How Is 40k Doing In Your Local Wargaming Community?

[Proiteus]

I'm a huge fan of 40k, I've always enjoyed the game and think 7th is alright. However over the last six months there has been a huge drop in interest for the game in my local gaming community, you used to see 6 -10 games being played at our local club but recently there is maybe 1-3 games being played on gaming nights.

Instead a lot of people having started playing popular wargames from other companies (which I won't name) due to the recent opening of some local independent gaming stores.
I didn't think to much of it but then I attended a 40k tournament today which has always been a huge hit in recent years but this year there was very little interest as there was just enough players to make the tournament work, which surprised me.

So I'm curious to know how 40k is doing in other Wargaming Communities, is it still going strong or has it been on the decline these past few months?

FYI - THIS IS NOT A ANTI-GW THREAD NOR DO I WISH TO BE, I'm just curious to know how 40k is doing in other gaming communities.

[HsojVvad]

It's DEAD where I live. People use to play it around end of 5th a lot, but when 6th came out I stopped playing since others stopped. Some of us tried to restart it but with 7th edition now, nobody took the plunge to restart it.

So it's still dead here. :(

*edit* There should have been a Dead option. So I had to vote, not many playing even though NOBODY is playing now.

[Tomgar]

Very, very strong indeed where I'm from. Steady influx of young kids starting out plus none of the regulars have left and tend to show up at least a couple of times a week. I guess I'm pretty lucky, but 40k seems to be going from strength to strength here.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

In general, completely dead here, most players have moved onto Dropzone Commander, Dystopian Wars, Infinity, Malifaux ect - In my own group our tastes lay more in hard SF nowadays so there is very little out there bar a few rpgs ect.

[daboarder]

Another for baeically dead.

There's 4 of us left basically.

[Ben_S]

I didn't vote because I'm not sure. As far as I'm aware, other people are still playing, but I have no interest in 7th personally and am now getting in to other (non-GW) games.

[Mr Mystery]

All fine and dandy in my neck of the woods, far as I can tell.

[jonas the jedi]

I didn't vote either as my response is there are a lot of players just too little time, many of us work two jobs(not to support a plastic crack habit, but to get ahead), or schedules conflict and holidays are the only time we have of together, etc. I know many enthusiastic people I'd love to play... But with kids, wives and being a grown up out just doesn't happen as often as ANY of its would like.

[oni]

There are pockets of players all around where I live, some weak, some strong.

My hometown, hardly anyone plays. It's pretty much all Warmachine now, just a couple people holding onto there 40K models is what it's been reduced to.

The local club I gamed with for a few years has disbanded. Between the price hikes and then the sudden drop of 7th edition, most all of them threw in the towel. There was/is some effort to reform the club, but it's proving futile.

A little farther away from where I live there is a very strong, fairly large community. They're all hardcore tournament players though, which isn't how I choose to play and so generally can't find a game unfortunately.

I've been gaming for so long that I've seen games rise and fall and rise again within different communities. It's not really telling of anything other than a communities current interest. No doom and gloom here, just a spot light momentarily pointing in a different direction.

[David John Stringwell]

Very well over my way, new faces mixed in with the old. Ever since 7th dropped, more seem to have started to play in store and in the local group.

[ChibiPotatoes]

It's doing ok where I am, there's still a small group who play it that I know of. There used to be a huge 40K following and our local store has this enormous stock, but when 7th Edition was released most of everyone who played dropped off, including myself. I rarely get the chance to play now, and if I do we play 6th Edition. None of us are willing to throw down the money for the new rulebook or even the starter set when it costs so much.

[LittleMen]

Behold the vocal minority effect!

Seems to be doing just fine in my neck of the woods. Lots of people playing other games too, but I still see lots of 40KK being played.

[Franklancer]

No drop in NE Florida, see new players getting into it, it is the 500 lb gorilla of local miniatures gaming, fantasy is mostly dead, warmachine is doing strong, a few people try to start something with Malifaux every now and then but it never takes, there are some Infinity and MErcs players around, but very few..

