Warhammer 9th edition rumour bits

And then, after everyone hates New Warhammer Fantasy, they'll re-release Warhammer Fantasy Classic. Marketing Genius!

Just hang on to your 8th ed books.

Lets just hope this does not come to pass.  The main worry is that they will stop production of the models so if there still stuff you wish to add to your army it should be done sooner rather then later.

Kind regards Zolas.

I can understand rolling some armies together, elves, chaos, undead, humans makes some sense. And I'm a DE player too, so it does affect me. There will still be scope to theme armies within a single book, without losing too much flavour from the game. The more individual races are where the rumours begin to hurt.

Losing complete armies will suck and take away a lot of diversity. And I won't accept ogres, dwarfs etc just being a fluff piece in another faction as a continuation of those armies. So it seems we stand to lose roughly 50% of the current armies. Sounds a lot to me. I suspect these rumours will have some accuracy, but are maybe overstating things somewhat. We can only hope hey?

It's is a kick in the teeth when I only started playing again less than a year ago, and only started ogres a few months ago. I'm really getting into my ogres and would be gutted to see them go.

I am in this awkward place where my army is about 75% of what I want it to be. Now I have to decide if I should hold out and hope for these rumors to be not as bad as they sound or go and buy everything I need immediately to make my ogres complete and just sit on 8th edition happily (but with a hit to my wallet).

What's worse is I just bought my first box of wood elves not long ago. Now I feel like there is no point in getting more if there is a chance they will become obsolete in a few months.

I cannot see GW making new books that make so many units obsolete. We constantly hear all GW do is try sell models at all costs, why would they then take those models away from us

There will be a pinch of truth to these rumours how much we will not know until the release but i beg everyone just to stay calm and enjoy the hobby until then

Maintaining a production line is not cheap, nor is wall space to stock it.  The issue here is GW is making decisions based on old marketing strategy and they think they are going to go head to head with Privateer Press.  They are not internet savvy, rules savvy, nor development savvy enough to pull any of this off.  They are scrubbing their entire IP in order to try and cut out the 3rd party guys and shrink what they have to maintain to make brick and mortar stores still feasible.  It is a stupid idea and its going to alienate what is left of the playerbase for fantasy even worse than the newest abomination of 40k has done with that group.

What they should have done is remade Mordheim and had a few units from each army present within it, to act as an introductory game to Fantasy.  Stock those models (or give up on the stores completely) and stop caring about the 3rd party crap (because you won't win that fight) and focus instead on making good rules that are more marketable, electronically.  The bulk of the range (and rules) stay online purchase only and the stores (if you insist on keeping them) focus on playing the skirmish games and hobby aspect.

I think if this goes down you will see a lot of the community just stick with 8th edition and models will be bought from 3rd party vendors, pretty much like what happened when Bloodbowl stopped being supported by GW.  The GT scene has been operating independently for a while, anyhow.  GW is just going to close out the last avenue of revenue they had with Fantasy, namely new models and rulebooks.

I agree. This won't end well for GW. I will happily stick with 8th edition if they do this.

I still have doubts as to the authenticity of this though. Its a little over the top, even for GW. Maybe if they're introducing a new skirmish based Fantasy game to continue the story while maintaining the existing game.

At least if this happens we can be sure that everyone will just stick with 8th and then we'll have some stability.

I am not heavily invested in any outcome and will wait to see what happens. I suppose the least exciting bit for me is the switch to round bases... because I am lazy and don't want to rebase all my stuff (and it leaves less room for cool stuff).

Thats one of the bits that makes me doubt the authenticity of the rumor, or that its meant to be a complete replacement of Fantasy.

Honestly, GW would be a lot better off if they sold a variety of wargames and not just their own. Having stores dedicated exclusively to their content is always going to be a money drainer, and they could coexist more easily with other companies rather than spend ages faffing around trying to fight the IP war.

Ugh, really don't like the sound of this. Not sure if I should carry on with the new army or wait and see how this pans out. Also bubbles shhmubbles.

