40K Editorial: The Xenos Threat
What ever happened to the Big Scary Xenos Races in the Grim-Dark?
The “Xenos Threat” in the Grim-Dark certainly feels like it’s taking a back seat to the Chaos vs Imperium story line that’s been brewing. With the recent releases it’s starting to feel like in the 41st Millennium the only conflict that actually matters is same one that played out 10,000 years earlier – Traitors vs Loyalists. Now, I’m glad that Games Workshop is setting up some type of epic stand-off between Chaos and the Imperium…I’m just hoping they don’t forget about the Xenos Threat!
Who’s The Bad Guy?
If you’ve ever read a good story one of the things that really drives the plot forward is conflict between the Protagonist and the Antagonists. Every good story I’ve ever encountered had an Antagonist that actually mattered. In a lot of cases the Antagonists actually eclipses the Protagonist in terms of being interesting to read about. Basically, every good story needs a Great Bad Guy!
Warhammer 40,000 has a problem in that everyone is pretty much trying to be the Bad Guy in their own way. The Imperium, while appears to be the Good Guy on the surface, is really an oppressively brutal regime. It’s a state run religion that even the Primarchs would be embarrassed by – as well as the Emperor! It could be argued that the Tau are the only true force for Good…if you want to conform to their commie lifestyle.
The Eldar are a dying race only interested in self-preservation. They are secretive and selfish – I don’t see them as the heroes in this story either. Everyone else…well, they would fall into the “neutral to evil” spectrum in my book.
But if Chaos is supposed to be the Big Bad and the Imperium is supposed to be the Good Guys where does that leave the Xenos? The” Wild Card?” The mysterious neutral party? I think that’s the core problem and why it feels like the “Xenos Threat” is just a side note in the history of the Imperium.
Why Xenos Need To Matter
The threat the Xenos pose is supposed to be a serious issue. It’s what keeps the Imperial forces spread thin, attacking them from all sorts of different angles. The Necrons are awakening on all these Tomb Worlds, the Dark Eldar are raiding settlements left-and-right, the Orks are WAAAGHing everywhere and the Nids are eating everything in sight. Oh and don’t forget the hunk of space the Tau are carving out for themselves either.
Those threats should be putting pressure on the Imperium and should feel like real problems. I suppose in the lore they are but when it comes to the tabletop it doesn’t feel that way. With the exception of a few races (Eldar, Tau and the new Genestealer Cult) it kind of feels like the Xenos are playing at the Kids Table while the grown-ups are playing the real game. And to continue this analogy I’d say that the Necrons are probably the awkward teenager that doesn’t quite fit in with the adults and certainly feels above the other kids in the room.
Xenos armies should feel just a dangerous on the Tabletop as they are supposed to be in the lore. I’m not saying they should all be “Movie Marines” but they should at least be a legitimate challenge. I want to see weird and crazy aliens fight on the game table instead of just Power Armored warriors marching to war. We already have an entire setting for that – it’s called the Horus Heresy!
The Alien races need to matter because they make the game interesting. Look, I like Heresy Era games – they are great. But they aren’t the same as 40k because at the end of the day it’s still just a +3 vs a +3 save. (Yes, I know there are other Imperial forces and Ad Mech, which helps – but really it’s still Traitors vs Loyalists. It’s just Red vs Blue and I want to play Green!)
What About The Eldar?
Yes, I know the Eldar are a Xenos Race and they aren’t having any “issues” I’ve talked about. They are a good competitive army, they have a great line of models, and you could even make the case that they should be included in the Heresy Era Games. They are a legit “Xenos Threat” on the tabletop. They have the inverse problem of being much better than their lore suggests.
Think about it, for a dying race they sure are holding their own pretty well! It’s also amazing that they keep finding all these Wraithknights, Scat-bikes and Warp Spiders on every Craftworld. Oh and did you know that apparently there is an unending supply of Farseers/Warseers, too! It’s such a shame their Dark Eldar Cousins aren’t drinking the same kool-aid…
There Is Hope
The one bright spot for me is the Genestealer Cult army. I really do think Games Workshop did a great job with that book. It’s a truly unique army that has it’s own special thing that magically captures the fluff behind the army and also happens to be super effective on the tabletop. It’s a great combination that you just don’t see in every Xenos army.
I’m really hoping Games Workshop takes the lessons learned from their codex and applies those to the other books, specifically the Tyranids, Orks and Dark Eldar. And even to a lesser extent the Necrons (although, they seem to suffer from being “okay” but not exciting). I hope they find that bit of lore that makes them unique and they figure out a way to turn that into something effective on the tabletop. At this point, it’s so late in 7th that I’m not sure it’s going to be worth the time to or effort to make the shift. However, my fingers are crossed for 8th. It’s going to be a while but patience is a virtue!
So what do you think? Are you tired of seeing the Xenos as the Imperium’s punching bag? How would you make the Xenos a Threat again?