[Khain Mor]

Here's 2 points to consider:

1) not everyone plays the game, I know plenty of people that own minis, but havn't ever done a match with them. 5th, 6th, or 7th, some really don't care, except for the new model that will be released.
I'm one of those players actually, I do play but that's a tiny part of the hobby for me, I havn't bought the 7th yet, no rush to do so, no rush to play either. I still paint and enjoy it! I also still am into the fluff.
The painters particularly will stay loyal as they don't buy a ton of minis and they just enjoy painting, like a drug, you need your dose.

2)Money isn't always an issue. GW is a luxury, who buys this? People that can afford luxury. There's absolutely NO REASON TO WHINE ABOUT GW PRICES, doing it is like complaining about golf being too expensive. You don't need golf or GW to live. We're not all stuck in a sucky job with a bad pay, some of us earn decent money, enough to pretty much buy at will. Was it easy to get such a job? Nope, just need some education, something which a lot of people didn't bother with, fooling around at school.


Now what I see is still a very active GW community, some people stayed, some quit, but still plenty of people playing it. In this area I have no clue if people play other systems, have seen none.

[ToadPainter]

Our big local tournament went from 40 players from last year down to just 14 this year. I haven't played a gw game years but it's quite shocking to see how much the New edition has hurt the game locally though fantasy gotten stronger following this year.

[Bahkara]

It has actually picked up since 7th in my area. Even had a couple people that had stopped playing come back to the fold.:)

[Xaric]

I may have not been in the game for more then 3 years but i see the store i play at have fully booked tables olny 2 tables with 2 hours gaming per slot so it does not feel as if it is die over here 50/50 on both fantasy and 40k i dont see any hobbit played... I do worry for GW because they do produce some really outstanding models as of late :(

[Cutter]

So I'm curious to know how 40k is doing in other Wargaming Communities, is it still going strong or has it been on the decline these past few months?

Dead. In my admittedly very small circle of friends the guys have just no interest in the current edition and release cycle. Lots of WWII in 15mm and 28mm instead, and the odd game of Fantasy. Mantic games also getting stronger.

[TheyStoleMyName!]

Going really well locally. It's interesting to see people commenting about how 5th was the heyday in their communities. Ours was nearly dead by the end of 5th, still our least favorite edition. Took off in 6th and is still going strong.

[Caitsidhe]

I wouldn't say it is dead, but it is certainly suffering badly by comparison from the days of 5th Edition and the first year of 6th. Pick up games are virtually gone. If the game isn't arranged beforehand, it doesn't seem to happen. People are playing but there is little enthusiasm. Die hard veterans, those who I never thought would say ill of Games Workshop, have been switching to Bolt Action and other games. I think 40K will be around for a good long while, but if I had to judge it by my local META, the glory days are over.

[Arkhan Land]

40k is the main/only reason my gaming group convenes. i think weve reached a good point with our armies and probably arent going to ditch or add any other systems in the near future. as much as i want to try and break into other games besides 40k/wfb/occasional historical i just dont have the schedule for meeting people at local stores during the daytime/evening.

[BeardMonk]

Its taken a bit of a battering in our club. Which is a shame because with the release of 7th I actually want to start collecting on a small scale (1000pts).

We mainly focus on WM/H, Godslayer, Bloodbowl but you will often find people playing one or more of the specialist GW Games (Mordhiem, Inq and Epic). However, thankfully, Fantasy also seems to be making a slow comeback. Which for me is great as I think its a great game which GW is in danger of inadvertently killing off.

But I have to say many of the older (wiser??) vet players mainly just focus on WM/H these days. Iv heard a lot of “never playing 40K again” and seen lot of vets selling off their models recently. But that’s just one club in one part of London. And I think London a s a whole is still very "wet" for 40K

[The Madman]

Its thriving where I live, Fantasy on the other hand is dwindling away. there are like five fantasy players in the local club and the GW store there is only a pair of them whilst dozens of 40k players take up the tables.

