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Of the 23 factions currently in the game 13 are imperial. There are twice as many Imperial factions as needs be. How many flavours of Marines and AdMech do people want? And with the rumours of the Deathwatch getting their own codex that might be too much. The most popular armies at the moment (in my experience) are AM and Vanilla Marines. It wouldn't be so bad if the sisters got an update though. I'm sick and tired of these new Imperial factions. Instead give the Tyranids, CSM, IG, DE and Orks new codices and update the SoB.

If you wanna see just how ridiculous it is, there's a total of 5 Loyalist Marine Codexes, 11 actual core marine factions (each chapter tactic counts as it's own faction), another 11 or so FW factions (chapter tactics) and 38 core marine special characters. Counting FW characters (which is on top of the aforementioned 38 core marine characters), Space Marines collectively have more named characters that other armies have unit entries and formations combined.

Most non-marine factions (let alone non-imperial factions) would be considered lucky to even be able to field their subfaction as a battleforged army, let alone have a character representing almost every single subfaction they have.

To be fair, if there were a faction to be well represented it would be IoM. Could you imagine the confusion (or optimization needed) if all other factions had 5-10 specific codexes? Different SM Factions allow GW to specialize armies without much risk. Chapters that sell get dedicated models, the rest can build from existing SM choices. Win/win for them. But I would love to see a shooty Ork army with Twin Linked BS3-4 Troops. Double Gunz Codex anyone?

Edit: Should also specify that I would rather see new armies (or current armies revised) as opposed to more SM.

I agree. Too much IoM. Not enough cool aliens or even different chaos factions. Or something. Something new GW.

And then there's 30k! Which is just Space Marines fighting each other all the time. Like holy hell how much more boring visually can it get to just see the same thing painted in different colors over and over ad nauseam. I know people put a lot of work into all their armies, but there are just so many Space Marines and IoM factions now I can't even begin to care for them anymore. It used to be cool to see all the new stuff but somewhere along the way the familiarity became boring. Even the best painted Space Marine armies can arouse little more than a meh from me these days.

Edit
Every time I hear rumors of a "new" army coming out it's usually just more Space Marines or IoM sub sub sub faction. Won't be long until we have rules for IoM janitorial squad with their chain mops and bolter shells sewn into their friggen underhive jackets and ride and joust giant mop bucket machine AI like knights.

Edit
I would even be happy to see Eldar Exodites just to see something new.

In arguments about World of Warcraft and faction favoritism, I enjoy being able to tell Alliance fans that I play Sisters of Battle in the 40k tabletop game. Then I describe what WoW would be like if Blizzard treated the Alliance the way Games Workshop treats the Sisters of Battle.

Sadly even Ad Mech didn't even get a proper release - very few models - just filling a gap between marine releases

Still waiting for Sisters - but hey here is yet another new Marine flyer instead.

Be nice to have some plastic Aspect Warriors, some of the Eldar SC's Like Iyanna Arienal and her Exarch Wraithlord but nope

Some Tau Auxilaries be cool but nope

How about Lady Malys - awesome fluff - nah but we have this new Space Marine Captain

Chaos must be getting lots of new stuff as its range is so old - ah about that - need to make a new Wolf Sleigh

and so it goes on.

 Mr Morden wrote:
Still waiting for Sisters - but hey here is yet another new Marine flyer instead.

I actually had a very pleasant dream where I walked into a Games Workshop store and there were freshly-released boxes of Sisters of Battle plastic infantry, HQs, and Penitent Engines.

I bought 2 of each box plus the Codex.

Then I woke up and was very sad.

 Mr Morden wrote:
Sadly even Ad Mech didn't even get a proper release - very few models - just filling a gap between marine releases

Still waiting for Sisters - but hey here is yet another new Marine flyer instead.

Be nice to have some plastic Aspect Warriors, some of the Eldar SC's Like Iyanna Arienal and her Exarch Wraithlord but nope

Some Tau Auxilaries be cool but nope

How about Lady Malys - awesome fluff - nah but we have this new Space Marine Captain

Chaos must be getting lots of new stuff as its range is so old - ah about that - need to make a new Wolf Sleigh

and so it goes on.

Glorious!

 Pouncey wrote:
In arguments about World of Warcraft and faction favoritism, I enjoy being able to tell Alliance fans that I play Sisters of Battle in the 40k tabletop game. Then I describe what WoW would be like if Blizzard treated the Alliance the way Games Workshop treats the Sisters of Battle.

in fairness WOW players seem to do nothing but complain about their faction being treated poorly. apparently Hoard players whined that the warcraft movie was too alliance centric.

BrianDavion wrote:

 Pouncey wrote:
In arguments about World of Warcraft and faction favoritism, I enjoy being able to tell Alliance fans that I play Sisters of Battle in the 40k tabletop game. Then I describe what WoW would be like if Blizzard treated the Alliance the way Games Workshop treats the Sisters of Battle.

in fairness WOW players seem to do nothing but complain about their faction being treated poorly. apparently Hoard players whined that the warcraft movie was too alliance centric.