40k is looking appealing.

I agree with everything that has been said however, it will suck if this is what happens but ultimately I'm confident the wargaming community worldwide will rally together and produce rules or additions to the current 8th edition in order to keep it rolling.  It's just too large to suddenly die overnight.

I reckon that this whole round of rumors has been GW's attempt at a Mole Hunt. They're trying to figure out who is leaking all of the information (which is pointless to keep secret anyway), and told some really stupid stuff to the best candidates, hoping to see what gets out.

Yeah they have also been known to float anonymous trial balloons in Warseer as well, to see how pissed off people might be at a potential idea or change.

http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2015/01/breaking-wfb-9th-explodes.html

Not good, WFB will never be the same.

It's a shame if all this is close to the truth. I honestly enjoyed 8th edition, I do hope that whatever way GW decides to take things... People will continue to play 8th ed.

Well, honestly, change is good for the most part... But this...

I think, especially being an Ogre player at heart, is pretty heart-wrenching. Having my entire army, with any possible history or builds or what-not, suddenly just becomes a footnote in the Empire "faction"? Yeah, I own Empire models now, but I am and always will be a Tyrant in my own mind for the hobby

Really, what the predicted 9th Ed. is, isn't Warhammer Fantasy. It should be called something else entirely... Like, "Warhammer Post-Fantasy Pre-40K". If they're going to practically discontinue WHFB, they should just say that and move on with a new project. This seems more of an insult-to-injury scenario.

Yeah, we could sit on 8th edition and just plug our ears and pretend this isn't happening, but sadly it is. If what the rumors are saying turn out to be true, Fantasy's dead. Plus, I won't be able to collect the hobby anymore if they start this "block-rotating" models collecting. My wife isn't even hip on me buying stuff now! lol...

All and all, this was a depressing read, and definitely not something I should have read before bed. lol.

---

Granted, had I never played Fantasy before this, I might have been interested in this new idea. But, once I found out that it was limited productions and short-time stuff and all that, I would've walked away.

Yeah I know what you mean, if this actually happens I'll be officially giving up on Warhammer altogether. I'm teetering on the edge at the moment and holding out hope but with the ridiculous End Times expansion and the ever rising prices of GW's products they have alienated me almost entirely. If 9th goes down this road I'll flog every last bit of Warhammer I own and wash my hands of GW once and for all.

I see the rumored new face of warhammer as a great diversification. If the new factions are anything like the end times releases we will still be able to field a pure ogre army with our current book or perhaps with slight org chart modifications depending on how 9th ed armies will be structured. But we could also gain the option to throw in a block of dwarf warriors or halberds, a light wizard, maybe a captasus or gyrocopter. The new unit formations and such all sound to be optional at this point so I don't see them having a detrimental effect on game play. I am looking forward to skirmishing my trappers and scouting maneaters.

I read a lot of posts of that long Warseer thread and the number of disapointed players was very important. It's true that the ones happy with the changes are less likely to post there, but still, it doesn't look good.

I'll be honest with you all, I was at first happy with the shake up in the End Times up to the point they started killing everyone, and after reading that Warseer posts, I'm going to sell at least my Lizardmen army and I'm debating selling my Ogre stuff as well. The fantasy community around me is already small, this is just going to kill it for good.

So much could've been done...

Time to go take some pictures I guess...

I wouldn't sell your stuff. At least until these are confirmed and we've seen the book.

And even then, most people will probably stick with 8th so your army will still be good.

The warhammer community in my area is really small and if things goes how Darnok said they would in his post, the community is going to die withoutthe shadow of a doubt. So if I wamt to get something for the models I have, I might as well sell them now. I will sell my Lizards for sure and see what I do about my ogres.

I reckon that this whole round of rumors has been GW's attempt at a Mole Hunt. They're trying to figure out who is leaking all of the information (which is pointless to keep secret anyway), and told some really stupid stuff to the best candidates, hoping to see what gets out.

Or feelers. Basically seeing what people say and maybe picking the stuff that doesn't incite too much nerd rage.