[CoffeeGrunt]

Still going fairly strong here, though this is a small town on the edge of Norfolk in the UK, so it's never going to be booming. Still, I estimate we probably have a couple of dozen regular players, with about half of those appearing for games every week. We've got new players joining at a steady pace, a couple of my friends just got into it, for example.

Dropzone Commander, WarmaHordes, Malifaux, Dystopian Wars and Firestorm Armada are all games that have been floated for the group then sunk. DZC has one guy advocating it who's a bit of a cheesemonger, and thus no-one wants to join. WMH/Malifuax has a couple of players but they really don't seem to be getting any traction. Dystopian Wars was very popular at a point but seems to have died now.

I ordered a Sorylian fleet about three months ago via Spartan Games through the sore, and they still haven't delivered, so really it's Spartan's fault for sucking at selling people their stuff. I would probably play FSA fairly regularly with others if they would actually sell me their damn models, (I've even considered scratch-building some ships from plasticard as a project because of it.)

Attack Wing is very popular here, too. Fantasy is just completely non-existent, but lots of people own armies for it. It just never gets played because there's no pickup game potential for it.

[Gamgee]

19 core players there almost weekly playing (probably more I don't know of). I just got into it and my two cousins followed. As well as a few friends. On top of that there is a few more new players from what I can gather. Currently started with a Tau Support Firebase and almost done painting all of the Broadsides and soon to move onto the Riptide.

My cousin is getting his Cadian Defense Force + Has a squad of IG

Other COusin is less well funded and has a CSM squad + Bezerkers (Aiming for a small 500 point army to start)

My friend is going Tyranid and has several boxes and his Hive Tyrant. All being assembled and painted.

I also know two more places in town that organize these sorts of games. I refuse to go to one of them because the store owner is the biggest asshat around, but it's alright. He can't compete with my chosen FLGS anyway. The third place is a smaller venue.

These players have some overlap with other wargames as well. So I would say 40k is no less than booming here right now. And this is a small by most standards Ontario city. Though big for Canada.

Edit
It probably helps the FLGS gives generous discounts on large orders. He will scale the discount he gives out. I also know him since we game together a lot so bonus. On top of this he is some sort of ordering ninja. Capable of getting pretty much anything you want for any army very quickly in a matter of a week. Two tops. Three if your unlucky.

Edit 2
I would assume.... 30+ players at our one FLGS

[Liam Reford]

At my own local wargaming club over here in Greenock, Scotland a few years back, there used to be a lot of people that played. Now a lot of those guys have fallen away because one guy disappeared over to Dundee.

For the past couple of months, I've been making attempts to attract a 40k crowd back into the club, but haven't been successful with that. It doesn't help that the games that are usually played by the 6 (or less, usually) people that turn up is games like Hail Caesar and Black Powder.

[Auticus]

We had 55 players in our last 40k campaign. Our fantasy campaign currently has 26. Our GW hobby is doing quite well where I am.

[ReveredChaplainDrake]

40k is all but dead where I am. Which I find amusingly, deliciously ironic. The closest indy game store to my house basically took up residence where an old GW store used to be before they shut it down. The locals' attitude was basically that, since GW left us, we'd return the favor.

The last time I popped into the local game store, I saw a couple of guys having a 40k "kill team" tournament using some downloaded Heralds of Ruin rules because, and I quote "GW rules are crap". And that was the only 40k game there. You'll occasionally see some 40k stuff at the hobby stations, but the thought of wasting a gaming table on 40k is pretty much dead and buried. In its stead, WMH has a ton of players (the ex-redshirt store owner lamented only having a mere four Menoth players), but aside from that there's a big push for historical games like Dust. This could be a bit biased, given that the location is in Maryland, where we're spitting distance from Ft. Meade and several Civil War battlefields along the East coast, so we get history buffs and enlisted IRL soldiers.

