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Hello Dakka Dakka, I have been on and off W40k now for the past few years, however, I have recently taken a break for around a year.

I have a few questions regarding the current state of W40k and some other related questions, which if could be answered would be appreciated.

1. How is W40k currently doing?, can we expect it to stick around for years to come?.

2. Whenever I normally return to the game, I always have the urge to try a new army. I have missed a years worth of content and books, which armies currently are worth recommending?.

3. is it worth coming back to the hobby as a whole?.

Thank you.

here's the deal: Dakka has a very loud population who dislike 40k, so you're generally not likely to get a non-biased answer.

1) More then likely, yes it will stick around.

2) well, depending on how long ago you played, both Mechanicum armies are new. Beyond that, the answer depends on how you like to play.

3) I enjoy the hobby and many others enjoy the hobby. Conversions, painting, special missions/terrain are all still things.

Your best bet would be to ask around locally, it doesn't matter if the game is going strong in Idaho if you live in New York.

As someone who thought of returning and decided NOT to, I can say that while 40k is likely to stay around, the game is pretty much a mess. Almost everything is legal (you can run an entire army of Wraithknights if you wanted), the rules are unbalanced, the models are even more expensive than usual, and in general it's just pumping things out without care because GW feels that their customers are rubes who will buy it all up.

If you have a group you can be part of where everyone is laid back enough and not trying to out-cheese the other (or alternately okay with playing that way), then 40k can be enjoyable. if your main way of getting games is going to be going down to the local shop and seeing who else turned up for a game, then I'd avoid 40k like the plague because pickup games are all but dead. Can you still have fun? Sure you can, but IMHO it's an uphill battle for a game that has lost its direction.

Just my observations, since I came veeeery close to starting up again (even bought a little something) and then found out that there were no established groups and I would not want to subject myself to trying to form a pickup game in 40k, so it was not worth it for me.

Well, I'd consider finding a gaming group first. 40k can still be played very well in a local area.

 wuestenfux wrote:
Well, I'd consider finding a gaming group first. 40k can still be played very well in a local area.

This cannot be stressed enough. If you can find a group and get to know them and they happen to play 40k, you can have a good time especially if they are more laid back/casual and like having leagues/campaigns/narrative games versus competitive style play. It just will break down tremendously when you have to rely on random strangers (roughly speaking) who don't know you and may have different goals for the game.

Ok to give you the best answers I can here we go:

1. 40k is doing fine as a whole there's no real danger of it going anywhere for the foreseeable future, so if you're worried about getting into the game, spending a bunch of money and then it suddenly going out of production. There is nothing to be worried about in that area.

The flip side to this is, finding out the local state of the game. Seeing how many folks play locally, if there are any leagues, groups or regular tournaments. Your FLGS scouting is going to be the best for that, with that said you'll hear a lot of people on here say that pickup gameing is dead or should be avoided, I personally don't understand why it's not really any different than it ever used to be.

2. And recommending new armies the only thing I can say, is to pick up a codex first and see if anything really screams at ya. Without knowing what and how you like to play it I can't really make any kind of suggestion. I will say that there are currently several Armies that are going to be a big uphill battle Chaos Space Marines, Dark Eldar, and Orks come to mind, but this does not mean that you wouldn't have fun with them. In the end that part is completely up to you.

3. Is the hobby worth coming back to? Depending on what you personally get out of the hobby I'm going to say yes regardless. If the only joy you get out of the hobby is the game bem general worth is going to be up to how your local scene is doing, but if you are like me and you get just about equal worth and fun out of the "hobby" aspect as you do the game, then yes it will always be worth it to return simply on the grounds that you always have something new and on most occasions exciting to convert, paint, build and so on.

Thank you for the replies.

I quite like the Adeptus cult and Skitarri, model wise they look quite nice.

Are they any good?, can the two be played with each other?, so they have to be joined to be effective?

Any info on these 2 specific armies would be great.

Thank you

Shinzra wrote:
Thank you for the replies.

I quite like the Adeptus cult and Skitarri, model wise they look quite nice.

Are they any good?, can the two be played with each other?, so they have to be joined to be effective?

Any info on these 2 specific armies would be great.

Thank you

They are relatively small armies to themselves but they can be played relatively effectively on their own, however their strength is in working together, either through the allies chart, or through the War Convocation Formation.

Well, I'd take Skitarii and admech units as a detachment in a larger army of SM. The admech is too specialized for what it can achieve at the battle field. SW would complement an admech force very well.

I just started playing Warhammer 40K with Adeptus Mechanicus and Skitarii after sitting out a few editions. The joint force has been a strange one for me to play, but a very rewarding one. With no transports and an average armor save of 4+ you feel really vulnerable. Footslogging against a wall of armor in particular puts the pressure on, but the force is deceptively tough. The Dominus, Breachers, and Kastelans can tank a ton of punishment while units from all aspects of the army are capable of putting down absolutely withering firepower. It is very much a force that feels in turn one and two like you are losing, but then on turn three you blink and realize the enemy has grown incredibly thin. The Skitarii are definitely the most fragile of the lot (I use a lot of Rangers and Vanguard), but with Scout and Dunestrider you find they give you the speed that the heavier units in the Mechanicus lack.

Something to note though. The two forces combined have special rules for days and it will probably take a few games to come to grips with it all.

1. 40k is in a decently good spot compared to 6th edition but GW still can't write good rules. Buisness side of things GW seems to be making more consumer friendly steps which is a sign that GW is paying attention to its customers and the market. GW has been on a very slow decline in terms of their numbers but hopefully these changes will cause some growth.

2. Most armies are worth playing if you enjoy their fluff and models. I know its an evasive answer but honestly that's the more important factor than "this army is OP and faceroll to win so play X". People will say Orks are bad for example but honestly I have had great success with Orks and they are by far the most fun to play for me. The new "Start Collecting" boxes are a great launch point for starting a new army.

3. Worth is up to you but honestly I would recommend it to anybody who has any interest in table top gaming. The general meta has a good mix of armies and allies (for good or bad) can create some cool combos which helps most armies be at least a little bit viable (sorry tyranids ). Find a good gaming group or a couple of buddies to play games with and you can have fun with basically any army. 40K is expensive but its actually a relatively decent time to money ratio as a single $40 kit can occupy 5-10 hours of crafting plus how ever many hours playing the game. Models have a very long life span (compared to say Magic the Gathering) so outside the initial investment there is very little in the way of upkeep or use expense. New rules releases being the biggest thing but the new Gamer Edition Codexes make getting the rules a lot more affordable.

Shinzra wrote:
Thank you for the replies.

I quite like the Adeptus cult and Skitarri, model wise they look quite nice.

Are they any good?, can the two be played with each other?, so they have to be joined to be effective?

Any info on these 2 specific armies would be great.

Thank you

They can be played as one army and were always designed to work that way.
By splitting the codex it allowed GW to get it out quicker to coincide with the weekly White Dwarfs
In terms off effectiveness they are quite nasty with grav against vehicle armies, especially if you ally them with marines to get access to drop pods etc for deep striking
The only weakness is the Electro-priests unless you take them in huge mobs and that they don't have any transport as to speak of
If you are looking for a store to by them at a good price I might suggest here http://alchemistsworkshops.com as its the store I work for and is up to 25% off RRP
On a final note in terms of 40k as a hobby its alive and kicking, I dont think anyone product could replace its lore and following due to the universe people have created