Falling out of love with a faction?

[Vermintide]

Thus the age old wisdom of building an army you like thematically and visually, not one that's efficient in rules terms. And of course, there's always Your Dudes, which is central to the hobby in my opinion. You can't fall out of love with Your Dudes.

 

That said, I will say I'm not in love with the look of the new Necron models. I haven't even built the Necron half of Indomitus yet, and honestly... I know it's a very polarising issue, but the fluff has never been quite as appealing since they updated it in 5th, and the models have never quite had the same menacing, eldritch vibe as that compact but super focused 3rd edition range had. That said, I'm well aware it's only my own nostalgia making me feel that way.

 

Oldcrons forever

[tychobi]

I am feeling the burn out myself. 9th while exciting at first has been not been able to capture my interest. The dribble of samey power armor releases and rehashed necron stuff that has 3 legs as its unique selling point leaves me uninspired and unimpressed. So much effort for so little change. I think I may be falling out of love with 40k!

 

Wish i could take a break but youtube calls!

[Fajita Fan]

Y’all need some Titanicus in your lives. I’ll also go out on a limb and say the AT sub forum here is great, everyone is awesome.

[MegaVolt87]

I am feeling the burn out myself. 9th while exciting at first has been not been able to capture my interest. The dribble of samey power armor releases and rehashed necron stuff that has 3 legs as its unique selling point leaves me uninspired and unimpressed. So much effort for so little change. I think I may be falling out of love with 40k!

 

Wish i could take a break but youtube calls!

 

Its a problem with how they release things. I would prefer all codexes released at launch of a new edition, no new units needed at launch. Those can come later via supplements like PA, Vigilus etc. If they feel the need for new stuff, give us re-vamped existing kits at launch instead. Its not like GW has a shortage of those that need a face lift- or could use another. Feels like a dead launch for a new edition, should speed up codex drops regardless. 

[jaxom]

Thus the age old wisdom of building an army you like thematically and visually, not one that's efficient in rules terms. And of course, there's always Your Dudes, which is central to the hobby in my opinion. You can't fall out of love with Your Dudes.

 

That's actually what I'm wrestling with; that I'm falling out of love with My Dudes. I still like Space Marines, but am not feeling the Dark Angels anymore.

[Sonoftherubric21]

I have been through many armies. Foolishly often. 

 

The ones I have really stuck with: The Thousand Sons and Chaos in general I have always enjoyed a great deal. Other armies such as Xenos? Guard? Other Marine factions? Come and go. 

 

Definitely wasted a bunch of money in my 20s buying random models for fun, and it was part of my "army OCD" as it was. So I have felt that faction-switch urge several times. 

[Scribe]

You gotta be able to make it your own I find.

 

In looking over my utterly shameful pile of unfinshed works, I can see that I buy into something very easy, but if the hook for the army is not there, nice looking models are not sufficient because there are simply too many nice looking models.

 

I (and perhaps you) need that thematic hook, to really sink into it and make it my own. Unfortunately for me, mostly only Chaos does that. :D

[Bat33.1]

I'm feeling like this for marines currently, so much so that my Indomitus box is still sealed after having plans to start a new primaris based army.

 

I do have a Death Guard army which has taken me most of 8th to build and paint as I foolishly decided to go full edge highlight on everything including poxwalkers all the way to Morty. So it's the best painted army I've ever built but the codex was poor for much of 8th so I hardly used them. I don't even know how many points I have but it's way more than  can use in a game and gives me plenty of options. The added bonus is they now seem very strong in 9th and from what I have seen my collection doesn't include lots of the crazy tournament elements so is just going to be a good solid army without being something people don't want to play because it's OP.

 

So I have some hope that I will get some play from them but building a new 40k army for now I'm just ignoring and looking outside of 40k for a new project, maybe some 30k or AT or even Bolt Action.

 

I still haven't fully forgiven GW for nerfing WHFB when that was the game I played most often, generally weekly and once AoS dropped the scene just died completely.

[Brother Argent]

I admit, after 25 off years of painting and collecting various DIY marine armies, I am feeling the same.  The constant barrage of Primaris (your old marines, but better.  Promise we aren't replacing marines though....) and their new anesthetic of special forces rather then archaic space knights has left me feeling so disconnected to marines.  I have had my interest wax and wane as the years go by but this is the first time I have genuinely considered putting marines aside.

