O'shovah & The Tau are the Reason for the Collapse of Warhammer 40,000!!!

[PinkTerror]

It's true. History proves it. And now a little background...

Up until 2001, Warhammer was gentleman's game. A rigid rule system, it may not have been always correct, or made sense, but between yearly FAQ books and White Dwarf, there was enough grey matter to fill in the missing pieces. This was important in the late nineties and early nuaghties because GW was running Grand Tournaments - spectacular weekend affairs with 6 games, food, and hotel rooms!

But something happened in October 2001 that would have dire consequences for this game that cumulated with the with the release of of 7th Edition 40k last week, May 24th 2014. 13 years - coincidence? I think not. The Tau codex was released in 2001 in a new codex format.



Before the Tau codex, this was a familiar sight...



Do you see it? "...he may only be used in a battle where all players have agreed beforehand to allow the use of special characters." That sentence, effectively kept special characters out of the game. Oddly, the Grand Tournaments did allow them, however, hardly anyone used them - less you get whacked for sportsmanship on your scoresheet. Like I said, a gentlemen's game.

So that Space Wolves mini'Dex was the last codex to include that sort of Special Characters. Oh, and by the way, in that last 'Dex was the last time SW players got to see their beloved Leman Russ...



...so when you hear SW old-timers whining about their Leman Russes - that's what they're referring to.

Anyway, so the next codex was another mini'Dex, Craftworld Eldar, but there were no Special Characters. The next codex in February 2001 was Tyranids - it was in the last format for those lite'Dexes & mini'Dexes that were shot-gunned out by GW to make up for annihilating our 2nd Edition Codex library with the release of 3rd Edition. Tyranids was the last 3rd Edition codex to replace a Second Edition Codex before GW would introduce new armies back-to-back with Tau and Necrons (with the exception of Dark Eldar intro'd in the 3rd Edition Box Set).



Now, Tyranids did have 2 Special Characters, and they did not require players permission. However, they were saddled with restrictions. You had to take 1500 or more points to include Red Terror and you had to take 1500 or less to be able to include Old One Eye. Neat huh, at exactly 1500 you could take both.



And now the kicker, the beginning of the end. With the Tau Codex, they had two special characters. O'shovah and Aun'shi and they both looked like this...



You see, gone is the request for permission for players privilege to use Special Characters. Here's Drazhar in the first Dark Eldar Codex...



...and here he is in the Reprint of the same Codex caller DE Second Edition, after the Tau Codex...



So how was this the Beginning of the End? Because it snowballed and more and more toys were added to the game for use without an opponents permission, like fliers, ForgeWorld, and special terrain, until it hit critical mass with Escalation Super-Heavies and Knights and then the Big Bang - 7th Edition Unbound. Seemingly, the biggest split in differences I've seen yet in this game. A whatever you want approach vs to players trying to cling to some rules and boundaries, laws by which to avoid anarchy.

So there it is. Damn you Farsight of the Tau. Damn you all to Hell!!!