[silashand]

Doing okay I guess. My group still plays, but it's basically the same few players who have had armies for a while. There are a couple other groups as well, but I don't know how many of them actively play 40K (I know they do Infinity, WARMACHINE, X-Wing and a couple others on a regular basis). Can't say I have seen a new 40K player personally in months. Not trying to bash or anything, but price seems to be the main motivator. Unless you are already sunk into the game and can get by with buying a couple new models here and there no one seems to want to spend the money to buy a complete new army. At least that's just what I have personally heard when I talk to people. Had one guy just dump both his 40K armies and switch to Flames of War a couple weeks ago. Anyway, YMMV...

[apocaleepse]

It's doing well here. There's always plenty of 40k games going.

[MajorWesJanson]

Locally we are doing pretty well- 12-20 regular players. The occasional new player, or player leaving, but most of our turnover is due to people moving/getting deployed (lots of military around) rather than people quitting or joining, though we have had a few people start playing or get back in after long breaks.

Fantasy is smaller, with 6-10 regulars.

LotR is dead, dead.

No Warmahordes that I know of. Malfeux is starting, and X-Wing is picking up rather quickly, soon to start maybe a league/tournaments for it.

Magic is king though, of course. But 40K is still prince, along with comics.

[Wargamer30]

I'm a new player myself. One of my friends took me to my local GW store to play a demo game. They're always packed and have 40k events every weekend.

[Voltigeur]

In my area we still have a traditional Games Workshop with 6 gaming tables and space to paint and hang out. They seem to do a pretty good business, which I attribute to the staff and manager who have always been good guys. What is troubling is that both flavours of Warhammer seem to be disappearing from our Independent game stores. We used to have four stores that both sold Warhammer and ran events for it. Now we are down to two that sell and one that runs events. I fear that if we ever lose the local GW or if it changes to a one man store that the wider community might disappear very quickly.

[Defenestratus]

I answered for the market I just moved from (Orlando) since I'm still too new in my area to really get a gauge of the community.

The LGS I started playing at when I moved there was 50/50 40k/Other stuff. By the time it closed, the only 40k that was being played there was between 4 guys really.

The store I went to after that - started out as GW-only. It was an LGS but all they carried, and all they played were GW. I was in heaven. Within 8 months or so, the strong 20+ players in the 40k community seemed to disappear and instead, Warmachine was taking up EVERY table. Literally on 40k nights, there would be more people playing Warmachine than would be playing 40k. When I'd ask the store owners, who were die hard 40k players when they first started the store, why they seemed to give up on 40k, they said that Warmachine "was just a better game".

I don't think thats true, but I'll tell you what, the exact situation was true with the store I went to in the Atlanta suburbs when I lived there. Went from strong 40k/WFB, to Warmachine and Flames of War within a year.

[BeardMonk]

they said that Warmachine "was just a better game".


I hear this a lot down my LGC and among my other wargaming mates. However, even though im a big Warmachine and Hordes player, its not really “true”. Its just a different game with a different play philosophy.

However, I think what attracts a lot of new players is you can get straight into it with one of the faction starter kits. For about £30 you get all you need (caster, warjacks/warbeasts, rules and unit cards) for a viable 19pt game. From there its only a short hop to 25pts, the basic level that most players will play regularly at.

Interestingly, people have just tried to run a mini 40K one day tournament in out club. There were not enough takers to make it viable. BUT, people are showing interest in a fantasy tournament. Which is great because I consider WHF to be massively superior to 40K.

I wonder how many people are actually put off by commercial philosophy of GW vs other games companies? That’s a different matter.

