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Suppose you where in charge of what rule books GW would publish the next 3 years starting from January 2017

There are only a three rules.
1: These books have to contain 40k rules.
2: You have to publish 1 book a month no more and no less.
3: You will have to match or surpass the previous years quarterly sales figures.

Anything else is up to you. I can be new editions codexes ,supplements to codexes, supplements to the core rules, alternative ways to play you name it.

What would you do ?

Ideal plan:

January: Codex: Space Marines (including all loyalist chapters, not including any models created since 5th edition).
February: Codex: Imperial Guard (including special rules for DKoK/Elysians/Catachans/etc).
March: Codex: Chaos (including CSM, demons, and cultists/traitor IG).
April: Codex: Tau (including Farsight and allied minor factions).
May: Codex: You Tyranids (including 100 pages of blank paper and a "THIS FACTION NO LONGER EXISTS" note).
June: Codex: You Necrons (getting rid of this worthless faction too).
July: Codex: Orks.
August: Codex: Eldar (including DE).
September: Campaign Supplement: Narrative Games (including Cities of Death/Planetstrike/etc, not including any maelstrom objectives)
October: Codex: Imperial Navy (my birthday gift to myself, including aircraft and a wide range of orbital bombardment options, and lots of fluff of them wrecking marines).
November: 8th edition (this would be earlier, but I need time to write it since it's a complete re-write of the entire game).
December: Codex: Peregrine Owns Your Wallet (including lots of sexually explicit pictures of how awesome Peregrine is, because there is nothing left to do with 40k).

Realistic plan:

Space marines every month. I can't burn the whole game to the ground and start over, so I might as well collect my easy paycheck by milking the cash cow of space marines.

All armies will get an assortment of chapter tactic or greatpack type detachment styles/bonuses to focus on certain playstyles. All new codexes have new unit entries and minimum copy+paste of their old entries.

Jan - Codex: Sisters of Battle (now with plastic sisters!)
Now that I made my money quota I can release whatever and still be gravy ........ wait those retail locations cost how much? Oh zog this is gonna be harder than I thought...

Feb - Codex: Tyranids. You want little bugs to be useful? Absolutely. Want big bugs to also be helpful? Definitely. Will I be nerfing Flying Hive Tyrants into the ground? Not really but don't expect them to be better.

March - Codex: Imperial Guard. Blob guard, mech guard, defensive guard, ambush guard, artillery guard, marbo guard, we got all kinds of guard.

April - Codex: Eldar (Craftworld, Clowns, and Dark). We washed the dark elder, ork, and grey knight blood off the old nerf bat and figured it was due for it to make a comeback tour starting with some Craftworld gits. Dark Eldar will indulge in the pain of their craftworld brethren and those delicious tears will fuel them to actually not be terrible on the table top. That's not to say that everything craftworld will be nerfed but the OP stuff gets smashed while the less OP stuff gets adjustments. Clowns get some adjustments to make them more functional.

May - Codex: Orks. While the nerf bat has been sated with the blood of the OP we will now sneak in the Orks. Want boyz to be dangerious in numbers? Check. Want the specialist Orks to be useful? Also check. Tired of having your Orks dying like flies in a bug zapper? We got you covered with some sweet sweet feel no pain army wide. You like invulnerable saves and having a mob rule that isn't hot garbage? Don't you worry, the Orks remembered they are the biggest and the strongest with all the best orky kit. Mad that Nobz are basically outclassed by Furry Digganobz and want to be even better? Sorry but I can't approve making Nobz better than Wulfen BUT I can make them cheaper and generally useful + dead killy. ERE WE GO ERE WE GO ERE WE GO!!!!

June - Warzone: (insert sector name here). Contains rules for a campaign involving all the major factions, formations for those factions, and rules for stores/groups to run a campaign and has limitations to encourage varied and fun gameplay instead of the same net lists. Results from this campaign will impact the narrative of this Warzone and direct the direction that this particular narrative will go in. New named characters will be released for this as well as new options for creating your own Captains, Ethereals, Warbosses, Overlords, etc.

