40K: Fluffy is the New Hardcore
When did playing a Fluffy Army become so…scary? GW blurs the line between Fluffy and Hardcore!
We have hit a kind of nexus point in Warhammer 40k. Love’em or Hate’em, Formations/Detachments have changed the game and made Lore-based armies viable on the tabletop. (I’ll be using the term Formations to describe them both for the remainder of the article – just FYI). This has been a relatively slow burn process that I believe ultimately culminated in the release of the Genestealer Cult Codex.
It’s the best codex because it’s both fluffy and good – The Patriarch told me so!
As every army got a new book and a new “Mega Formation” to go with it, I truly believe that Warhammer 40k was trying to course correct not just the “balance” of the armies but also the mentality of the players (and designers to an extent). For the first time in a long time you could take a “Fluffy Army” (that means an army based on the lore) and have a real, competitive list. And all was well with the world, right? …kind of.
So Hardcore
For a long time there was this idea that if you build a list based on the lore that it was supposed to be weaker than a list that was fully optimized. This was the split between “Fluff Bunnies” and “WAAC” (win-at-all-costs) players. It was the source of many debates, arguments and sore-spots among the community. There were arguments on which play style was “right” and which was “wrong” and all the baggage that comes along with it.
I realized a long time ago that people played this game for different reasons that I do. And you know what? I’m okay with that now. Personally, I don’t care what you bring to the table as long as we’re both in agreement on the type of game WE want to play. Now, deciding that takes a 5 minute conversation before we start pulling models out – and sometimes ends with a “Sorry, I don’t think I want to play that game tonight.” But I’d rather spend 5 minutes working that out than the next few hours playing a game I’m grinding my teeth to get through.
Nah, I’m Good. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
So stop for a moment – do you think after reading that last paragraph that I was referring to playing against a WAAC player or a Fluff-bunny? That’s called a bias – we all have them. The truth is I’ve had to have that conversation from both sides of the line. Sometimes I’m not looking to “prep for a tournament” and I’m the Fluff Bunny. Sometimes I’ve brought a list that is finely tuned and ready to table my opponent – and I’ve had to say “Sorry I’m not looking for a multiplayer/narrative/campaign game tonight.”
That was how it was a for a very long time. Now, I still think you should have that conversation with your opponent before the game. And having that type of conversation doesn’t excuse you from playing like a jerk (Poor Sportmen are no fun to play against no matter why type of style you prefer). But with “modern” 40k I think that those two list-types are closer in “power-level” than you might think.
So Fluffy
I had a friend who was really excited about his new Genestealer Cult army. He was working on getting all this models built for the next monthly tournament and was rearing to go. That was until he read the Tournament Format rules. They limited the number of formations he would be allowed to take. This neutered the list he was working on because it was a Cult Insurrection based listed. That means he would have needed to run multiple formations under the Cult Insurrection Detachment – and that was a big no-no for this tourney.
No Bugs Multi-CADs Allowed!
Now, I get why the TO did it: they wanted to limit some of the “shenanigans” that other armies could bring to the table. And in their defense, it’s their tournament and it’s their rules – players were notified a month in advance so they could plan accordingly. Did it take the wind out of my friends sails? Sure, but he could have just brought another army or borrowed one and played anyways. They run different types of tournaments all the time to encourage people to try different things. Unfortunately for my buddy this was his month to get affected by tournament structure.
Call it the Law of Unintended Consequences. Call it dumb luck. Or just call it what it is – a “List so Fluffy it’s Hardcore!” These days, those two things are crossing over and starting to look more and more alike. Back-in-the-day, we used to call it “the Troop Tax” – you would have to take your two mandatory troop choices so that you would have a “legal” list. Lots of folks would min-max their lists. “I’m only running 2, 5-man troops because they are terrible.” Or if you played an army with GOOD (i.e. points efficient) troops then you would load-up on them.
Russ: Relax Magnus, I just brought a bunch of Grey Hunters. This will be a “fun” game.
Depending on your group of players, folks that brought these lists would even come up with reasons like, “Oh my army is based off this thing that I made up and all the basic troops were wiped out so they only have veterans now.” Or “This Ork Warboss had a vision that his legs were actually motorbikes so he only rides with other Nob-Bikers.” Both of those lists were 100% legal and, in their minds, 100% fluffy. But, no matter how they tried to justify it, those armies certainly didn’t “play like a fluffy army.” Which means they were strong armies.
The Lore Is Strong With This One
Fast-forward to now. Is there anyone out there that wants to make the case that a Gladius Strike Force ISN’T fluffy? It is a 100% Lore-based army. And when I say LORE I mean official GW Canon, not something your friend made up after a late night fever dream before a tournament. Or that the Adeptus Mechanicus War Convocation ISN’T a Lore-based army? And those are just two of those “Mega Formations” – there are dozens more.
So Fluffy it HURTS!
Somewhere along the line Games Workshop shifted from this idea of a “Troop-Tax” to this idea of a “Fluff-Tax” in their army construction rules. If you build a list based around the lore of your army – and that lore happens to line-up with one of these “Mega Formations” – you’ll probably end up with a pretty capable army. GW has definitely upped the power-level (along with game sizes, but that’s another issue) across the board. There are still armies that are on the low end and some on the high-end but compared to an edition or two ago there is a DRASTIC change.
You get how much “free stuff” now?!
Maybe that was the plan the whole time: Put “The Best” stuff behind this “pay-wall” of fluff. It forced the WAAC players to be a bit more fluffy and the Fluff-Bunnies suddenly had viable lists to build and play. Is this system perfect? Not yet. I don’t think there will ever be a “perfect” system to appease both sides of the coin. But Games Workshop is making moves to break that barrier between WAAC and Fluffy down. Are you ready for it?
So what do you think? Is Fluffy the New Hardcore or is something else going on? Will 8th Edition finally close the gap between WAAC and Fluff-bunnies?
Note: WAAC doesn’t mean “jerk-faced dirty cheater” and Fluffy-Bunny doesn’t mean “you don’t play to win.” Don’t confuse Sportsmanship with Army Construction. No one likes to play against a poor Sportsman.