I like the idea of the old world breaking apart or being in a sea of Chaos, since that helps explain the whole thing about forces fighting that never would due to geography. I also expect them to do "factions", but in the new 9th BRB, not in actual books. Also, they won't kill any lines - if anything, it is a misunderstood comment, because the cost of the molds alone makes me think they wouldn't scrap the Lizardmen with all their new stuff.

Also, I don't buy the round bases. That would make #basegate look like nothing and that only affected Space Marines.

.....sadly I think all the comparible armies will go to the fantasy version of 40k, so ogres/ogryns  will be with  the empire, I think daemons and WoC  will have separate books but still can use chaos ET list. Same with elves/Eldar. Maybe we will see lizards  in something  like the 30k  game that came out (just heard about it, didn't read anything tho), as a really weird  side note  they cud go off for thousands of years mutated by chaos and crash landing on many planets that they cud come back nids, Idk just some mid night ramblings....

Also, I don't buy the round bases. That would make #basegate look like nothing and that only affected Space Marines.

Worryingly there are leaked pictures this morning of the skaven screaming bell on round bases.

Is it possible that we get round bases and then use War of the ring esq movement trays?

I just don't get it. 9th isn't due to arrive until later this year. Currently End Times is being released, which runs on square bases. Why would GW be so careless as even putting fantasy models on round bases, let alone releasing photos of them on round bases, when 9th is meant to be a closely guarded secret?

Why switch fantasy to round bases anyway? They already have a fantasy based setting (LotR) which operates in a skirmish system already, unless they intend to roll both games together into one. If that was the case, then they have already reduced model counts and overheads by reducing the number of games they are supporting. So why the rumours of such extreme trimming of armies, models, and ultimately variety in 9th?

These rumours have a few grains of truth, mixed up with a big dollop of nonsense if you ask me. It's picking out those elements of truth that's the hard part.

Round bases looking more likely.... 

http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2015/01/wow-warhammer-fantasy-models-on-round.html

Oh well, looks like more Kings of War for my Oges, the bonus is that it is a great system.

Also, I don't buy the round bases. That would make #basegate look like nothing and that only affected Space Marines.

Worryingly there are leaked pictures this morning of the skaven screaming bell on round bases.

I've seen a few people say it's photoshopped. If it is, it's a really good job with the lighting.

Also, I don't buy the round bases. That would make #basegate look like nothing and that only affected Space Marines.

Worryingly there are leaked pictures this morning of the skaven screaming bell on round bases.

I've seen a few people say it's photoshopped. If it is, it's a really good job with the lighting.

It certainly is a convincing photoshop if that's what it is.

I just can't fathom putting Boneripper in the front on a square base, and then the bells on round bases in the back. Those bells are current models, being produced with square bases. Why would they make the deliberate decision to let the cat out the bag and put them on rounds?

Potentially it could be like the kerfuffle around the Bretonnian Pegasus Knight photos that surfaced a while back.  Peg Knights are mounted on a 40mm base, same as our beloved Ogres, where the photo depicted them on the same base as a Skullcrusher.  Turned out that one of the studio painters just preferred the look on the bigger base and did them that way.

Thinking they could just be display models, and happened to be the ones they wanted to showcase.

I wouldn't worry about round bases just yet.

Remember a few things about the Bell and Furnace.

They're the only models with the Unique unit type in the game, and they have a lot of funky rules. Its far more likely that they're getting a complete overhaul in how they, specifically, work. They probably no longer go inside units anymore.

I wouldn't take this picture as any sort of indicator. Especially since Bonebreaker and Thalonquil in the foreground are clearly on a square base.

My guess is that Bells and Furnaces are becoming a new unit type that operates on a round base.

Or they're just becoming War Machines, Anvil style.

A definite possibility.

A short ranged warmachine which moves could be interesting.

Or maybe they give their previous benefits in a bubble around the model itself instead of the unit. Imagine a 12" unbreakable bubble!

