Warhammer 40k Hot Mess: GW Needs Do Something About Forge World Leftover Units
Warhammer 40K 10th Edition is haunted by the ghosts of some long-lost Forge World leftover units. GW needs to do something about that – for all our sakes.
Maybe we should call it Reforged World, if you really want to discuss it. There are some FW units/options that somehow stayed alive in the main game of 40K. The rules for several old FW really don’t fit the game anymore and should probably go the way of Legends. But some of these units somehow made it through the recent 40K 10th Editon Balance Dataslate/FAQ update, got a stealth update, and somehow are still WAY too cheap.
The Problem – Forge World Leftovers
With today’s competitive players trying all angles to wreck the meta – the GW designers have to be very careful. The game can be very swing-y right now with random mission cards, terrain layouts, and just dice rolls. So, finding any distinct advantage is something players will jump on. You mix in the ability to “get” any unit you want via 3d-printing, recasts, and other means you can easily see how 40K’s meta can quickly get unbalanced. If players find something broken, expect to see it instantly on tabletops, and most likely “barely” painted.
This leads me to the hot mess of what to do about these FW leftovers? 40K has a crap ton of units. The GW balance team is trying to move away from swift reactions tot he meta, and instead look at 6-month changes. But when a simple update breaks the game, we have to start wondering what needs to be done.
The Current Culprit – T’au Tigershark
Right now, the big Forge World culprit is the T’au Empire Tiger Shark, but I am sure there are others lurking in the wings. This leads me to think that while it is cool to have some of the Forge World stuff , GW really should look at these units and ask some questions: are they available for sale right now? If so, then hey, it’s cool. But, if you haven’t been able to buy it for over a year (and there are a LOT of these on the GW store) – it shouldn’t be in the game any longer. Off to Legends with those.
So far we have seen most of the FW stuff go away as we have had codexes released and point updates that quickly “lose” those units in their lists. Wouldn’t it just be easier to legend them all at once and call it a day? They could leave those units they still have available on the site as available for super fans to buy, till the inventory winds down.
It’s a hard thing to say, as I do love some of the Knights that are now in plastic but started their life as a FW kit. Wouldn’t it be better to have them just be a real part of their future codex instead of being in an index without an actual unit picture?
Sometimes You Need to See Goodbye!
I know I miss my old FW dreads for Chaos and my Marine options. But I took their loss as medicine that was needed to balance the whole faction. I think GW should just go down the path of keeping things clean, simple, and easy for any new player to jump into the game. Which of course is the whole thing for the future of competitive 40K and just wargames in general. At the end of the day, manufacturers HAVW to make it easy for a new player to get involved, grab an army, and not have to figure out how to get a long out of print giant resin flyer because the internet says it is the best.
Let’s move more Forge World things over to plastic – that always make people happy!
