Games Workshop is recognized as one of the leaders, if not THE leader, in miniature war gaming. Their website can be found at www.games-workshop.com, and through this site one can get a scope on all of the game systems they support and all of the miniature ranges that they offer.
Version 4.0 was released with much fanfare on September of 2004. Games Workshop provided two ways for the customer to purchase the new ruleset. My review is on the GAME as a whole, not a particular piece of the ruleset (as indeed there are several pieces that make up the game, from the miniatures to the rulebooks to the army codexes to the terrain, it's all a part of a cognitive whole).
THE HOBBY
First of all, what is wargaming? The wargaming hobby has been around for quite some time, and it takes many forms. Wargaming can be a mixture of different gaming elements, it all depends on how much you want to put into it.
At its base, wargaming involves collecting miniature soldiers into armies and then fighting with those armies on a table top filled with different "terrain", rolling dice to determine results, and employing tactical strategies to see the day through.
That's the gaming aspect of the hobby. Yes hobby. Wargaming also involves constructing terrain, painting models, and even converting models into your own creation. Truly it is a hobby that offers a variety of ways to enjoy it. There are several wargamers that don't really wargame at all, but collect and paint the models!
Warhammer 40k's premise is that you are fighting in the 41st millenium. There are several races that you can choose from.
RACES
Choosing a race to play is a personal choice. You may love the look of the heroic space marines. You may want a more traditional army and choose the Imperial Guard, who employ normal soldiers with normal weaponry to win their wars for the Emperor of mankind. Perhaps you want to harvest the life out of the galaxy and choose to play the robotic necrons (think terminators) or the quick and deadly eldar.
There are many races to choose from. A quick run down of these races is as follows:
Space Marines - The basic army that most players choose. Space marines are 9 feet tall augmented humans wearing power armor. They have access to all kinds of weaponry and are generally very good at both ranged and hand to hand combat. Space Marine armies are relatively small, and combined with their ease of play make an excellent beginners army.
Imperial Guard - Standard humans with standard gear. Access to some pretty wicked tanks. Low points cost (think of points like currency. You have X points to spend on troops, and each troop and weapon costs a certain amount of points) means that an Imperial Guard army will have a lot of models.
Daemon Hunters - The first of three Inquisition armies. These are also humans, and allow for combinations of either Imperial Guard troops or Space Marines as well as their own range of models. Daemon hunters excell against... daemons. When fighting a daemonic army, no one else can really do as much damage as these guys.
Witch Hunters - The second of three Inquisition armies (the third are the Alien Hunters which have not been released yet), this army focuses around the Battle Sisters which are human females in power armor, not augmented like space marines, who have devoted their life to the emperor of mankind.
Chaos - The fell powers of chaos are a primary enemy of mankind. They are made up of daemons from the "warp" as well as traitor chapters of space marines that defected in a bloody civil war known as "The Horus Heresy" nearly 10,000 years ago. If you like evil, and if you like the daemonic look then chaos is the way to go!
Orks - Variation of your typical fantasy "orc". Not good at shooting, large in numbers, they enjoy beating things down in hand to hand combat.
Eldar / Dark Eldar - Elves in space essentially. Fast, nimble, specialists, but easy to kill. They possess technology, grav tanks, etc... low in number but hard to use properly. Not a good beginner army due to the difficulty level involved, but the model range is pretty nice. The dark eldar are evil raiding pirates. They also possess their own army book with different units, but word is that the eldar race as a whole will get their own consolidated book.
Tau - The tau are a new army to Games Workshop and possess the best technology in the entire game system. Their guns are deadly, but their hand to hand ability is the worst in the game. Their "combat suits" are kind of like warjacks or Heavy Gear models. These aliens pack a ranged punch, and anyone who likes the look of Japanimation tends to like these guys.
Necrons - The evil metallic necrons are a direct rip off from the terminator movies. They even have a rule called "I'll be back". Very expensive points-wise, they can take a beating and come back for more ("I'll be back"). Easy to paint as everything is metallic, unless you want to go that extra step. Necrons are also a race pretty easy on beginers for both money reasons and painting reasons.
Tyranids - The bugs from starship troopers have a race in 40k, and they are called tyranids.
THE GAME The game is relatively easy to learn and is geared towards the younger generation in terms of difficulty. Essentially you have a turn which consists of first moving your models, shooting with your models, and then assaulting with your models if you are in range.
This simplified game turn is both good and bad. It's good because ... it's simple. You move, shoot, and assault. It doesn't get easier than that.
It's bad because it limits your tactical abilities. In second edition 40k, we had a rule called "Overwatch" which allowed you to react to your enemies movements. 3rd edition 40k took that away and streamlined the entire ruleset to make it more "simple".
Tactically the game is not very challenging. Again, you move, shoot, and assault. Your men have 360 degree lines of fire. They all move 6" as a base. Some models might have a special rule called "fleet of x" where x may be "foot", or "claw", or "wing" or whatever, but it lets them move an extra D6" more.
Flying allows models to move 12", and vehicles can also move 12". Bikes and jetbikes and speeders can move 24".
Also, the game utilizes the D6 as it's only means of generating results. This limits the amount of results that can be generated, simplifying the game even more. You may think that is a good thing or a bad thing. In my opinion it is bad because I like more variance in my dice rolls, but I know of many players who like the D6 so, it's really just a matter of taste.
