40K EDITORIAL: Existing In The Future
40K 5th Edition has been with us for a while now, and we have enough new edition codices to see which way the game is headed. Lets talk about what we are in for ahead.
Fritz here. Remember 40K in 4th edition when you didn’t need any “troops” to win? What did your army list look like back then? Two stripped down troop choices, and the rest of the points spent on units that actually did something – like elites, heavies, and maybe fast attack depending on your codex.
The World is Changed
Then 40K 5th edition dropped and the game literally changed. Now those neglected troop choices were needed to win games, you had to either increase your troop choices or add in a survivability factor like speed, a transport to wrap them in, or the reserves game if you were still planning to run only two slots. There was no denying this change and it was apparent and easy to see…
So why hasn’t the collective 40K community picked up on the changes in the current batch of 5th edition codexes? Why is the community as a whole still existing in a 4th edition mindset? Are we even aware that the game has been changing all along? I mean really changing! I want the 40K community to start existing in the future, and if not the community as a whole, then at least the fine readers here at BoLS.
By now both old and new players are used to 5th edition and the mission dynamics that drive an army: objectives, movement, kill points, etc. The core rules however are only half of the game; the codices are the other half.
Regardless of whatever army you play, what happens when a new codex comes out? First thing you do is compare it to your army, while checking out various builds, lists, and units so you can come up with a plan on how you are going to counter the new lists of that new codex. Torrent of fire, bubble wrapping, meching up, etc.
The problem with this approach is that fact that 40K is evolving along a time line, and once your codex is out, regardless if it is 3nd edition (Yikes! Dark Eldar), 4th, etc. you are already playing catch up to the codexes coming after you. Now this has always been true, since that is what sells models, and breathes new life into old units. The shift in the 5th edition ‘dexes (IG, SW, & Tyranids) is almost a shift to an entirely new 40K gaming system. Exciting times if you are playing a new 5th Ed. dex, perhaps perilous or frustrating times if you are on the other side of the curve.
How about forgetting trying to play this game of catch up, which you won’t be able to do after a while, and shift your thinking to this paradigm: Look at the 5th Ed. ‘dexes as where the game is going and build your army according to this benchmark. If you do this, there is no worrying about how you are going to keep up with Blood Angels when they arrive, or Dark Eldar one day (just kidding!), as you will already have the answers to those armies since their codexes are following the 5th ed. trends. This is what I mean by existing in the future. The goal is to riding ahead of the ‘codex releases and not behind them. To have an answer before the question is even asked. Ok, Fritz, enough with the philosophy, bring it down to the tabletop level…
Forget about every codex before Space Marines as this is where our starting point is going to be. I personally believe CSM was the experiment to see where the game goes, or an example of the foundation, then ramped up with the codexes since them. Space Marines through its use of different characters opened up a number of builds for the army ranging from a Ravenwing like bike army, to outflanking, gunline, horde, etc. One might not be the best build in terms of tournaments, but if you have a vision for your space marine army chances are you can create the list. Space marines were not locked into one specific role, say like Tau & Necrons = shooty, or Eldar = speed & specialized aspects. You want to do something, Space Marines can.
Then we had IG which introduced an apocalypse like model (the valk) giving IG a skimmer option along with a complete decrease in points in the overall ‘dex combined with multiple build options. Now Guard can actually be fast and mobile, better then Eldar for half the cost. Units that were the exclusive property of one dex are now opening up to others. This is where we also started to see the trend of psyker options in each army, which was continued with Space Wolves, which then leads us to Tyranids…
Forget about the cool models in the codex for a moment if you can. Look at the sheer number of options Tyranids can have. Drop pods used to be the exclusive property of Space Marines, now ‘nids get em (but Chaos Space Marines still can’t see the wisdom in using them?). Powerful psyker options, cheap troops that auto-spawn, they get that also. Need shooty and assaulty, got that. All the other specialties found in the older codexes enjoyed by them only can now be found and replicated in codex tyranids. The specialization or characteristics that you enjoyed in your previous army are now available as optional builds with the 5th ed. codexes. I don’t want to say that we are all now playing the same army just with different models, but in a way we are.
So what is the trend of where we are going?
Specialization
Specialization is dead. With my Eldar as the example, we are no longer the most powerful psykers in the game, and the new ‘dex armies enjoy the same if not better psyker options. I can no longer rely on fully exploiting my farseer powers as an advantage if every army can take a unit that can nullify them with ease.
Speed? Sure I am still fast, but other armies can be just as fast or reliably stop my speed in other ways. When the masters of specialization (Eldar) are no longer the specialists what is a space elf to do?
Models
Cheaper models (in points, not cost!), with more of them on the table, and each unit being able to perform a number of different roles as needed. With the number of models increasing at each point level, but the size of the table staying the same it is going to get to the point where I don’t care who you are, you won’t have the firepower to table an army. Blasting units off objectives will have to shift to blobbing them and wrapping them up in never ending assaults denying parts of the table from your opponent so you can try to take one or two objectives on the other side.
The Game Board
The game board is no longer one direction with a few units infiltrating for fun. Now every army has the Space Wolves Wolf Scout option- outflanking, drop pods, appearing in your face by deep striking, or burrowing are all options no matter the ‘dex. How do you deal with a multi-dimensional battlefield?
Apocalypse models (Trygons, Valkyries, and who knows what else) have entered the game pushing the usual set up of terrain to a place where it has to evolve also. With most terrain being one or two levels in height, models like valks can peek over them taking shots that otherwise would have been blocked from LOS. With less places to physically hide how are you going to deal with this?
The Future?
These are just some of the trends I’m seeing, and trying to figure out how I’m going to counter them, and not the enemy codex with my aging rules, and dying race…
~Moving ahead I’m going to try and offer up some battle reports and tactics that utilize this idea of exploiting trends in the system over individual codexes, from and Eldar perspective of course, so in the mean time, let’s hear your thoughts on the big picture changes 5th has brought now that we have 4 codices under our belts.
