THE PAST

 

THE PAST

A little backstory. Although I had already played a few different armies by proxy for a few years, I started collecting Space Wolves back when their first 'real' army list dropped in White Dwarf magazines 156-158 (Dec 92), which was less than a year from the release of 2nd Edition. This army list coincided with the first unique models for the faction, and pretty much all were pewter. Even the basic troops (Blood Claws, Grey Hunters, etc.) were metal, with plastic arms, weapons, and backpacks. Over time, I slowly collected what I could to create a playable army, and that took several years as a young college kid without a lot of resources.

Over the years GW eventually updated all of those old pewter models with plastic models on sprues. I'd integrate some of the newer plastic model units into the army a little along the way, but I resisted, for a very long time, replacing my original units and models. However, I eventually came to appreciate the plastic models. They were simply better. More variety in how you could assemble them, lighter and easier to transport, and if you dropped one they usually held together, whereas a metal model with plastic arms and weapons would inevitably pop apart. GW's techniques and processes really have improved tremendously over the years, so eventually I made the decision to sell off most of my old metal models (holding onto only a few metal characters), and focused on building a new army that was primarily plastic. I did this sometime in the years of 5th and 6th edition. I usually did my own assembling, and I bought all of the special Space Wolves shoulder pads I could get my hands on, so the whole army had the 'bas relief' style markings on both shoulders, for Great Company and for Pack. I never developed the skills or patience for painting, so I used commission artists to do the painting for me; I had found several different folks over the years that did good work for me and I had been happy collecting and playing with those models for more than a decade.

When 8th edition dropped, and GW first revealed the initial Primaris Marines, I was pretty stoked. I know a lot of folks didn't like what they saw, as they knew these new models were going to be a threat to their collections. I realized this too, but instead of focusing on the bad, I focused on the positive. We were finally getting 'true scale' Marines that would be as large on the table-top, as they are supposed to be in the fluff. Giants among men, finally, instead of models that were more-or-less the same size as Catachan Imperial Guardsmen. Not only were they finally a proper size, they came with boosted stats, and better weaponry. 2A and 2W base, and a more powerful basic rifle (AP-1 with an extended range). After 30 years of collecting them, we were finally getting models and units that evoked what Space Marines should have been like all along. And, I really liked the style of the new Mark X Tacticus Armor and Helmets, and the new Gravis Armor and Helmets. Some of the units look a little goofy to me, but those are thankfully in the minority, and the bulk of the new Primaris line looks fantastic. For the most part, I've been a huge fan of what they've done to refresh and modernize a 30+ year old line of core miniatures for the Space Marines, their flagship faction.

Despite liking most of the initial models, I didn't do anything with them for most of the three years of 8th edition. After all, I already had nearly 4k points worth of models to play with, and I had already updated my Space Wolves army once. I wanted to see where, exactly, GW was going with these. By 9th edition, however, I finally decided to go "all-in" and refresh my army once again.

The models that you'll find pictured in follow-up blog posts are those that comprise the third iteration of my Space Wolves army - an all Primaris force, with the exception of the Wulfen Pack - which is a unit that was already at the proper scale and fits in perfectly with the rest of the infantry units in this new version of the army.

THE PRESENT

I've been into 40k now for 33 years.  I love the lore and the IP that Games Workshop has developed over the years, and I have collected multiple iterations of multiple armies (Space Wolves, Grey Knights, and Orks).  I've also played games in every edition, all the way back to Rogue Trader.  Although the 3rd through 7th editions were 'evolutionary,' every edition change brought about pretty big shifts in how the game is played, as well as how effective units and even armies would be on the tabletop.

Although I have always loved 'The Game,' 40k has always been complex, with pretty significant barriers to entry.  Each edition has comprised a pretty large body of work in the form of Rule Books, Codexes, and Supplements, as well as the inevitable Errata and FAQ documents.  An additional, frustrating, feature of 40k is that the Codexes have always been slowly released over time throughout the lifecycle of every edition; some factions wait years to get an updated Codex, only for it to be released right at the end of an edition.  Even worse, some factions don't even get an update with every edition - for example, neither Space Wolves or Grey Knights had an army book for the 4th or 6th editions of the game.

An additional negative feature of the army book release cycle method GW continues to use, which is particularly noteworthy in the current, 9th edition of the game, is the aspect known as "Codex Creep," in which each new Codex seems to be intentionally designed to outperform those that came before.  As you can see from the attached pic, from a competitive standpoint, the current power/meta faction is the Tyranids, having taken 7 out of 12 possible 'Top 3' placements in the four large events from this past weekend (late May, 2022).

 

From a business standpoint, this approach makes sense - after all, in addition to 'The Game' itself, Games Workshop makes money by selling Models and selling Books.  What better way to sell new books and new models than to encourage purchases by making new books and new models give players a leg-up over their adversaries - particularly when 'The Game' has become so focused on competitive play.  The strategy is understandable, but pretty frustrating to those that aren't into a meta-chasing style of play.

Leaving codex creep aside for a moment, I must return to the larger issue with 40k, which is its complexity.  Keeping up with 40k right now is like a full-time job.  What do you need to pull off a pickup game with a stranger at the FLGS?  Although there are options for 'Open' and 'Narrative' play, those are alternatives that work best among friends; the default version of the game is the 'Matched Play' system, which tends to focus on balanced play between evenly-matched armies in symmetrical scenarios, so that's what you're most likely going to be playing at our hypothetical pickup game. 

