Warhammer 40K: 10th Edition Needs To Be Just One Game

Trying to be everything has hurt 40K 9th Edition, 10th needs to learn from this.

It seems pretty likely that 9th Edition’s time is almost up. We are seemingly looking at the end of the edition within the next few months, with the last books coming up in the spring. Given that, it’s not too early to start seeing what shape 10th could be in and what lessons it can learn from 9th. I think one major lesson Warhammer 40K can take away from both 8th and 9th is that it needs to just be one game. Let’s take a look at what this means.

Too Many Games In One

It’s easy to see Warhammer as a single coherent whole game. Currently however that’s not really true. It’s actually a couple of games running side-by-side. This really got kicked off with 8th Edition. That edition was supposed to streamline and clean up the game. However, it actually created 3 different games. Now, these were sold as different ways to play the same game. You had Matched Play, Narrative Play and Open Play. At first, these were kind of the same thing, but they quickly diverged. All of them had some different rules, in particular around how you built armies and what missions you play. You also had differences such as Points and Power Level.

As the edition wore on however these games started to diverge more and more. Some rules only affected one type of play, as did some updates. Units might only be allowed in one play format or another. Any attempts at balance only really affected matched play, with the other types getting left behind. Then came 9th Edition.

The Divergence

8th Edition might have gotten away with calling its different games just different formats. In 9th however, we really got two games, Matched Play and Crusade. These are vastly different versions of 40K, so much so that it’s hard to call them the same game. Crusade has its whole own rule section, both in the core book and in every codex and most supplements. There are even Crusade only books. It’s a ton of effort and rules devoted to what is really a second game, and one that’s less popular.

Making More Than One Game Is Bad

Look, it is not that any one of these games/ways to play are inherently bad. Nor is it that one is inherently better than another. However making several games at once, turning what should be one game into 2 or 3 is a bad idea. It has a lot of negatives. Right off the bat, you divide the player base by presenting multiple games.  Most people will end up focusing on one. You also divide the attention of the rules writers. Instead of just focusing on making one really good gameplay experince, they’ve got to make several, and they are going to suffer.

Moreover, you are almost always going to see one way of playing becoming the default. In almost all cases across the globe, it will be Matched Play. Becasue it’s the most restrictive format, and best suited for pick-up games and events. Even when other types get supported, they won’t get the same kind of support. All the serious GW attempts at balance are put towards Matched Play. I mean, is Crusade a balanced game at all? Who even knows. Dividing your rules and players and attention like this is just not a good call.

10th Needs To Be One Game

One of the major take-a-ways I hope GW learns from 9th is that 10th should just be one game. Focus on just making one universal way to play for everyone. And focus on making it good. It’s about as simple as that. You don’t need a ton of rules to allow players to do Open Play or “play however they want”, players at home can will do that on their own. What you need is just a focused set of core rules and updates for them. It’s fine to have some stand-alone alternate modes of play, like Apocalypse or Planetfall. You could even do a dedicated narrative focussed Crusade – but with its own standalone book with rules for ALL the armies in it. These should however be side shows to 40K, not a core part of the game that splits it and the community. Will GW learn this lesson? Who knows, but I sure hope so.

Let us know if you think 10th should be more than one game, down in the comments! 

Author: Abe Apfel

Abe is that rare thing, an Austin local born and raised here. Though he keeps on moving around, DC, Japan, ETC., he always seems to find his way back eventually. Abe has decades of experience with a wide range of tabletop and RPG games, from historicals, to Star Wars to D&D and 40K. He has been contributing to BOLS since almost the start, back when he worked at and then owned a local gaming store. He used to be big into the competitive Warhammer tournament scene but age has mellowed him and he now appreciates a good casual match. He currently covers 40K tactics and lore, as well as all things Star Wars, with occasional dabbling in other topics. Abe remains in mourning over the loss of WFB to this day.