 

The sad thing is I have tried so many other armies but always come back to marines.  In saying that my inability to ever get a game has left my interest in the hobby itself dwindling... 

[Knight of the Raven]

How much experience I have with falling out of love, losing interest, seeing what I cherish turn into something I despise and all those depressing 'broken pedestal' things is on the wrong side of hilarious, so maybe I'll mention something that'll help you.

I won't bore you all with the details, but as I reviewed all the media I've enjoyed in my life before the magic went away—ranging anywhere from merely growing apart as our interests diverge to genuine "what in the world is wrong with you, creative team?" moments—I noticed a common trait.

There was always a part of me making it my own. Picking and choosing what I like and keeping that while ignoring (and sometimes straight out discarding) what I didn't enjoy. Leaving me something to go back to, whatever happens; sometimes even something to cling to, as media-makers turn characters I love into the opposite.

That may be the fanfiction writer in me talking, and might not work for everyone or come naturally to them. It also implies a very cavalier attitude regarding canon, "the Codex Astartes is more what you'd call guidelines than actual rules" style, which probably isn't everyone's cup of tea either.

But it does work for me.

Another thing that works is just taking a break. Not necessarily because what I disagree with keeps piling up, sometimes I've just spent so much time in the same universe that I grow bored of it. My interest in Warhammer 40,000, for instance, is old enough to drive. Saturation levels are bound to happen.

If you have something else to spend your 'WH40K time' on—and I know that's not a given, especially now—and if nothing else works, I suggest taking a break. Clearing your mind and distracting yourself with other things may even give you new, wonderful ideas about your Dark Angels (or World Eaters, or Blood Angels, etc; this post isn't directed at jaxom alone) for when you return.

That certainly happened to me, although it was Warhammer 40,000 inspiring my Friendship is Magic creative headspace rather than the other way round! (Probably for the best.)

Inspiration can also come from your fellow hobbyists. Or even solace, maybe: finding a storytelling plog covering your favorite faction better than Games Workshop—admittedly a very low bar to pass most of the time—can be a breath of fresh air.

It can also get the creative juices flowing... and I can say that it's more enjoyable to spend my evenings crafting the tales I'd always wanted the Salamanders (for example) to live and shine through in my head, even if I never complete them or put anything to paper, than it is remembering everything Games Workshop did wrong just this month.

TL;DR: focus only on the good, even if it exists only in the past now, and take a break if you don't find anything good to focus on.

[MegaVolt87]

Making things your own is a good idea. When I was moving house a while back I had found a exercise book packed with homebrew lore for my old BL force. Events, characters, squad champions you name it. However as I continued reading, a creeping horror begun to overtake me- I then realized I had somehow done a Matt Ward with my BL force. Needless to say that ended up getting thrown out. 

 

Rare footage of me writing 40k homebrew fan fiction-  

[Vermintide]

 

Thus the age old wisdom of building an army you like thematically and visually, not one that's efficient in rules terms. And of course, there's always Your Dudes, which is central to the hobby in my opinion. You can't fall out of love with Your Dudes.

 

That's actually what I'm wrestling with; that I'm falling out of love with My Dudes. I still like Space Marines, but am not feeling the Dark Angels anymore.

 

You misunderstand, I don't mean this as some kind of elitism, but Dark Angels are not really Your Dudes, they're Dark Angels. You dig? The characters are GW characters, the back story is GW's back story.

 

I'm not saying everyone has to make their own special snowflake chapter and all that, but I know personally I wouldn't have the same level of attachment if I didn't have my own head-cannon and personal fluff for My Guys, who are painted in My Paint. They're not a chapter you'll find in any official book*, they're mine and mine alone.

 

*^{Actually they are, they're Blood Drinkers, but that was a total coincidence. I had already made the colour scheme before I even noticed an official chapter used it, but the lore for that particular chapter is so thin on the ground I made them into my own chapter regardless, fluffing them up as a splinter group/outcasts.}

 

Different strokes for different folks and all that, but I think you are actually missing out on a big chunk of the hobby if you don't have your own personalised faction for at least one of your armies. When I was a kid I don't remember knowing a single person who used the official colour schemes, that was quite simply Not How Thins Were Done :P

[CK.]