Ya, my friend plays dwarves and he likes to put his war machines on round bases. Easier to pivot/fit into his little dwarf bunkers. Maybe games-workshop is just catering to that?

Ya, my friend plays dwarves and he likes to put his war machines on round bases. Easier to pivot/fit into his little dwarf bunkers. Maybe games-workshop is just catering to that?

GW rarely cater to anybody but themselves and their profit margins I'm afraid, at least these days anyway. They are so far from being in touch with their customer base I have started to think that they believe we are actually all Space Marines or something 

If only GW had a team that could show up and go "oops, sorry guys, those were designer #3's stuff, and he puts them on round bases for aesthetic reasons". Or an editor that didn't spill the beans prematurely.

I have a feeling that a number of these rumors were put out by GW purposely in order to find out who is leaking out information. GW likes its secrets and they don't like having rumors being put out. So perhaps they cooked up some crazy rumors and spread them out to see who is divulging information. Perhaps not. But what do I know?

Ya, my friend plays dwarves and he likes to put his war machines on round bases. Easier to pivot/fit into his little dwarf bunkers. Maybe games-workshop is just catering to that?

GW rarely cater to anybody but themselves and their profit margins I'm afraid, at least these days anyway. They are so far from being in touch with their customer base I have started to think that they believe we are actually all Space Marines or something 

The really sad part is that they're really not making profit creating decisions. No other company would consider for a moment that alienating existing customers is a good idea, nor would anyone recommend changing a formula that works, and finally any good business person would listen to their customer's feedback.

I don't know what GW is doing, but none of it makes sense from a business perspective.

I hope that the change to round bases only affects a couple of unit types, such as the Screaming Bell. I really like the medieval look of Fantasy with the massed ranks of infantry in blocks. 40k is different, as its set in a futuristic environment, based on the modern world where you have specialist military units operating as single squads with differing specializations between the troopers. Of course, that would mean that I'd need to get a couple of those bases for my Bells, but that's not too big an issue

However, I am mostly going to wait until I have the book in my hands to make my final judgement. That's not to say I won't read the rumours etc, but they are still rumours

- Loran

Ya, my friend plays dwarves and he likes to put his war machines on round bases. Easier to pivot/fit into his little dwarf bunkers. Maybe games-workshop is just catering to that?

GW rarely cater to anybody but themselves and their profit margins I'm afraid, at least these days anyway. They are so far from being in touch with their customer base I have started to think that they believe we are actually all Space Marines or something 

The really sad part is that they're really not making profit creating decisions. No other company would consider for a moment that alienating existing customers is a good idea, nor would anyone recommend changing a formula that works, and finally any good business person would listen to their customer's feedback.

I don't know what GW is doing, but none of it makes sense from a business perspective.

I've decided I'm done with their business model, I'm selling all my stuff, and I've been collecting for over 20 years...

2 armies for sale in the trading section xD.

Ya, my friend plays dwarves and he likes to put his war machines on round bases. Easier to pivot/fit into his little dwarf bunkers. Maybe games-workshop is just catering to that?

GW rarely cater to anybody but themselves and their profit margins I'm afraid, at least these days anyway. They are so far from being in touch with their customer base I have started to think that they believe we are actually all Space Marines or something 

The really sad part is that they're really not making profit creating decisions. No other company would consider for a moment that alienating existing customers is a good idea, nor would anyone recommend changing a formula that works, and finally any good business person would listen to their customer's feedback.

I don't know what GW is doing, but none of it makes sense from a business perspective.

I've decided I'm done with their business model, I'm selling all my stuff, and I've been collecting for over 20 years...

2 armies for sale in the trading section xD.

I'm pretty close to this point myself. I'm hoping their sort themselves out but I'm not holding my breath

Oh well, looks like more Kings of War for my Oges, the bonus is that it is a great system.

I'd hope so, because their models are atrocious.

I wouldn't put too much stock in these rumors. I say this for many reasons.

