FAQ Doctrine Change (Feb 2020)

[Iron Father Ferrum]

Go back to my comment about Daemon Princes in 4th Edition. GW doesn't write tight rulesets because they assume everyone will play by the fluff. Make all the arguments about new editions and time to learn that you want, but the evidence is there.

[Majkhel]

^This

[justicarius6]

They might not assume players play towards the fluff but I think they hope they will. They certainly don't expect or desire the ultra competitive scene where people are clamouring for ways to exploit and abuse loopholes and army flaws to win at games of plastic soldiers.

[faithonwings]

They run a business, they don't care if or how you (ab)use them. As long as you buy models, books etc. A very competative meta that shift left to right within months and people that are willing to spend hundereds of dollars on it just to stay in the game is definitly in their favor I would say.

[templargdt]

I don't know if you played in 4th Edition, but here's some old timey trivia.

 

In 3rd, Daemon Princes in the Chaos Marine codex had a hard 0-1 limit. You could take one...but never more than one.

 

In the 4th Edition Chaos Marine codex, that restriction was not put in place. Since DPs were better than Lords, hands down, no one took Lords but spammed Princes. When people complained, Gav Thorpe- who wrote the codex - responded with "we never thought people would take more than one Prince."

 

My point is that GW's rules writers have never been full aligned with the playerbase, particularly Americans who are more cut throat than the gentlemanly European player, in terms of how their game is played. So while you might find the Commentary disingenuous, I find it completely in keeping with the half-step-behind behavior the company has been known for for decades.

This is accurate, and Gav's quote is an infamous indictment of GW.

 

Anyway, 0-1 restrictions were a thing in many books in this era as I recall, but it was for fluff reasons.  I think Grey Knight Grand Masters were 0-1 in the Demonhunters book for example. 

 

Up until very recently GW rules writers really did not consider players maxing overpowered units, and this was true not only for 40K but Fantasy as well.  Matt Ward literally broke warhammer Fantasy at one point with one of his ridiculous books, I think it was Demons of Chaos.