One of my fondest memories of 5th edition was the first weekend it came out. As me and my friends tried to play some games, it quickly became a sad spectacle of rules retardation, at its finest. Most of us just played in a tournament using the old rules, we were now suddenly thrown into a set of new arguments over true line of sight, cover saves, and wound allocation. It was a nightmare that got seemed at first to only get worse.
Strangely, it was one of my friends that got back into the game that learned the rules lickety-split, after not playing since 2nd edition. In some respects, he knew the rules better than the rest of this and his clarity made all our complaints about the new edition easier to swallow. The main reason he understood the rules so well, was his uncluttered mind devoid of those pesky old rules that everyone else had to deal with. He had a fresh perspective; everything was new to him, so embraced he the game quickly.
Now for the rest of us the rules of 4th receded slowly into memory replace by 5th. That didn’t mean 4th was gone for good, for God’s sake I still had no idea that models still falling back could fall back at any point in the movement phase not just at the beginning, until late last year.
So as 6th edition approaches, I am once again stuck with having to unlearn what I have already learned and try not getting my old brain mixed up with competing rules sets.
I plan on taking a page from my friend and try to clear my mind of 5th edition. The only way to do this though is by not playing; which might seem extreme, but when you think about it why not?
This doesn’t mean I am going to stop following the hobby, it just means I am not going to play the game part. Surprisingly, the hours I would use playing the game can now be devoted to actually finishing projects– like painting my bloody Dark Eldar.
The fascinating thing is GW has made this quite easy to do. Without a new codex to drool over or since Necrons there is no shiny new distractions. Games Workshops new paint line makes painting once again new and interesting. Besides, many players (me included) having played numerous 5th ed games are feeling a bit of fatigue.
Still, I want to keep my head in the game, so following rumors and news keeps me interested. It is just at this point, reading tactical articles and tournament reports seem a little pointless when everything is going to change in a few short months. How many Grey Knights lists can you honestly look at? How about all those scarab tactics articles?
So for the sake of my own mental fortitude, I’ve decided, it is time to leave 5th behind!
I say to everyone, better do it now than wait!
Get some other stuff done, explore other games, because everything is about to change.
It is time to let 5th die, let it rest in peace because it isn’t coming back…
I think…