Goatboy – 2014 Predictions and Plans
It’s a new year and the Goat is ready for some new 40k action. Are you with me!
I know this last year has been a little bit crazy – tournament nonsense, minis out the behind, and constant rule shifts that just cause a ton of headaches. So with that in mind this is a quick list of what I hope to see in the coming months.
Come on – good codexes!
The big thing is I hope to see some good rules. Right now 40k is in an odd spot. It always interests me when people say this is the worst edition or there are issues. I remember the end of 5th edition you couldn’t look past an event that didn’t have a majority Grey Knights. 6th edition has 4-5 strong lists with a few on the outskirts that can cause issues. Just like Magic and other games – certain things will rise to the top and just be better then others. I might not like how some of these things win but there is enough initial variety for people to guess what might show up and trying to bring something that takes advantage of that.
Bug Thoughts
So with that I hope the new Tyranid book kicks butt and a especially the butts of these tough lists. We didn’t see much rules information in the new White Dwarf (damn shame too… give us some info dangit!) so right now I can just go on rumors. It looks like they want to bring Nidzilla back again mixed with some horde elements that can pop out. Right now if the bugs get a good answer to Wave Serpents then I AM IN! (Hive Guard please still ignore cover). I like the new kits and think the Harpy looks pretty sweet. I am 100% sold on the Tyrant Guard as they look like some kind of Shenna Easton 80’s back up singers. Still it is cool they are a combo kit and the Hive Guard look good even if they are kind of spreading their legs out a bit too far.
The biggest rule I wanted them to keep was some kind of Anti-Psyker. The rumors point to Shadows still working with a flat -3 to your leadership roll. It doesn’t fully kill the Tzeentch stuff on Daemon Princes but it does hurt those pesky surfer dudes. Still Nids can just tie up the Screamer Star with gribblies and just move on to kill the troops. Seer council has to worry about circling the wagons on objectives and not allowing a turn 5 contest. Plus that Flyer sitting in the Elite choice will do a number on those Jet Bikes floating around. Nids seem to be ok but without the codex in my grubby hooves I won’t know for sure. I’ve always wanted to make a new bug army and will see if I get the chance this time around. Last time I had a huge Nid order that kept me from painting mine. At least this time I don’t need to convert Tervigons.
T-shirts and Greenskins
After Tyranids we have IG rumored to show their ugly mugs. I bet they rework the order system pretty heavily and try to get the Leman Russ to be decent again. Those are my two predictions as well as looking at ways to mitigate some of the squadron stuff that was causing headaches in the earlier editions. All the rumors are just pointing out plastic kits so really that is all I have to go on. For my tread head friends I hope they are good. Just don’t be too good where we have to deal with tanks all over the table top. I bet they fix the hidden Power Axes everywhere by either not allowing those guys to upgrade or somehow making the Guard Blob a unit that can split apart just not have multiple big Sarges. It was just clunky and became annoying to look at.
Speaking of Tanks – I wish the Hull Point rule was just like it is with Escalation/Apoc/etc. You don’t care until you are exploded. No more blown off guns, stunning, etc. You just wait until you lose your last hull point. If you are glanced out you fall apart if you are blown up you blow up. That is it and pretty simple. It feels a lot more elegant rule system as it allows big tanks to be better and the idea that you can start to use these vehicles just like your models with wounds. Just my thought as I look at the rumors of 7th, 6.5, 6.8999283, etc edition.
Right now I have been messing with my Orks again. I am just waiting on the new rumors, book, etc to come out and getting those jerk faces ready. I went ahead and starting not painting my guys Green because I am tired of Green Orks. I saw some online doing different colors and figured this would be a great way to split up squads and make sure my opponent doesn’t want to choke me when he has to face 120 jerk faces who just hold onto the trigger as they run. I really have no opinion on which direction the rules should go as long as they do goofy things and somehow fix the weird boy. I always thought they should just have a Nob unit that has options for all the “bigger” boy upgrades – i.e. MegaNobz, Weird Boyz, Big Meks, etc. This way you can make a unit, pass it out and still keep the Warboss as the leader. It just doesn’t feel right when a Warboss isn’t leading the army somewhere. Just my two cents.
Goatboy 2014
My plan for the year is to mix up editorials with some miniature/hobby articles. People forget that I really enjoy the painting side of things and find the game enjoyable enough to match up with my artistic side. So look for my initial take on a Kill Team army plus other fun conversion discussions as I look at trying to differentiate my own models and armies. Speaking of Kill Team – I just want to say it is a damned shame they didn’t add some kind of Inquisition leaders to make an Inquisition Kill Team. In fact I will probably work on some kind of rules idea to have them in there – from regular Inquisitors, Radical Jerks, and even some Chaos like ones. I think they missed the boat not allowing them (or waiting to release it later). I am sure it has to do with coming up with a somewhat balanced rule set but hey – we want to use some of those Blanche like designs we see.
What are your hopes for this next year? What kind of things are you wanting to read? Are you excited about the new rules/models/wallet killers? Do you want me to do Battle Reports or other things?
