Rowed to Oblivion: July 2012

Before you read this. I was upset and angry and wanted to go find Stelek and smack him with the entirety of the internet when I wrote this. I still hate Stelek, the ugly living under the bridge troll that he is, but I though I would let this rant finally see the light of day and ask, Does 6th solve the problems I bring up in my nerd rage induced diatribe, or only enhance them?

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I find myself writing this in a self question; What is the intrinsic value of a game, or an army for that matter? I guess the answer is how much enjoyment you get from playing it. Well going by that definition, then the intrinsic value of my Warhammer Guard army would be lower then anything, hell, most of our "armies" sit in disuse in cases not being deployed or used except in one off situations.

    I have a very large and formidable Tau army. It is a decent army considering the codex is behind the times and that they haven't received any new models in a long while. Even that army though has fallen by the wayside in recent months as I have begun playing Warmachine.

    I think the first problem lies in the games themselves. I look at what I need to tote around to play a pick up game of Warhammer 40k and what I need to tote around for Warmachine and the differences are staggering.

For 40k I need to keep available the following:
70 Fire Warriors
6 Devilfish
2 Hammerhead Chassis with 1 Skyray, 1 Ion Cannon, and 2 Railgun Turrets
1 Pihranha
16 Crisis Suits
2 Crisis Suit Commanders
1 Farsight
3 Sniper Drone Team Leaders
9 Sniper Drones
20 Kroot
6 Kroot Hounds
8 Vespids
3 Broadside Suits
8 Pathfinders
14 Gun Drones
14 Shield Drones
1 Ethereal
5 Objective Markers
Templates
Tape Measure
Codex
Rulebook
That is 189 Models carried in 4 multi-layer Pistol Cases

For Warmachine I need the following
Karchev
Sorscha
2 Juggernauts
1 Destroyer
1 Devestator
Beast 09
4 Widowmakers
1 Widowmaker Marksman
6 Mechanics
8 Man O War Bombardiers
8 Man O War Shock Troops
1 Manhunter
Templates
Tape Measure
Rulebook
that is 35 Models carried in a small 12x15 plastic case

    So for Warhammer 40K my "pick up game" equipment includes my entire collection, and to transport them it takes up the trunk of a small car. My Warmachine pick up game stuff on the other hand only takes up the area that I need for a tinly case which is smaller then my laptop bag.

    I know there ae those people who will say that I should take only wht I need, but the problem is that I might need a crisis suit army to fight army X and a fire warrior army to fight army Y, then a mix of the two to fight army Z. Honestly one of the reasons I got away from playing casual 40K outside my home was because of the simple fact that I did not, and still do not, enjoy toting around 4 pistol cases wherever I go. Instead I can condense what I need to 2 or 3 for a tournament. While I loose a great deal of flexibility at a 40K tourney I gain easier transport.

    I think the format for competative 40k though is different and irritating. I played competative 40k for a couple of years. I found it to leave a sour taste in my mouth, more on that later though. Direct comparisons though of competative 40k and Warmacine though lead me to lean towards Warmachine as being the game built for competative play with its very strict and deliberate scenario rules as opposed to 40k where the players can and will, interperet or manipulate the game and rules to thier needs to win. I can draw 2 direct examples of this, well no, 3.

1-Objective placement
    In Warhammer 40K the objectives at most lower level tournaments (and casual play) are placed by the players unless the TO has scenarios which state otherwise. This creates and issue for alot of players in that if I know my army plays well at range but sucks when you are in close, I can place my objective in a position that is adventageous to me and will allow me to defend it better while my opponent whi plays an assault army can place thiers in a position that they dont have to defend because they will likely end up with assets in that are anyway on thier way to get me.

    In Warmachine that scenarios all clearly define where the objectives are on the table. They do not deviate from that position and any scenario you may play at any store or tournament is regulated by these guidelines so that no matter where you play, you will play scenarios from the same selection of scenarios all of which have very rigid guidelines on objective placement and control.

2-Objective Control
    This one is pretty clear cut, but also isnt. Since it is shorter I will go Warmachine first. Warmachine the objectives can only be controlled by wehatever the guidelines in SR2012 (Steamroller 2012) are and they have a defined control area.

    Now on to Warhammer 40k. Yeah....... 3 Inches, has to be a troops choice. Simple enough. It is thouse 3 Inches though which make the problem even more difficult.

the Warhammer 40K rulebook states:

"At the end of a game you control an objective if there is at least one of your scoring units, ano no enemy unit (any uit, whether scoring or not), within 3" of it. As different objectives vary in shape and size, it is important to agree at the beginning of the game exactly where this distance will be measured from"

So, what is covered under Page 91 is:
Scoring unit within 3" of the objective
No enemy units within 3" of the objective
Players need to agree on where the objective is measured from
And, both Seize Ground and Capture and Control asy I cant put the objective in impassible terrain.

What isint covered:
Where on the model do you measure from?
I would assume the base. Why?
Because on Page 3 it states:
"A Model is considered to occupy the area of its base, so when measuring distance between two models , use the closest point on thier bases as your reference points."

There are those who would argue otherwise though.

I have been at tournaments where people have argued the volume of a model counts towards being within 3 inches of an objective where the objective was on a different floor of a bulding.

Since Games Workshop provides no rule stating the volume of the model counts for ranges I cant and wont accept that.

This one subject could go on forever, so I will turnicate it right here.

I all honesty, the first 2 wore me out so much, well speaking about the second, that I have completely forgotten whatthe third was. I am sure this headache I have from writing more then anyone ever should have to about the inticacies of an objective and measuring to it isnt helping.

For those who may be curious though I have always been in the camp of the objective is 3" from a point on the board in an infinate column. this negating the while spherical objective marker nonsense you get into with when it is on a floor in a building.

Essentially what I am getting at here is what is the value to me as a gamer though of Warhammer 40k when I have options out there like Warmachine, Hordes, Malifaux, BattleTech, Heavy Gear Blitz, Dystopian Wars, Mercs, and god knows games that look good which are still in development or that I have overlooked. While each game may have its ups and downs, they are all good in thier own right and quite often they dont require the sheer volumn of space as Warhammer 40k.

I will not argue the investment monetarily in a game, as each game might have diferent price points and quite frankly, I know they have different price points. I know that the games which I play might be considered pricey by someone who likes to play a different game. I could argue investment, but in all honesty, it would probly make me feel bad about all the money I have spent on my hobbies over the past decade alone.

I guess what it all boils down to is this:

Games Workshop, I like the models for 40K, I also used to love the game. Over the past 2 years though I have met some great people in tournament and casual play. I have also met many more though who turned my stomach by using the term "competitive play" to justify being a complete ass hat. Please, do me, and those who also might be disillusioned about this game a couple big favors and do two things. First, admit that this is not a tournament style competitive game due to how you handle releases and rules and second, bring the game down to a manageable level where I can carry around stuff for a pickup game without needing a baggage train.

Rowed to Oblivion

Friday, July 6, 2012

A long, somewhat lost 5th ed 40k vs Warmachine rant...Letshope 6th ed is better.

More painting updates