 

You misunderstand, I don't mean this as some kind of elitism, but Dark Angels are not really Your Dudes, they're Dark Angels. You dig? The characters are GW characters, the back story is GW's back story.

 

I'm not saying everyone has to make their own special snowflake chapter and all that, but I know personally I wouldn't have the same level of attachment if I didn't have my own head-cannon and personal fluff for My Guys, who are painted in My Paint. They're not a chapter you'll find in any official book*, they're mine and mine alone.

 

*^{Actually they are, they're Blood Drinkers, but that was a total coincidence. I had already made the colour scheme before I even noticed an official chapter used it, but the lore for that particular chapter is so thin on the ground I made them into my own chapter regardless, fluffing them up as a splinter group/outcasts.}

 

Different strokes for different folks and all that, but I think you are actually missing out on a big chunk of the hobby if you don't have your own personalised faction for at least one of your armies. When I was a kid I don't remember knowing a single person who used the official colour schemes, that was quite simply Not How Thins Were Done

 

 

I see what you're saying, but I don't quite agree. 40k's background serves as a vast setting in which you get to tell your own stories. Sure, GW created the Dark Angels, Azrael is a GW character. But you don't *have* to play by GW's narrative. The new Space Marine codex allows you to upgrade your leaders into unique positions of leadership often reserved for named characters (Captains into Chapter Masters, etc.).

 

Thursday's article on this even says, "Having said that, ‘what ifs’ are one of the cornerstones of the hobby, so if Marneus Calgar isn’t present, you could totally have another Ultramarines Chapter Master battling alongside Chief Librarian Tigurius!"

 

There's nothing stopping you from collecting 3rd Company of an established chapter, naming every single one of your miniatures and having your own narrative of their campaigns and successes. I mean, this is literally what the new Crusade narrative game type promotes.

 

Look at Dungeons & Dragons. Sure, there are established settings - Greyhawk, Ebberon, Forgotten Realms. There are existing characters and deities and organizations. You may play a cleric of Ilmater, fight WoC's monsters and explore WoC's locations. Yet the core focus is the story of your character and your party.

 

The setting simply provides a backdrop to tell these kinds of stories and have your own battles. Who cares if you didn't create the Ultramarines? Your Ultramarines army does what *you* want it to do.

Edited October 3, 2020 by CK.

[Gederas]

You misunderstand, I don't mean this as some kind of elitism, but Dark Angels are not really Your Dudes, they're Dark Angels. You dig? The characters are GW characters, the back story is GW's back story.

 

I'm not saying everyone has to make their own special snowflake chapter and all that, but I know personally I wouldn't have the same level of attachment if I didn't have my own head-cannon and personal fluff for My Guys, who are painted in My Paint. They're not a chapter you'll find in any official book*, they're mine and mine alone.

 

*^{Actually they are, they're Blood Drinkers, but that was a total coincidence. I had already made the colour scheme before I even noticed an official chapter used it, but the lore for that particular chapter is so thin on the ground I made them into my own chapter regardless, fluffing them up as a splinter group/outcasts.}

 

Different strokes for different folks and all that, but I think you are actually missing out on a big chunk of the hobby if you don't have your own personalised faction for at least one of your armies. When I was a kid I don't remember knowing a single person who used the official colour schemes, that was quite simply Not How Thins Were Done

I see what you're saying, but I don't quite agree. 40k's background serves as a vast setting in which you get to tell your own stories. Sure, GW created the Dark Angels, Azrael is a GW character. But you don't *have* to play by GW's narrative. The new Space Marine codex allows you to upgrade your leaders into unique positions of leadership often reserved for named characters (Captains into Chapter Masters, etc.).

 

Thursday's article on this even says, "Having said that, ‘what ifs’ are one of the cornerstones of the hobby, so if Marneus Calgar isn’t present, you could totally have another Ultramarines Chapter Master battling alongside Chief Librarian Tigurius!"

