First I have to admit that I'm not the most avid Simon and Garfunkel fan. I enjoy their music as I feel it has a very haunting quality couple with some evocative imagery. However I own none of their albums, nor do I purport to knowing any of their songs other than those that have penetrated the lexicon of popular music. I also have to admit that though I love the original version of The Sound of Silence, my interest was sparked by a cover version by of all bands Disturbed, who are renowned for such memorable songs as Down With the Sickness, probably as far away musically from Simon and Garfunkel you could probably get.
Whilst listening to the Disturbed rendition of the song, which appears on their new album Immortalize, I was struck by just how prophetic this song is and how relevant it is to society today. The original version was released back in 1964 on the duos début album Wednesday Morning 3A.M, The song is essentially about lack of communication and people becoming apathetic towards each other. At the time the USA was going through a lot of social and political turmoil, JFK had been assassinated in November of the previous year and there was a great deal of public opposition towards the Vietnam war. These events are not what the song focuses on, but they are a symptom of man's inability to communicate with his fellow man on all but a superficial level.
So why do I feel a song written in the 60's is prophetic, when it was making a comment on society half a century ago? Why do I feel it is relevant now? Frankly because I think nowadays we are actually worse at communication, despite this being the age of social media, the internet and smart phones. I honestly think we have become an even more superficial and self isolationist species.
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
The above excerpt from the song I think sums up my point. People talking without speaking, we have all been there, shuffling about, with our heads bowed over whatsapp or FB Messenger. Replying to a number of conversations without absorbing a single one. The saddest verse here is people writing songs that voices never share. I feel that so much potential and creativity goes to waste nowadays, lost on a tide of negative opinions and internet trolling. Often our voices are silenced by the ill informed and ignorant beliefs of others.
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the signs said
"The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence
This is the most prophetic part of the song, "And the people bowed and prayed, to the neon god they made". Media and advertising has become our new god, we are no longer being sold products. We are being sold life styles, look at how happy the people on Coke adverts are, that could be you and if you bring any apple product into your home, clearly you are on the path to heavenly bliss. "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls". So as we shamble blindly through the day to day, replying to 100 messages from a 100 acquaintances who we never see in person, the only things that penetrate and affect us are those big signs that are selling us an ideal life. No longer do we dream of family or the white picket fence. We dream of filling our houses with the superficial trappings of the modern day. Surrounded by the 'happiness' these things bring. Whilst we text, email and hash tag. Further isolating ourselves, but being completely ignorant of it, but what the hell that meme you posted up on FB got 100 likes so whatever.
I don't know what point I'm trying to make here other than this song is relevant today, but just stand back and think for a second. Maybe the next message you send should be "lets meet up", maybe the next billboard you look at you could say "I can do without". Maybe the next thing you hear you could actually listen to, after all what is more lonely than the sound of silence.
Tuesday, 8 September 2015
Friday, 7 August 2015
A New Beginning? Warhammer Age of Sigmar
I make no secret of the fact that I am a miniature war gamer. In fact since the age of around 10 it has been something of an obsession of mine, in particular the game Warhammer Fantasy Battles by Games Workshop. I remember when I first walked into my local GW store in my town centre (Hanley, its still there now in fact I believe its one of the oldest stores). My eyes were near assaulted by a cornucopia of vividly painted fantasy and science fiction armies, wargames tables laid out with terrain and covered in miniatures locked in glorious combat. I remember on that first visit I did not buy anything. My parent believing I was too young for such games, which required a great investment of time, effort and money to get into. However after a great deal of badgering my mum (bless her) finally relented and bought me my first box of Warhammer figurines, not from the GW store but from a small toy and model shop called the Toy Box located in the small town I lived in (Meir, sadly the shop is no longer there). I remember eagerly opening up the small blue box of figures emblazoned with the Warhammer logo. It contained 10 single pose grey plastic High Elves 5 archers and 5 spear men. It also contained a small pamphlet advertising other games and products in GW's range. Back then GW sold other games other than Warhammer Fantasy and 40k, Blood Bowl (a fantasy American Football style game) ManoWar (a fantasy naval combat game), Warhammer 40,000 EPIC (a 6mm mass combat game) and Warhammer Quest (a dungeon crawl board games). The pamphlet also advertised a small starter box type deal which contained some basic paints and 2 single pose plastic miniatures, a Lizardman and a Space Marine Terminator. Shock horror you could get this little deal for free if memory serves I think the only charge was postage and packaging. Again after a little badgering my mum sent off for this little set. My initiation into the world of GW was complete. Every birthday and Christmas Warhammer was on my present list. Any pocket money I got was spent on Warhammer. Summer Holidays were spent painting and assembling, up until I went to 6th form and discovered Rugby and girls Warhammer was my great romance it was always there and even when I wasn't painting I would be reading the literature.
