What did they do to my bugs?!

It had been a while so I decided to post up my thoughts on Warhammer 40k since everyone seemed to be playing again.

Over the last few months I've been getting back into the Warhammer 40,000 hobby.  I took a good 8 month hiatus, where I didn't even want to look at a model. I packed up all my codecies, boxed up all the models, sold off more than half my collection; I was determined to walk away for good. It's a long story...

Anyway, I've gotten the urge to play again, primarily because my buddy is also getting back into it and we'd actually get together and have some fun after many years of wandering various MMO worlds.  So looking at my remaining collection, I had to decide which army I wanted to play.  I had the choice of Tau, Space Wolves, Imperial Guard, Orks and Tyranids.  Well, another in the group was already going to play the bugs, so I put them aside - even though it's my largest painted force.  They also have a new book out, which I was hesitant to pick up - again, long story.

After taking out the bugs, snapping a few pics (which should be up on the Banstick Flickr page soon), I thought "Why not take em out? It's not like they're useless now...".  So I decided to just bite the bullet and pick up the book. Afterall, I have the army, I have roughly half of the models I own built and painted (and that was around 2000 points in the last book), so why not see what I could do with them?

I'll tell you what I can do with them now that I've read through the codex - Put em back in storage and wait for the next edition of the codex, because frankly - this one SUCKS.  I've been playing these guys since 3rd edition (it's now 5th) and I am disgusted. (more after the break)



Where are my biomorphs? Where are my options? Where's my once great flexibility? Where are my special rules that I have used for many years? Where's all the cool stuff? Oh yeah...it's hidden under all those new units I have to buy in order to make my army flexible again.  THANKS FOR RUINING MY ARMY! I tried to have an open mind. I tried to see the positive. I wanted to be excited that warriors were now troops choices...

To be perfectly honest, I'm quite angry.  It's like the author just tossed everything that made the tyranids, tyranids and just copied a template and plugged in tyranid weapons and upgrades.  For example, My carnifex, who had a plethora of options/biomorphs that it could take, now has roughly 4 weapons to choose from (which makes one of my 'fexes that I have built completely useless without tearing the arms off and reequipping him), and roughly 4 biomorphs.  A FAR cry from the customization I had in the previous book. And guess what else? I can take 3 in a unit, but they all have to be armed exactly the same.  So of my 3 carnifex, 1 has been rendered useless, and I can't even group the other two, because they are armed different. Sure, I could use up 2 heavy support choices for them, but then I wouldn't have much room for the 4 other new units.

Listen, I'm all for seeing new units and seeing things go forward, but when you completely change an army, and I'm pretty much talking about throwing EVERYTHING out and rewriting it, something is wrong.  There's no customization as there was, army composition has been completely changed, rules that have been there for years are gone...W!T!F?!

Here's another dandy one - the lictor is all but useless now.  Before, it could assault the turn it was revealed...now? It sits in the open with a big target painted on its head waiting to be shot to hell.  Sure, there are more units to choose from. I don't care. My army is f'd up. The new book is terrible. The tyranids did NOT need a new book. The Necrons, Dark Eldar - they need new books. they're the two oldest out there.  We've had 2 new space marine codecies, and 2 new tyranid codecies so far, yet these other two sit in the warp waiting for a revision.

The army has changed so much that I don't want to play it. All this power creep in both Warhammer and 40k, and the Tyranids get a BIG ole clobbering with the stupid bat.  At least I still have the receipt for the book, because I'm NOT going to be using it.  Worst case, I exchange it for a box of guardsmen and a pot of paint.

Peace.