Forgeworld Becomes Legal: What it means

Via Faeit212
via an anonymous source on Faeit 212
immediately afterward (codex Inquisition) we'll be seeing the Forgeworld forces of the space marines and inquisition to update all those rules as well. 

Also, while written to be polite, the sentence that says "while this should be considered official, check with your opponent" in the Forgeworld books is being changed. 

In the new forces of the SM and Inquisiton it says "these are official, but make sure your opponent knows the rules of any models chosen from this book." (quoting from memory so syntax may be slightly different)

So... Let's all welcome Forgeworld to the table.

This fundamentally changes the game. The fact that not just GW will be writing rules and army lists, even books, is a monumental shift in the landscape of 40k. Tournaments have often been the line in the sand, where Forgeworld was not allowed, and that may remain the case, but the argument of "this isn't optional, it is a part of the game now" will hold a lot of weight.

I'm not opposed to the change, because I believe more is better. We don't need Forgeworld to find dominant, broken combos, they exist in farseer jetbikes and missile/riptide spam. Hell, they exist in the Dark Eldar Venom Spam, especially deadly with a skyshield landing pad, where all that fire is protected by a 4++. Forgeworld will simply broaden the horizons of the game, and give us an opportunity to run units and models that we spent sometimes hundreds of GB Pounds on and hours painting and then had to proxy as something else, as the intended model. Provided they are more dilligent then GW in redoing their FAQ pages, I couldn't be happier.

What do you think? Are you anti-forgeworld or pro-registration forgeworld? Will this change your views on "competitive" 40k?

For The Emperor!

As my last post told you, I'm building up my Guardsmen, and I'm presented with a difficulty unique to my armies. Am I the good guy?

"Only the Emperor may judge those who defy the Imperium.

Only in death may they be judged."

-Mantra of the Clade Vindicare

My other armies, the Tyranids and the Dark Eldar, are such evils that need not ever question themselves. The Dark Eldar are a superior race that views other species as we view livestock - they exist only so long as they are useful, by amusement or food. The Tyranids simply exist. They face no concept of right or wrong, no crime or morality, they simply feed. The only difference between them and a scorpion is that the Tyranids are far better at it. The Imperial Guard, however, are humans, and boy, does that cause some headaches! 

Putting myself in the place of the Dark Eldar, I never have to question their motives - as fickle and fluctuating as they may be, even in Campaigns I only need to consider what is the best course of action for them. The Guardsmen however, have homes, family, lives. They have a comparable set of morals and motivations that I find are easy to empathize with. They're under powered and out-matched (in the mind of a Guardsman) no matter how good they are, and surrounded by enemies and aliens. When you think about it, it is amazing they even muster! So now that it is time to pick a colour scheme and list style, I'm faced with the question of how to justify my army. I'm thinking, due to some sales I've managed, I may put in an order for Death Korps quite soon, and as I'm sure you all know they are some cool looking cats.

To further complicate my good-evil conundrum, I''m going with a loosely nazi-germany paint scheme. Horrible people, fantastic uniforms, and in the grimdark future the ominous and dark black storm-coat and grey fatiques look will really lend itself well to the gas-masked aesthetic. After all, it was the Commissar that drew me in in the first place, and with the arrival of my first Steel Commissar at my local store, I look forward to painting him up!

So there's my issue and thoughts, what about yours? Why do you play the good, the bad, the ambivalently ravenous? Tell me about your army!

And as always, please like and subscribe! My two followers are the main reason I keep posting! 

Imperial Guard: Another FNG

Hey there, this week I'm going to do a brief series on my latest endeavour: The Imperial Guard.

We'll start with the why. Why was I attracted to the Imperial Guard, a relatively average army among my list of Xenos and snowflake armies? In a word: Tanks. I love tanks. Artillery tanks, IFV "tanks", battle tanks, I love them all. I love the lumbering behemoth, scattering foes before its mighty gun! The very presence of a Battle Tank causes widespread changes on the battlefield, from deployment to shooting to assault, on a fundamental level. The concept of the Main Battle Tank is iconic and ingrained from the first time you hear the words world war 2. Battle tanks lead Germany to nearly conquer Europe, and then allowed the Americans to lead the charge back with the Sherman. Tanks are everywhere, the rulers of the modern battlefield, and I think no other models (besides a power armoured space marine) better captures 40k. It's almost a wonder I didn't start earlier.

One big downside (and this is the thing holding me back before now) is the cost. Not points wise, but currency wise. People tend not to sell large Guard lots used (which I view as an example that they stood the test of time!) especially not the coolest models (like elysian drop troops or steel legion!), and the idea of ordering several boxes, even at the relatively cheap costs offered by online 3rd party retailers, is daunting to say the least. Not to mention the assembling and painting (horde armies are terrifying, as my still unpainted Tyranids show). All in all, it is expensive and labour intensive, which I suppose explains the lack of large used lots on the cheap.

The plus sides outweigh the negatives, in my mind. They are versatile, playing as hordes, elite mechanized troopers, tank spearheads, gunlines, whatever you need to get your jollies, they have it. They have psykers, they have old school cavalry, they've got hovering fire-platforms, they have mortar teams that make hordes cry. They have some of the best vehicle choices in the game which, while expensive, perform roles that consistently match up with beating down the infantry-reliant meta. Not only does the versatility allow you to beat most, if not all army types when played carefully and when built with TAC in mind, but they give you a great many options when deciding how you want to play the game. Variety is, of course, the spice of life.