July - Codex: Grey Knights: Hopefully by then the team can figure out a way to make Grey Knights function well without being massive cheese balls. Look for a lot of utility improvements to give them more mobility and reduce damage from enemy shooting.

August - Codex: Chaos (Daemons and CSMs). Zog it this bandaid gak needs to stop. Combines the legion, daemonkin, and base army rules into a single book that is rebalanced to be function with or without the special detachments. Designed with 8th in mind.

September - 8th Edition The primary purpose of 8th edition is to clean up the rules on things, buff/nerf some of the more general game mechanics. The biggest change is the game being split between "Skirmish" and "Total War" where Skirmish limits the game to not including super heavies and limiting/reworking things like 2+ rerollable and strength D while "Total War" does not limit those mechanics but still maintains game structure unlike Apoc. New Starter Box between Sisters of Battle and Orks

October - Narrative book + update for Tau and Necrons. It will contain updates to both Tau and Necrons to bring them in line with 8th edition rules changes, update their formations/detachments, and adjust any rules that need to be altered.

November - The End Times campaign between Space Marines and Chaos (more Primarchs and all that). Updates to Space Marines to bring them up to 8th edition standards.

December - Space Marine Supplement with new chapters. Will contain substantial rules update for Black Templar, Crimson Fists, as well include things like Blood Ravens and the Forge World Chapters.

Edit: Next 3 years? Geeze I don't have the foresight to plan that mess out that far ahead and get what I want done quickly.

My totally imperfect plan that I would personally enjoy a lot : D
A large portion of the books contain multiple factions that do not all have to ally well.

year 1

Jan: New Edition + Temporary online conversion
I can do this :\ , its not that hard just implement the FAQ, make piloted "monsters" vehicles, fix vehicle rules, use the 5th edition wfb magic system, nerf the hell out off all now offending high power things things and remove all bonuses from all formations / meta detachments.
Feb: Codex Imperial Fist + loyalist and non loyalist succesor chapters
March: Codex denizen of Commorragh
inlcuding Dark eldar and some exotic pit fighters who have better ally options with other races.

April: Supplement: Make your own fauna, including cool rules for mounts, mutants rabble's and tyranid monsters.
May: Codex: CSM ( This invalidates all Supplements at once and stops the madness)
Contains rules for all the founding chapters that went chaos + all successors ( including loyalists) and the generic cool stuff of CSM with daemon engines, etc.
Jun: Codex Tyranids

jul: Supplement. Make your own vehicles, alternative options for all popular vehicles and a huge park on kustom ork vehicles
aug: Codex Salamanders + loyalist and non loyalist successor chapters.
Sept: Codex Orks

Oct: Codex: imperial guard
Nov: Codex: Blood angels + loyal and non loyal successors
Dec: Codex:Tau

Year 2
Jan: New starters set ( alpha legion vs dark angels ) including all the faq's and Updated rules + Updated Temporary online conversion
Feb: Codex dark angels + all successors
March: Codex Alpha legion

April: Supplement: Make your own mercenaries including tons of strange alien races. + Lone heroes such as assasins, cypher and all other sorts of cool wandering heroes.
May: Codex Raven guard + all succesor chapters
jun: Codex: rogue traders

Jul: Supplements battles in hostile enviroments, including a huge part on the warp
august: Codex Grey knights
Sept: Codex Daemons does also include rules for Legion of the Damned and a few eldar avatar like beings. Khorne daemonkin does no longer exist.

Oct: Supplement ancient artifacts, including a huge section xenos and warp related stuff. This is basicly an additional magic item tome and lots of cool grave robber missions.
Nov: Codex: Relictors
Dec: Codex: Necrons

Year 3
Jan: New starters set ( Eldar vs Iron hands ) including all the faq's and Updated rules + Updated Temporary online conversion
Feb: Codex Iron hands + all successors
March: Codex Craftworld eldar

April: Supplement: Make your own civilians ilcuding mining operations, cults and dino riding eldar.
May: Codex white scars + all succesor chapters
jun: Codex: Gene stealers

Jul: Codex Ultra marines + all successors
august: Codex admech ( includes skitarii and knights)
Sept: Codex Harlequins.

