounds like the 9^th edition Fantasy game will be closer and closer to 40K, which I actually would prefer.

I’ve heard it said that WFB players like those aspects of the game that make it different from 40K and that’s one reason why they like it.  Some of those reasons are as I will annotate below, which happen to be the very reasons I don’t care for it. 

When I said “25^th Edition” in the title, that’s me just saying that this is the way I’d like to see the game evolve.  See, I’d like to play in the fantasy realm, wielding swords and magic and big bad monsters—I like fantasy stuff almost as much as sci-fi stuff.  I’m a nerd of many colors.  But there are things about the fantasy game mechanics I don’t like.  If I were to be invited to tweak the game for it’s 25^th edition (just to pick an outrageous number), here’s a few changes I’d make:

1.  The Math.  There’s just way too much math in Fantasy for me.  Don’t get me wrong, I like math okay, but I don’t want to have to crunch so many numbers when I’m trying to enjoy a game that’s supposed to be action packed.  I like the streamlined 40K system in regard to this.  WFB has chart upon chart of all the factors you need to consider.  Now there is merit to armor penetration modifiers (which 40K used to have too, back in the day), and some of the other numbers being factored in, but…  it’s just too much.  Trying to figure out who won a round of combat takes a calculator, and that’s just not fun. 

2. Hordes vs Heroes.  In 40K, the squads are generally no bigger than 10 figures, sometimes really big units get to be 20 or more models, but that’s uncommon.  And in 40K, it seems like any one model can end up being the hero of the battle.  That last surviving Space Marine Scout may just defy the odds and come out on top more than the Dice Gods should allow, and end up winning the game practically on his own.  In Fantasy, 90% of your models are nameless nobodies who are there just to die.  You don’t have a unit of guys, you have a block of fodder.  Ranks upon ranks of them. In fact, the rules are set-up so that massive units of nobodies is the best way to go.  And the differences between “basic” units and “elite” units is only like 1 or 2 stat points and having a great sword instead of a regular sword.  They’re the same damn thing, so what’s the point?  There’s all just the same worthless fodder, but this one’s blue and that one’s green.  It seems to me that 40K has more variety of units and that each has a better developed role with its own special moves.  It seems to me that one block of troops is pretty much the same as the next big block of troops.

I have two issues with this: (1) As I said, having 40 nobodies who all run away because of one scary monster or bad roll is just…  Well, sucky.  I’d rather have 10 potential heroes than 40 fodder troops any day.  (2) the real world cost of building such an army is just terrible.  We don’t need to revisit GW pricing here, but how the hell are we supposed to afford such a force?  It’d take decades to build up that kind of army.

Now I now this is one of those things people love about Fantasy.  This harkens to the Tolkien-esque armies in The Hobbit and TLotR, blocks of amassed orcs and elves crashing into each other, forces so huge that the dust of their marching blots out the sun.  I know that’s the effect it was build for originally, to go back to the source material (let’s face it, WFB was originally a direct rip-off of LotR).  And that’s great if you like that.  But in the 25^th edition, I’d like to prune it back a bit. 

So I’ll stop the comparison/gripe there.  Two main factors to adjust for my 25^th edition: Math/Extraneous Rules and Blocks of Fodder.  Some ways I’d do that:

1.  The easiest way (which rumors indicate may be kind of happening now anyway) is to play Fantasy more like a Warbands game.  There are special rule sets out there, like Mordheim, that go that way.  I think if I wanted to play Fantasy that way right now (and could find a friend or two to go along with me), I’d just play games of like 500 points and do away with the minimum requirements on unit size and army basics.  So you don’t need to have 80+ Core troops as the cornerstone of your force.  You might choose to have a unit or two of core troops, but they might only be 5 or 10 models in size.

2.  Emphasize characters and heroes.  This would also play into a way to reduce the mindless masses rules and the likelihood of a route.  I’m imagining a small subset of rules for promoting one rank and file model in your unit to be a minor hero or leader.  He or she has access to more gear and better ability to rally your units.  (I know we kind of have that now, but I think they’re just higher value fodder at this point.)

3.  Doing away with block formations and making everyone more mobile, like skirmishing formations.  Maybe we still use trays or whatever, but the models are staggered on them and not necessarily formed up in rigid ranks and files.  This would also do away with all the rules about ranks and whatnot, making combat easier and not necessarily encouraging us to spend more money on masses of models. 

4.  Reign in point values.  I notice that in the newer army books, character model point values are ridiculous.  One core elf with a bow is only 8 points, but the noble who’s stats are barely better costs 10 to 20 times as much, and that’s without gear and with no special rules to make him cool.  What the hell for?!  And what fun is that?  But rather than having to rewrite all the army books, maybe we just set a separate points budget for buying heroes and lords for our mini-forces.  For example, maybe you have 500 points to spend on them, and 500 to spend on everything else too.  Two separate budgets set to scale for getting the cool characters you want without making them the sole models in your warband. 

Okay, I guess that;s enough rambling on this topic for today.  I guess I got it out of my system. 

The bottom line is, I’d like to play a great Fantasy battle game, but not on the huge army scale and not when it requires a calculator.  (And not when it has even more than 40,000 rules!) I’d like to make a small force with these guys on foot, those scouts, a few models on horseback, a monster and a wizard, all them with some individual character and potential, and none of them forced to march shoulder to shoulder.  Is that too much to ask?

(Please excuse any errors in this one -- as it's after midnight, I'm not revising, I'm just posting this sucker.)