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I admit I dropped out of the 40k circut for awhile, and I am not really caught up on all the fluff, but it seems to me that a lot of new alien races or factions were developed during 3rd edition, and if anything, have either shrunk in number or just hovered around that number since then. If memory serves me correct, we had a codex for:

Space Marines
Blood Angels/Dark Angels
Space Wolves
Assassins
Witch Hunters
Daemon Hunters
Imperial Guard
Orks
Eldar
Tau
Necrons
Chaos (There might have been two released for Chaos)
Tyranids
Dark Eldar
Sisters of Battle

Thats 15! All released during 3rd edition for 3rd edition. I know not all of these sold well, and I know some just got released in digital form, but it just seems like GW has streamlined things so much that its kind of gotten... boring. Not only are we in a cycle of a new edition every few years, but we can expect only the same armies.

Remember the Zoats? I loved those guys back in RT days. I wonder why they were never given their own codex. I dont know if the creative team has suffered too much brain drain over the years, or GW is just playing it safe creating models that have survived the cut over the years. Its a shame though, as I am realizing that in the past, GW seemed to be more creative and provided a lot of surprises, but now, seem rather predictable, even if the quality has gone surpassed anything released previously.

Do you guys want a new race? Or are you fine with the way things are?

They cant keep balance and updates with the races they currently have never mind adding another one.

 carlos13th wrote:
They cant keep balance and updates with the races they currently have never mind adding another one.

LOL

Well it would stil be nice to see one! I think it certainly would be exciting.

Without even considering blance issues, They cant keep up with what they have now. Period. Updated rules (done correctly and written correctly without needing FAQs), and models.
As popular as they are, they should easily be able to hire on staff to help them keep up and design more. Heck, as much as players love the game, many would do it for free or part time in their spare time for peanuts or a discount.

Ask someone like an Ork player if they would be willing to wait for a completely new race to be released before getting their codex. Hrmm...I'm betting they will say "no".

I want hrud battle brothers for IG , they have some very powerful shoting weapons , that rival stuff other races can make.

These!

New races are fun and exciting, but it would only work if GW expands their rules writing team and development team...But from how their acting, I don't see that happening any time soon and I too get the feeling they are over-reaching with the amount of armies they already have.

But it would be neat if GW pulls a card from their Forge World team. Release 'experimental' rules to the public, let us play test them, and we send in the feedback. What-ever new race could be release digital-only just to test the waters with them.

@phatonic

I'm actually working on a homebrew codex that reimagines the squats as controllers for a number of golem-like creatures.

The playstyle is ending up somewhere between Tyranids (Synapse) Eldar (Wraith) and Orks (High S, High T, Low Saves)

KTG17 wrote:
I admit I dropped out of the 40k circut for awhile, and I am not really caught up on all the fluff, but it seems to me that a lot of new alien races or factions were developed during 3rd edition, and if anything, have either shrunk in number or just hovered around that number since then.
Thats 15! All released during 3rd edition for 3rd edition. I know not all of these sold well, and I know some just got released in digital form, but it just seems like GW has streamlined things so much that its kind of gotten... boring. Not only are we in a cycle of a new edition every few years, but we can expect only the same armies.

GW can’t support their current roster of races, even with half of them being variations on a single theme – “Marines with slightly different bling”. Simple fact is, although there are a lot of background races out there, there are any number of reasons to justify why they are not included. GW can’t support an extra range due to logistics/finances/design time. (and considering the talk of them axing a few WFB races, or “reintegrating” them into other codices – they’ve done this with 40k as well – see Black Templars, this seems most likely.) GW don’t see a unique “hook” for other races. Really, If you bring them to the tabletop, they’ll have to act differently from all the other races in order to set them apart, and “justify” them as being their own unique thing. And you can argue that currently, GW have all those bases covered with army “styles”. And maybe they simply see no interest in pushing for “new” things when they have all the currently existing brands.

KTG17 wrote:

Remember the Zoats? I loved those guys back in RT days. I wonder why they were never given their own codex. I dont know if the creative team has suffered too much brain drain over the years, or GW is just playing it safe creating models that have survived the cut over the years. Its a shame though, as I am realizing that in the past, GW seemed to be more creative and provided a lot of surprises, but now, seem rather predictable, even if the quality has gone surpassed anything released previously.

