Gripe of The Month - Warhammer Ripoff
A few months ago, I bought, new, the 9th Edition Warhammer 40K rule book. I hadn't finished reading it when I learnt that 10th edition is coming out. What? I also bought the Ork codex, which will presumably also be redone.
I haven't played 40K for a few years, but I assumed that when I bought a new rules set that I wouldn't need another one for three years.
Now I quite enjoyed playing 40K but as players stopped coming to play at the local shop, I put it aside. I mean, I enjoy playing my own assorted rules sets for my 54mm figures but as I discovered a group playing Warhammer 40K I thought I might get back into it.
Fortunately, the group, based in a nearby town, have now provided a free download of the 10th edition rules.
But the other thing is I hate change, and I am not just talking about my reactionary politics. It takes me a LONG time to get used to a rules set. I understand Games Workshop want people to spend money on new rules sets and codexes and people must do it, or these bandits wouldn't keep putting out new ones. But, along the way, they must peeve a decent number of gamers who leave them and lose them, so they play other games or just retire to painting figures and not gaming.
One thing is for sure: I have resolved NEVER to buy a rules set from Games Workshop again.
You sum up everything I dislike about SnoreHammer 40Z or 40Winks, (warning: instant Brainfog Zzzz), when it could be the common denominator or Lingua Franca for lots of people to easy to get an enjoyable game anywhere. It seems a good way to disgruntle interested players.
ReplyDeleteTo charge hard cash for minor rules changes that could be free pdfs or on a website seems odd, especially in the days of app and videogame mods and patches / bug fixes.
To be fair to people who enjoy the arcane complexities of Warhammer, I generally avoid overly complicated, overly backstoried commercial rule sets anyway. Enjoy what you enjoy. Back of a postcard rules and two boxes of Airfix suits me!
Maybe a part exchange scheme discount should exist for rules as well as cars! Send back the old ones and get money off the new ones ...
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I understand from disgruntled gamer friends and family that the fact you can wipe off the tabletop someone’s carefully painted chosen Army units with a new edition of the army lists or rules is also quite laughable, if I have understood the situation fully. Imagine we said you can still play Napoleonics 2.0 but we no longer have the French or play WW2.0 but we no longer have the Germans, your army is obsolete ...
Maybe we should just regard Warhammer / Games Workshop as the good high street source of paints and interesting minis that it is but instead adopt more agnostic rules and agnostic figure choice and embrace the chaos that follows?
Instead I give you Stuart Asquith (for free): https://lonewarriorswa.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Comfortable-War-Gaming.pdf
GW are The Evil Empire. I have not bought anything (mainly paint) from them for about six years at least.
ReplyDeleteI like their paints, although they are more expensive than other similar model acrylics. I like the concept of their armies and the models.
DeleteOn the other hand, it has been years since I played 40K. I find the main thing I use, apart from the paints, are elements of their old fantasy Warhammer rules but not the whole kit and caboodle.
My local GW supplier is a regular source of paints. The owner, Ken, is forever dedicated to the shop as he lives behind it and paints the figures himself and shares his knowledge. He also sells aircraft kits and some other ranges.
He didn't have the 'latest' edition rules in stock, so I bought them on-line. At around $80 each from general rules and Ork codex I am seriously peeved. Obviously, as rules about to be superseded, this was not a selling point of the product on-line. I probably won't even finish reading them. What is the point?