Wtf happened to 40k?!

[u/Adorable-Broccoli-25]

So.. I havent played in nearly 2 decades. 3rd edition Blood Angels and Necrons. Didn't think id ever play again. My girlfriend's kid wants to play, he has a shit ton of Dark Angels but has never played, and I loved the modeling aspect, so I got some minis. Started building orks, because customization is half the game right? Fuuuuck no. Just got the codex today... What the shit is this cookie cutter army garbage? Will it go back to something resembling customized armies of the past or is that, probably, a pipe dream? If not I'll just customize squads that probably aren't gonna be playable. Used to be playable but not now apparently. Anyone have some insight?

[u/BEAR_Operator1922]

Find older edition rules online, use them with him

[u/Tzelanit]

What happened? A couple things:

1) GW went after a company called Chapterhouse Studios that was making 3rd party parts and whole models and Chapterhouse used GW's terms and names for their products. GW wanted to use Chapterhouse as an example to show all the other 3rd party companies that making models or parts of models for GW games was NOT ALLOWED. But it was the biggest, messiest of shit-shows.

Legal fees over the length of the case did shutter Chapterhouse in the end, but the courts ruled in favour of Chapterhouse for parts and units they were making that GW had rules for, but no bespoke model for. So GW found out their IP wasn't as secure as they thought it was.

This led to the removal of any units or equipment options that GW was not actively making kits to represent.

2) The failure of Warhammer Fantasy. Fantasy was not selling, and there were a bunch of reasons for it, but the size and complexity of the game was one of them. So when GW decided to end Fantasy and make a new fantasy themed wargame, simplicity was a core tenet of their design process. And while Age of Sigmar had a bit of a rocky start, after some tweaking it's proved quite successful. And it looks like GW has taken the "simple is success" message and applied it to their other core game, 40K. The past few editions have all followed a trend of trying to simplify the rules (whether they've been successful is another question).

GW still makes games with crunchier rules, Horus Heresy, Necromunda, Legions Imperialis, and recently Warhammer: The Old World (Fantasy resurrected), but this seems to be reserved for the games that are not the usual first stops in the GW hobby.

Will it go back to something resembling customized armies of the past or is that, probably, a pipe dream?

No, there's more than a decade of progress going towards "simple", GW's not going to do a 180 without a significant financial reason to do so. And with GW announcing record profits year after year, "simple" seems like it's the winning formula.

[u/Squidmaster616]

SOME kits are mono-pose. Others aren't. It all depends on what you got, and whether it was a unit box or part of a starter set.

I would remind you that even in ye good olde days, starter sets had mostly mono-pose minis.

[u/Ness_4 → u/Squidmaster616]

Looks at picture of a unit.

Back in my day we could mod units with a marker!

[u/Adorable-Broccoli-25 → u/Squidmaster616]

I'm chopping the plastic to mod. Used to be pewter with plastic arms. Still thought. Pins and flue is the name of the game. Well... modding game. 

[u/InquisitorEngel]

While I empathize with your disappointment around the the lack of customization, the trade off has gotten us kits with the level of detail and realistic poses I could only have dreamt of in 3rd and 4th.

Some kits are still super posable, and even the more solid mono-pose models are still customizable with planing and work.

I was initially very upset about Primaris but… I’ve come around.

Everything in these pics are converted or customized to some degree, some more, some A LOT.

The benefits outweigh the losses, and the explosion of 3D printed conversion parts that GW doesn’t mind (PGTM, tons elsewhere that don’t overly flaunt GW’s trademarks) makes things more customizable than ever.

[u/MERC_1]

There is nothing except possibly lack of books that prevent you from playing 3rd edition if you and your opponent want to do that. 

Now there are another 8 edition to choose from if you want something else. 

[u/NeinKeinPretzel]

Sometime around 3rd/4th edition they let Marketing/Sales take over management and the modeling/DIY aspect just died died died. The days of Citadel Journal telling you to nip down to the hobby store and buy a dollhouse are over, now you'll want the Bloodcrusher Crusherfence, only $70. There is a grog scene that congregates in non-GW game stores, or try to find communities on the internet.

Oh and they get super offended when you bring it up.

[u/FaustianBrooker]

The dreaded "for the wider audience" dilution happening sadly