Do all roads lead to ten?

You have to hand it to GW; they know how to both build a hype train and also shoot themselves in the foot at the same time. We’re a few days out from adepticon 2023 and they simultaneously drop this

and then they manage to send a model out which had not even been revealed yet.

It’s a cool model but come on GW that is seriously incompetent. I never advocate people losing their jobs but I think you need to take a long hard look at your corporate security and stock control measures. The art piece though is superb, GW may not be able to keep its own secrets but it does have some amazing artists in its stable. Pieces like this do make me lament the demise of the old art print shop they used to have in the early noughties with a much bigger range than what they do now. The image predictably sent the community into meltdown and the common consensus before the Dante leak was that this was probably the tenth edition being revealed but may be a new space hulk box game. Post Dante leak/reveal it seems that all all roads to indeed lead to the tenth edition. Personally though I think that a tenth edition now is a bad thing and a boxed game would be better.

Let me stress the now part of that sentence. I have not played a game in ninth as by the time that lockdown had ended it was clear the edition was largely broken due to power creep and my necrons, never competitive at the best of times, would struggle to do very much. Coupled with my destroyed social confidence and a host of personal issues I therefore just painted minis instead. I do think a tenth edition is needed but not necessarily now. Let me explain why.

Indomitus’ dark legacy

“There will be plenty for everyone”. The famous words uttered on the day of the 9th edition box reveal. Aged well didn’t it? The reality was shortages of stock reaching LGS, website crashes and scalping galore. I managed to get a box from a little game store in Birmingham but the whole thing left a very sour taste and the outcry led to the box ending up being made to order. It was a mess and whilst no box release since has been as bad; I simply do not think that GW has improved its stock ordering and handling to deal with a big launch. You only need to see the carnage when a limited edition book or model drops. FOMO drives sales and I do not see GW going made to order from the off; so I could see a repeat of Indomitus once again. A permanent range edition of a box game in the manner of Blackstone Fortress would certainly be less problematic; though ironically it would be more expensive for me. A tenth edition would just need me to have the basic rulebook as I have all the necrons I need so I would not even be remotely tempted by a starter box of Angels and ‘Nids.

The primaris problem

This is a can which GW have kicked down the road for four or five years now. Firstborn and Primaris. It is clear that the intention is to move astartes to primaris but how do you do this without infuriating those players who have armies of firstborn marines? Carrying this over into another edition with a new codex and the inevitable new marine releases which come with it will make this worse. The astartes codex is already so bloated it is ridiculous so adding more makes me doubt that it would even be workable; and a codex firstborn and a codex primaris just feels clumsy. There are narrative ways to deal with this of course but in the code light of reality you will annoy a large chunk of your base by doing it. Personally I would like a ‘kill off’ death or glory stand for the firstborn against the Nids with Primaris surviving but a legends rule set which allows the firstborn to continue in the new edition. It is clumsy but it would clean things up a little. Suffice to say simply having a primaris space hulk would avoid the issue altogether.

It’s all about the money

Am not going to lie; wargaming is an expensive hobby and GW is certainly at the premium end of the range. The new boarding patrols retail at £90 standard RRP and whilst some have new models (and I am not going into the Farsight choice to sell the Tau box debate); I do think most are overpriced for what they are. The necron one for example has nothing new, especially when compared to the kill team set, and whilst a saving over the individual kits it is a lot. The rate of drop for the Arks of Omen sets is also driving things up; though I have avoided all of these so the idea of a full new edition box which will likely be pitched around the £150 to £210 mark if heresy is anything to go buy is a lot in the current climate. Factor in new models, codexes, dice and the bill wracks up.

Now GW is there to make money and no one forces you to buy things but the hobby is known as ‘plastic crack’ for a reason. With new codexes running at around £30 a pop and every one usually featuring at least one new model/re-release at around £20-30 RRP you would still be looking at a £100 investment if you bought just the core rulebook, a codex and one new model. In the current times that’s a lot of money and we know there are plenty who will want more than just one. It’s there choice but the timing does not sit easily with me; this time next year would potentially be a very different matter.

meta, meta and more meta

I do not meta game. I play necrons so there is little point frankly and I play them because when I started the hobby they were cheap, decent and looked cool. They still look cool and I have sunk to much money to move factions. I also like the lore for them now that the 7th edition weirdness has been cleaned up a bit; but we all know at least one person who is a meta chaser. Currently the meta is stable because every faction is out there with a rulebook; it is broken of course due to power creep but it is stable. A new edition starts the race again.

Now GW can prevent this race happening (honest) by writing all the rules at the same time, playtesting them together and then releasing on a schedule with later books getting slight tweaks based on FAQ reversions. Players will always find a loophole or weird interaction you miss in testing as any IT developer will tell you but you can minimise things. Now it could be that GW already do this but if that is the case then I can only assume that the mess of power creep in 9th is deliberate to boost sales and that would be an appalling abuse of position in my view. Personally I think playtesting is done against the last two releases and written over time as it is the only rational way I can explain the absolute mess we are currently in.

lore block

There is however one reason why tenth could be a good thing in my view.

GW writers can create great narrative lore. The fall of Cadia, War of Armageddon, Badab War are all fantastic but what GW do not do is follow it through. Remember the Necron’s plan to seal off a section of the galaxy from the warp? Never pushed on with. War of Armageddon? left hanging and as for the Emperor well that one really needs pushing on. You cannot keep dropping signs and portents but never paying them off because eventually people stop paying attention.

Now personally I think the game needs a narrative reboot to clean the decks. That means either killing off the Emperor or bringing him back (even if still trapping him on Terra due to the webway breach) and also setting up a quasi civil war between the Church and the Emperor. This would open up narrative story lines such as Guilliman actually saying the Imperial Faith is wrong, a quasi-civil war starting causing the end times which then allows all the prophecies on the lost primarchs to come about so you can bring the Lion, Russ, Vulkan and Corax back into play (I cannot remember if the Khan is dead or lost so sorry White Scars fans). The distraction lets you build up Nids, Orks and Necrons as factors again whilst also giving some scope for the Aeldari story line to actually you know, progress in a direction.

So why do this now? Well ten is a nice round number and I am a simple soul when it comes to things like that. On a more serious note though it makes sense to do it now. I feel that 40k is a narrative wargame and the lore is a big part of that; but the lore is currently totally stagnant. If GW wants to move into other spheres such as TV, movies, games etc then a full on narrative shift makes that much easier (it can also allow some of the contradictions to be cleared up). If tenth were to do this then it would be a big sell for me as I love the lore and the images it evokes; though I accept it would also end up with a shed load of costly models, campaign books etc. It would be a massive risk though and would GW be willing to depart from its current status quo.

conclusion

To be honest I will be staggered if we do not get a tenth reveal on the 23rd (it was more open when I drafted this) but on balance I think that if we do then it is not the best timing for it unless GW make significant changes to its stock controls, ordering and playtesting. I would love to be wrong and for tenth to be an edition which makes me actually want to use the 3500 points of necrons I actually have but I just cannot see it.

What are your thoughts on a new edition? Do you think it is the right time for it and what would you like to see for your faction in any new edition? Add a comment below or reach out to me on social media and let me know.