30k on the Rise - Should you play ?

This is a guest article by a good friend of mine here in Florida ...

 

Hey guys! This is Ismael aka DietOfLiquor (it's my tag for everything so you may have seen me on a random forums or games) and there is a subtle article I wanted to bring up. Not long ago there was an article up on Bell of Lost Souls about 30k or 40k as a whole. If you haven't read it then you can do so here:

BoLS 30k Article

Let’s start off with 40k!

While it is overall a fantastic article to give the reader I believe it lacks actual in depth information for both systems. It was meant to be a quick article, but I wanted to give more than just a quick synopsis as both systems are fairly amazing at what they do. 40k as we know has been around for a while and is still ever expanding as games workshop continues with supplements. As of right now we do have 14 armies released. But what was missing was the variability of gameplay. Sure, 14 armies, but there are actually more! Space marine codex alone gives more variety. Supplements such as militarum tempestus and legion of the damned gives more variability. Even Forgeworld with their IA books give even more chapters! If you include it all there are over 40 different published rule set armies and play styles! (And I think I’m still missing some). That's not including the induction of formations into the fray. And with that, 40k has such an expansive background to where you're able to play out specific battles and create campaigns for yourself! And Black Library books give us even more with fluff. All in all it is an amazing system that GW has offered the gamers. 

Armies are as follows:

• Adepta Sororitas
• Astra Militarum (Death Korps of Kreig, Elysian Drop Troops)
• Blood Angels (Lamenters)
• Chaos Space Marines (Black Legion, Crimson Slaughter)
• Chaos Daemons
• Dark Eldar
• Eldar (Iyanden)
• Grey Knights
• Imperial Knights
• Inquisition
• Militarum Tempestus
• Officio Assassinorum
• Necrons
• Orks (Ghazghukull)
• Space Marines(Iron Hands, Ultramarines, Imperial Fists, White Scars, Raven Guard, Salamanders, The    Red Scorpions, The Carcharodons, The Howling Griffons, Marines Errant, The Raptors, The Exorcists, The Mantis Warriors, The Executioners, The Angels Revenant, The Red Hunters, The Star Phantoms, The Minotaurs, The Sons of Medusa, The Novamarines, The Fire Hawks, The Astral Claws)
• Space Wolves (Champions of Fenris)
• Tau Empire (Farsight Enclave)
• Tyranids

 However, everyone does know that there are balancing issues within the game itself and to play fluffy these days (I’m talking to you Deathwing players), there just is not that much hope for some armies to make a fun and enjoyable environment. I myself was an avid Tau player and was the first army I ever picked up back in 4th edition because I was a mecha fan, however truth be told, they killed 40k for me for a bit as well as trying to make my old deathwing force work again. So for now I’m holding out for my next other love, Blood Angels. Even with the balancing issues, the game is still highly enjoyable and has a large array of beautiful models and play styles that just make it the game you love. Also, forging your own narrative for your own army is amazing!

Now to 30k!

One word - PRIMARCHS !

No really, The Horus Heresy, or 30k as it has been dubbed, was just released a few years ago. And already we have a rich system that is bringing itself to par with Warhammer 40k. Again, rich background, more amazing stories and probably the best models I've ever seen. It currently has 19 playable armies in the universe. I haven't tried against 40k codices yet, but have heard the games were very fun and always a nail biter to the very end. But it's only 19 as of right now! There are still 6 unreleased legions and still the possibility of Forgeworld releasing more flavor of their own when it comes to chaos daemons! This is what we have so far:

• Emperor’s Children
• Death Guard
• World Eaters
• Sons of Horus
• Iron Warriors
• Iron Hands
• Raven Guard
• Night Lords
• Salamanders
• Alpha Legion
• Word Bearers
• Imperial Fists
• Adeptus Mechanicus
• Solar Auxilla
• Titan Legio

That’s just it for now. But as stated in the BoLS article you can include these 40k armies into your gaming as they existed during the Heresy:

• Orks (always fun to beat up on !!! )
• Eldar
• Dark Eldar
• Chaos Daemons

But we still have White Scars, Ultramarines, Blood Angels, Thousand Sons, Dark Angels and Space Wolves to look forward to in the coming years. Not only that but the possibility of assassins coming in, a new unmarked legion that’s kept in the dark right now, and maybe Adeptus Custodes. There’s so much room for them to expand upon. The books for the Horus Heresy are amazing and I cannot recommend them enough. But what separates 30k from 40k? Everything. This game literally has the perfect balance internally. The units are all the same, but guaranteed you will probably never see an all win list. I like to call this game rock-paper-scissors-lizard-spock from the variety of lists you can see on the table. Sure it might seem some units are over-costed, but they’re not. Besides, what’s better than power armor on power armor action? Blood and treachery? 30k provides, what I think, one of the most unique environments that ForgeWorld has to offer to gamers and hobbyists alike. Although it is more expensive than regular 40k to a point, it is broad. Every legion has its own Rite of War (as well as book Rite Of Wars for generic legions), much like that of Chapter Tactics for Space Marines, but way more in depth and adds so much to your list building. And, each legion also has its own special rules that bring its own uniqueness to the table. But what else is there? A brand new campaign system that we’ll be seeing in Book IV conquest is something we’ve all been dying for from GW for regular 40k, the difference is ForgeWorld is beating them to the punch. Force Organization Charts are also what makes this game what it is. There are multiple FoC’s to play from, each taking, removing, and playing around with the slots allotted to the gamer. One example is the Leviathan FoC that lets you bring 3 Lords of war and an allied detachment! Pretty strong and looks like it’d be fun to play with one day (When I get the money for a reaver and two warhounds).

In Closure

Honestly it’s up to the gamer in which system they choose, but I do support 30k to its fullest. The model’s are amazing, you can dual use the army if you decide to go for a legion and use it in regular 40k as counts as Space Marines (Or whatever army you want to use). Almost all the vehicles are also in IA2, and soon IA13 if you wish to go the power armored chaos route. If you have a local gaming group, I would definitely begin a whisper or two about it and see what everyone thinks. Even start up a group fund for house armies!