No one thought they were getting out a fresh new edition without losing something, right? This is what I call the New Edition Tax, it’s what Age of Sigmar players had to deal with when a whole bunch of their… Sigmar Space Marines were retired, or their beastmen were moved to the Old World. It’s what original space marine players in 40k had to deal with when the Primaris became a thing.
And now, finally, it’s come for us.
Partially, this is my fault. Not the tax, that’s on GW. But my belief that maybe, if my gang builds were all legal, I’d be able to field them more or less as is while doing some adjustments on their character sheets. And the prize for dumb-dumb of the year goes to… Papa Ferm’s little boy!
So, in memoriam for some of the cool miniatures that will now collect dust, I thought it might be “fun” to review what this edition is costing me in terms of New Edition Tax. And, mind you, these are all completely legal by the old rules…
Do you like that guy’s cape? And his tricked out combi-bolter/plasma weapon? It’s pretty sick, right? Too bad the weapon’s list has revised it right off the menu. I mean, I guess the cape could stay if I figured out a way to put different weapons in his hands. But that gun is gonners.
I know someone out there will say, “But you can just buy it again at the Trading Post later!”
Firstly, get fucked. Secondly, that’s not really the point is it? There used to be a combi-bolter/plasma weapon on the list, now there’s not. If it’s not in the Goliath gang boxes or on the weapons sprue, you’re out of luck, which as I’ve brought up several times before now, really sucks for the conversion hobbyists.
I really don’t understand the need to pare everything down to the bare minimum for a game like this. It’s not Blood Bowl. It’s not Kill Team. The people who play this game have usually played war games for years. This seems like an odd aspect to nerf. (Get ready to hear me sing this song a lot in this article.)
Then there is also my grenade launching Escher. Ain’t she a beaut. I built her with a Wyld-runner body and a third-party head and she’s definitely one of my more distinct Escher. And that includes Sunny, the happiest little murderer I’ve ever assembled. The arms weren’t a perfect fit and, since they were resin, it wasn’t the kind of thing I could really force into place with glue. But a little Green Stuff in the right places got the job done and paint, as always, hides a myriad of sins.
She is a bad ass. Also, completely legal in the last edition. I feel like this needs to be re-enforced.
Yes, I spent money on the ForgeWorld extra weapons kit but this was supposed to be good for the gang. Little did I know I was sentencing these miniatures to die and unloved un-beloved death in a drawer (or box) somewhere.
Last, and I’m not even sure this one counts but my Ironhead Squats Claim Jumper deserves at least a “Best Dressed” mention. I didn’t even fuck with this dude. He’s built straight out of the package but is now… not valid.
Unlike the other jamooks in this collection, at least he can still be put on the table. But the gang that he was once a part of as a hanger on can’t have him. He’s now too expensive and he lost a bunch of stuff that made him important the first time around, and it rhymes with “Flower Pist.” Sure, his grenade load-out woud’ve been nice to keep but, adding 100cr to his cost over the last edition, I mean… Jesus… it’s like a hotel that charges a €100/night dog cleaning fee… just tell me I can’t bring the dog, we’ll all be happy.
The worst part about this last one is, if we can’t even buy a miniature as it’s supposed to be played, why would we convert stuff to meet with the current house lists, especially if they’re entirely dependent on what can be put out in plastic at any given moment? I get wanting to pare down the Warhammer lists. These are massive games with an enormous number of players, most of whom will be mad at you that you never put out a space marine with a given load-out… blah blah blah.
But Necromunda players aren’t those people. Necromunda players are Envoys, we play with what we can make. And we can make a fucking shitload of cool things from everything I’ve ever seen.
I don’t want to get too conspiratorial but the more I look at how the lists have been pared down, the more I wonder about what the goal of it is. It’s one thing to have a core set of weapons available in plastic and available to anyone. But for the rarer stuff… I’m still not sure why you wouldn’t just leave it be for the hobbyists.
My real worry is that Games Workshop continues down the road with Necromunda that they took with Kill Team and, eventually, even the Trading Post will be removed in favor of dumb “power-ups” for fighters instead of weapons because cards and stats are easier to change than molded-plastic.
This is not to say I pessimistic about this edition of the game. But I also can see it following a darker road I wouldn’t love.
In the meantime, I’ll pay my New Edition Tax and hope that, in the short term, it’s all that’s asked of me. But I do fear that the Journals might make things worse.