Oct: Supplement for battles on space ships, including rules for space shuttles and boarding options.
Nov: Codex: Inquisition
Dec: Codex: Space wulfs.

Burn everything. Then set the entire concept of formations/meta-formation detachments on fire and bury it. Define absolute hard limits on what is and isn't going in the core rules, fix a standard to work with rather than shaking up the foundation with a new edition every so often, and nail down clean hard definitions on line of sight and terrain. Release a core rulebook alongside nine/ten multi-list core faction books in a model-less release at the same time. Flip off the executives who insisted that we need a new book once a month and spend the next year or so on model releases (focusing on replacing ancient kits, no non-Flyer vehicles have been updated in almost a decade now) and public testing/cleanup of the core books. Release revised core books/army books. Then put all armies on a rotation by which there will be new stuff on a regular cycle, plan a series of supplements focused on a segment of the army, and release campaign books with supplemental material for 2-3 forces every two months with a mechanism in place for cleanup/patch releases.

Faction books:
Space Marines: SM list. Provision for Chapter Serfs. Supplements for all nine First Founding Chapters plus the BT to begin.
Imperial Guard: Core list. Variant alternate-doctrine lists (trench warfare, airborne assault, recon/cav, possibly Navy, PDF). Supplements for major/iconic planets and anyone who's got specific models first (Cadia, Catachan, Krieg, Elysia, Tallarn, Mordia, Armageddon, Valhalla, Vostroya).
Minor Imperial Forces. Inquisition, Assassinorium, GK, Deathwatch, Sisters, Ecclesiarchy. Auxiliaries mechanism for farming off small forces from here into other books. Supplements emphasizing the Ordos Xenos, Malleus, and Hereticus. Secondary priority on the rotation.
Chaos. Marines, Daemons, Cultists, Mutants. Supplements focus around the nine Traitor Legions but aren't exclusively them, they'd provide stuff for the Daemons/cultists/mutants that operate in the same way they do (e.g. Alpha Legion would have insurgency/Marines commanding cultists/summoning content, World Eaters would have more general Khornate content, et cetera).
Mechanicum. Tentative. Potentially a core book or split up to stick into minor Imperial and into Chaos. Martian cult core list and Dark Mechanicum core list. Supplements emphasizing different subsects as described in 30k (Ordo Reductor, Auxilia Myrmidon, Macrotechnica, et cetera), supplements emphasizing the major heresies of the Dark Mechanicum (xenotech, forbidden archaeotech, AI, possession).
Eldar. Craftworld, Dark, Corsair, Harlequin, Exodite. Supplements expanding generally on Corsair/Harlequin or digging into specific aspects of the others (core Craftworlds and Cabal/Cult/Coven to start with).
Orks. One core list. Supplements at least generally philosophically associated with one of the major Clans, Grot Rebel supplement for silliness value.
Necrons. One core list. Supplements digging into Flayer/Destroyer Cult, Cryptek, and Triarch forces.
Tau. Intertwined Tau and alien auxiliary lists. Supplements for Kroot, Vespid, Gue'la, and Demiurg, Farsight, and a few extra distinctive elements.
Tyranids. Invasion fleet, explorator/vanguard fleet, Genestealer Cult lists. Supplements emphasizing environmental adaption.

Seventy-odd supplements should keep content flowing for another three years or so.

So to start off, I'd remove all supplements from the game. Do that day one. Codexes now come as either digital or 3 ring binder editions so when rules are changed you can just replace the new pages.Then:

Jan 1: Codex Space Marines. Combines all the chapters into one book, with rules and models for all the 9 loyal legion chapters and their successors

Feb 1: Codex Chaos. Contains all the Chaos armies in one book, as well as individual rules and models for the 9 traitor legions

Mar 1: Codex Orks

Apr 1: Codex Necrons

May 1: Codex Eldar. Has DE and the dinosaur Eldar, forget their name

Jun 1: Codex Imperium. Contains the guard, sisters, assassin's, etc.

