Why GW's choice of army books makes sense

[Wildeybeast]

Or this thread could be called 'Why Brets and WE still have a long wait'.
So what follows is my theory of how GW have chosen whic harmies to update. If you think it is complete nonsense, please hear me out, then call me on it.

We all know that there are certain elements of 8th ed which are very useful and certain elements which suffer.
Useful - big units of infantry, monstrous infantry, monsters, cannons and magic (depending on how the winds blow for you).
Underpowered - cavalry, skirmishers, small elite units.

Now look at the armies which have been updated:
O&G - hordes, monsters
TK - hordes, monsters
OK - monstrous infantry, monsters
VC - hordes, magic
And with Empire rumoured to be next and likely to see big blocks of infantry backed up by warmachines, the trend continues of armies suited to the stronger elements of 8th ed. And so the likes of Brets and WE, who already suffer under 8th ed are likely to continue to do so, because how do you make them work in the current rules without completely altering their army dynamic and playstyle? In short, I think GW have picked the 'easy' armies, the ones they knew they could make work without radical alterations whilst the more dificult ones are left to languish. And if i am right, it begs the question - why come up with a ruleset that make some amies obselete when you have no idea how to fix said armies?

What does the community think? Is ther logic to GW's choice of army updates? What does this mean for the less able members of the warhammer world?

[eldargal]

I agree, though the next book is likely to be Dwarfs I think, Empire are just getting a splash release. Still warmachines and infantry blocks, just smaller infantry (teehee) blocks.:)

[Bigred]

The theory I have been told is that they are replacing the armies that used non-standard magic first, to bring outliers into line with the new 8th magic phase. I would expect Dwarfs to be on the "short list" if that theory is true. :)

[eldargal]

That makes sense, I also heard something about GW wanting to do Bretonnians and Wood Elves right but not being sure how to proceed. That may have been speculation though, I'm not sure.

[Wildeybeast]

It would make sense to do the unorthodox magic armies first. There is clearly some method to how they choose, working out what it is is the tricky part.

[joppo]

I am just trying to hold off building up some hammerers myself - fingers crossed for a bunch of new Dwarf plastic kits!

[thepager]

My friend was just complaining about how tedious and difficult it is to make a dwarf army list.

However, back on topic I think that is an interesting point of working on the "easy" books first as touch ups for 8th edition.

Does Warriors of Chaos fit in on that as well because they are rumoured for the end of the year?

[HaleysRedComet]

While it looks like there may be a pattern to the release of the 8th ed books, I would argue that they will most likely be pretty random over the long run. If they went with magic, Drarves would be done by now. If it was hordes, Skaven. I doubt that there is much forethought going into GW's release schedule here...but I could be wrong.

[kargie]

WoC should be out this year--they are the only army without magic cards at this point, and they had a semi-wave release when the daemons got theirs, so I'd count on them soon so all the cards can be out. (Wood Elves also lack cards, but the Storm of Magic spells strongly imply that they will be losing their specific lore--or at least that they didn't know what to do with them when it came out). I also believe that magic is currently the driving force behind their release schedule, and they'll return to "normal" soon.

[Kaiserdean]

I don't think Magic is necessarily the reason behind the releases... I think it's actually a bit more mundane; sales.

Personally, I think they're looking at the oldest lists and compare them with how many models they think they can sell. WEs and Brets have never really flown off the shelves at my LGS.

[Dark Trainer]

WOC out this year, really?

[Overdose]

That is the news everyone is spouting. Not sure where it originated from as GW is to tight-lipped these days.

[Blackthorne]

I would definitely agree that it seems to be a pattern of bringing all the armies with weird magic in line. And it looks like they were doing magic offense before magic defense.

TK -- Probably what was the most unique magic system in the game and before the new book could easily have 15+ PD magic phases.

OnG -- With their own lores and miscast tables, these guys were also pretty out there. Part of the whole design of 8th magic seemed to be ensuring a specific balance between the power of IF with the results suffered so the special miscast tables hd to go.

Ogres - Also a unique magic system. They had a weird setup that just didn't quite function well with the new magic (plus, they were kind of due for an update anyways).

VC - maybe not entirely unique but they were still doing spell-spamming and could do things with magic that no other army could.

Now it sounds like empire is next with dwarves after them. Neither have particularly interesting offensive magic (except the anvil kind of) but they both have absurd magic defense which just doesn't mesh with the rest of 8th. Dwarves are also one of the last armies left who can still charge in any phase other than the movement phase. GW seems to be taking that ability away pretty quickly since all of TK, VC, and OnG could do it, so that could be another thing they are trying to bring in line.

So I think that for now at least, that seems to be the clearest explanation for what armies they have been updating.