To start with, you need the Rules of the game itself, captured (mostly) in the 'Core Book' you can expect to find about 69 pages of 'core' rules, plus another 24 pages of 'matched play' rules, plus another 4 pages of 'rare' rules at the end of the book.  Next, you're going to need your faction's Codex, and in some cases the Codex Supplement for your faction - that's the case for the Space Wolves, for example, which has their own supplement, but also players have to refer to the base Codex Space Marines for many of their available units and additional rule options.  Next, you'll need the latest edition of 'Chapter Approved,' which comprises the Munitorium Field Manual with the latest points costs for every unit and option in the game, and the Grand Tournament Missions pack.  Finally, you'll need the latest FAQ/Errata document for the Core Book, your army's Codex and Supplement, as well as the latest Big FAQ for the game.  Wow, that's a lot of book-keeping - you might need to hire a CPA. 

Once you’ve collected that huge assortment of rules, just to play the game with your chosen army, now what?  You’ve got to figure out how to plan out your army for the match, and make the right choices to give you a chance at being successful in the actual game.  Before a single unit has been deployed to the table-top the odds of success are greatly diminished if a player fails to pick: the right Secondary Missions, the right Chapter Tactics (in the case of Space Marines), the right Warlord Traits, the right Chapter Command upgrades, the right pre-game Stratagems, the right Relics, the right Psychic Powers, the right Litanies of Battle, and so on.  If your opponent optimizes his army list, but you fail to, you’re already a significant disadvantage.  And just look at that laundry list of things that you have to keep track of during a battle.

Because all of these pre-game choices can have such a large impact, it’s easy to understand why “metagaming” has always been so closely associated with 40k.  There are whole sectors of the internet dedicated to player analysis of army list creation. Hundreds of Facebook pages, dozens of Reddit subforums, and dedicated legacy web-spaces such as the Bolter and Chainsword and Dakka Dakka, all exist to provide a venue for players to figure out how to get all of those choices listed in the paragraph above just right.  And every time a new codex is released, the meta shifts, and everyone has to figure how that shift affects all of those choices all over again.

What does this all mean for your preferred army?  It means that much of the time units and models that you really enjoy, that you’d like to use on the tabletop, aren’t particularly effective or efficient, and are best left on the shelf.  Instead, in order to have a hope of competing, even in a relatively casual setting, you’re stuck in a constant cycle of buying and building new units that currently ‘work well,’ even when they might not be units that you particularly enjoy.

Now think for a minute about how all of that complexity, that unnecessary bloat, affects the accessibility to this game.  Because I spend too much of my time trying to keep up with it, I could probably jump in and play a casual game every now and then, and not feel like a complete idiot.  However, there’s no way I could bring in an old gaming buddy, who still has his model collection from the good old days, and try to pull off a game over a long weekend - there simply isn’t time to spool him up on everything.  Sure, we could try to play with just a few units per side, and cut out all of the Traits, Relics, Stratagems, and Secondaries, etc., but that wouldn’t really “scratch the itch,” so to speak.

So, I’m at the point where I can’t keep up - I feel like I’m three laps behind the rest of the player base and have neither the time nor the will to try to catch up.  After 33+ years in the hobby, I’m done with Warhammer 40k.

THE FUTURE

Just over a month ago, I was perusing a 40k Facebook page dedicated to Primaris Space Marines and noticed a comment where someone had recommended to a frustrated player that he should try out Grimdark Future by One Page Rules.  This one random comment that I could have easily missed has changed everything for me.  Although it has been around since 2014, I had never heard of One Page Rules (OPR), or their Grimdark Future (GDF) ruleset, but I was definitely intrigued, and have spent the last month gobbling up everything I can about it.  I’ve watched literally dozens of battle reports, read through months' worth of posts on multiple Facebook sites and Reddit subforums dedicated to it.  I’ve joined the optional Patreon subscription to support its further development (only $5 per month, and can stop whenever I wish), and have access to the dedicated Discord server that supports it.  

So, what do you get with GDF that you don’t get with 40k?  A lot of things, actually, but the biggest draw for me is that you still get a tactically challenging game, but without any of the needless complexity that adds no real value to the experience.  It is not hyperbole when I say that you can introduce anyone to GDF, regardless of experience level in tabletop miniature games, and within 10 minutes have a real game going.  What other advantages does GDF offer over 40k?  The list is too long to provide here, but here is a link to a separate document where I capture the details on everything GDF has to offer. 

I can’t overemphasize how liberating it is to finally have a ruleset that gives me exactly what I want out of the hobby.  I can honestly say with confidence that I know I could invite an old gaming buddy over to the house - someone who hasn’t played a game in decades - and we could easily set-up and complete a decent-sized game in part of an afternoon.  That’s something I can handle.  That’s something that I can appreciate.  And I’m free to use the models and units that I like best - the ones with the most engaging lore, and that are the most aesthetically pleasing to me, without much worrying about whether they’re optimized enough to compete.  And isn’t that what drew most of us to the hobby in the first place, playing with the models that we love?

With the decision to dedicate my hobby time to GDF, I’ve spent some time (it doesn’t take much) translating my 40k units into their GDF equivalents.  What you’ll see described in the other blog posts on this site are the results.  They’re still my Blackmanes, the Great Company of Ragnar Blackmane, but now displayed with each unit’s GDF stats, weapons, and special rules.