I am guessing by the sheer number of responses to my blog rant yesterday that many of you read my tirade on the state of the Fantasy on some Australian Webforums. Well… Were do we go from here. Many people have left the game for greener pastures and other game systems. Some of these people were key to writing comp systems, ranking systems, and tournaments packs for editions past. I say “Thank you” to these individuals for helping support the hobby for years. I really do hope that some of the “elite” come around and come back at some point because I want a game (I really do). Now there has been some speculation that the sky will fall without these people to support the system. Well… It will… unless we stand up to make sure that player packs get written and good tournaments get run. It is also up to us to make sure that people play at these events in a fair and fun manner so that the hobby will continue to grow and thrive. This brings me to my next point.
Events. There seems to be a growing division (by geography and by mentality) in the Australian Warhammer community on the game itself. Many (notice I do not say all) NSW and Queenslanders seem to think the rule set for 8th edition does not lend itself to proper tournament play. Victoria on the other hand seems to go the other way and have been running events where the rules have not been monkeyed with. I for one usually vote with my feet which is a shame because it means I will probably just play in Victorian events in the foreseeable future. It is a shame because it means there is a huge portion of the fantasy community that I will not meet and have a game with.
Why the hate? Why not play in these events anyway. Wellllll… As I have said before… I really like to play 8th edition fantasy. Not 7.6 or 7.9… I don’t need to go back to the golden days of having 5 pony riders break the rank bonus and steadfast of 25 of my elite dwarf hammerers. Sorry… There is a reason that I have jumped wholeheartedly from 40K to 8th edition fantasy. It is because I like 8th ed THAT much. I didn’t jump 12 months ago because IT WASN’T 8TH EDITION FANTASY. I know I am beating a dead horse here but I was around when Rogue Trader switched to 2nd ed and there were grumbles (talking 40K here) and was a full bore GT player when 2nd switched to 3rd ed and there was mass revolve and rage quitters all over the joint. 40K not only survived but it evolved and improved over time. I think that 5th ed 40K is by far the best edition the of the game that has been created. (My 2 cents) In all of that 20 plus years playing though… I have never played in a 40K event that would changed rules at all let alone ones that fundamentally changed the way the entire metagame of the system worked.
Dogcon has just put out a player pack that has been touted by many as the best thing since… blah blah.. But I think that a player pack that limits unit sizes in a game with hordes (WTF?), tells people that you need three 6’s for a irresistible force but 2 6’s for a miscast (Really?), and allows steady fast and ranks to be negated by 5 models is NOT for me. No offense to the writers of that pack. I met many of those guys earlier this year and they are great guys. That being said I am gonna call a pot a pot and I hate the pack. The problem is when the other major event that weekend decides that it might be using the same pack. Cancon runs the exact same weekend in Canberra as Dogcon (which is in Sydney). It is an 8 game tourney and is a heck of a lot of fun to go to (it has been in the past). I get one out of state tourney a year (a deal with the misses) and Cancon is it.
I am concerned not only because it might be using the Dogcon pack leaving those of us who want to vote with our feet no option other than to just not show up but also that THERE IS NO PLAYER PACK! One month out from the event and no player pack. This makes me VERY nervous. Silly hobby freaks like me need time to get their crazy projects together.
Sooooo until next time gang… I am waiting on a players pack and a comp system…
B
P.S. Mantic Games has declared this week "Khaos Dwarf Week!" Everyday they are showing more gear. Day is concept sketches... Colour me excited! I LOVE the king, the bull centaur and hob goblin art. I love that these models have honest to God big hats! If the models look like this I know what I am buying for Christmas!
More here: http://www.manticblog.com/
Got to say I agree with you there Brad, especially on the count of breaking steadfast and the sizes of hordes. I've found in most of my games that magic and the hordes tend to balance each other out with big hordes getting a face full of dwellers or some such pretty soon. I would love to see people put the focus back onto restricting unbalanced army builds or punishing people for taking stupid stuff rather than changing the rules.
ReplyDeleteP.S. the Chaos Dwarves look pretty darn hot, can't wait for more to pictures to come out. If only GW was giving the fans some new material.
Dave
I agree with both you and Dave above.
ReplyDeleteI like the Kaos Dwarves as well. Mantic was smart to jump in on them before GW does anything with them (if they ever do).
You gotta vote with your feet, wallet, and speech against bad tournaments. Don't go to them and speak out against them!
ReplyDeleteBuyaki