Forge World at Gaming Events: My thoughts.

Well, I figure I would touch on the first set of thoughts about the event I was just at. A majority of the armies did not have Forge World but the few that did had powerful units mixed among the armies that started to raise a few concerns about this trend. If I recall, I think the average was about 25% of the player base had Forge World of some type and number in their list.

I know this is a sensitive subject and many people argue it should be allowed at both GT and local events as it “balances the game” and “adds to the game”.  This is the point I have to agree to disagree, it adds more units that can be abused now legally by allowing Forge World and it does not balance the game at all. If it was intended to be in the core game, it would have been written into the core rules and the army books, not published as special books by a sister company. Yea, I know they have released the “40k ok” markings saying they are legal for 40k and have since pulled the wording prior from their old FW books where it said “you should have your opponents permission before using”. Can you say GW money grab? Thought you could, GW is out to grab every dollar they can, by changing the brand that way, they can now suck more cash out of your wallet at the cost of the quality of the brand of their game and the rules. Do they care? No. Spend your money on that stuff, yes they do. Many others would agree that Forge World does not belong in mainstream gaming such as events like this or event at local RTTs.

One person in a discussion said that it should be allowed so Eldar and Tau can have flyers to deal with other flyers. The Eldar/Dark Eldar player I went against didn’t use any Forge World to balance that at all neither did the Tau player I saw. Instead he took the Warp Hunter tank, at 135 points, that thing is a steal is all I can say. Large AP pie plate and High AP Torrent template plus a skimmer with all the trimmings of rules to add to that like jink and then tossed in an Aegis line with a defense gun like everyone else.

Everything I saw in armies was Decimators, Warp Hunters, Vulture Gunships and Canoptek Stalkers to name a few things. Mind you some was not just a single model but at least two. Did I see Grot Tanks or anything that wasn’t powerful and simply fun or cool? Nope, it was a power grab exploiting what was made legal for the event. I wonder if some of those lists would have done performed the same if they stuck with their codex?

Plus, I should add the guy I played with the Canoptek Stalkers modeled them flat to the ground. Yes, a monstrous creature that has a profile slightly larger than a ratling sniper. Can we say modeling for cover advantage? Oh yea, add to a hyper-competitive army and you have a tough list but not very fun to be on the other side of the table.

I also think it is already rough enough for players to understand around a dozen codex books and the core rules that have been out for just a year. Now you want to introduce almost another dozen books to the mix and new vehicles and such that nobody knows about? Plus, in a timed event you now have to waste time to ask, “Hey, can I see the book to know what I am up against…” or you are at the mercy of the other guy telling you or not telling you, then smiling as he screws your army each turn. Yea, that sounds like fun! Sign me up! Five minutes or a bit more to read something in a Forge World book may not sound like much but when you are running out of time that time becomes pretty damm precious if you ask me. I’d rather be playing more than trying to worry about some obscure book materials.

I have also asked the Organizer how many of the top 10 lists had Forge World in them and how many was the top armies in that list in percentage. I think it will be a shocking total as I know two players I played against went to the #1 and #2 spots for the last round and had to play one another, both with Forge World in very hyper competitive lists. 

Plus, on a side note Local game stores do not sell the books or the kits, so why should they support it? They make no profit from it and allowing money to be spent away from the store is just hurting their profits not helping. So, let’s allow something to put them out of business? Yea, that is a good business plan! At a GT, yea you can get away with a bit more.