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Ive played 40k for years.

Im generally frustrated, and the issue isnt new. I think that because ive played the game so long, that the problem has become more and more frustrating.

It seems that whenever I go to tournaments, the same generic armies are played. Grey Knights, Blood Angels, Space Wolves.

There are more or less 14 armies in 40k, and I think all of them are fascinating, and I would like to play against all of them. BUT, I cant. Why?

I think the general reason people dont play all 14 armies, is that all 14 armies arnt competitive, OR, all 14 armies arnt as easy to play.

I look at the armies currently, CSM, Eldar, Necrons, Orcs, SoB, Tau, Tyranids. Im aware that necrons are comming out soon, and Im aware that SoB currently have a new WD Dex and mabe have new models. Regardless, that leaves CSM, Eldar, Necrons, Orcs, Tyranids, and TAU. 6 miniature ranges that need to be re-done.

Why does GW update their ranges so slowly? Why arnt all armies up to date? Why does GW only update 1-2 40k armies per year? Wouldnt the entire game be more fun if you had an equal chance to play all 14 armies, instead of the same old MEQ armies?

All armies aren't quite created equal, but you see a lot of Blood Angels and Grey Knights armies at tournaments since they're newer armies. What are the 6 ranges that need to be redone in your opinion?

GW doesn't update everything all at once because money. They aren't an infinite well of cash and resources.

Smitty0305 wrote:Ive played 40k for years.

Im generally frustrated, and the issue isnt new. I think that because ive played the game so long, that the problem has become more and more frustrating.

It seems that whenever I go to tournaments, the same generic armies are played. Grey Knights, Blood Angels, Space Wolves.

There are more or less 14 armies in 40k, and I think all of them are fascinating, and I would like to play against all of them. BUT, I cant. Why?

I think the general reason people dont play all 14 armies, is that all 14 armies arnt competitive, OR, all 14 armies arnt as easy to play.

I look at the armies currently, CSM, Eldar, Necrons, Orcs, SoB, Tau, Tyranids. Im aware that necrons are comming out soon, and Im aware that SoB currently have a new WD Dex and mabe have new models. Regardless, that leaves CSM, Eldar, Necrons, Orcs, Tyranids, and TAU. 6 miniature ranges that need to be re-done.

Why does GW update their ranges so slowly? Why arnt all armies up to date? Why does GW only update 1-2 40k armies per year? Wouldnt the entire game be more fun if you had an equal chance to play all 14 armies, instead of the same old MEQ armies?

GK, SW, BA and IG are currently the strongest armies. (Though GK isn't as strong as the others)
Orks are fine, Necrons are being re-done, Tyranids admittedly have half their range missing, CSM are fine for minis AFAIK as are Tau, Eldar could use a miniatures update and probably a codex update.
They update the ranges slwoly because it takes a few months to do a codex (Or so i'm told) and they need to keep WHFB updated as well.
Not all armies are up to date because it takes a while to get round to them. The game would be more fun if everything as balanced and fair but it isn't so go figure...
Incidentally the hobby isn't about just winning. I have won very few games with my SW army for instance but i refuse to change the list because i love it.

It takes time, even or one might say especially in digital sculpting, to make new models. That's part of the reason updates are so slow since that is the monetary impetus for new releases. Part is that GW also has to oversee it's other popular line WHFB, whilst remaining oblivious to the player base of every other game they have produced. Truth be told itd be nice if the GW team split the studio to dedicated WHFB and 40k and release both more often. But then we would all run out of money and GW would fail so we have to put up with our trickled out releases.

Though is it too much to ask that by the next edition 6th that all armies have been done to at least 5th ed standards

I understand your frustration; I too have been playing for years and have seen the power creep up and down. The problem comes from the design studio. What happens is when they are ready to develop a new book the head of the studio tells the guys here are the option and he asks for proposals. The designers develop proposals and the studio heads pick what gets done based on what proposal they like best. Despite what people think there is no set schedule to get everything done by the next edition, it just depends on what the current studio staff wants to do. It’s a dumb way to run a business, but it is what we are stuck with. It would be nicer to see a more diverse showing at tournaments and pick up games instead of GK, GK, GK, SW, SW, BA, SW, Marines, ect, but that life.

They are just now updating Necrons and before them DE, both from 3e. You can throw BA in there too since a WD codex for a chapter that has been in 40k since RT is ridiculous, but I digress. No matter what they SAID I never believed GW would bring every codex up to 5e.

Lack of updates doesn't reduce the chances of my buddies playing an army; its more their single-minded interest in one army's aspect.

Personally, I love guard; I played them in 4th, and when I came back to 40k, I didn't even know they got an update or were tournament worthy; I just like guard!

My buddy loves nids, despite losing all the time; he cant get enough of their ways (must be from all the starcraft he played... to a SC player, nids are zerg on steroids after all).

Alot of people complain about the Eldar codex, but I don't think it's that bad tbh, there's still quite a few effective builds in there. Sure, an update would be nice, but I'd rather it was updated early into 6th ed rather than GW rushing out a 5th ed codex now, that way it'll be written with 6th ed in mind and it'll be much better. Besides, Necrons, Tau and CSM need it more than us.

As for GW not updating quickly, they update what's popular, it's as simple as that. Hence why there are a tonne of marine codexes and Necrons haven't been touched for years. Aside from releasing weekly FAQs for every army (which would be stupid), what can you do?

Yea I have a 10,000 point Eldar Army. Ive played in tourneys and GT's over the past years including many this year.

I just get really frustrated with only a handful of armies being played, when the game has such a large variety.

I dont understand why GW can only update 2 40k armies a year, why cant they do 3-5? That would fix the problem compleatly.

JamesMclaren123 wrote:Though is it too much to ask that by the next edition 6th that all armies have been done to at least 5th ed standards

This is probably the one and only reason that SoB got a new "codex" at all, if you want to call a couple pages spread over two issues of WD, hastily written together in a single weekend, that.

I think GW even "promised" that every army would get a 5E update before 6E comes out. Problem is just that this update may not be what people are hoping for. That said, it at least looks like Necrons will get a real book, so hey.

I think it has to do with money and that GW wants to sell models. If they release more than 2 codices a year it might be hard to sell new shinier models for all of us to buy. It takes time to sculpt the models and it also costs money.

That said, new Codices don't necessarily mean new models. In fact, I think that is actually the exception.

Perhaps it is that the design team is deliberately kept relatively small, which brings the important advantage of better coordination and overview - with the downside that there's less manpower for regular rules updates. So GW has to choose. And the winners are the armies that sell the most models.

In a way, it's only democratic - doesn't make the minorities feel any better, of course, and I think even Marine players would like to play against other armies more often, too.