A 40k renaissance - same lore, different rules

[Kenzaburo]

Fraters, I've had the best experience this last weekend and feel the need to share it. Sorry, if this might seem pointless to you

 

Preface: For some time now, roughly a year, I've been falling out of love with 40k more and more. It all started in 9th, a rules system that I loathed (I nevertheless see the benefits and detail that brother PenitentOne cherishes). The mental load had gotten too far, I spent too much time flipping through an assortment of rulebooks and focussing less on the cool minis on the table. I always loved 40k for its visuals, its style and its lore. I loved the rules up until roughly 5th edition, but also enjoyed 8th. After that every game and prep felt like a chore. Never a competitive gamer, but someone who still plays the game with his oldest friend once every 3 months or so (and occasionaly with his godson, said friend's oldest son), I basically had to learn the rules for each game we played anew - 3 months is just too long a time to keep all the minutiae of current rules memorized. But games were taking longer and longer and we had continuallly less fun. When 10th launched, we played one game, hoping that unit cards and less stratagems would help. They did not. And it colored my entire love for the hobby - I've been into warhammer since around '96-'97, even worked freelance for the company at some point, participated in Golden Demon and all that. But the game itself was strangling my hobby enthusiasm, well, that and the really shoddy marketing GW has been putting out in the past 4-5 years (sorry, longtime marketing professional, I just can't stand their current approach, but enjoyed the way they handled it in the late 2010s). 

 

We basically abandoned the game, for most of the latter half of 9th we had been playing more and more AOS, since it had a better flow. That, too, felt quite stressful at times with the amount of special rules, but still was more manageable than current 40k. Through recent discussions we found that we longed for the days where marines basically were all the same, but differed because of their loadouts, i.e. tactical squad, assault squad, devastator squad. No such nonsense as tons of circumstancial special rules. We just really don't need our guys to all be special. And we just didn't have 3 to 4 hours for just one single game.

 

So, people kept bringing up OnePageRules. To tell the truth, I usually don't care for alternate rules sets.  But at this point I felt I had nothing to lose, really. So I looked at the rules (mildly interested), but then discovered that the armies are basically 40k factions with a different name. This was a game changer, because even my first tries had me building all my armies in no time. A closer look at their special rules revealed that these did fit the spirit of what these units were in my mind. Cool. I convinced my friend to give it a go. He was apprehensive at first, but agreed to try it because he saw that it was important to me to rekindle our love for 40k in some shape or form. 

 

And last weekend we tried it out. It was glorious! I haven't been as prepared (rules-wise) for a 40k game in ages, exactly because it's just one page of rules. Last week I built a 3-player-scenario for us to play, Blood Angels vs Death Guard vs Necrons. The scenario was pretty asymmetrical and more narrative, I had ChatGPT help with the odds regarding victory points, then I layoutet the entire thing to look as close as possible to official publications. So, with 3 players, having never played the rules set or the armies, we played a little over 3 hours. The game with its alternating unit activations kept us all in the game the entire time. It flowed. Every time we had to look up a rule it was done with a glance, no flipping, no checking 3 different books. And yet, the armies felt like they should - Necrons and Death Guard were hard to take out, marines felt like marines, power armour was tough. The only army builder was ace, offering short, concise descriptions of what the army special rules did. And what's more: the wording was on point and readable, even more so compared to what we saw with heresy 3.0.

 

So, long story short, what is this all about? In recent time I've seen more and more of us veterans mention how they struggle with current 40k and where the game is going. Some of us switch to older editions, some just keep going, some drop out. What OPR has offered us is a modern, yet slim ruleset that feels reminiscent of 40k, but varies enough to be more approachable. That is has most if not all of the newer models covered (aside from named characters, which have been added by the community) is another boon and a leg up over, say, playing 5th ed. What I mean to say is: It took me quite some time to understand that I don't need to and should not wait for GW to fix their rules or change their business practices (I don't have time for a new edition every 3 years). There are alternatives that are worth playing. In my case it's OPR, for you it might be some form of oldhammer. I know your mileage may vary, I know that it's harder to pull off if all you have is pick-up games. But if you've got some friends who are as annoyed with current GWs rules writing, take a look around. You don't have to drop 40k - the lore we all know is still there. But rules are interchangeable, which GW ironically reminds us of every 3 years. :D

P.S.: Sorry if this is too long, I might edit it down tomorrow or so. I just felt the need to pour it all out. :)  Have some pics of our game in return, even tho 2 armies aren't painted. 

 

 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by Kenzaburo
needed some spacing between the pics

[The Yncarne]

Enjoy the advanced rules when you get time. Then prepare for the next version. 

[Deus_Ex_Machina]

Welcome back in the hobby.

[Ahzek451]

Your certainly not alone, Pretty much 95% of what you described I have been through or I can relate with. I've been the guy that always thought that GW's most recent ruleset was the only way to play. And to be fair, Onepage is far from perfect. But in modernity, with GW dropping the ball on so many things the incentive to try other rules like Onepage has been on the rise. It certainly feels like GW has been burning through its one resource it fails to recognize. The good will of its fans. Just a few months ago I finally gave onepage a try at Adepticon. You already summed it up, but my short version is.... I'd rather play this than 40k right now. It took very little effort for my friends to switch over too, hardly any convincing required. Again, the system is not perfect. But if the choice is between 10th 40k and one page...going with Onepage.

Anymore 40k feels like Junk lady in Labyrinth. 

I will be buying the new Grimdark Future: Broken Truth. I do like the 40k lizardmen and the robots have grown on me as necron replacements. 

I think there is a growing trend of resentment for GW in the last few years. More and more I hear of people playing older editions, one page, and with the horrible rollout of heresy 3.0, many are playing 2.0, 1.0 or even homemade rules. The only GW game systems that I have heard that are decent have been Kill team, and Sigmar. 

Edited 1 hour ago by Ahzek451

[Madao]

Agree. For large scale, we are going with OPR:GF almost since the start of the 10th ed. For skirmish games KT wins though, as OPR:GF firefight doesn't feel right as a skirmish, it is more like full scale game, but with only few models

[ThePenitentOne]

I'm glad you're having fun, and thanks for thinking of me.

 

Heck, even I've thought about checking out one page, just so I could see the other side. 

 

The last game I played was a Boarding Action game- my first ever 10th edition battle! I was woefully unprepared- I went in without a lot of the cards I tend to rely on, and I found myself missing strat opportunities, pain tokens, and all kinds of other shenanigans. So I get it, even though I come across as a real rules curmudgeon. Next game I'll make sure I'm prepped, and equipped with the cards I need to make sure I don't miss out on some of what the army has to offer.

 

I imagine the cool thing about 1PR is that you wouldn't have to worry about that kinda stuff.

 

Cheers, and happy renaissance!