July: Codex Tyranid. Has the cults in it as well

Aug: Codex Tau. Has rules for many mercenary factions

Sep: 8th edition

The rest of the months are new updates to fix any rules imbalances that have come up

I'd delay all publications for two years and have one team focussed on faqs and data sheets for new models. I'd spend yr1 reestablishing the core mechanics of the game and try to keep it as unambiguous as possible. Then develop the special rules, psychic phase etc. Yr 2 I'd divide the team and write all the codices simultaneously so that they could be playtested against each other, and ensure balance. After that, rather than release new editions, I'd focus on campaign releases that included new rules for new models, new formations, new buildings etc. Once every couple of years I'd re-release codices with the additional datasheets that had been added since the last one.

That might be one of the sanest options out there. But with an obvious downside. How would you handle sales & the flow / hype in the first two years with no releases ?

 oldzoggy wrote:
That might be one of the sanest options out there. But with an obvious downside. How would you handle sales & the flow / hype in the first two years with no releases ?

Campaign supplements and new models. I'd probably keep the customer base in the loop and offer out beta rules for community playtesting and feedback to maintain interest in the mean time.

 JamesY wrote:

 oldzoggy wrote:
That might be one of the sanest options out there. But with an obvious downside. How would you handle sales & the flow / hype in the first two years with no releases ?

Campaign supplements and new models. I'd probably keep the customer base in the loop and offer out beta rules for community playtesting and feedback to maintain interest in the mean time.

Keeping customers in the loop about stuff like this would honestly be the best thing GW could do

I would hire a ceritan friend to create a completly new game system. The current one has way too many rules, and far too litle depth. Right now some rules serve no purpose other than to hinder other rules.

Step 0: burn the current edition of 40K in a dumpster fire outside GW HQ

Jan: New edition of 40K, having spent the previous year playtesting it and planning out the upcoming codexes. There would be a free rules version available with stripped down army lists for folks to use until each codex comes out. Formations, Flyers and Superheavies/Lords of War would be noticeably absent from the initial offering.

Feb: Loyalist Marines. Contains rules for all the loyal chapters and guidelines for making your own. Each chapter has at least 2 special units available only to them (some overlap between chapters). Free downloadable vs. marine campaign, as marines are called in to break a stalemate on a beseiged imperial planet.

Mar: Chaos. Contains rules for renegade chapters and legions, as well as Chaos Daemons. Themed rules for specific legions or worship of a Chaos power, as well as "Chaos united". Free downloadable vs. Chaos campaign, following a cultist overthrow of a world.

Apr: Eldar. Contains rules for Craftworld, Exodite and Raiders and how to differentiate them both in unit content and mission selection. Also covers Dark Eldar and Harlequins. Say goodbye to the Wraithknight. Free downloadable vs. Eldar campaign, in which the Eldar attempt to recapture a desecrated maiden world.

May: Orks. Contain rules for the various klans and updates to ork teknology that makes troops and their strange vehicles colorful and deadly. Free downloadable vs. Ork campaign, following a planetary Waaagh! conquest.

June: Imperial Guard. Contains rules for the various guard armies of the empire, including units unique to the various armies. No sign of the baneblade and its variants for now. Free downloadable vs. Imperial Guard, defending a planet from enemy assault.

July: Tyranids. Contains rules for invading tendrils, galactic remnants and genestealer cults. Free downloadable vs. Tyranids, as a planet comes under Tyranid assault.

August: Necrons. The unliving return, with a mix of old and new factions. For now, the C'tan sleep. Free downloadable vs. Necrons campaign, as a tomb world awakens underfoot.

September: Tau. Covering Tau, Farsight Enclaves and the Tau auxiliaries. Actually split out some units as unique between homeworld Tau and the Enclaves, so that it's more than a red paint job that separates them. Goodbye Stormsurge, and you won't see more than one Riptide - or Ghostkeel - on the battlefield at a time. Free downloadable vs. Tau campaign, as the Tau seek to expand the greater good - whether through force or coercion.

