Goatboy’s Warhammer 40K – Why Did Counts-as Fade Away?
Goatboy here to talk about Warhammer 40K Counts-as armies, and why you just don’t see them much these days.
For those new to this game the old term – Counts As – was utilized to basically have a model counts as something else. This way you could play the game with something different but as long as it fit well enough it was fun as you still utilized the rules of the game. So why did people do it?
Look, it’a thunder-something…
Why Was Counts-as A Thing in 40K?
Well there was a lot of reasons to do a counts-as 40k army. The first major one and one of the things that we don’t see in modern 40K anymore is a missing model in the range issue. There was a time that 40K would have rules for units that didn’t have models. I remember when the first Space Wolf Thunder Wolf rules came out and there wasn’t a giant werewolf with a space marine model available. Players from all over would create different units out of Fantasy models, 3rd party models, and just going into a different direction like I did with the Space Goats and Juggernaut riders.
It was a wild age where you would see a ton of Horse Riding jerks running around with Thunder Hammers and power fists. A ton of 3rd party companies would build some crazy looking werewolf options which were neat. A buddy would even create some awesome looking “Were Wolf” like creatures from other games to create a big ole honking would army of doom.
It created a ton of “innovation” in sculpting, building, and kit bashing that is kind of missed these days but it really made it hard for any new player to build an army. That is the biggest issue in all of it is just how do you get it all to work without models available to just slap together?
People converted a ton of these from all kinds of things.
Model Variety
Beyond just the whole we don’t have a model available there was a lot of variety to be had from playing Counts As. Let’s say your model was not a multiple part kit so buying a ton of the same model pose over and over was repetitive and expensive at that time. Looking at how the “Grotesques” from Dark Eldar are never a ton of the same old Finecast model and instead are some kind of counts-as kitbash of a fantasy kit? This isn’t just because doing the same thing over and over is boring but instead it is there to figure some way to save on building this unit.
Of course this all gets kicked to the side a lot now with 3d printing and the whole lack of needing to find models when there are a ton of choices to pick from. You have GW themselves with the new rule that everything needs a kit if we make rules for it. You have all the other options you can pick from too if you want something different. In a lot of ways this need to innovate to save or build the model has really slowed a lot of this ingenuity we used to have in this game.
Yup, it’s a Daemon Prince
Counts-As is Fading, But New Players Probably Don’t Mind
Which isn’t a bad thing as I said – it is much easier for a new player to get into the game. Having to “make” your units is not an easy thing for most people. Just the ability to think a bit outside the box model wise can be hard. This isn’t just a conversion sort of thing too. This isn’t slapped a few cool weapons on a model to make it look better.
Do you miss some of this count as stuff? This new age of every Black Legion army is not painted black is a weird one. Or how the Chapters and choices are no longer locked in stylistically. Is it something that we are good to be past or is this something to turn around, look back at, and miss?
I say this as I basically kitbashed a Nurgle Chosen unit for a random CSM idea I have. I haven’t really done a ton of true conversion work in awhile – mostly due to not needing to “fix” up an army to get looking right. A lot of character went into some of my HQ choices but lately I haven’t had a new to do that beyond a fun head swap or two. This got me thinking on why I haven’t really jumped into one of my crazy ideas in awhile.
I am sure Time, Kids, and costs really keep a lot of this locked down and in the dream section of our hobby minds. I have talked about wanting to do a few different things with a push away from trying to win more than lose and instead – just look cool. What are your thoughts?
Is it worth it to go the Counts As route with a cool idea? Or is it just a way to do something cheaper and more interesting? What other old units didn’t have models and we had to make? I remember the Wave Serpent not having an actual model for along time when it was first released.
Of course there was always the ancient Armorcast options…
