Mr Mystery
12-30-2014, 09:33 AM
How do?
So, I want to discuss the two rumours doing the rounds, and what they might bode for the future assuming of course, that they're true.
In short - apparently/allegedly/hopefully (delete to preference) we're getting Harlequins and Adeptus Mechanicus as Codecies. And that has quite a lot of excitement attached to it. Spesh for me, as I really want plastic Ad Mech stuff! Rumours are that the Codecies are around 85pp. Which isn't many.
But before we look at the future, let's squizz in Histor's Eye... Since 6th Edition came out, GW have managed to update all the existing armies barring SoB. That's no mean feat in a single two and a half year period. Especially given their previous release rate, where some armies languished on Codecies two editions out of date. And to boot, pretty much everyone got spangly new toys to play with (sole exception so far being Grey Knights).
Which is great - except, well - where the devil do the go from here?
And this is where the rumours come in. The two mentioned above, whilst certainly nothing to be sniffed at in a bout of fisticuffs, aren't exactly noted for launching their own protracted campaigns. Harlequins simply don't have the numbers, instead tending to jump into already active warzones for their own inscrutable reasons (and given their deity, 'having a laugh' is almost certainly one, even if nobody else finds that joke funny). Ad Mech? Well, they've got the toys sure, but even during the Great Crusade, they played a much more supporting role, lending their Battle Automata to the efforts of others, rather than efforts their own.
Net result? I think we might be seeing an expansion of allies into the game. Smaller armies which, in the style of Imperial Knights, are probably at their best being allied or having allies, but can still field a full army of their own, albeit one of more limited variety.
And that got me thinking - where else might this go, if of course I'm right?
In short - anywhere. Let's consider the Chaos Legions - very much wanted. Very much. They're the big bad of 40k, but right now aren't really all that Legionny. Not just in the background, where they fragmented into much smaller warbands, but in the game. Sure I can field Khorne Beserkers - but where's the other snacky World Eater toys? Anyone can be a Khorne Beserker - but World Eaters are something apart. And an ally type Codex might just do the trick for them. No need for an extensive and slightly genre stretching list. Just a few units, four or five, who sum up what it is to be a blood crazed, semi-lobotomised post-human psychopath who has spent the last 10,000 years angrier than something very angry... Enough that you could field them as a full army, if you didn't mind it being somewhat single purpose (ok, triple purpose of Killing, Maiming and Burning), but with enough flavour to represent them going for a jolly in real space, and other Warbands knowing a good fight when they see one.
Likewise the other three of the 'big four'. It's an immediate way to give them some nice models and new rules, without making them completely central to the Chaos Space Marines.
Genestealer Cults - well, why not. Sure they don't tend to fight alongside their benevolent Tyranid Overseers once the Hive Fleets rock up, instead getting down to the nitty gritty of willingly getting scoffed - but as an 'ally' for say IG? Yep that could work. New codex, some new units, add in Genestealers to the book, and you're pretty much rocking.
Anyone else got thoughts? Would the game benefit from fractional factions predominantly there to be allies?
So, I want to discuss the two rumours doing the rounds, and what they might bode for the future assuming of course, that they're true.
In short - apparently/allegedly/hopefully (delete to preference) we're getting Harlequins and Adeptus Mechanicus as Codecies. And that has quite a lot of excitement attached to it. Spesh for me, as I really want plastic Ad Mech stuff! Rumours are that the Codecies are around 85pp. Which isn't many.
But before we look at the future, let's squizz in Histor's Eye... Since 6th Edition came out, GW have managed to update all the existing armies barring SoB. That's no mean feat in a single two and a half year period. Especially given their previous release rate, where some armies languished on Codecies two editions out of date. And to boot, pretty much everyone got spangly new toys to play with (sole exception so far being Grey Knights).
Which is great - except, well - where the devil do the go from here?
And this is where the rumours come in. The two mentioned above, whilst certainly nothing to be sniffed at in a bout of fisticuffs, aren't exactly noted for launching their own protracted campaigns. Harlequins simply don't have the numbers, instead tending to jump into already active warzones for their own inscrutable reasons (and given their deity, 'having a laugh' is almost certainly one, even if nobody else finds that joke funny). Ad Mech? Well, they've got the toys sure, but even during the Great Crusade, they played a much more supporting role, lending their Battle Automata to the efforts of others, rather than efforts their own.
Net result? I think we might be seeing an expansion of allies into the game. Smaller armies which, in the style of Imperial Knights, are probably at their best being allied or having allies, but can still field a full army of their own, albeit one of more limited variety.
And that got me thinking - where else might this go, if of course I'm right?
In short - anywhere. Let's consider the Chaos Legions - very much wanted. Very much. They're the big bad of 40k, but right now aren't really all that Legionny. Not just in the background, where they fragmented into much smaller warbands, but in the game. Sure I can field Khorne Beserkers - but where's the other snacky World Eater toys? Anyone can be a Khorne Beserker - but World Eaters are something apart. And an ally type Codex might just do the trick for them. No need for an extensive and slightly genre stretching list. Just a few units, four or five, who sum up what it is to be a blood crazed, semi-lobotomised post-human psychopath who has spent the last 10,000 years angrier than something very angry... Enough that you could field them as a full army, if you didn't mind it being somewhat single purpose (ok, triple purpose of Killing, Maiming and Burning), but with enough flavour to represent them going for a jolly in real space, and other Warbands knowing a good fight when they see one.
Likewise the other three of the 'big four'. It's an immediate way to give them some nice models and new rules, without making them completely central to the Chaos Space Marines.
Genestealer Cults - well, why not. Sure they don't tend to fight alongside their benevolent Tyranid Overseers once the Hive Fleets rock up, instead getting down to the nitty gritty of willingly getting scoffed - but as an 'ally' for say IG? Yep that could work. New codex, some new units, add in Genestealers to the book, and you're pretty much rocking.
Anyone else got thoughts? Would the game benefit from fractional factions predominantly there to be allies?