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For something as important as the rulebook I think thre might be a few more people involved

Lol. The web page title at the moment reads; Alessio Cavatore has left GW | Causing marital strife since 1997.

Probably fairly accurate

Noisy_Marine wrote:

Kroothawk wrote:Alessio was GW's lead rules designer from Feb. 2004-Feb. 2008, head of LOTR game for a long time and wrote several army books in person.

Maybe he realized that with Mat Ward writing 8th edition Warhammer rules (if that rumour is true), rules editing is not a part-time job anymore

Slight OT:

Seriously? Why is it they let the new guys re-write entire rules systems? What the feth is the logic behind that?

A new broom sweeps clean.

I don't see it working in the case of GW, though. A total redesign of any core game would be a massive upheaval for the entire business. There hasn't been any fundamental design change in any edition, things get tinkered with. Dice roll modifiers have been in and out before, opportunity fire went and in came Run, etc. The basics like UGO-IGO have not been touched.

sexiest_hero wrote:Good, that bastard ruined my Chaos space marines, then stripped my Necromancer lords from my VC and made them a broken army...until DE and Daemons. Oh and he made sure 40k daemons were a horrible army to try and pick up. To be fair I do love 5th edition, and KP more than VP

Pretty sure you're thinking of Gav Thorpe not Alessio. I have to admit while I bitched about some of Alessio's rules decisions at the time (chariots being included in challenges, mounts inheriting rider psychology and a few others) he was pretty good by GW standards.

If it's true that Mat Ward is writing 8th it really means the company is out of creative talent and they are scrapping the bottom of the barrel. His work on WotR was a mess and he's responsible for the worst Fantasy books this edition. I already have friends saying they are going to quit if this ends up being a typical Ward hackjob and that'll mean I'll probably have to quit too due to lack of games...

Noisy_Marine wrote:Slight OT:

Seriously? Why is it they let the new guys re-write entire rules systems? What the feth is the logic behind that?

I'm sure it's not a rewrite of the entire rules system. Also I find it amusing that people refer to messers Ward et al. as the new guys. I remember when Alesso was new, I'm sure Jervis was new too once but I guess I didn't notice it then. I was probably busy playing Chainsaw Warrior.

Matt Ward is also responsible for the recent Ultramarine and Blood Angel codexs. If the Fantasy 8ed rumors are true, movement is now simpified to 40k levels and charge distance is random (2d6).

I'm trying to work out exactly what boardgames did to Ward to make him hate them so much. I'm guessing they ran over his dog while simultaneously abusing him as a child.

Well Mat Ward isn't new. He was around to help with the 6th edition Wood Elves book. The problem is he's massively incompetent regarding game design and his name on a book is like a canary for bad rules gas in the mine of Warhammer.

The thing I always found odd about Alessio was that he was a regular tournament player (with, surprisingly, a reputation for a 'WAAC' mentality) before working for GW.

I wonder whether he wanted to try and fix the game but was prevented from doing so? I'd love to find out why he left, but doubtless unfounded rumours will circulate a la Andy Chambers for a long time to come...

I heard Alessio was fired because he wanted to grow a twirly Italian mustache, but it violated GW's grooming standard. It was an irreconcilable difference.

I liked his Fantasy work better than his 40k stuff.

His fantasy work was probably better because that's what he used to play competitively. He understood much more of the intricacies.

Here comes the new guy.... same as the old guy.


Get ready to get fooled again.


Alessio leaving is only part of the fix. Seeing that he was a minor back up singer, its news that is interesting. He wasn't in charge of anything special, and he seemed to have the reverse midas touch when it came to the books that he did have anything to do with.

Hopefully it will mean that they bring someone in who actually knows what they are doing, before they are asked to rip up an army and regurgitate it into gak, like this guy was known for. (Chaos ands Undead)

Happy dance on one hand, but he isn't really going anywhere, seeing as he's got his own company, he will probibly be over here soon enough to show off his new lickies and chewies.

So long, I guess.

Not that bothered myself, I can't think of any great Alessio codexes/army books off the top of my head and not wanting to be rude about his grasp of English, but what was going on with some of his names for magic items? e.g. In the previous Skaven book - "Caution Shield". It always sounded like he wrote it in Italian and something was getting lost in translation.

This is more of a Gav Thorpe departure rather than an Andy Chambers one.

I have come to realize that the designers are shackled by the Bean Counters and have been for a very long time.

Most of the rules that GW guys have worked on outside of the 40K/WHFB realm are pretty good.
Warhammer Ancient Battles and Warmaster Ancients are respected among historical gamers.
All of the short-term games (Mordheim, Necro, BloodBowl, etc) are pretty solid games as well.

But when it comes to the main lines, all they can do is what they are allowed to do.
They can no longer obsolete army books at edition change.
They need to add expensive new models as viable army choices.
They have to remove certain items from an army because some suit thinks they can make a new army.

It is a job with little upside.
Either you hit a home run, or everything you touch is garbage.
At least that's what the internet tells me.

