Time to Take Back Warhammer 40k

With all this talk of Escalation and Stronghold, the community has been ablaze with chatter. The following is an analysis of what I have noticed and what could be the start of what we all really want. Now, obviously all these points don't apply to everyone or every event, but bear with me.

Is it "balanced"? What do we have to do to balance it if it isn't?

There's no fixing the balance in Warhammer 40k perfectly, time to stop trying.

There, I said it.

Let's look at what tournaments are considering and what, perhaps, they should ultimately do.

Banning D weapons brings us back to the Screamerstar, Riptide spam and Serpent spam days. Then we ban the grimoire, limit the availability of of Riptides and Wave Serpents. Then what have we done? We've chopped up the game in hopes of this thing called "balance". It's still not perfect. This isn't chess, it never will be. Units don't mirror each other across the codices so that each codex is similar. This alone creates unit-to-unit imbalance. Which is the entire point of different armies. It's when players start min-maxing and using gimmicks to abuse the system that the real problems occur.

Since when has this hobby been so reliant on tournaments to tell us whats acceptable and whats not? Can we not discuss things before hand with our opponents? Sure we can, but when it comes to a tournament some feel "forced" to play against things they don't like and are scored on it. This score directly influences how they place during the day.

That's wrong.

Warhammer 40k is not designed for tournaments where  the sole objective is winning. That's only a third of the game. So why should we be scored on only 1/3 of the actual game? Let alone the part that has the most imbalance?

We shouldn't. It's time to take back ALL OF WARHAMMER 40K.

Game-play, Narrative and hobby.

Instead of being scored solely on your list making and tactical prowess, it's time to be scored on sportsmanship and the time and effort you actually put into your army.

Gone should be the days of "40k Tournaments" and forthcoming should be events of simply "Warhammer 40k Day"


Those who paint and collect miniatures primarily shouldn't be subject to those who have more experience playing the game through putting the game first. It's not fair to score based on victories alone. Just as someone has more experience in game-play, some have more experience in painting and converting. Let's level the field and come together.

A day to celebrate the hobby as a whole and the spirit of competition, instead of the prowess of game-system-abuse. Why compete with only the most unbalanced 1/3 of the game when you can compete with the hobby as a whole. Warhammer World and some other events are starting/have done something similar.

Now it's time to take it all the way.

Example system, everything is legal, go nuts:

• One Point for a Victory
• One Point for a fully Painted Army
• One Point for a Positive Sportsmanship Score
• One Point for a Favorite Game Vote
• One Point for a Favorite Army Vote

Missions:

• Neither player has a LoW: BRB Missions
• One player has a LoW: Altar of War: Escalation Missions
• Both players have a LoW: BRB Missions 

It's time to win the day, not just the battles. Face a rude power-gamer? Well he's already missing out on upwards of three possible points. Face a beginner who has lovingly painted his whole army, put time in for a theme and story. Someone who was a blast to play against? The kind of person who has the same spark you had when you started? They now have the advantage over the power-gamer because they care about 40k as a whole. Not just winning. Rules like the above help encourage fun battles.

Now this system, or should better systems be discovered/implemented/improved, puts a lot of responsibility on us. The 40k hobbyists. As it should be. We should be accountable for our hobby. Not put it off on the game systems, altered or otherwise.

Instead of us looking to authorities to figure it, we should be looking next to us. To the fellow hobbyist. If you're already doing that, excellent, keep at it.

Instead of seeking validation through this hobby by just winning, we should seek validation as a whole. Through the stories we tell, through the miniatures we paint, through the effort we put into every part of the hobby.

This is just a starting point. Lets come together over the whole hobby, instead of separating over 1/3 of it. It will only be as good as we make it.



Thoughts?