1St you aren't going to make money by telling everyone that their models that they spent so much time, and money on, are now useless. Not only would they be telling that all their work they did on their armies was for nothing, but they'd be killing any trust in games workshop as a whole. If they cut 15 armies into 6, then what's next? Cutting it down father to five or four. Or maybe they will cut the number of 40k armies to down. Do you want to invest time and money in an army when you can't trust that it will still be there should some C.O. have another mood swing?

Round bases, based on a picture on the web. Well check out page 70 in the Astra Militarum, bottom picture you'll see a new missile launcher model on a small base when they belong on a large base and have been for a while. Hey, look at that pic on the web. Sure the models in the back have round bases yet the model they were showing off has a square base. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, well games workshop pictures are clearly worth less.

I find rumors more often wrong then right. Just think about the rumors that were flying around before us ogres got our new book, everyone was so sure rhinox riders would be in the book and they would be sold in a box of 3. They talked about like it was fact and not a rumor. What did we get, mournfang cavalry that come two to a box. Close? Sure, but it was still off. It does go a long way to show that you can't trust rumors. Like rumors of only 6 factions, I'm willing to bet that even if there are only 6 factions it won't change the number of armies. My guess would be that factions would be like alignments for armies.

I just read that Grimgor gets Incarnate of Beasts - bastard orcs don't need it....
and Balthazar Gelt retains Metal.....somehow....

Complete load of BS as far as I'm concerned.

And supposedly the dwarves finally get their stone golems.  Something tells me that scene with Golgfag is the only appearance we'll make in the end times.

Lucky dwarves... they even lost 50% of their characters!  And 2 of the 3 were the crappy ones!!!

I really don't hold much weight on these rumors. At all.  I can see the desire to go into competition with Privateer Press, but 'ditching' (or in this case, mutilating) a game that currently earns GW a notable percentage of profit isn't how I see that happening.

There were a lot of stupid rumors surrounding 8th Edition and stuff around new 40k editions in the past that were either untrue or totally out of proportion.

I'm just going to enjoy Warhammer as it is and see where it leads to, which knowing the past 6 editions.... won't actually be very far from the current one.

Besides - there is always Kings Of War

Well the way I see it if it all turns out to be a big pile of pants, we just carry on playing 8th (which I love anyway) and nothing changes. I'm very likely to just continue with 8th anyway, my gaming group is happy the way it is.

I am trying to keep an open mind. I do not believe for one minute they will cut 50% of there models. I can see book combining and a 'Badlands' book has promise. Ogres and Orcs. If you like Ogres as is you can easily convert Gnoblars to other types of Goblins. If this is the case i will probably change my Gnoblars to Halflings. Halfling Sabretusk chariot anyone?

As long as I can still run a viable ogre army I'll be happy. What I don't want is to play empire or greenskins with a unit of ogres on the side.

What I don't want is to play empire or greenskins with a unit of ogres on the side.

This is the big thing for everyone on this board

What I don't want is to play empire or greenskins with a unit of ogres on the side.

This is the big thing for everyone on this board

+1

Well the way I see it if it all turns out to be a big pile of pants, we just carry on playing 8th (which I love anyway) and nothing changes. I'm very likely to just continue with 8th anyway, my gaming group is happy the way it is.

Exactly. The Fantasy community is stable enough that if 9th is truly as bad as people think we can continue on with 8th.

But as has been pointed out I doubt GW would be stupid enough to remove what is still a profit center for them. But who knows, they have done boneheaded things in the past. GW could end up being Ld4 with Stupidity.

As long as I can still run a viable ogre army I'll be happy. What I don't want is to play empire or greenskins with a unit of ogres on the side.

I actually think ogres with Empire would be great. I'd still like to at least have the option to run pure ogres but I think they could visually go very well.

GW could end up being Ld4 with Stupidity.

From what I've read elsewhere, there's a good chance that 9th Ed is going to be CollectorHammer, because GW has failed the Stupidity test and decided that Golden Daemon style models is more important than Game pieces.
If this move doesn't kill them outright, it's going to gut their fanbase further than they already have with the ever increasing prices/reduction of models per box.