October: Imperial Agents. Covering Sisters of Battle, Assassins, Deathwatch, Legion of the Damned, Grey Knights (whittled down to Paladins and maybe the Dreadknight), Inquisition, Custodes and Sisters of Silence. Free downloadable supplement - Kill Team rules and a campaign vs. Sisters of Battle as the Imperial church moves in to reclaim a lost Imperial world.

November: Adeptus Mechanicus. Covering Skitarii, Cult Mechanicus and new faction Robotica Fraternis (cyborgs and robots). Free downloadable campaign vs. AM as the faction seeks to reclaim a lost Forge World and its secrets.

December: Epic! Return of the Epic ruleset in 15mm scale rules. Also includes Armageddon level 40K rules for Flyers, Superheavies, Titans and the like. Free downloadable Epic campaign and a 40K vs. Superheavy/Titan campaign, where troops muster to assault a Factory World and prevent the completion/activation of a Superheavy/Titan.

Thats an interesting start and a solid foundation for the game, what are you planning to publish in the next 2 years building on this foundation ?

Here we go. I'll even try to do this without squatting anyone's $100 models.

January - Every member of rules writing team fired after writing a provisional 8th edition, a softback given out for free in all GW stores. Some simplified rules, and a request for people to submit ideas on the GW site. Note. 7th edition will remain the "official" edition for the transition period. Replace rules writer's team with more competent people.

February - After playtesting SIGNIFICANTLY, release new version of new edition in PDF format on the website, with a note that this is not the final version. PDF includes provisional rules for armies.

March - Final version of 8th edition in hardback and softback format. Sell softback "Gamer's Edition" with minimal fluff and art for $15-20, and hardback "Collector's Edition" with current amount of art and fluff for $50 or so.
8th edition will merge elements from AoS and 40k. Alternate activation in the Assault/Shooting phase, and MC degredation after taking wounds. Removal of bloated and redundant special rules, and simplification of the psychic phase. All formations, from now on, will have a native points cost to add to the combined unit total, like old Apocalypse formations and AoS Battalions. Work begins on writing all new Codices, with seperate teams for each Codex who meet regularly for balance purposes.

NOTE - All Codices are rewritten for balance, and use the old art instead of the soulless pictures of models in stock positions of today. Also, let's reintroduce "Only X of this model per Y points". All Dataslates are rolled into codices.

April - Codex: Space Marines. Includes rules for Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Vanilla Marines, Space Wolves, and all SM supplements, including Angels Of Death. Has a Gamer's Edition for $25, and Collector's Edition for $60. Includes MFDs for all Space Marine first founding chapters.

NOTE: All Codexes except Necrons, Tyranid and Orks cost the same as Space Marines. Crons, Nids, and Orks are $10 cheaper.

May - Codex: Chaos. Includes rules for Chaos Space Marines and Chaos Daemons, and all Chaos supplements including Traitor's Hate and Traitor Legions. Khorne Daemonkin and Thousand Sons are replaced by the native legion and god-specific rules. MFD for all legions.

June - Codex: Eldar. Includes rules for Craftworlds, Harlequins, Dark Eldar. Iyanden and Covens are squatted because we don't need those anyway. "Craftworld Tactics" like the ones in Doom Of Mymeara. One MFD per faction.

July - Codex: Orks. Includes rules for Orks (duh) and rolls in all supplements. "Clan Tactics" are included, with FOC edits to make, say, Warbikes troops for Speed Freaks.

August - Codex: Tau. Includes rules for Tau, Farsight Enclaves, and Kroot. MFD for each, with some shared formations.

September - Codex: Tyranids. Includes rules for Tyranids, Genestealer Cults, and all supplements.

October - Codex: Imperial Guard. Includes rules for Guard, including Armored Company, all supplements, and whatever Guard things I am inevitably forgetting.

November - Codex: Imperial Agents. Includes Deathwatch (reduced to just kill-teams and Watch Masters), Grey Knights (reduced to Dreadknights, PAGKs, Paladins, and whatever their HQ is), a merged-together AdMech book, Inquisition, Sisters of Battle, and whatever other stuff is in the Imperial Agents book.

December - Codex: Necrons. Not much to say here.

