Warhammer 40,000

So those that have been reading my blog should know that I am no great fan of Games Workshop. I used to be, mind you, I used to be a huge GW fanboi. I went from a small rogue trader force of beaky marines and a handful of eldar and squats, to owning 10+ armies going across every GW miniature game they made. In face I still own forces for necromunda, warmaster, battlefleet gothic, epic, and mordheim. That is besides the armies I own for 40K and WFB.

And then in the last few years, GW went from being a great game company, to being a delusional miniature company. Oh, they make (for the most part) amazing miniatures, but their heads are so far up their bums that they are pretty close to seeing their own tonsils.

All that being said, they did manage to create two amazing IPs. I absolutely love the world of warhammer fantasy, and the 40K universe. I simply do. That is why I still own so many miniatures. Going back to the beginning, 40K really was my gateway drug. There was nothing out there like it and it evoked this amazing imagery. It really has only gotten better as time has gone on. It is why I haven't kicked GW completely to the curb so far.

Case in point, I recently played Relic's Dawn of War II game. I have to say, for the most part, the PC games for GW's IPs have been pretty good. Relic does RTS's right, and the original Dawn of War was fantastic..and actually still going due to modders and the like. Well for some reason I just wanted to hop back into that world and I unexpectedly found that DoW2 was still going strong. I got in a half dozen games of Last Stand and had a ball playing.

That just feeds right into my love of 40K, so pretty soon I was looking over my models and reading the 7th edition rulebook in the hopes of playing soon. I'm actually going to be reaching out to friends soon who have either given up on wargaming, or who perhaps have never given it a try, and see if they wouldn't mind learning the game. They don't need to invest anything because I have plenty of armies. But I've found I just want to play. I want to put myself back into that universe.

Specifically, I've been really drawn to my orks. How can you not love orks. The 3rd edition book they got was brilliant. It was the first time GW had actually gotten my interest in orks. In rogue trader and 2nd edition, they were just too silly. Here was this dark universe and you had these clowns running around. But then in 3rd edition, the red noses and fuzzy wigs were tossed away and out came these brutal killers that loved to fight. It was fantastic. I've been smitten with them ever since. Sure, they still have their comical side, but now it is combined with a stone cold raging brute which makes them so appealing. And finally we have some great vehicle kits as well. The whole visual theme for them is amazing.

So here we are, stuck between not wanting to support a company that turned to the dark side, and yet wanting to romp around in the universe they created.