As a Draenei fan the movie made me realize that there's not enough Draenei lore to fill out a two-hour movie that does not involve the Draenei getting massacred by one thing or another. Also the only depiction of the Draenei in the movie is having their civilians' souls torn out to fuel a magic portal whose sole purpose is to let the Orcs go xenocide an entirely new planet.

In the current expansion, the Orcs responsible for the Draenei's most recent tragedies receive a hearty cheer from the Draenei army when they switch sides upon seeing how badly they're losing the war. Also the official canon is that the Draenei forgave the Orcs for wiping out 80-90% of their entire population.

Complaints from Orc fans land on deaf ears. Feth the Orcs.

And currently WoW fans seem preoccupied with how the game lost over 4 million users in 3 quarters.

Black Templar need their own expansion book.

Space Lizardmen! I would murder for space lizardmen. A killer combo between the cold blooded crons and the animal nids. Excellent counter/ally for orks.

I gotta admit, lately I've sipped on some of the imperium kool-aid, and it is delicious.

Playing nothing but Chaos and Orks for years now, Imperial armies are a sigh of relief. Love the flyers, new model range, and absolutely love ignoring half the rules in the game.

Looking forward to the new Deathwatch stuff to cheese out Xenos players (except for poor Orks, they don't need that kind of abuse)

Meh, nothing wrong with more human factions, after all we're all (mostly?) human and that's what we relate to.

I prefer well-developed human factions to Orks (loud angry humans) Eldar (skinny aloof humans) and Tau (Japanese humans). The more alien factions like Necrons, Nids and Demons are even less interesting.

None of this means I like or agree with the vast numbers of Space Marine sub-sub-sub factions (though i do understand it, GW ain't a charity after all).

Personally I would love to see some more non-Imperial humans like Space Pirates or Chaos Cults (fingers crossed for GS cults) as well as more diversity for the IG.

I wouldn't mind a return of some of the Craftworld and Ork Clan stuff we got in late 2nd edition though there are always balance issues.

I agree I think it's time to stop coming out with new Space Marine/Imperial Factions and get some more Chaos and Xenos in there. Granted I feel they should update every current army beforehand but I do think that it's time for everyone else to get some love, Space Marines in particular already are top-tier and don't need anything else.

IoM is what sells, so IoM is what is getting made. But for the love of the Dark Gods please give me more Chaos factions.
I don't really need to see more aliens. 40k is a setting dominated by humans, and humans are more interesting anyway. I would prefer to see a new human faction opposed to the IoM (something like the Severan Dominate would be really cool) rather than more aliens. I simply can't think of any niche that can be filled up by a new alien species.

 Iron_Captain wrote:
IoM is what sells, so IoM is what is getting made. But for the love of the Dark Gods please give me more Chaos factions.
I don't really need to see more aliens. 40k is a setting dominated by humans, and humans are more interesting anyway. I would prefer to see a new human faction opposed to the IoM (something like the Severan Dominate would be really cool) rather than more aliens. I simply can't think of any niche that can be filled up by a new alien species.

I can think of one. Cthulhu. We don't have any armies that take inspiration from the other worldly style that they impose. Something so beyond comprehension they are outside of our multiverse so they are even alien to the warp and its influences.

Edit
Also don't even talk niches and IoM. They have every niche, sub-niche, and ultra niche in the universe made for them at this point. If the IoM can double (quadruple even) up on its niches than so can Chaos and Xenos. The Rhak'gol would be a good race to add.

I agree. The imperial favoritism is a major no-no for me, especially since it tends to make imperial players behave... cocky.

I'm saying this as an imperial player myself. Give the other guys some love.

Since we're talking of niches, one thing I'd like to see GW try is a race of a different scale.

Nids with their monsters and swarms almost do it, but then you have the gaunts and stealers who are basically bug men.

A race of (let's say) Star Dragons where every model is a monsterous creature or Enslavers where every model is a psyker the size of a Buick would be something really different.

GW might even be able to launch a race like that with just 1-2 kits.

 Gamgee wrote:

 Iron_Captain wrote:
IoM is what sells, so IoM is what is getting made. But for the love of the Dark Gods please give me more Chaos factions.
I don't really need to see more aliens. 40k is a setting dominated by humans, and humans are more interesting anyway. I would prefer to see a new human faction opposed to the IoM (something like the Severan Dominate would be really cool) rather than more aliens. I simply can't think of any niche that can be filled up by a new alien species.

I can think of one. Cthulhu. We don't have any armies that take inspiration from the other worldly style that they impose. Something so beyond comprehension they are outside of our multiverse so they are even alien to the warp and its influences.

Edit
Also don't even talk niches and IoM. They have every niche, sub-niche, and ultra niche in the universe made for them at this point. If the IoM can double (quadruple even) up on its niches than so can Chaos and Xenos. The Rhak'gol would be a good race to add.

