Happy New Year!

40K 8th Edition

First off, Happy New Year. I hope everyone had a great holiday season. As you know, I haven't been blogging recently. That is due to 8th edition.

In short, it sucks.

To explain that in a little more depth, here is a list of the things I don't like about 8th. In no particular order;

1. The game is usually decided in the first turn. Some games are even decided after deployment, but that is more rare. But the main point is in very few games is there a late game comeback.
2. Less decision making required, especially during the game. List building can still win or lose you the game, before a model even sees the table. And to be honest, that's crap. I know it's been a problem with 40K for a long time, but they didn't even attempt to address it with the edition change.
3. Free rules. No, not the fact that the base rules are free, that's actually awesome. The problem is with the rules you get in a codex, that you don't any points for. And the problem that not all the rules across different codexes are equal, either in power or in usefulness.
4. Auras. Wow. I thought when I first read about how they had changed Universal Special Rules into Auras, that I would like how they played. I could not have been more wrong. I set up my ball of an army. You setup your ball of an army. We move toward each other, maintaining our aura range as much as possible. Yeah, that yanks me outta the universe kinda quick. 
5. The simplified nature of the game. I know GW aims its products at 12 year olds, but man, 8th ed has stripped away a lot of the more advanced aspects of the game. Maybe because I'm in my 40's I liked some aspects of 5th-7th because it was more complex. It was a mess, sure, and at the end there was book overload, with rules scattered all over the place, but it was conceptually better than 8th. The combos in 8th are glaringly obvious, and are driven by the need of the company to sell models. Buy this single model for $25 or more, get these better rules, and profit.
6. The game is moving away from the type of game I'm looking to play. It is increasingly becoming about a single model and the aura it extends, and the rules it gives to nearby units. Yawn. What I am looking for in a tabletop wargame is a company sized force, so not a skirmish game. And while I own a Tau Supremacy Armour, I don't want to run it on its own. And I really don't want to play in a game where I have my Super and you have yours, and that's all that's on the table. And the game is moving in that direction. 

I like the models GW is producing lately. Most of them are simply stunning in appearance. I am just completely unsatisfied and uninterested in the rules they are providing.

And that's what I've been doing for the last 6 months or so. Creating my own rules so that I can play with my minis the type of game that I want to play. Something that is a little more realistic, with stats and rules that are equally pointed regardless of faction.

So over the next little while, I'll be posting my rules up here, and my future battle reports will be using my own rules. 

So far, I have the rules for Troop unit creation, Movement Phase, Shooting Phase, Assault Phase and Morale Phase.

I'm still working on adequate rules for Creatures, Tanks and Heroes. 

If you bother to read my rules, you'll notice they are very familiar. I'm not reinventing the wheel here. I'm just trying to enjoy playing games. Which is something I wasn't doing playing 8th ed.

I hope 2018 is awesome for you and yours!