The Future - All rules will be in the box for any models released post-codex. GW begins advertising properly. Price cuts for overpriced boxes such as GSC Acolytes, AdMech Ironstriders, and Mek Gunz.

 oldzoggy wrote:
Thats an interesting start and a solid foundation for the game, what are you planning to publish in the next 2 years building on this foundation ?

For the next few years, I'd probably do a book that contains a handful of new models, a campaign and a mini-game (either a new game or supplements to past). Roll the new models into the digital codexes and offer a year-end "Codex Apocrapha" that combines the year's models into a single book. Include stats for new models in the box they come with. I would be pushing for folks to go digital with the codexes - possibly a subscription model, so they could be kept up to date with the new models; you wouldn't lose old purchases, but it'd be a small fee (maybe $.50 a model sheet) for new models.

Every three to six months roll out a board/boxed game with priority of it working with current 40K.

2nd year, Jan: Battlefleet Gothic
2nd year, April: Starship Assault - a mix of Space Hulk/Space Crusade with boarding action battles and other void-based combat (boxed set: Space Hulk, revised Space Crusade)
2nd year, July: Death from the Skies/Stormcloud Assault - optional rules (that work) for air battles as a minigame that can be played either separately from a 40K/Epic game or as part of a regular 40K battle (boxed set: Stormcloud Assault starter set (1/200 scale minis))
2nd year, October: Renegade Knight - an expanded rule system for fighting with ONLY superheavies, knights, titans and the like - can be used as a game all its own or as a minigame within a larger 40K battle (boxed set: Adeptus Titanicus )
3rd year, Jan: Planetstrike - utilizing Mighty Empire like tiles, add a campaign (board)game that includes all levels of war, from arrival through planetary assault to final victory. Have rules for quick resolution, Epic-scale battles or all-out 40K battles (boxed set:
3rd year, April: Lost Patrol - revised version of the game that allows BALANCED solo or co-operative play against an enemy force (either run by another person or AI); contains tabletop AI for each faction and a digital app to run the opponents (boxed Set: revised Lost Patrol)
3rd year, July: Cities of Death - rules for city/urban warfare and a campaign (boxed set: various 12" X 12" city tiles usable in 40K, city ruins [both using army's design asthetic] and Kill Team sized city-fighting geared army - one starter set and one add-on set per faction)
3rd year, October: Era of Decline - Information and full campaigns for running 40K battles in different periods of times, from the Great Crusade through the Heresy, the Time of Apostasy and the arrival of the first Hive Fleets, fighting at the forefront of the 3rd Tau Expansion to the Time of Ending - and Black Library scenarios drawn from Eldrad Ulthran's visions of what lay beyond the Death of the Emperor. (boxed set: Emperor's Crusade [vs. Xenos], Battle of Emperor's Gate [Heresy, on Earth], Deathwatch: Vengeance [vs. Chaos, after the death of the Emperor])

I disagree entirely on removing formations. Are they currently implemented badly yes, but people who just hate formations because they're old school i can't get on board with. CADs are boring, allow for far less flexibility, far less fluffy lists, far less variety.

Formations allow you to field armies that plays how the lore reads when they're well written. They also allow new rules to come out that aren't total codex re-writes to splash in new ways to play armies. This is good from a business perspective and also from a gamer perspective, since they don't need to come up with an excuse to rewrite a codex to sell a book.

What needs to happen is everything needs to go formations. Every army get's 1-2 decurian style detachments, then a list of several cores and a whole slew of formations. And instead of the detachment listing "this is core, this is aux" let the formation dictate if it's core or aux so that we don't have this thing where a detachment comes out, then a month later new formations come out but they can't really slot into the decurian because it's already been set in stone.

Then GW could over time release these campaign or suppliment style books that they randomly go through splurts off, they'd have a few formations for several races and those would be backwards compatable with the armies existing decurian. We'd end up with a lot more choice in our list building, a lot more ways to insert neat rules and new styles of armies, without breaking, contradicting, or being incompatable with existing army rules.

