Warhammer 40k Codex Creep on Steroids

If reading is hard for you, you are always welcome to watch the companion YouTube video to this post linked here and below

It has been a wild few weeks for us since the launch of Warhammer 40k 9th edition! The wildest comes from the drip, drip of leaked instruction manual box rules, so it was only a matter of time before Games Workshop weighed in and boy did they with this Warhammer Community post. 

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/08/13/new-boxes-new-rules-new-codexes/

That article beyond anything confirmed all kit box instruction rules we’ve been seeing, are legit and preview future codex rules. It also by proxy, somewhat confirmed Covid screwing up the release schedule and supply chains, with Games Workshop never having this exact leak problem before. What we can see is the an unprecedented power creep going on for Space Marines and to a lesser extent Necrons. This has very dangerous consequences for 9th edition. As mentioned in a previous post we talked about how new codex based mission actions have power creep potential, but classic codex creep now looks to be on overdrive. Non-primaris Marines are getting more wounds, more powerful weapons, and all across the board a super buffed. Games Workshop has also stated that the same will be coming to all factions; with this massive boost to units, we can’t assume it will done with a balance approach. 

That is the big problem here, Games Workshop has done nothing in all its years to calibrate properly codex creep, so when you take all the dramatic changes Games Workshop is about to usher in for everyone we should be concerned. I do recognize that a lot of the changes to units are a wish list of requests by many single faction players, but getting everything you ever wanted often creates more problems than it is worth. As well, Games Workshop has stated that point costs will reflect the new boosted power of units, but that is where general trust of Games Workshop becomes an issue. 

How can we trust Games Workshop to implement this all correctly, and since every faction isn’t getting a new codex all at once there is going to be some severe haves and have nots. Once again, as I mentioned before we don’t know how elongated the 9th edition codex release schedule is going to be, so many factions could end up waiting a very long time to be on the level. Already, small events are taking drastic measures, like banning Space Marines altogether from tournaments. Now that does sound quite insane, but it does give one an idea about the growing sense of dread we could be looking at for 9th edition. 

This reminds me a lot of when Imperial Knights were first released and the first super formations came in to 6th edition. We had tons of people freaking out, but ultimately acquiesced to letting them be played, because who wants to tell someone they can’t play the official rules. This though feels slightly different because it is so sweeping, and without the faith that Games Workshop will point units correctly, we can assume a lot of pissed off players are going to be created. Oddly, Games Workshop should be thankful for Covid as the competitive scene will be fairly dormant for quite awhile, leaving many people without quantifiable ways to prove their hate. Instead we will have silos of venomous discussion that only adds to the toxic level of the game, with “why does Games Workshop only love Space Marines” sentiment leading the fanatical charge. 

Warhammer 40k players are just not the most patient of folks and to leave them hanging months on end wondering when their army will see love, is just a recipe for disaster. This is a nightmare of Games Workshop own making, one they always love to repeat again and again, and one that is isn’t a bug, but a feature.