Fair play to him, any job for 12 years is massive. I get bored every 2 years and need to move about. The Shurro Chess thing looks awful btw, saw it at Salute this weekend. they could only get children interested. THERE IS NOTHING TO PAINT!



Anyway, good luck to him and GW, I am sure they'll find someone to replace him.

I think it's hilarious that when any named person at GW leaves people assume it's because they got pissed off.

12 years people. Maybe he just wanted something different.

PanamaG wrote:I think it's hilarious that when any named person at GW leaves people assume it's because they got pissed off.

12 years people. Maybe he just wanted something different.

Because as fans, they can't imagine anyone wanting to do anything else.

I can bet that dealing with the suits when you want to be creative is also wearing.

Maybe since he no longer works for gw, he might leak some juicy stuff. Oh, and I like Matt Ward's SM and the new Blood Angel codex. Though the fact that gw lost a rules editor is not surprising at all. I was shocked they even had one.

P.s. For gods sake man, where is the nid FAQ!! Two more weeks left tell 'Ard Boys!!

Khornholio wrote:Holy Feth! The sky is falling! I just hope they don't move some suits from finance into game design....

No, the suits have a full time job to keep the profit low and the number of customers at a minimum

Grot 6 wrote:Seeing that he was a minor back up singer, its news that is interesting. He wasn't in charge of anything special, (...)

Alessio Cavatore:

GW Games Designer Febr. 1998- Febr. 2001

Head of the Lord of the Rings game system Febr. 2001- Febr. 2004

GW Lead Rules Designer Febr. 2004- Febr. 2008 (funny fact: Vampire army book 1. March 2008, Daemons of Chaos army book by Matt Ward: May 2008)

I wouldn't call that a minor back up singer not in charge of anything special.

He will be missed. He was always polite and helpful at games day. Regardless of not you think he was good or bad for the hobby, there was one call he got absolutely spot on. In the previous skaven book he left out the doomwheel, seeing it for the uber-cheesy parody that it is.

Last sighted on Saturday 24th April at Salute '10.

Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:He will be missed. He was always polite and helpful at games day. Regardless of not you think he was good or bad for the hobby, there was one call he got absolutely spot on. In the previous skaven book he left out the doomwheel, seeing it for the uber-cheesy parody that it is.

But gave us the "Ratling Gun" instead? I know which uber cheesy parody I prefer... Bring on the giant hamster wheel of death

Ixquic wrote:If it's true that Mat Ward is writing 8th it really means the company is out of creative talent and they are scrapping the bottom of the barrel. His work on WotR was a mess ...

Actually the rules and system are quite good. The problem lies in the more subtle areas with WotR that seemed very rushed after the fact. Lots of niggling questions that can be interpreted equally either way.

But since WotR was from scratch and WHFB has a long lineage of rules to work from, I think WHFB should be okay.

Flashman wrote:

Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:He will be missed. He was always polite and helpful at games day. Regardless of not you think he was good or bad for the hobby, there was one call he got absolutely spot on. In the previous skaven book he left out the doomwheel, seeing it for the uber-cheesy parody that it is.

But gave us the "Ratling Gun" instead? I know which uber cheesy parody I prefer... Bring on the giant hamster wheel of death

VERY good point - his version of the Skaven Army Book was...

...not very nice.

Or fun to play against.

I wish him best of luck, he contributed a lot for GW sucess, thats a fact, and even if some projects were better than others the man really was one of GW faces.
Some may like, others may detest his work I personally dont have the full scope of his work, although its the end of one long cycle and for that I take my hat to him.

Aside from the name, I thought the ratling gun fitted in very well with the skaven background. They are fiendish inventors, and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that they captured empire technology and enhanced it. But the doomwheel...

Man, I'm sorry to see him go. I mean, yeah, he produced bad work now and again, but let's face it, with 12 years in one job that's gonna be unavoidable. Best of luck to him, say I.

Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:Aside from the name, I thought the ratling gun fitted in very well with the skaven background. They are fiendish inventors, and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that they captured empire technology and enhanced it. But the doomwheel...

It might have been a complaint about the rules, as they could be abused a bit.

Balance wrote:

Do_I_Not_Like_That wrote:Aside from the name, I thought the ratling gun fitted in very well with the skaven background. They are fiendish inventors, and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that they captured empire technology and enhanced it. But the doomwheel...

It might have been a complaint about the rules, as they could be abused a bit.

Yeah, that is the complaint.

You should have had to declare your dice BEFORE rolling, as opposed to the keep rollin' 'til you drop method he went with...

Did anyone else realize that the name of their chess game is the same as Leela from Futurama's first name?

Kanluwen wrote:Did anyone else realize that the name of their chess game is the same as Leela from Futurama's first name?

Yes, because Turanga(Leela's first name) is the exact same word as Shuuro.

Platuan4th wrote:Yes, because Turanga(Leela's first name) is the exact same word as Shuuro.

Proof!