10th Edition

 As everyone is aware by now, 10th edition 40K is out and being used to play games. Or at least trying to be used. The initial rollout of 10th was, rocky, to say the least. When I first read through the new ruleset, I was fairly dismayed. There were some rule interactions that seemed, initially at least, like they were going to cause problems.

And they did. And GW fixed them. Some of these fixes were well implemented, some were not. As all this was playing out, I had to deal with a health issue that literally kept me off my feet for almost two months. And while I couldn't play, I was still keeping up with the developments of the game I love, and my sense of dismay did not ease. And to be fair, it still hasn't eased.

But, in all honesty, I am playing again, and I'm even playing 10th well before I would be. I was, apparently, one of the few people who was quite content with the 9th edition ruleset at the end of its development, when all the codices had been released. All my armies had a Crusade ruleset, and I was having a blast working four different factions through their respective Crusade's, and watching as my units gained traits and experience.

It was, for me, the most fun I've had playing 40K in literally years. And the initial 10th ed offering was just so much less. Simplified AND simple. Flavour stripped away. The core Crusade relics and enhancements lack any sense of panache and flair that the old rules had. I get they want to ensure that you can't make uber-beat-stick characters anymore, but that was kind of the point of Crusade to begin with. 

The game is more lethal than it's ever been. A lot of non-Crusade games are decided by the end of turn two. The basic state of the game is less balanced than it was at the end of 9th ed, and significantly so. There are just some matchups that some armies absolutely cannot win against, and that is indicative of a ruleset that has significant design issues. And then, on top of all that, they remove the individualistic nature of being able to build a truly epic level hero by the time he/she/it gains 51 XP. Bleh.

So, here we are. Trying to play 10 ed Crusade with a beta-ruleset release with anemic Crusade rewards that lack individuality and flair. So, my solution to this, is to bring back some stuff from 9th ed, making relevant AP adjustments, if necessary and telling fun narrative stories again.

I'm healthy again. My 40K spark is rekindled after some time away. The galaxy will burn!

Until next time, happy wargaming!