Goatboy’s 40k Thoughts: Whats Missing in 40k?
Today’s list is a bunch of thoughts on what I feel is missing right now from the current edition of 40k.
Welcome to another list of thoughts about 40k from the king of nonsense Goatboy.
I actually like most of 7th edition as I feel as a whole the game is working better than 6th edition. I just feel there are a few things that are needed to help make this new edition the best and brightest.
What’s a Unit?
The first thing missing is a true definition of what is a unit that is made up of a bunch of IC’s. This is an issue as there are a lot of new rules, additions, and other things that leave us with questions on what a unit is actually. Of course you could say anyone asking about this is itching to break some kind of rule or ability but it is something we would love to have a concrete answer on. The easier thing is that it is one and all the things it is made up of – for good to worse etc. I just want something written out that says – if you join into x glue unit – it still just stays the glue unit no matter what else you add to it. Of course if you could only join up with whatever was in your initial detachment this wouldn’t be nearly the issue – but hey again I just play with the rules and don’t write them no matter how many times I get on my soapbox.
The combo nature of the IC and unit make up is what seems to bring the biggest amount of groans from an opponent. I think if more armies could create these big mish mash units of death we might have less “annoyances” but really it just feels like one “army” type is really just the ants stealing all the food from the picnic. Again if we updated/changed Battle Brothers this wouldn’t be an issue anymore.
Allies for YOU and YOU and NONE for you…
Next up I would really rework the ally matrix as I feel there is a ton of play between the Imperial side of things glad very little for anyone else. Beyond the ability to use Dark Eldar competitively, every combo is based on an Imperial drum circle of friendship. We all know there is no way a Dark Angel would dare join up with a Space Wolf. Let alone anyone else joining hands across the Imperium with a stinky Space Doggie. It just feels wrong as all the fluff has each army being very particular about taking the lead from anyone so it just gets harder and harder to swallow with each novel release. I guess in the future everyone on the “good” guys team is friendly no matter how many times they lost or fought on some kind of alien planet. A shake up or change to how Allies work would do wonders to keep an army feeling “fresh”. It might ruin a ton of built armies, especially the ones that like to use friends rides, but it is something the poor Xenos player feels like they never get to take advantage of.
Psychics – Back to the Drawing Board
From there I would rework the ability to stop blessings and other “non” targeted psychic powers. I don’t know if they should move it towards the same set up that you have when targeted (i.e. +1 for being a psyker, +1 for admantium will, etc) but the powers have gotten a bit out of hand. Even psychic heavy armies can’t stop a conclave from casting its spells a lot of the time and its kind of a joke where you just hope for a bunch of 6’s. I don’t know a 5+ would be good enough but it is something to think about. I am wondering if will see a small change in the rumored “updated” rulebook we keep hearing about. I feel this is the biggest let down during any game – especially when you feel like you can’t do anything as your opponent rolls a 1 and you only have a single dice to try and stop your opponent. Praying for those 6’s to the dark gods isn’t doing it and hurting the game a ton.
But this doesn’t really help armies that are not psychic in general. A buddy of mine thinks it should go towards the old Fantasy style system that let you at least get a batch of dice to try and participate. My thoughts on it is that it is harder in 40k where while a lot of the game is built upon 1 or 2 spells going off – a lot of armies actually kinda need more spells to work in order to actually do what they are designed to do. I don’t know a true way to fix it – other then allowing armies to fight psychics easier and try to keep blessings from getting out of hand. Whether it is redoing how you can counter spells or finding some way to actually compete in the psychic phase is needed. Yes the Culexius is a pain in the butt but most players know how to get around it, cast their spells again, and continue wrecking things while being Invisible and Rerolling all their saves.
Army Construction
After that initial rules updates I would probably rework how armies are actually built. I would lock in that if you take a CAD you can only take additional CADs, allies, and specific formations that do not belong to any kind of Battlehost/Decurion/etc thing. This would let armies grab Knights, Assassins, and Inquisitors but keep them from taking some of the other “formations” to create super units. Of course it still screws with a lot of Xenos armies as they do not have access to these Battlehosts but maybe set it up if you have access to a CAD/Ally/Battlehost you have to set up you army this way. This would then lead me to say GW needs to come up with army builds/formations for all the armies right now. I think we are missing these types of detachments for Nids, Sisters, Grey Knights, Blood Angels, Chaos Space Marines, and Dark Eldar. Some of the Battlehosts are not for all parts of the army book – AM and Orks – but at least they have access to some. I think it’s time to truly relook at how armies are allowed to be built and try to limit some of this pick only the best stuff and shove them all together into one list we see a lot of the time.
Codex Updates
This leads me into the next one and I am sure a lot of players want this to happen but really – all the books need to be updated. I know Space Marines are your best seller but did we need another update? The powers, additions, etc are really powerful and most of the other books (except for Eldar) really feel the overall lack of love. But hey at the end of the day I am always excited for more new rules even though they never end up being for the army I like to play the most. I just want to see every army have a chance to be good, feared, and crushing on the table top.
GW Getting Better!
Finally the last thing I would want is for GW to act like they care about their fans. I know things have gotten better and I am thankful for it. In fact I think things will hopefully turn around as the game actually starts to get paid attention to a bit more. The thought of a new FAQ, a return of 40k to the store fronts, and even a renewed thought on competitive events all spell out that we might be in for some more fun. I do like the idea of creating 3 different types of games for Age of Sigmar and would love to see that come to 40k as while it can be fun to throw all kinds of things together, it would be a hell of a lot more interesting to have a strict structure to actually compete. I think if we had some leadership from GW on what they think is actually “fair” for each army to fight with might do wonders for players, events, and the game itself.
As I stated in the beginning, overall I like 7th edition and just want some small things to change to help keep things fresh, fun for both sides of the table, and actually thriving. I have a lot of toys painting, in boxes, and waiting to get built so having a weak game isn’t the best. I am not one to get too upset as at the end of the day the game is more so about facilitating friendships and letting me forget a bit about real life a bit as we get so focused on what is good/bad about a game filled with Plastic Dudesmen fighting it out in the “future”.
What do you think the game is missing right now?