I actually think ogres with Empire would be great. I'd still like to at least have the option to run pure ogres but I think they could visually go very well.

I agree with this.  Also, I think there is a very good chance this is where we end up.  In 40K the Ogryn (Basically Ogres) are with the Imperial Guard (which are the 40K version of Empire).

From what I've read elsewhere, there's a good chance that 9th Ed is going to be CollectorHammer, because GW has failed the Stupidity test and decided that Golden Daemon style models is more important than Game pieces.
If this move doesn't kill them outright, it's going to gut their fanbase further than they already have with the ever increasing prices/reduction of models per box.

Yeah GW has always had a sort of schizophrenic relationship with its own games. At some level it's always understood that the game is necessary to drive model sales, but has always regarded the models as more important than the game and have said that time and time again. It's also driven, for example, it's continuous desire to distance itself from tournament gaming. So this seems very plausible, that it will move in even more of a model-driven format.

I agree this seems dangerous, at least in that most people that I know who collect WFB figures do so because of the game. I could of course be wrong on this and you'd think GW would know best what their target market is. But GW have given every indication of not really caring.

The other thing is GW's business model may be very UK-centric. I used to work for GW retail in the UK (a long time ago, but I assume things haven't changed that much). For GW stores, the primary customer base is 12-16 year old boys, who mostly play in the store and have rich parents to indulge them. Customer retention is not a big focus, because most of these kids will discover girls and beer in a few years anyway and will not be playing toy soldiers anyway (they may come back to the hobby later, as often happens). Either way you're looking at short term customers of a few years. In which case a release system that has limited releases probably makes sense - make a mould, churn out what you can and then toss it before it needs remaking. Or perhaps even make a very limited run like Space Hulk and rely on panic-buying? Both would probably have a very detrimental effect on long-time players but GW may simply not care if it sells well to the kids.

I'm pretty pessimistic about players continuing to play 8th ed. That's been tried many times in the past and it just doesn't tend to work out well. Maybe we have enough WFB players to really keep it going strong for a while... but ultimately we can expect a slow heat death.

None of which is very optimistic about the game we all love. I haven't given up hope yet. Maybe 9th in whatever incarnation will actually be good! GW need to do something to revitalise the game that's for sure.

I actually think ogres with Empire would be great. I'd still like to at least have the option to run pure ogres but I think they could visually go very well.

I agree with this.  Also, I think there is a very good chance this is where we end up.  In 40K the Ogryn (Basically Ogres) are with the Imperial Guard (which are the 40K version of Empire).

Not exactly a comparable situation. Ogrun have always been in the Imperial Guard. Because they're abhumans.

Ogryns were in the Imperial Guard because Ogres were in the Empire... 

IDK...
First off from what I can read via  the very Vague 9th addition rumours is that "they may have a change to the rules about what/who can form "ranks" and That the models that either can't or don't may not have to be on Square bases..

For the Second bit of speculation, Ogres have always been dogs of war. Golgfag and the rest of the maneaters will always be found working for the empire, chaos ogres will follow chaos, Shrewd Fulg will always sell ogres to Clan Moulder to be turned into Ratogres, and now according to the "end times rumours" Ogres might sneak into the Ocs&goblin armies too.. <shrugs>

It looks like The Nagash, Thanquol, glottkin, Archaon "collector" releases have done well So I wouldnt expect any "army" books anytime soon.. And If any supplement in the meantime gives us access to another model or army Bring it on..
IDK.. Just my 2 cents..
Guess we will see...

My best guess is that should GW do this consolidation thing with various armies what we will get is the same thing that is happening in 40K. Supplement books. If Ogres do get folded in with Orcs than down the road we may get a supplement book where we can run an all Ogre army. I wouldn't put that past me at all.

I've been in this hobby for over 20 years, I have spent so much money into it that I don't want to think about it and I'm sure a lot of people have spent much more then me.

I have always loved the Warhammer fluff, I used to spend hours reading all the books and trying to memorize all that I could. I loved playing during 8th edition, even though my local scene was fairly small and getting ever smaller.

