Dumbed down, sold out (Warhammer 40 000)

Member Name: mpeh

Product:	Warhammer 40 000
Date:	30/04/01 (1398 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good initial ideas, command an entire army

Disadvantages: Kidified, reduced, softened, weakened,get Rogue Trader instead

I remember when Warhammer 40000 was called Rogue Trader and you played an evil coniving money grabbing private merchant in the galaxy of the far future trying to carve out an empire by protecting what you already had and taking more off other people. Maybe you got to play the greenskinned Orks, or the super clever Elf like Eldar. Models cost quite a bit but when you got bored of what you had you got out the old plastic bottles, some cardboard and a bit of super glue, created some wondrous tank or flying machine, flicked to the back of the rulebook and looked up how to create rules for it.

OK so Rogue Trader didn't have glamour, no one was heroic, nothing was done in glorious technicolour but it was creative, you made up stories behind your battles and ran campaigns, you ignored the bits of the rules you didn't like and if someone played at your house they used your house rules, just like if you played at someone else's house you used their house rules. Some of your army was made of plastic, some of the expensive White metal models which had a wonderful Gothic atmosphere and some of cardboard and fairy liquid bottle bits which you had cut, glued and lovingly painted your self. The rulebook said things like 'If you can't get scenery pile some books up and lay a blanket over them to create relief'. The atmosphere was dark as if the galaxy was under a pall of darkness and terror, run by huge conglomerates with private armies.

And how it has changed. Game Workshop (henceforth GW (or Satan)) have become a super comsumerist capitalist cynical business run business. The game now comes boxed, with a certain amount of figures (no choice which ones) provided. The whole philosophy has changed so that if you now turn up to a battle with a home made tank you'd be laughed at harshly and never allowed to use it. Some give and take has been exchanged for more dice roles and much more rigid rules. Everything has been simplified so far tha
t the variation has been lost from the game and playing Orks is pretty much the same as playing Space Marines which is remarkably similar to playing Eldar.

OK this is a bit harsh but if this was 1998 it wouldn't be. GW have finally realised that they have to give their customers (even though they're now all 10-14) a little bit of respect. Things are still vastly expensive but the prices haven't risen that much in the last 5 years. If you buy Warhammer 40000 now it comes in a box with some figures and costs you £50. You now have the option of buying only the rulebook and choosing to collect your own army. The rulebook is done the same as other roleplay type books and costs £30 (maye £25 but I think it's gone up) and the equivalent product from Whtie Wolf, i.e. a main rulebook, costs £17 ish and is hardback.

Although nothing is necessary other than the rulebook and some dice, and oh, how they advertise this fact, it is 'advisable' to have the army book for whatever army you collect and to own some figures. The models are high quality but they're also vastly overpriced. A few yers ago another company, whose name I forget, made some figures very like Space Marines and called them Space Rangers or something similar. They weren't as good but you could get about 4 times as many pieces for your money. No one bought them and the company stopped making them and/or went bankrupt. The reason why: GW have bred the philosophy into a generation of kids that nothing other than what is pictured on the box is good enough. Inventiveness is a bad idea, don't let people make their own models only convert comercial products, if you want to do something new then buy the guidebook we publish, etc. etc. .

In essence this is a very good game, the idea of controlling an army on a tabletop and getting involved with the outcome of battles, being able to take risks and be lucky or unlucky. The glory, the excitement and the crushing b
low of defeat are all included. On the other hand if you want to play a more subtle, realistic game allowing for your own creativity and personal ideas buy a second hand copy of Rogue Trader which you should be able to pick up somewhere (not ebay you'll get robbed) for about £10- £15 and play a game where the rules were written to be adapted to personal taste, the figures you use are up to you, you can use cardboard peces or cleverly made space craft if you like. You can get involved in the politics of the situation, treaties are signed, trade agreements formalised and betrayed. Not everyone wants this but even if you want a straight forward battle game I'd still recommend Rogue Trader over Warhammer 40000 (essentially the same game at different generations) because of the freedom and creativity it allows and encourages.

GW have sold their souls to corporate management. So they're making loads of money, I hope it comforts them against the thousands of people they've sold out on and left in limbo because smaller companies can't compete with Satan sorry GW.

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