Danny slag wrote:
What needs to happen is everything needs to go formations. Every army get's 1-2 decurian style detachments, then a list of several cores and a whole slew of formations. And instead of the detachment listing "this is core, this is aux" let the formation dictate if it's core or aux so that we don't have this thing where a detachment comes out, then a month later new formations come out but they can't really slot into the decurian because it's already been set in stone.

Sorry, but nope.

Formations would be fine as long as they forced you to pay for everything you're getting. This is certainly not the case right now in 40k, where some armies are getting insane bonuses left and right in exchange of nothing.

Formations as currently implemented need to be chased down, impaled with extreme prejudice and burned to death.

CAD is fine as long as you allow variations to spice it up a bit, like CSM 3.5 did.

Danny slag wrote:
but people who just hate formations because they're old school i can't get on board with. CADs are boring, allow for far less flexibility, far less fluffy lists, far less variety.

Nope not at all. I don't like free bonuses, they create an inherent unbalance in point cost. I would be perfectly fine with most formations without the bonuses.
But we are getting off topic here. Pls do discuss the horrors / merits of formations somewhere else.

 Korinov wrote:

Danny slag wrote:
What needs to happen is everything needs to go formations. Every army get's 1-2 decurian style detachments, then a list of several cores and a whole slew of formations. And instead of the detachment listing "this is core, this is aux" let the formation dictate if it's core or aux so that we don't have this thing where a detachment comes out, then a month later new formations come out but they can't really slot into the decurian because it's already been set in stone.

Sorry, but nope.

Formations would be fine as long as they forced you to pay for everything you're getting. This is certainly not the case right now in 40k, where some armies are getting insane bonuses left and right in exchange of nothing.

Formations as currently implemented need to be chased down, impaled with extreme prejudice and burned to death.

CAD is fine as long as you allow variations to spice it up a bit, like CSM 3.5 did.

as i said Are they currently implemented badly yes some formations are implemented badly, mainly space marines. But how many give free stuff really? Space marines and one skitarri?

You're basically like the person who says "government is bad" because your government is implementing bad laws and is a mess, so you ascribe that to the entire concept of governing.

It's not the formation system that's the issue, and you don't point to any inherent problems with formation, you just point to some that are imbalanced. But 40k rules are all in general horrible on balance, that has nothing to do with formations, you think CADs are balanced across the armies?

You're doing what some people do where you decrying what is actually a pretty inventive and creative way to introduce new rules, specialized armies, fluffy rules, and give many more options for viable and interesteing play because you don't like how some formations were implemented, or are old school and just want the boring CADs because, that's how it was done in the past. CADs force many armies to shove into a force org that doesn't reflect at all how the army is described in lore. Best example, dark eldar. In no universe should dark eldar forces be comprised similarly to space marines.

and on top of that if you want to go with a theme of a particular subset of an army, formations are a breath of fresh air for being able to do that when a CAD couldn't. Should all ork armies play the exact same? What if you want to play a speed cult, or a mek force? Formations are the kind of thing that can allow people do do that. not everyone wants to play a bland samey army to everyone else with the same codex.


@oldzoggy, i'm not sure how this is off topic? The request was for what you would do if you were in charge of rules, formations are a rule system, they're one I think is a great idea if done correctly, which sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't like all GW rules.
And what do you mean free bonuses? you're paying points for the units, is Atsknf free? does it have an exact point cost? how do you define an amorpheos this rule cost points this rule doesn't on every unit? If a unit didn't have a rule then did in a new codex, do you forever now call that rule 'free' because they gained it during a codex rewrite? That's all a formation is, a new rule that you can get if you build that particular formation in a specific way.

jan - SIsters codex.
feb - Imperial guard codex
march - Tyranid codex
april - Ork codex
may - Chaos codex (time to rewrap demons and marines into one book, its silly it was ever split)
june - Blood Angels codex.
july - Dark Eldar codex.
aug - Necron Codex.
sept - Grey Knights codex
oct - Tau codex
nov - Eldar codex
dec - Marine Codex.

Reasoning. The older codexs and those in most need of a update are first. Big three are saved because they will be reworked to the level of previous releases and holiday revenue.