I even started 40k during it's 6th edition to play with my brothers.

I was a good customer for GW, because I spent money on a regular basis in both their systems and even bought terrain and paints from them.

The came 40k 7th edition within 2 years of the previous one.

Then came End Times : Nagash and I was happy to see such an iconic figure make a come back.

Then they started killing everyone...

Then they killed my local mety...

Then they destroyed the world that I had come to love in the past 20 years.


When the rumors came out for 9th, I decided to sell my Ogre army and I'm in the process of selling all that I have left from GW. Some people will say that I'm overreacting to things, but this company has lost me as a customer.

Since January, I've been playing Warmachine and having a blast playing a tight ruleset that makes sense and that keeps progressing slowly every year. Sometimes I wish the models were as good as the plastic kits from GW, but at least I'm having fun playing a tabletop game once again.

I've been in this hobby for over 20 years, I have spent so much money into it that I don't want to think about it and I'm sure a lot of people have spent much more then me.

I have always loved the Warhammer fluff, I used to spend hours reading all the books and trying to memorize all that I could. I loved playing during 8th edition, even though my local scene was fairly small and getting ever smaller.

I even started 40k during it's 6th edition to play with my brothers.

I was a good customer for GW, because I spent money on a regular basis in both their systems and even bought terrain and paints from them.

The came 40k 7th edition within 2 years of the previous one.

Then came End Times : Nagash and I was happy to see such an iconic figure make a come back.

Then they started killing everyone...

Then they killed my local mety...

Then they destroyed the world that I had come to love in the past 20 years.


When the rumors came out for 9th, I decided to sell my Ogre army and I'm in the process of selling all that I have left from GW. Some people will say that I'm overreacting to things, but this company has lost me as a customer.

Since January, I've been playing Warmachine and having a blast playing a tight ruleset that makes sense and that keeps progressing slowly every year. Sometimes I wish the models were as good as the plastic kits from GW, but at least I'm having fun playing a tabletop game once again.

I feel exactly the same way as you here. I jumped into Malifaux instead though. I also got annoyed with the Dice Gods. Now I'm a Wyrd Henchman promoting Malifaux and having a blast with a really unique system and very interesting characters, great models, low setup costs. My Armies will no doubt collect dust until GW finally roles Double 1's for their Ld 2 Stupidity test.

When was the last time that I heard these sentiments??

Ow right! when 8th edition came out.
Lot's of players stopping with warhammer to play warmahordes.

Now, I feel that the rumours are going to a new level compared to the last change.
For me it is quite simple: I play the game, as long as I like.
If I don't like it (anymore) then I'll stop.
No need to get all on the barricades for this

I was thinking the same thing. End of 7th, random chargers and fighting in initiative was going to ruin the game. Turned out okay, although some people did quit. Ultimately the design studio put an emphasis on balance (at least better than 7th) and in the end I like it best of all the editions.

But that said, what bothers me more than the rumours is the direction GW has taken with End Times. 9th ed may be good or not but I know the End Times is rubbish. Just totally ignorable, uninteresting and badly put together rules quite aside from being unbalanced as hell. This has me nervous. Sure, End Times is just essentially a bunch of campaign supplements probably. A way of leaving the old World with a bang. But the company has spent, what, a year's worth of releases on it? That's a lot of time and effort. If this is the direction forward then I might be out. Early rumours of 8th had at least some good and some bad for most people. I haven't heard anything about 9th that sounds positive.

Still, most likely I - and the majority of WHF players I suspect - will try 9th, whatever shape it comes in. If they completely invalidate everyone's armies is the only way I see a mass exodus happening. A major shake up to the background and game could be good or bad it's just unknown right now.

I agree, I'll give 9th a bash and if it is rubbish or as unbalanced and herohammery as End Times then I wont play it. But my armies will definately not be gathering dust. I'll just continue playing 8th, I'm pretty sure that's what my gaming group will choose to do anyway.