Zoats? You mean those things that ate Zoatibix? I’m sorry bud, but like plenty other silliness in the early days of 40k (squats, rainbow warriors, Tigurius being half-eldar etc) its been retconned/phased out. At the end of the day, they didn’t even have the scope for a codex – being as they were, essentially ambassadors for tyranids, who ate zoatibix (lets reiterate that silliness). GW have given them a nod in a previous codex, with the extermination of an alien race during the Zoroastrian-Attilan wars, but beyond that, they’re a footnote.
I think its less to do with “brain drain”, “playing it safe”, or “survived the cut”, and a lot more to do with getting serious. Remember, 40k was a bit of a joke when it started. It was written by folks that were, essentially a bunch of punks in the ‘80s. It was an amusing, tongue in cheek port of a fantasy game that was, in many ways, a satire of the UK in the ’80s. As “creative” as it was (and I use the term loosely, a lot of their stuff came directly from other sources – Judge Dredd, Dune, Fantasy etc), there was a lot of silliness there in the early days, and the rambling, tongue in cheek, all-over-the-place nature of Rogue Trader reflected that. And that was fine, until somehow it became a success. And they could joke around, they had to be a bit more serious. And so, a lot of the silliness went away. You’ve still got Jokaero and Noise Marines, but a lot of the other stuff got a quiet chat with the Inquisition, and was never heard from again.

KTG17 wrote:

Do you guys want a new race? Or are you fine with the way things are?

I don’t really play 40k any more, so it really doesn’t bother me all that much either way. Regardless of my likings for other races, I just don’t think there is a scope for implementing one right now.

SPACE SKAVEN
that is all.

It's difficult for them to bring out new races as it means try have to create new lore, meaning they have to produce new black library books, they would have to make conpletley new models and write up a whole new codex with no base ideas from older codex etc now to me, that sounds like its going to cost money, and GW arnt exactly big on spending money and going out of their comfort zone

I'd love to see the Interex from the HH novels.

 louisb1304 wrote:
SPACE SKAVEN
that is all.

You mean IG?

Anyways, I don't think the game is ready for an entirely new alien race on the tabletop. Sure, it'd be interesting...but the game is already messed up in terms of balance as is. Some sort of gameplay balance needs to be struck between the existing factions, certain factions need models updated, etc.. After all that is done then they can add a new army.

I don't know about adding a whole new army with their own codex....

But I would LOVE to see more diversification within the Tau Empire. I'd also love to see the Kroot extended into having the option to run a kroot army.

As much as I'd love to see the Slaugth, I understand that GW's design team already seems to be teetering on the edge of being overwhelmed by the current set of codices.

I've been waiting since I started playing 40k for a human, non-imperial race, namely some human empire not recovered during the great crusade who survived the age of strife.

In essence, a sci-fi human society that contrasts with the grimdark imperium.

 buddha wrote:
I've been waiting since I started playing 40k for a human, non-imperial race, namely some human empire not recovered during the great crusade who survived the age of strife.

In essence, a sci-fi human society that contrasts with the grimdark imperium.

That would be the Tau, except using IG models.

Because, let's face it, unless you give these people Necron-level technologies and forty feet of plot-armor, there's nothing that some tiny-ass five-system mini-Empire can do to stop the IoM from crushing them utterly. Or, not to mention, that if they are moving along all UFP hippy-dippy, they are getting eaten by daemons as cults of Tzeentch and Slaanesh are springing up all over the place, the Alpha Legion is inserting their people into key positions to steal the technology, and the Dark Eldar are carting off whole cities as slaves.

 Psienesis wrote:

 buddha wrote:
I've been waiting since I started playing 40k for a human, non-imperial race, namely some human empire not recovered during the great crusade who survived the age of strife.

In essence, a sci-fi human society that contrasts with the grimdark imperium.

That would be the Tau, except using IG models.

Because, let's face it, unless you give these people Necron-level technologies and forty feet of plot-armor, there's nothing that some tiny-ass five-system mini-Empire can do to stop the IoM from crushing them utterly. Or, not to mention, that if they are moving along all UFP hippy-dippy, they are getting eaten by daemons as cults of Tzeentch and Slaanesh are springing up all over the place, the Alpha Legion is inserting their people into key positions to steal the technology, and the Dark Eldar are carting off whole cities as slaves.

Haze by L.E. Modesitt Jr. would disagree with you.