That sounds like oldcrons to me.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
Since we're talking of niches, one thing I'd like to see GW try is a race of a different scale.

Nids with their monsters and swarms almost do it, but then you have the gaunts and stealers who are basically bug men.

A race of (let's say) Star Dragons where every model is a monsterous creature or Enslavers where every model is a psyker the size of a Buick would be something really different.

GW might even be able to launch a race like that with just 1-2 kits.

Same Codex model as Knights so no reason not to do it.

Anything but Space Marines. That is all I ask of GW for their next release, anything but yet more Marine fan spank. Space Marines do not need any more love, they already have:

-An entire vanilla codex that is incredibly flexible and allows the player to run a vast and diverse number of individual chapters

-Three non-vanilla codex's which allow players to run an army based around one of three divergent strategic mindsets

-One and two halves of board games (Calth, Lost Patrol and Space Hulk) dedicated too them

-An entire separate 40K supplement with new rules, new tactical objectives and an entirely new and extremely powerful (in some cases blatantly overpowered) psychic powers

-Half of another supplement for one of the divergent Marine armies

-An entire version of the core game that is literally nothing but Marine on Marine gaming, with only a slight hint at other factions (Out of the 20 factions 18 are "Flavour of Marine X")

-The single largest and most up to date model range from GW

-The single largest and most up to date model range from FW

-Have been in every starter set ever

After considering all that, is it fair to say that a non-Space Marine release might be a very refreshing change of scenery?

The sad fact is that SM are the core army of the game and probably their best seller. Hence all the SM fapping. Or you could play the spiky version and get your backside handed to you on a platter.

 NoiseMarine with Tinnitus wrote:
The sad fact is that SM are the core army of the game and probably their best seller. Hence all the SM fapping. Or you could play the spiky version and get your backside handed to you on a platter.

Sadly I thnk there is alot of circular logic in the "Space Marines sell best" - as the largest faction with vastly more models and support than any other of course they sell well - partly because they are the largest faction with vastly more models and support than any other!

Sales are therefore going to be heavily baised towards them and sadly again seems to be be getting worse as they make more and more SM stuff and less other stuff - which means SM stuff sells more and so on

Mr Morden, couldn't agree more. It is a self-perpetuating money spinner. How many times do you hear a red shirt saying to a freah faced 12 year old 'yeah, these guys have spikes and their race is trying to stave off the predations of a warp god so they have to enact horrific acts of cruelty in order to just survive...'

Fresh even, damned auto carrot.

tbh the Admech are a very, very cool and unique subfaction. I really wish they'd gone more towards what they are in 30k (which is kind of a cross-hybrid of Imperial Guard and Tyranids with quasi-synapse and programming mechanics akin to psychic powers complete with "Perils of the AI" table) rather than yet another upgrade focused infantry faction with vehicles with their only gimmick being the lack of transports.

Remember, in terms of real new factions, GW has released:

2 xenos
2 imperium (3 if you count the Deathwatch micro-faction).

The one(s) with the most totally new, unique stuff were the Admech, and they've done an impressive job bringing a totally new niche to the table. Gene cults are cool in the formation but most of their units are relatively one-note either kill stuff in melee or psychic stuff to death. Harlequins are my personal favorite but operate more like an independent version of their former unit and are basically what Dark Eldar melee forces want to be.

In total honesty, I don't WANT the current GW creative team to come up with an all new faction. I want them to continue mining their mid-90s burst of creativity first before we get the kind of skull encrusted crap they're pushing out for Sigmar.

I'd rather get rid of the Tau. If anything doesn't fit the theme, it's them.

I am still waiting for Tzeentch or Nurgle Daemonkin.

 Mr Morden wrote:

 NoiseMarine with Tinnitus wrote:
The sad fact is that SM are the core army of the game and probably their best seller. Hence all the SM fapping. Or you could play the spiky version and get your backside handed to you on a platter.

Sadly I thnk there is alot of circular logic in the "Space Marines sell best" - as the largest faction with vastly more models and support than any other of course they sell well - partly because they are the largest faction with vastly more models and support than any other!

Sales are therefore going to be heavily baised towards them and sadly again seems to be be getting worse as they make more and more SM stuff and less other stuff - which means SM stuff sells more and so on

I remember when I first got into 40k circa 1990, back in the days of squats and three different Genestealer army lists (cult, clan and invasion), before they started force-feeding us marines. Every Saturday the local GW would have a 'bring & battle' of 8-15 players per side with a squad each, on one side you'd have the forces of disorder: Chaos, Genestealers, Orks, Eldar.. and any Imperial Space Marine players the Gamesmaster had made swap sides to even things up.. on the opposite side: wall to wall Imperial marine players.. with maybe a 50% chance per week of there being an Imperial Guard player or two..

We also lack a proper robot faction. Since Necrons have been newcroned they are just people stuck in metal bodies which is super lame.