 

There's nothing stopping you from collecting 3rd Company of an established chapter, naming every single one of your miniatures and having your own narrative of their campaigns and successes. I mean, this is literally what the new Crusade narrative game type promotes.

 

Look at Dungeons & Dragons. Sure, there are established settings - Greyhawk, Ebberon, Forgotten Realms. There are existing characters and deities and organizations. You may play a cleric of Ilmater, fight WoC's monsters and explore WoC's locations. Yet the core focus is the story of your character and your party.

 

The setting simply provides a backdrop to tell these kinds of stories and have your own battles. Who cares if you didn't create the Ultramarines? Your Ultramarines army does what *you* want it to do.

Pretty much this. My Dark Angels are majority 5th Company. All the fluff we have for them is they're mostly Primaris now because they got SMACKED HARD during the opening of the Circatrix Maledictum and Ritual of the Damned and the only named Marine for their entire company is Lazarus

 

Only one named Marine.... In an entire company :lol:

 

Right now, with my Crusade campaign, I've slowly been naming his company (also, went with them being purely Tacticus armour for simplicity's sake).

Edited October 4, 2020 by Gederas

[tangoalphatwo]

This is all amazing advice! I like the official color schemes of a lot of the founding chapters. I have an Ultramarine army, a little over a company size strength, painted in the second companies colors, yet, they’re my company. Same thing with my current Space Wolves Great Company. They’re rocking Ragnar’s colors-ish, but again, they’re MY GREAT COMPANY. Same thing with MY Black Legion and MY Death Guard.

 

They’re all the box colors, but organization, characters, stories, and everything else is my own head cannon.

[Bryan Blaire]

Unless you are 100% willing to just ignore the lore though, then as Jaxom indicated, the lore for a faction can turn you off of that faction - he indicated that was his problem. If you are deep into the lore like this is a historical game, then no, a written about (especially First Founding) Chapter can't be "your dudes" because for them to be "your dudes", you have to ignore the lore. You can't have a lore-accurate army using the wrong commander, incorrect force composition, etc.

 

Gederas's example of "My Dudes" is a very clear illustration of this - his 5th Company is not the lore Dark Angels 5th company. Same thing for my SW Drakeslayers - they are Krom's Great Company, but they are not the lore Drakeslayers - GW can say that the Drakeslayers were wiped out to a man or ran like cowards or hid at home/were exiled/put on lockdown by the Great Wolf, and it's totally meaningless to me, my Drakeslayers are still out doing what they want (heck, I don't even use the same structure as the GW SW Chapter). That's not me being involved in the lore though - I'm clearly not following it.

[Scribe]

Unless you are 100% willing to just ignore the lore though, then as Jaxom indicated, the lore for a faction can turn you off of that faction - he indicated that was his problem. If you are deep into the lore like this is a historical game, then no, a written about (especially First Founding) Chapter can't be "your dudes" because for them to be "your dudes", you have to ignore the lore. You can't have a lore-accurate army using the wrong commander, incorrect force composition, etc.

 

Gederas's example of "My Dudes" is a very clear illustration of this - his 5th Company is not the lore Dark Angels 5th company. Same thing for my SW Drakeslayers - they are Krom's Great Company, but they are not the lore Drakeslayers - GW can say that the Drakeslayers were wiped out to a man or ran like cowards or hid at home/were exiled/put on lockdown by the Great Wolf, and it's totally meaningless to me, my Drakeslayers are still out doing what they want (heck, I don't even use the same structure as the GW SW Chapter). That's not me being involved in the lore though - I'm clearly not following it.

 

This is what always gets me. When GW changes parts of the fluff, if I cannot reconcile those revisions it can actually make it unplayable to me. Foolish perhaps, but it is what it is.

[Bryan Blaire]

This is what always gets me. When GW changes parts of the fluff, if I cannot reconcile those revisions it can actually make it unplayable to me. Foolish perhaps, but it is what it is.

I don't think it's foolish, personally, we all have different ways of enjoying the game - none of them are really right or wrong, they are just different. Just like not everyone likes every model, we've all got to enjoy what we like about 40K.