[SON OF ROMULOUS]

it's mixed. the tournament scene went from 30-40 people at an event down to 20 or so. and this new group of To's seem to be making the same mistakes as they did in 6th. they fail to realize that you don't ban core rules or prevent game dynamics from being used. instead the listen to the boogie man they ban codex items, follow the typical internet garbage and act like sheep.. i was going to give one of their events but after posting on a 40k facebook forum all i found was a bunch of sheep. they fail to understand that when you ban or change how an army operates you artificially boost another army at its expense. so instead of a truly open and dynamic game we have 6th edition ala 40k lite as i am deeming it.

Their 40k phobic non adaptable and afraid of change. to them formations are bad data slates should be banned and oh ya forgeworld you know the really interesting units that cost an army and a leg are broken and over powered oh ya lords of war are evil. and they do not want a pay to play game.. yet when you go to one of their events you see the flavor of them month represented in grey mini's but that's right they think its unfair to allow people to use game mechanics... because super heavies are so broken becasue well the interwebs told them so and they couldn't be bothered to try the game.

but that's right i was told i should drive else where... funny i've been active at that store since 2005 and these kids just showed up. but it's okay when i show up there's a fully painted army based with cool toys and conversion and not grey plastic so let's see how long these guys stick around i give them 6 months to a year its not like i haven't see 4 groups come and go at he gaming store.... what's one more :)

[Gamgee]

it's mixed. the tournament scene went from 30-40 people at an event down to 20 or so. and this new group of To's seem to be making the same mistakes as they did in 6th. they fail to realize that you don't ban core rules or prevent game dynamics from being used. instead the listen to the boogie man they ban codex items, follow the typical internet garbage and act like sheep.. i was going to give one of their events but after posting on a 40k facebook forum all i found was a bunch of sheep. they fail to understand that when you ban or change how an army operates you artificially boost another army at its expense. so instead of a truly open and dynamic game we have 6th edition ala 40k lite as i am deeming it.

Their 40k phobic non adaptable and afraid of change. to them formations are bad data slates should be banned and oh ya forgeworld you know the really interesting units that cost an army and a leg are broken and over powered oh ya lords of war are evil. and they do not want a pay to play game.. yet when you go to one of their events you see the flavor of them month represented in grey mini's but that's right they think its unfair to allow people to use game mechanics... because super heavies are so broken becasue well the interwebs told them so and they couldn't be bothered to try the game.

but that's right i was told i should drive else where... funny i've been active at that store since 2005 and these kids just showed up. but it's okay when i show up there's a fully painted army based with cool toys and conversion and not grey plastic so let's see how long these guys stick around i give them 6 months to a year its not like i haven't see 4 groups come and go at he gaming store.... what's one more :)

They sound like top tier scrubs. I get that from time to time. Rather than up their game they insist on banning stuff or you. I'm not even all that good a player either really. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q0Rer4vfzk#t=0m51s

[Defenestratus]

it's mixed. the tournament scene went from 30-40 people at an event down to 20 or so. and this new group of To's seem to be making the same mistakes as they did in 6th. they fail to realize that you don't ban core rules or prevent game dynamics from being used. instead the listen to the boogie man they ban codex items, follow the typical internet garbage and act like sheep.. i was going to give one of their events but after posting on a 40k facebook forum all i found was a bunch of sheep. they fail to understand that when you ban or change how an army operates you artificially boost another army at its expense. so instead of a truly open and dynamic game we have 6th edition ala 40k lite as i am deeming it.

Their 40k phobic non adaptable and afraid of change. to them formations are bad data slates should be banned and oh ya forgeworld you know the really interesting units that cost an army and a leg are broken and over powered oh ya lords of war are evil. and they do not want a pay to play game.. yet when you go to one of their events you see the flavor of them month represented in grey mini's but that's right they think its unfair to allow people to use game mechanics... because super heavies are so broken becasue well the interwebs told them so and they couldn't be bothered to try the game.

but that's right i was told i should drive else where... funny i've been active at that store since 2005 and these kids just showed up. but it's okay when i show up there's a fully painted army based with cool toys and conversion and not grey plastic so let's see how long these guys stick around i give them 6 months to a year its not like i haven't see 4 groups come and go at he gaming store.... what's one more :)

It seems that the area I moved to, the LGS is a very competitive scene and they're very much the same. I read the store/community forums where they talk about banning dataslates, Forgeworld, unbound... and I'm rather sad.