I completely agree with you Gutlord. I also find the lack of GW communication on 9th very disturbing. I was excited and ready for 8th, but right now I'm trying to stay calm, wait, and hope.

Then again Hope is the beginning of unhappiness.

I completely agree with you Gutlord. I also find the lack of GW communication on 9th very disturbing. I was excited and ready for 8th, but right now I'm trying to stay calm, wait, and hope.

Then again Hope is the beginning of unhappiness.

I agree completely.  I think that all of this could have been avoided with a little communication.

Or if they cared.

Instead, we get to worry about whether they are arbitrarily making our investment of time and money completely worthless without any foreknowledge. 

Still, as I've said before, the stuff I currently have still works, and 8th edition is still fun, so it doesn't really matter what happens.  All we can do is hope that something fun comes out of all this.

Whatever form the game takes in the future I am sure folks will keep WHFB alive somehow. I mean look at Blood Bowl! A great GW game they don't even support any longer and it is more alive than ever! Heck even Mordheim and Necromunda are still kicking.

Change is scary but that doesn't mean we have to be scared. Ogres don't know fear!!

As far as I am concerned the end times produced some great fluff. Not a whole lot else (the new units were clearly designed by a complete moron who had never heard of balance. But hey these guys were designed to end the world)

WHFB 9th edition is coming, we know that. The sky is not falling, we are getting a new rule set, it will solve some problems, create some new ones. Adapt or die, your choice. I choose to wait for it and try to adapt. I won't be throwing my hands in the air, yelling 'zomg broken, ruined, GeeDubz sucks' quite yet.

This is a recurring problem for warhammer (both flavour) change is almost invariably greeted with anger. Everyone's new army book is eithe omg so broken or complete trash. Then after a few months of playing as combos and counters are discovered everything more or less evens out (yes I know some armies are more powerful, but very few are an auto-curb stomp nowadays.) all I'm saying is maybe give games workshop a chance before you sell all your models, cry havoc and let loose the dogs of warmahordes. If for no other reason that I'll end up awfully short of people to talk to ogres about if you all quit.

I've been discussing the rumors with friends I game with and the main points that really stand out is this.

- You'll still be able to use your existing army
- Rank-and-file combat is still in-game and viable
- Skirmish based combat only adds new depth to the system

and perhaps, most importantly

- Nothing rumored so far is actually new to Warhammer

We've had Warhammer:Skirmish in 6th.  We've had units that can switch between Skirmish and Rank-and-file in the Lustra setting.  We've had several editions that concentrate on heroes.

The interesting part of the rumors is Gamesworkshop want to make the game more accessible to new players.  For me that would signal the rules being more compatible with smaller games.  That can only be good.

My hopes for 9th edition if the rumors are true?

- A tiered magic system that actually scales well with smaller games that also doesn't make taking combat heroes seem like a waste of points.

- Smaller scale games that are still enjoyable and deliver their own flavor.

- 'Traditional' Warhammer is still playable as the game scales up into larger battles.

Just to make something clear, my sentiment has nothing to do with actual rules, because I would've quitted a long time before this year.

My resentment towards GW is more on the following points:
- I don't like what they did with the Warhammer world, even if you can choose to ignore it.
- The scale of the game is getting stupid. I'd like a game of WHFB to be fun at 500 and 3500 points without having to houserule everything.
- Their business model is retarded... You get stuff for your army every 7 year (if lucky!) and then you have nothing to do besides... Starting a new army! What if you don't want to or you are waiting for an army that hasn't been released yet? (Brets?)
- They treat non GW stores really badly, which sucks when you don't have a GW in your area.
- Entry cost of the game (and I played Ogres imagine!)

I could go on with the rules and power creep, but in the end, the way they treat their independant retailers, the fact that there is no reliable way to know what is coming for your army (or if it's coming at all) and the End Time fluff kinda sealed the deal on me being a GW customer.

Don't compare me to those doomsayers of 8th, I played through 8th and tried to promote WHFB in my local scene... GW just made sure it would never live again here though...