Goatboy’s 40K Fall Predictions
Goatboy here again on another lovely Monday morning. Here’s what the smart money says is in the next few codices:
I used to write up little predictions on what might be coming down the pipeline. Just thoughts and ideas based on the flow of the game and where armies might go. Sometimes I was right and a lot of the times I was wrong in the direction of balance versus the power level we ended up getting.
We have heard all the rules are done for the rest of the missing armies. These means that the little tidbits we have seen in the latest codexes will probably be repeated in future releases. A lot of locals are thinking we might see the “8thing” of 40k like what happened in Fantasy. An overall drop in power level and a return to some kind of army balance. Sure there were still power builds but overall the square base’ers are actually in a pretty decent place. We’ll see if Nagash actual causes issues – but overall most of the armies can win.
The last few releases have seen a drop in some power level. Space Wolves – while actually pretty decent – lost a lot of the flavor they used to have. That flavor kind of broke the rules a bit so I don’t mind seeing it go. It is nice to see limits placed as right now I feel 7th is in a lot better place then 6th was.
Which goes into what I have been feeling as I have been playing 7th edition games. I think you can cherry pick bits and pieces to create effective, interesting, and personal lists now. This is what I am finding interesting as I figure out armies that break away from the consistent chains of limited Formations/CADs/Etc. Will this see a new age of armies that no longer look cookie cutter? Are we seeing a return of army building that looks more like Magic – with special pieces built in to confront the new age of 7th? We’ll see as events loosen some chains and get into the idea of pushing the limits of missions instead of constraining army lists.
I think some kind of modified Maelstrom missions will be key to creating what I hope is a better tournament. New ways to try to win that isn’t just limited to killing everything. I think when we embrace different avenues to winning a game will be how we keep our events alive. I know some friends are coming back as these ideas start to bubble up. But enough of that soap box – lets get into predictions.
Necrons
I think the next – Grey Knighted book will be Necrons. We might see a new model or two but that range is pretty filled up. So I expect a quick book with tweaked rules. Look at the new keyword “storm” from the Space Wolves. Welcome to the new Tesla my friends as a way to nerf some of the “sorry I rolled lots of 6’s brah” we are used to when facing the metallic dead. I also expect a cleaned up Reanimation Protocols/Everliving. I think the whole counter on the table, block how they get up, etc thing to be a bit clunky. I don’t know what they will do – maybe end up with a FNP type of thing but right now I think it would be easier to resolve it right away after the failed wound/casualty. This way you could use it to remove the whole – sweeping advance thing that can happen. I also expect Mindshackle Scarabs to see some kind of change. They were always annoying as it was always just fun for one side. Oh and expect 6 relics – 2 Guns, 2 Weapons, Wraith Body/Armor, and maybe a super Reanimation Orb.
Dark Eldar
The Dark Eldar will see a book like we got with Ork release treatment. The biggest difference will be some of those HQ’s we love to hate will probably just get kicked to the curb. Vect will be the big Character release as we know GW is loving chariots so expect him to ride something nutty. The other character we will see is the fallen Phoenix lord – Drazhar. He will be an upgrade with the Plastic Incubi I expect to come out. Will also see a new big Monster thing and maybe a true plastic box of Wraiths. Look for the Baron and other non model HQ’s to get kicked to the curb. I bet their relics are the Farseer Bones, some kind of super poison for a unit, Evil Spirt Genie blade, weird armor, and then some other anti psyker stuff. Rules wise I see them getting cleaned up and power from pain maybe changing. Again I think counters next to stuff can be clunky but it is hard to think of anything else to keep that Power from Pain working. I do wonder if the beast pack will see a change too. Too bad for all those puppy players.
Blood Angels
Blood Angels should be rounding things out as well. We hear chirps about a new Mephiston. I just hope they keep his 80’s surfer mullet. I am sure he will be big, splashy and most likely won’t have a chariot. I can just imagine one being pulled by Death Company dreadnoughts. The book will get back in line with the other Marine books – cheaper Librarians, probably a change to Sanguinary Priests and reworked Tech Marines. I wonder if the Librarian Dread will move to an HQ choice but we’ll see. I see them getting a release like the Space Wolves with 4 new kits – Meph, New Unit, Sanguinary Priest, and maybe get a new Dread Variant like a Chaplain dread. Lucky for the BA players – their rules just need to be brought in line with point costs of the new basic Marine book. I don’t see their Special Characters going away as they are very iconic like the Space Wolf ones.
Inquisition
From there we will see a reworked Inquisition book. I bet the crazy grenades go away, psychic pilot on things and psybolt. This book should be a quick turn around as the Grey Knight book should show how this one will get fixed. I bet we see a new HQ choice with Valeria or some other kind of “alien” inquisitor making a comeback. This would just be a simple way to add more flavor to the book. Beyond that I see it more as a cosmetic way to keep Inquisition valid and let you create the toolbox army we all like to play with and against. We have heard so many rumors about Sisters getting new models and I expect them to come at some point. It would be awesome to see good Female models out there and hope Jes just kicks butt with it. I think they could easily set up a big splash release with them – it just depends on if they want to pull the trigger.
Beyond Codices
After these books I expect to see more campaign/formations/character books. I think this will be the bread and butter for GW – as they look at ways to continue the unit buying/creating train by introducing new formations and characters. I have really started to like the idea of formations as I feel they force a specific build style and still generate something good. Most of the time they have a some kind of “unit” tax. This could be from having to take a unit that is not always the best choice or making you take too many choices. I also like the idea of army battle boxes like we saw with Storm Claw. I can just see the rumored Blood Angels versus Dark Eldar with special clam shell Haemonculus/Sanguinary priest.
Right now I feel 40k is at an interesting place as we start to see the full plan unfold. I know Fantasy has released a rather neat – end game sort of scenario with Nagash and I expect one to come for 40k. Chaos is the main villain and I think it could be neat to unleash a true Black Crusade with a new Abaddon/Chaos Legion book to help showcase how evil crushes the regime of “good”. This is when I expect the Greater Daemons to come out of hiding. The way they designed Nagash seems to showcase a lot more movement so any new big model should look bad ass. Heck I keep looking at those new undead models and wonder how I could convert them into something 40k. Or heck maybe I should just play Warhammer Fantasy.
What do you want from this game? Are you excited about the rumored releases? Is this super fast schedule just a little too much? When are we going to get those Chaos Legion books? Do these pants make me look fat?