[40kGamer]

It seems that the area I moved to, the LGS is a very competitive scene and they're very much the same. I read the store/community forums where they talk about banning dataslates, Forgeworld, unbound... and I'm rather sad.

In my area there's an anything goes mentality for most tournaments with the exception of Warp Charge which is being limited at ~12-15 in some (not all) events. Never mind that this effectively neuters some armies but whatever. I guess the high pitched internet super whine found its way into their brains.

[CoffeeGrunt]

In casual play we're pretty much anything goes. Tournaments have banned Superheavies and Forge World, though, despite protests. (Manager just simply doesn't like them.)

[SON OF ROMULOUS]

1850 All But the big guns (All supplements except Escalation)
All codexes and supplements Approved. FW still needs cleared by TOs.

3 Games at 2.25 hours each. There will be a 30 minute break after game 2 for dinner.

Registration starts at 11 AM, Pairings begins at Noon.

Entry Fee: $15 Fully Painted, $20 Unpainted or Partially Painted


House Rules

Grimiore only applies to the Daemon USR (so max of 3++)

Any 2+ rerollable save only saves on a 4+ on the reroll (so 2+ then 4+)

Void Shield Generators can be no larger than a standard CD, Vengeance weapon Batteries bases do make a good stand in.

Skyshield Landing Pads are not strong enough to support Super heavies or Gargantuan Creatures. They may not benefit from the 4++. Non-Skimmer non-flyer vehicles that wish to get onto or off of a Skyshield must make a Dangerous Terrain test.

No "Come the Apocalypse" allies.

Necron Overlords in Catacomb Command Barges do not confer their 3+ to the vehicle but do lose Independent Character.

Forge World will be allowed, but please have a readable way to present to the TO and your opponents. Ipads/tablets/printed copies/books are all fine, they MUST be readable. If you do not have a readable list of the rules, the TOs reserve the right to deny use of a unit. Additionally, please check with TO first to see if a FW unit is approved.

When choosing Warlord Traits, players roll one die and look across all applicable tables (this includes BRB tables, Codex Tables, and Escalation/Stronghold Assault Tables) and chooses the Warlord Trait they want. For example, you roll a 4, you can choose from the options of what a 4 is on the BRB tables, your codex table, or the Escalation/Stronghold Assault tables. You may only choose one.




this is what i am up against... i literally and scratching my head wondering why i even bother... liker seriously this is why i hate banning units or making house rules... its hard enough to remember rules between multiple editions and now they want you to remember house rules....

[alyxfromspace]

Wow my GW has been massively going down in london, but then it's just at cross, I think lots still play at DarkSphere

[John Bower]

My old club died out; but that wasn't down to 40k or GW so much as card players easing the Wargamers out and taking all the tables over on club nights; which really was the owner's fault to a degree, he kind of sucked up to them because he ran a shop and that meant he sold more cards. The other club I sometimes go to is still die hard 40k.

[silashand]

My old club died out; but that wasn't down to 40k or GW so much as card players easing the Wargamers out and taking all the tables over on club nights; which really was the owner's fault to a degree, he kind of sucked up to them because he ran a shop and that meant he sold more cards. The other club I sometimes go to is still die hard 40k.

Being friends with four different game store owners I can understand his choice. Like it or not card games pay the bills for the vast majority of stores. Miniatures, board games, RPGs, etc. are a *much* smaller fraction of their income than CCGs. Gotta pay the bills after all.

[Perturbed Machine Spirit]

A new GW store was built in my area 2 years ago. A friend of mine wanted me to check it out, so I did. I am now hooked on 40k and just bought my first codex. :)