Goatboy’s Warhammer 40K: To Bandwagon, or Not to Bandwagon?
Goatboy here and the 40K bandwagon is looking more attractive every day. But is is really worth it?
I just want to say the next few months are going to be a rough one if you want to get to the top of the winners bracket. It feels like each new release is bringing a lot of codex creep. Which is to say each new bit of plastic seems better than the last bit of plastic. Is it really worth it to go all in on the newest thing when the threat of a balance update can wreck them?
I say this as a player that likes to dabble in the competitive side of things and who happens to be a pretty quick painter. Getting an army ready to go for an event is not a hard endeavor so I could jump on the wagon and scream “eat it” as I throw dice at the top of the tables. I don’t know how much that is worth it as we have seen all the older rough books get hit by layered nerfs.
Is the 40K Bandwagon Worth It?
It makes you wonder if it is even worth it to go out and source all the broken bits because you might get an event or two with them – but then they just sit waiting to be sold at a discount online somewhere. I always want to ask players if you think something feels to good in the game then it is probably too good. The bigger question is can your army survive what might start to be more directed nerfs instead of the slow bleeding we saw with Dark Eldar.
To give a thought to this – we know some of the no LOS (Line of Sight) shooting we have out there is a bit much. It is a non interactive element in the game and when we start to see too many methods of this show up we start to get a stagnant environment. Games end up being can you roll saves enough to feel like your army can do something. When the game devolves into just surviving the firepower to win you start to wonder was it worth it to bring out your plastic dudes men.
I don’t know what they are going to do to fix it but it is on GW’s radar. There are enough sites, youtube videos, and commentary to make sure GW understands this wasn’t the best set of options to allow on the battlefields. Heck we saw a hoax Balance Update last week and while some people complained a lot of players thought it was a good idea.
Is Limiting Units the Answer?
We have had only one true “banning” style balance with the Ork Buggy rule of one unit. Could we see actually banning stuff in the future? Personally, I wouldn’t care as anything to help alleviate some of the bad feels we got coming to the game would be a good thing.
I want the competitive scene to thrive. I want people excited to build new armies. Building armies shouldn’t feel like you have to scrounge around to find all the parts because they don’t come in the boxed set GW is trying to sell you. I don’t want multi layered bits of rules that are confusing and un-fun to engage against. I want all my friends to be excited to bring something unique to the table top instead of a cookie cutter list that X player says is the best.
Broken Armies Harm the Game
We all know that a 70% win rate is bad for an environment. We all know playing a game like you are gold fishing versus an opponent isn’t that exciting. It makes it hard to really try to justify going to an event and keeping a thought that you could win it all. It’s why I wonder if it is worth it to even jump on that bandwagon.
Right now I have Custodes built because I have had the army since it came out. I wonder if it is worth it to really play them as I know will see some nerfs coming for them and Tau pretty soon. I built a Grey Knight army pretty quickly because someone gave me all the plastic and now they are not the bees knees I might just play them even though I am going to a fight with a dull knife versus a machine gun.
You Be You!
Let me step off my soapbox a bit and just say – play however you want to play. If you want to be the baddest dice slinger in the whole ITC then do it. Just make sure to do it with a smile because while others are cool getting their teeth kicked in coming in hard on a game might not leave the best feelings for your opponent. Even though your army feels like it is auto playing versus a sleeping opponent just try to be nice. I haven’t seen too many bad players lately as events are weeding some of them out but just know not everyone has access to the meanest gear to quickly get to the tabletop over and over as the meta shifts.
Come on baby, hurry up!
I am sure I will have a nice write up soon as some FAQ’s will come out and maybe some emergency bit of rules. I am hoping we see this get worked out before some of the GW events start playing as it isn’t a super exciting game to watch as a player just mows an army down from behind a ton of fancy walls and see thru plastic area terrain.
~Are you sticking with your army, or chasing the hotness?