[Scribe]

Yeah, just feels a bit bad when you cant bring yourself to use that pile of hobby that can be very expensive, over someone else's story :p

 

The change to Iron Hands lore also for example prevented me from collecting them, or reading anything further written on them. Petty? Maybe. :D

[GreyCrow]

It's totally normal to fall out of love with some factions you spent time working on!

 

For me, the big one is sometimes the poor translation of the fluff into in game mechanics. I feel GW has done a very decent job in the recent years at making the tabletop reflect better the fluff behind each unit.

Especially regarding Marines : they've been buffed to a point where they're closer on the tabletop to what's described in the different books!

[mughi3]

When i started i was introduced to the game by a black templar player back in 3rd. he suggested dark angels because of my  play style. then i found out they could do themed armies in deathwing/ravenwing. 

 

Over the years i built 8 armies dabbling in things i thought looked cool.  i never fell out of love for the factions, i grew out of space and time. but more importantly  i fell out of  love of certain editions. 6th was the break point. i stopped playing 40K until 7th and even then i focused more on my classic battletech, started armies for infinity, warmachine DUST and others. i still use index 8th for epic scale play because it was so simple. however i have  fell out of love for 40K the game and the company completely with 9th. It isn't even 40K to me anymore. 

 

I still play 5th which i enjoy far more, and of course all the other games i play. so i may have lost some love, but i still put my minis to good use. 

 

 

 

 I feel GW has done a very decent job in the recent years at making the tabletop reflect better the fluff behind each unit.

Wow, i don't know how long you have been playing but i feel just the opposite. the best time for lore+rules was 3rd/4th and for some armies 5th. 

 

If anything they have made everything so generic the only thing i see now for marines  is ultramarines that are painted blue, red, green or yellow etc..

Edited October 5, 2020 by mughi3

[Snazzy]

I find myself in a weird spot.  For the first time in almost 30 years i am no longer a Space Marine player.  I'm concerned about what GW has in store for CSM.  

[Doghouse]

I think that is understandable, I'm the same boat at the moment myself and thinking about turning to the dark side. If the new Eldar codex was out I'd do them.

 

I have loved everything about them from the lore to the models for decades but it feels like I am being bashed over the head with them constantly of late.

 

I may take a break for a while and go try another game, not sure yet.

[Gederas]

Unless you are 100% willing to just ignore the lore though, then as Jaxom indicated, the lore for a faction can turn you off of that faction - he indicated that was his problem. If you are deep into the lore like this is a historical game, then no, a written about (especially First Founding) Chapter can't be "your dudes" because for them to be "your dudes", you have to ignore the lore. You can't have a lore-accurate army using the wrong commander, incorrect force composition, etc.

 

Gederas's example of "My Dudes" is a very clear illustration of this - his 5th Company is not the lore Dark Angels 5th company. Same thing for my SW Drakeslayers - they are Krom's Great Company, but they are not the lore Drakeslayers - GW can say that the Drakeslayers were wiped out to a man or ran like cowards or hid at home/were exiled/put on lockdown by the Great Wolf, and it's totally meaningless to me, my Drakeslayers are still out doing what they want (heck, I don't even use the same structure as the GW SW Chapter). That's not me being involved in the lore though - I'm clearly not following it.

Well, to be fair, I'm trying to keep as close to the actual fluff as I can get.... Which is to say, there's not a whole lot. So uhh.... I kind of have to do my own thing because of it?

 

The change to Iron Hands lore also for example prevented me from collecting them, or reading anything further written on them. Petty? Maybe.

Which change? They've had like three changes to their lore, but that's because for the longest time their lore amounted to "Dead Primarch, Incredibly Emo and Angry about it"

Edited October 5, 2020 by Gederas

[Varizel]

I think it's totally normal to fall out of love of the army you played for a long time. I mean i'm in the same situation right now with my Dark Angels . Doesn't help that most of players at my place plays Dark Angels.... so i switched it up to Chaos (Word Bearers). Let's be a REAL Fallen .

 

Honestly i felt too, that the marines releases has been too fast, too furious for my wallet, so i'm taking a break from it. Lore progression for Dark Angels also is not up to my liking, so that's that.... time to wreak havoc with Chaos Space Marines and maybe give those Dark Angels players a chance to actually see an actual Fallen unit on the table.