I have mixed thoughts about 40k in general.
It *IS* the gateway drug for many reasons.
- It is easy to get into.
- The fan base is wide and varied.
- Getting a game is easy to do
- Veterans and newcomers both can relate to what is happening on the board due to the rich background created in a period spanning back to the 1980s.
I started into 40k back in 2011 and mainly it was to collect the miniatures. I've always wanted to paint up some Swooping Hawks and due to time off work due to illness I was able to.
I bought more and more and eventually had enough for a small game. Off I went to Game Workshop in Belfast, Northern Ireland for a quick game. After that first game I had conflicting thoughts about 40k but the main thing I took away was that there were possibilities on that table. Possibilities to tell stories. Tales of epic acts of valour or evil all played out in the form of six sided probability. My minds eyes in those early days was the greatest seller of plastic crack.
Eventually, I started going to local gaming clubs and events. It was at these that things started to change my perception of gaming. I had thought in those early days that I'd build up a nice set of models and that would be me for a few years. Constantly tweaking what I had for each game and then throwing it in to a steady campaign over months or years.
This was enforced by my understanding of want I wanted from a game. The story needed to be strong, rewards for risks taken and laughing when things go badly. In the main, that is what happened. However, there is the down side of such a large community for 40k.
Games Workshop as a business is successful in general terms but is still a business. My experience of 40k started in the throws of Fifth Edition of the rules. There were good things in that edition and also blazing piles of badness. For a system that started as a skirmish game and was progressing into a mass battle game the problem was that you could see the joins. Or rather you could see the joins had been patched over rather than smoothed out. Games Workshop seemed for a time to be just about churning out models to make money. The "Game" part of the name was forgotten almost completely.
Vehicle rules were (and still are) flimsy. Codex creep didn't help things and certain army lists could nearly "auto-win" a game. Newer Editions are making similar mistakes, patching over old rules, writing new rules that conflict with existing ones. Making a fun game slow all the way down. I've played very few games of the 6th or 7th and really can't see playing it again.
Other reasons I don't play 40k:
- Too many games involve the latest "unbeatable" unit
- Many tournament gamers trying out a tourney list
- No casual gamers
- Bloated rules
I'm am a casual gamer. Life gets in the way so spending hours trying lists and painting stuff to a tournament standard just can't happen any more. These are reasons why I am turning to smaller games. Smaller model counts means less time needed for painting (Pulp City, Infinity).
Rules discussions (looking at Dakka Dakka and Warseer sites) go round in circles until an FAQ update happens. By which time I've become frustrated again and want to take a break. I personally try to stay out of the discussion until an update happens but many times I've just shaken my head confused. At certain games in 5th I could see a setup of a game, deployment phase of units, and know who would win. One game I saw a setup and said it would be a draw with just the HQs left and exactly that happened when I came back at the end. All the fun had been taken out of the game for me.
I've vented that bit so let me start on the good.
Those veteran gamers who I met at different clubs and events played other games... They talked about them, demonstrated them and even critiqued them over a few beers. They were never happy that one system/game held the golden chalice of everything they wanted from a game but some came close. Many of those people I met in the early days have become good friends and still find new games to try and hook me into. I know very few people from those fledgling steps into the gaming community still playing 40k (they still have their armies though). Other systems (which in someways addressed the problems of 40k rules) have taken over: Warmachine/Hordes and Bolt Action have taken over in my local scene. One I've played the other I've no interest in.
40k just seems like too big a beast at the moment. If i could get casual games at low points, with a nice narrative setup... I could be tempted again.
Cheers,
Bob
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