I actually think there's pretty good number of xenos.

But too many marine armies. Put them under a single codex with different supplements.

If there weren't six different MEQs, I'd actually allow more armies.

Maybe some sort of human-like mercenary army?

 King Pariah wrote:

 Psienesis wrote:

 buddha wrote:
I've been waiting since I started playing 40k for a human, non-imperial race, namely some human empire not recovered during the great crusade who survived the age of strife.

In essence, a sci-fi human society that contrasts with the grimdark imperium.

That would be the Tau, except using IG models.

Because, let's face it, unless you give these people Necron-level technologies and forty feet of plot-armor, there's nothing that some tiny-ass five-system mini-Empire can do to stop the IoM from crushing them utterly. Or, not to mention, that if they are moving along all UFP hippy-dippy, they are getting eaten by daemons as cults of Tzeentch and Slaanesh are springing up all over the place, the Alpha Legion is inserting their people into key positions to steal the technology, and the Dark Eldar are carting off whole cities as slaves.

Haze by L.E. Modesitt Jr. would disagree with you.

None of the factions in Haze are on the same scale as the Imperium of Man. The Federation is in no way, shape or form on par with the Imperium.

 buddha wrote:
I've been waiting since I started playing 40k for a human, non-imperial race, namely some human empire not recovered during the great crusade who survived the age of strife.

In essence, a sci-fi human society that contrasts with the grimdark imperium.

Chaos cultists...

Not the point Psienesis...

Regardless, you still have one world able to say "feth off!" to an entire empire with similar technology with the main technological difference being that the citizens of Haze have managed to use said technology in a much more efficient and effective manner (as well as on a much larger scale as seen with teleportation, Both the Federation and Haze have teleportation capabilities, but only Haze is able to use teleportation offensively ) which gives the illusion of being technologically superior. Something I think would be relatively easy when having to deal with a society that has such backward beliefs such as "tech heresy" which puts a really short leash on innovation.

Which, again, is using the Tau, or the Necrons, if you prefer, with IG models. The niche for this proposed army is already filled in the game using currently-existing codices.

And there have been plenty of other human civilizations present in the fluff that said "feth off!" to the Imperium. You know what happened to them? World Eaters happened to them. Space Wolves happened. Ultramarines. Luna Wolves. Word Bearers. The Great Crusade was as much about wiping out aliens as it was bringing other Human worlds into the Imperium's fold.

The thing to remember is, the Mechanicus is not wrong in their belief of "tech heresy". This is a thing that can and does actually exist. Further, the Mechanicus believes that the Golden Age of Humanity, which predates the current era by many, many thousands of years, was the pinnacle of human development. There's no point in innovating new things when, with but one discovery, just one, you can catapult yourself to the very top of the tech-chain in the galaxy.

This is why they continue to search for an intact STC.

It should be noted, however, that they do innovate, just very slowly. Mainly because, in the past, rapid innovation led to things like the Men of Iron. Which nearly eradicated Humanity.

 Psienesis wrote:
Which, again, is using the Tau, or the Necrons, if you prefer, with IG models. The niche for this proposed army is already filled in the game using currently-existing codices.

And there have been plenty of other human civilizations present in the fluff that said "feth off!" to the Imperium. You know what happened to them? World Eaters happened to them. Space Wolves happened. Ultramarines. Luna Wolves. Word Bearers. The Great Crusade was as much about wiping out aliens as it was bringing other Human worlds into the Imperium's fold.

The thing to remember is, the Mechanicus is not wrong in their belief of "tech heresy". This is a thing that can and does actually exist. Further, the Mechanicus believes that the Golden Age of Humanity, which predates the current era by many, many thousands of years, was the pinnacle of human development. There's no point in innovating new things when, with but one discovery, just one, you can catapult yourself to the very top of the tech-chain in the galaxy.

This is why they continue to search for an intact STC.

It should be noted, however, that they do innovate, just very slowly. Mainly because, in the past, rapid innovation led to things like the Men of Iron. Which nearly eradicated Humanity.

