40K Opinion: Eldar Craftworlds Codex. Disappointment. But Don't Hate - Move Forward

I don't like to be negative - but this development does warrant at least a little bit of that if you enjoy the idea of army balance.

Cue the silly cheese memes.

Disappointment.
Dear Games Workshop, I am so very disappointed. I am so shocked that I can not even comprehend what you have done. You had the perfect opportunity to finally bring into line the most balanced playing field for 40K in like forever - and you blew it. Blew it big time.

How the sky fell.
GW fixed the Wave Serpent problem but then proceeded to give us to three more unbalanced problems: the Wraithknight and the Jetbikes and the D-weapons. One step forward and three steps backwards puts us into even more precarious territory than with the last Eldar codex. I'm baffled, even a little bewildered, at this lack of army balance after such a concerted effort to do so was commended by the community.

 I'm starting to wonder if the crazy release schedule for GW is starting to effect quality control? GW was doing a good job at codex balance (for the most part) for a couple of years then they just drop the ball all of a sudden and it was such a humongous drop - I'm left scratching my head in befuddlement.

We should not blame the player.

Let me say this one important thing: We should not blame Eldar players. Eldar players are given their codex just like everyone else and play with what they are given. I love you Eldar players just as much as the other players (except for Tyranid players, they still creep me out) and I know I rag Eldar a lot, calling them sissies, but it is because I love to hate the race, not the players. But if you are a band-wagoner, jumping on the Eldar ship just because they are on top of the 40K heap, I have news for you - nobody likes you.

Suck it up loser. Turn those lemons into some delicious lemonade.

Humor attempt.

Gads. Obviously I am quite disappointed but I want to turn this negative into a positive. Nobody but trolls wants to read a negative blog and I certainly don't want to feed said trolls.

Honestly, the good tournament players will adjust and find the best solution to dealing with the new Eldar meta, if not joining their ranks outright. Then there are those middling tournament players like me and hundreds of others whom look at this new development and shake their heads - the high hopes of seeing a balanced tournament playing field (among armies) is busted.

The end result is this: it appears the majority of my tournament days are over if this is what GW calls 'balanced', especially after mishandling such a golden opportunity to balance things out. My tournament schedule was already reduced but now it will consist of two, maybe three, tournaments a year that are fun and not so competitive in nature. Not that it matters much I won't be missed and I won't miss the drudgery of grinding out three competitive games in a single day. Actually this is quite liberating for me and it feels good to not have to make anymore excuses to friends for not wanting to be cooped up inside of a competitive environment on a weekend.

Game Room. My fresh lemonade.
On a personal level, one of the positive side effects of this codex fiasco is that it fuels my fires to get my game room up and running so I can jump right into some beer and pretzel games as quickly as possible. I also have designs on creating 2-3 video batreps a month and organizing some narrative campaigns with friends. Fun times ahead, indeed. No tournaments are needed and no worries about balance within the confines of a friendly game environment. If you are an Eldar fan and want to challenge me in a casual game I say bring it on! Let's have some fun.

Morale of the story.
If you were as dumbstruck as I was at this codex then take the time to absorb it all in, process it, settle down and then with a clear head decide how this will effect you going forward. Whatever you decide to do I implore you to make the best of it and not to blame those true Eldar players out there in the community. Humor helps, sarcasm doesn't.

What about you?
If this codex is really as crazy as it sounds do you think it will change any of your playing habits?

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40K Tactica: The Bloodletter - The Best Khorne Daemonkin Troop Choice?

I recently noticed that when I put together my Khorne Daemonkin lists I tend to gravitate towards the Bloodletters as Troop choices - this I find odd as I would normally never touch them if playing from the Chaos Daemons codex. So I decided to do some comparisons with the other Troop choices from the new Khrone codex and attempt to find a logical reason for my Bloodletter madness.

I'm going to start by jumping right into the comparisons and focus on the most important characteristics like cost effectiveness, special rules and usefulness for utilizing the Blood Tithe game mechanic.

40K Art: Making Your Own 40K Framed Art on the Cheap!

And Now For Something Completely Different
Ever since the Khorne Codex came at us from left field my blog has been all blood, blood, blood! I can't help it, Khorne has always been my secret favorite, sorry Space Wolves but you are still my very close second. Time to take it down a notch, away from murder and mayhem to something completely practical - putting 40K art on your wall for less money than ordering a pizza.

40K Armies: Khorne Daemonkin Tournament Army List - First Go

My head hurts
Since Friday I have been searching, scratching, crumbling up dozens of pieces of paper and continually cursing at my feeble attempts to hammer together a Daemonkin army that fits my interpretation of a competitive Khorne army (or as close as I can get it). I've come to the conclusion that the new Khorne codex is pretty much more of the same for Khorne but with added points taxes that makes army list creation clunkier. I have also come full circle from trying to fit a Blood Host Detachment into my list to finally admitting defeat at that notion because of the Possessed tax.

Overall, I still love the codex, it looks a heck of a lot of fun and the Blood Tithe system is just great - it's both fluffy and it gives a much needed boost to mono-Khorne armies. I just run into a problem when trying to hash together a tournament army - it seems that the more things change the more they stay the same with Chaos. All the same units that were crappy are still crappy and all the good units are still good. Only now I have to deal with some slight points increases due to Blood for the Blood God! and Mark of Khorne taxes. It doesn't seem like that would amount to very much but it does, throwing a monkey wrench in my army plans, especially when you factor in that the good Formations and the Blood Host Detachment impose unwanted unit taxes on your army.