40K Deep Thought: Stratagem Overload – Removing The Bloat
Has Games Workshop gone overboard with all the new stratagems and if so, what’s the fix? Let’s chat.
When Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition came out we saw that the game had fundamentally changed from the 3rd-7th edition era to the new format of 8th. The Datasheets were different, Power Level was introduced, and a whole ton of changes were made to the game. One of the big changes was the Command Point system and stratagems. We all got a taste with the 3 basic ones that were introduced in the Rulebook and we’ve gotten new ones with each and every release since then.
Now, there are a LOT of stratagems in the game. With each codex getting almost 20 each, that puts the number of stratagems well into the hundreds – and that’s still not counting all the EXTRA stratagems from the different supplements. The case can be made that realistically there are between 3-6 stratagems per codex that are actually useful and while that is very true in many cases doesn’t that mean that there are a dozen or more stratagems per codex that are just junk? That still seems like a whole lot of extra rules just for the sake of rules. And that concept just seems off.
Here’s two stratagems I’m sure you use ALL the time…
Back To The Drawing Board
Here’s the deal – I like options for armies, I really do! But I also would like armies to have some sort of uniqueness about them. With the amount of stratagems in the game currently, it seems like every army has access to almost the exact same stratagems or some variations on the same themes. Not only does this make stratagems start to feel kinda generic, it just waters down the whole experience and it forces the rules writers to just add them to fill space.
“What if they get to attack AGAIN?”
Let’s do everyone a favor and cut down the number of stratagems to the truly useful and unique options – you know, the 3-6 that actually get used – and scrap the rest. This should allow the armies to start to feel like they should and be unique and different. As for all those generically useful options that we see repeat over and over again…
Take the ones that are similar thematically – the ones like “this unit gets to ignore mortal wounds for a phase” or “this unit gets to attack again at the end of the fight phase” – and just make them generic stratagems in the rulebook. At the same time, let’s not go crazy here. There shouldn’t be 100+ generic stratagems. Let’s limit that to say 9 Generic stratagems.
But what about our “Unique” Stratagems?
Oh and for additional flavor, I guess the stratagems that are unique to the specific “chapter tactic” keyword ones can stick around (although there are lots of overlap there and should probably get a good review). In total, that should give an army 3-6 unique stratagems, 6ish “chapter tactic” keyword specific stratagems, and the 9 generic stratagems. Hey, that should put armies at…18-21 stratagems they can all use still and that should remove a whole lot of clutter from the game.
Specialist Detachments – The Next Wave
If you think this problem is bad now, just wait until we start getting Specialist Detachments for ALL the factions. While I do like them for the simple fact that they soak-up Command Points and reward players for building thematic Detachments, I’m also struggling with the fact that it’s going to be another mountain of stratagems to learn. And if you’re not in the know it’s just one more mountain to climb.
Stratagems are a problem in the game right now just because of the sheer volume of them – and a LOT of them are just repeats. Maybe in the next edition/codex wave/chapter approved GW can dial it down and try to wrangle them back in to a manageable level. I’m not saying to remove them from the game – I’m saying let’s put some logical limits on them per army, group up the generics, and restructure them so that stratagems become a useful tool and not a mountain of paperwork to read.
What do you think? Has GW gone overboard with all the stratagems in the game? How would you propose to “fix” the stratagem bloat? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