Necrons and Tau wouldn't work, Haze is a pacifistic/humanitarian planet, they really don't like taking life and if they are pushed into a fight, they still avoid destroying what they find to be the "sanctity of life." An accurate representation of them on tabletop would end up with them just constantly teleporting the enemy back to their respective board/table edge (or "accidentally" off the edge). You mention the Legions in pacifying such a world, I don't think it'd work. Haze used one "battleship" (use that term loosely) to defeat an entire fleet and did so in a non-lethal manner. What would it matter the numbers or strength you send to invade such a planet if all that ever happened was that the invading force with all their munitions they launch ended up being teleported to the opposite side of the galaxy? Anything remotely like Haze would probably have to be ignored by the Imperium, passed over as a "dead" planet or empty space.

Then they have absolutely no place in the 40K setting, which is a setting in which there is Only War. A pacifistic society is termed one thing in 40k: victims. If not to the Imperium, then to Chaos or the Necrons or the Tyranids or the Orks or the Tau or the Eldar or the Dark Eldar.

Fluff aside (as I am not going to get into a pissing match between 40K fluff and the fluff of a completely separate sci-fi fandom...) on the table top, there is such a thing as Orbital Bombardment and off-table artillery. Having a one-trick pony like teleportation or some other thing simply does not serve an army well.

 Psienesis wrote:
Then they have absolutely no place in the 40K setting, which is a setting in which there is Only War. A pacifistic society is termed one thing in 40k: victims. If not to the Imperium, then to Chaos or the Necrons or the Tyranids or the Orks or the Tau or the Eldar or the Dark Eldar.

Fluff aside (as I am not going to get into a pissing match between 40K fluff and the fluff of a completely separate sci-fi fandom...) on the table top, there is such a thing as Orbital Bombardment and off-table artillery. Having a one-trick pony like teleportation or some other thing simply does not serve an army well.

Especially when they could be corrupted from the inside by tyranids/chaos

 Psienesis wrote:
Then they have absolutely no place in the 40K setting, which is a setting in which there is Only War. A pacifistic society is termed one thing in 40k: victims. If not to the Imperium, then to Chaos or the Necrons or the Tyranids or the Orks or the Tau or the Eldar or the Dark Eldar.

Fluff aside (as I am not going to get into a pissing match between 40K fluff and the fluff of a completely separate sci-fi fandom...) on the table top, there is such a thing as Orbital Bombardment and off-table artillery. Having a one-trick pony like teleportation or some other thing simply does not serve an army well.

And you missed it. I brought up Haze to say it would be possible for a Haze-like society to exist in 40k. I brought up teleportation to show that even with the same technology available to both Haze and Federation, Haze was able to counter and overwhelm the Federation simply by being a more innovative society. Characters in Haze make it a blatant point that everything that they do, the Federation can do if they'd only apply it as such and promote innovation within their empire instead of having the old fashioned attitude of if it works, then there's no need to improve upon it/make something better. How would something like this NOT be transferable to 40k? The tabletop reference was admittingly just for laughs (the mental image humors me), and was more or less besides the point. I do not expect a Haze-like society in 40k to actually be anything like Haze technologically. Haze upholds the sanctitiy of life, in 40k, this could easily be twisted into an isolationistic society which upholds the sanctity of native galactic life (so Chaos, nids, necrons would be on their list to kill). So on so forth. And that Only War shenanigans is taken way out of context. While the galaxy is engulfed in war, it hardly means that every sector - much less every planet - is engulfed in war. Sure, no planet, or sector is safe, but some are certainly much safer than others and some are certainly capable of getting on in relative peace.

As said before, non-Imperial humans who can actually hold their own on the battlefield would simply be a (game) mechanically-identical but differently-themed Tau.

And you missed it. I brought up Haze to say it would be possible for a Haze-like society to exist in 40k.

We have that. We call it the Tau Empire. A small (tiny, really) high tech society that survives because the big guns never focus their full attention on them, and they don't have any plot armor (outside of the aforementioned distracted giants) to keep them alive.

If Modesiit thought about it, he'd realize that something the size of his Federation, if it could infiltrate one guy onto Haze (which they did) could wtfpwn that planet inside of a week. In 40K terms, send in an agent carrying a bottle of the Life-Eater Virus. Planet's dead in hours. Nothing you can do about it, unless you plan on teleporting your atmosphere away.

But, again, fluff-variations aside, as a niche in the game, a "small faction that uses superior technology to overcome its enemies superior numbers" is the Tau. If you want "a massive faction bent on galactic conquest with the most powerful, mind-boggling science-based technologies", that's the Necrons.

The Haze "theme" could be represented on the tabletop through one or both of these Codices using IG models.