WHY 4th EDITION?
3rd Edition really began to show it's age and was bursting out of it's seams with all of the rules revisions and updates that had occurred. You literally had to carry many issues of the White Dwarf magazine (a monthly hobby magazine from Games Workshop that covers Warhammer Fantasy, 40k, and their Lord of the Rings Game) along with various supplemental books as well as your rulebook and army rule book to play a game.
4th edition took all of those updates and put them into it's core set. For now at least you no longer have to carry a bazillion (is that a number?) books with you to your games.
Was 4th edition neccessary? Or was the evil empire GW just trying to suck us for more money? Yes, in my opinion, 4th edition was neccessary.
A lot of the problems of 3rd edition were addressed. Some items, which were deemed 'useless', were made a bit stronger. The combat system was tweaked. New terrain rules were added in. These on top of the updates all make 4th edition a more enjoyable game.
THE RULEBOOK There are two rulebooks you can obtain. You can shell out $50 US for the hardback rulebook. This rulebook is split into three parts. The first part are the systems rules. The second is a painting and hobby guide filled with full color photos of miniatures as well as beautiful art work. This section also details the storyline of 40k. The last section is an "ideas" section which gives ideas to different types of 40k games (such as 40k in 40 minutes, which allows you to play a small game over the course of a lunch break), more missions to play, ideas for campaigns, and more information on how to involve yourself in the hobby if you are a newcomer.
Is it worth $50? Some people will scream "NO! GW is just taking us for more money!" That is a really sad way to look at things. Unfortunately, it is a popular belief that GW (a business no less) is just after money. While it's true, the hobby is not cheap to get into (a standard tournament 40k army is currently 1,700 points and will cost you between $300 - $600 depending on what race you are playing and how thrifty you are in obtaining 2nd hand models instead of new models) and GW has increased their prices horrendously (we have had to endure three 10-15% price hikes in the past couple of years), that in and of itself does not tarnish the product as a whole.
The rule book is well worth the $50.
The second form of the book that you can get comes from the Battle of Macragge box set, which contains just the rules for the game (the first third of the main rulebook above) as well as models for space marines and tyranids, some nice looking terrain, and rules for running a small Macragge campaign. It's $45 US and gives a beginner all he needs to play as well as a starting army!
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO PLAY NOW? If you wanted to play now, I would reccomend you visit the website for Games Workshop just to get a feel for the different races and see some of the models yourself.
What you need to play would be the rulebook, your army's rulebook (they run about $20 per race), and at least 2 troop choices and a head quarters choice from your rulebook.
If that were a space marine force that would be two tactical squads of 10 marines each (a good base, though you can go lower than 10 marines) and a force commander model. The battle of Macragge comes with 10 marines.
That would give you a solid "core" for your army to paint up and build off of. After that you could purchase a third tactical squad, a couple of Rhino Transports for them, maybe a veteran marine squad to fill an "elite" choice... a couple of tanks... really you'll find you have several options when constructing an army.
SAMPLE ARMY LIST (Marines) Force Commander Brother Glacius - 60 points Power Weapon (wounds struck by this weapon ignore armor saves) - 15 points Total Cost - 75 points
Tactical Squad Terris - 10 tactical marines (15 points each) - 150 points Upgrade one marine to carry plasma cannon - 15 points Upgrade one marine to a veteran sergeant - 15 points Give veteran sergeant a power weapon - 15 points Total Cost - 195 points
Give Tactical Squad Terris a Rhino Transport - 50 points
Tactical Squad Julis - 10 tactical marines (15 points each) - 150 points Upgrade one marine to carry a flamer - 5 points Upgrade one marine to a veteran sergeant - 15 points Give veteran sergeant a plasma pistol and power weapon - 30 points Total Cost - 200 points
Army - 520 points Cost in Dollars - Tactical Marine box of 10 marines - $30 x2; Rhino Transport - $30; Force Commander Box - $15 = $105
The points costs may not be exact, I do not have the army list in front of me... but it was done up to give you an example of a core army. You have around 500 points in those choices above, and are about 30% of the way to completing a "standard" 1700 point list. (Why 1700 points is standard I do not know, that's just what bigger tournaments use)
If you bought the battle of Macragge you will already have 10 marines. The cost above did not include army book or rulebook.
Ultimately, it will suck you in. You will become addicted. The hobby is alive with thousands of gamers. There are hundreds of events run every year, from small local tournaments, to huge Games Day events run throughout the world, to Grand Tournaments where you can prove your mettle against over a hundred different generals.
The hobby has many aspects that may draw you in, but ultimately your own personality will be etched into your army as they wage war in the 41st millenium. Which side will you fight on? That will ultimately be up to you.
I gave the game a 4 in style. The rulebooks always have a nice layout and with the addition of an index, things were looking up up up. The artwork is generally superb, and the setting has a life of its own.
Substance is a nice fat 5. There is just so much to do, so much to paint, so many conversion opportunities, so much to work with terrain wise that you will be busy for hundreds of hours. I myself have been in the hobby since 1999 and have dedicated well over hundreds of hours to my armies, terrain, and stories.
Thanks for reading this review and I hope you found it to be somewhat informative.
Help support RPGnet by purchasing this item through DriveThruRPG.