[DanteSuper]

MMMM new Warriors of Chaos for Christmas ! :D

Of course it's still a rumor... but a man can dream doesn't he !? :D

[flekkzo]

If you read Jervis WD FAQ you get an insight into how they choose. Basically an emotional choice. All his answers points to the design studio being ran like a group of enthusiasts rather than a company, which is ironic considering the flak they get.

So the choice seems to be down to what one or more designer feel like working on. This plays into the "do it right" mentality we often hear about and would explain why Brets and WE are left behind. I am 100% sure both could be turned into big sellers if the right effort was put in. WHFB's biggest appeal after all is the lack of Space Marines, ie the armies are more unique.

What I wish they do was to have an actual full schedule for each edition and operate like a big company (how many of you get to do what you feel like at work?) as I think that would be better for the hobby and GWs income. There is a lot of people who rather not play their armies because they get no love than to build a whole new army.

[eldargal]

I think I'd rather they continue to run the development team as enthusiasts, there are enough problems with marketing influencing the design studio in some ways without opening the development studio up to the same thing. Which usually happens is you start corporatising the way thsoe sorts of units are run.

[lobster-overlord]

While it looks like there may be a pattern to the release of the 8th ed books, I would argue that they will most likely be pretty random over the long run. If they went with magic, Drarves would be done by now. If it was hordes, Skaven. I doubt that there is much forethought going into GW's release schedule here...but I could be wrong.

Skaven was the first army to have a radically different take on magic that used the new rule set. Even though a 7th ed book, it is geared towards 8th ed magic rules. THat makes it highly unlikely to be redone anytime in the next 2-3 years.

[Enigmai]

I think I'd rather they continue to run the development team as enthusiasts, there are enough problems with marketing influencing the design studio in some ways without opening the development studio up to the same thing. Which usually happens is you start corporatising the way thsoe sorts of units are run.

Agreed, development seems to be the last bastion left in GW that is not run like a large corporation. Sure it means I have to wait longer for my army of choice to get love but I am willing to wait!

[Wildeybeast]

I think I'd rather they continue to run the development team as enthusiasts, there are enough problems with marketing influencing the design studio in some ways without opening the development studio up to the same thing. Which usually happens is you start corporatising the way thsoe sorts of units are run.

I agree entirely. Computer games developers have to work to a tight release schedule where things are advanced months in advance and the amount of broken, bugged, half finished and frankly terrible games that are released as result is shocking. Knights of the Old Republic 2 is the classic example. What should have been an impressive follow up to one of the best games of all time was utter pap and simply stopped part way through rather than finishing, all because Mr Lucas said it had to be on the shelves for Christmas. And the model GW currently have is working well as eveything they release has very impressive models and sells well, Dark Eldar being the perfect example. Sure, it took ten years to do, but my they were worth the wait and sold far better than GW had expected.

[Derkus]

Woohoo!!!! Possible Dwarfs and Warriors of chaos this year!!!! It's like Christmas come early... or something!

[mullinstron]

As both a WE and Bret player I am pretty over WFB right now. I really would like to play, but I feel like im playing behind the 8 ball. I know that both armies can win, but its so hard to learn 8th and get beat over and over. It just drives me back to 40k and warmachine.

~,

[Inquisitor A]

I think the wood elf range continues to be one of the best that GW has to offer in both Fantasy and 40K. The models are so unique and dynamic!

[Xenith]

With heavy cav being not all that this edition, maybe this could see Brets as being the only decent heavy cav army via new tricks in the book?

[Dyrnwyn]

As both a WE and Bret player I am pretty over WFB right now. I really would like to play, but I feel like im playing behind the 8 ball. I know that both armies can win, but its so hard to learn 8th and get beat over and over. It just drives me back to 40k and warmachine.

~,
I definitely feel you on the WE front. It's a shame some of us can't enjoy the game anymore. I'm pretty torn - on one hand, It'd be nice to be competitive again, on the other, I can't help but feel that any work on the WE army book will make a bunch of our skirmishers into blocks and take away the old feel of the army.

[pyroclasm]

New Warriors of Chaos? I would actually be sad for that, because the new books have been getting stripped of most of their magic items. It would stop the Chosen shenanigans maybe, but I feel that Infernal Gateway will disappear.... My Tzeentch Daemon Prince will never be the same. Yes, I know he's god-awful for the points, but he is fun to run.

[FTE-Charge!!!]

I refuse to accept any argument that they are smart with their army book release on the basis that I wait on average 8 years for my new books because I play all non marines. Utter crap

[Wildeybeast]

What do marines have to do with this? This is warhammer forum and a thread about how the choice of army books in warhammer fits with the meta game. 40k codexes have no relevance to this discussion, please go and moan about this on the 40k forum.

[Dyrnwyn]

I refuse to accept any argument that they are smart with their army book release on the basis that I wait on average 8 years for my new books because I play all non marines. Utter crap

Wrong forum there friend. This is the Fantasy forum. Unless you were being deliberately ironic, as technically, all Fantasy armies aren't Marine armies.