Fast forward to the present and it seems that my once beloved game is dead. The setting gone/transformed into something totally different. From what I have read online Warhammer: Age of Sigmar has polarised the community. Its totally Marmite, you either love it or hate it, some have embraced it and others have taken to ebay to sell their Warhammer Fantasy collections as if enacting a bizarre funeral right. Criticisms range from a dumbing down of the new setting, overly simplified rules and even accusations of it just being a money spinner for GW. This opinion seems to come from the introduction of the new Stormcast Eternal faction, or as they are being called by the community Sigmarines. Do I agree with these opinions? well that's a long winded question. Let me break my answer down.
Rules
I will agree the rules are quite simple the rule book that comes in the boxed game is pamphlet sized and can be obtained as a free PDF download on GW's website. But frankly simple is not always a bad thing, ever heard the term minutes to learn a life time to master? I believe this will be the case for AoS. Chess is a simple game, but that does not mean it lacks tactical depth. Its the same for AoS. It's a grower not a shower, it's not yet put all it's cards on the table so to speak. I think a lot of the disappointment lies with the fact that people thought this would be the next edition of Warhammer FB. But it is not, it's an entirely different beast. Stat lines have changed, points costs have gone and the ranking up of figures in large unit blocks is no longer necessary. Army books are gone and have been replaced by warscrolls that detail a units stats and abilities these can also be obtained free on the GW website of via an AoS phone/tablet app. It is not a mass battle game like WFB but at the same time its not really a small model count skirmish game either. In short it's completely scaleable to the kind of game you want to play. Want a game with 100's of models? Great AoS will let you do this. Want a game with about 30 models a side, AoS allows you to do this. In short it is a much more versatile game. Yeah the fact that points cost's are gone could be construed as an issue, as it no longer restricts players to equal sized forces. But A, when in history have battles ever been fought with completely equally matched forces and B, just use your common sense, as human being we have the ability to work out what is fair. So in short in terms of rules I think the game has depth, it is easier for younger players to pick up, and should prove a challenge to more veteran players, especially when more units and terrain pieces have been released. Plus the option for lower model count games makes AoS more financially accessible. I'm not saying its cheap (GW seldom is nowadays) but it is far more accessible than WFB which required large blocks of infantry usually over 100 models a side to play a decent game.
Setting/Fluff (long ramble)
I have to admit I am not a great fan of the new setting. To give a bit of background, WFB was set predominantly in the Old World there. To all intents and purposes it was like a fantasy version of Renaissance Europe with magic and monsters thrown in for good measure and it was grim like grimmer than Game of Thrones grim. The idea was that humanity and the forces of order were locked in a constant battle with the forces of chaos. In short if you were a peasant in this world your outlook was pretty dire indeed. The likelihood of your existence was you would probably fall foul to orcs, beastmen, undead, chaos incursions, or even elves if you strayed to close to the edge of the forest. Not to mention you could also end up with some vile mutation which would get you burnt by witch hunters. The "good" races were morally ambiguous, The Empire was constantly defending its borders, but was also subject to religious and political turmoil. The Elves were fractured into 3 separate peoples, aloof high elves who's island kingdom was beset by courtly back biting and an almost xenophobic attitude to the outside world. The blood thirsty Dark Elves, who were into enslaving people for the purpose of blood sacrifice to their murder god. The Wood Elves basically xenophobic tree huggers with itchy bow strings. The dwarves had hid themselves away in their underground kingdoms, turning their backs on the troubles of the outside world. Then we had the Bretonians, chivalrous knights, who like in our own history treated the peasantry as subhuman. Lastly we have the Lizardmen, basically reptilian dinosaur riding Aztecs, created by godlike aliens known as the old ones as labourers. As you can see this was a dark setting, but also had a smattering of with influences from Tolkien, Lovecraft and Moorcock with a smattering of black humour in the vein of Black Adder. More often than not mighty heroes would fight terrifying monsters and slay them in single combat, only to be crushed to death under said monsters weight. The tone of WFB was always one of a foreboding sense of the inevitable everyone was doomed, the four Chaos Gods Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle and Slaanesh ever plotting to drown the world in cataclysm . This is pretty much how the setting remained for 20 years. Some things got changed or simplified, but the fundamentals were always there. In 2004 (I think) there was an attempt at a player driven narrative campaign called the Storm of Chaos, which saw Archaon the Everchosen finally ready to launch an incursion into the Empire and Enter the Flames of Ulric in Middenheim. This campaign was supposed to progress what had been a pretty stagnant storyline. The idea was that players would log results of victories from games played in store etc. The campaign had scenarios which would have knock on effects in following scenarios throughout the campaign, dependent on factors like victory conditions etc. The outcome was that Archaon did not succeed and an was in fact unceremoniously knocked unconscious by the Orc War Chief Grimgor Ironhide (an unlikely hero). Though a little silly this did have notes of some of the dark humour of the setting, humanities saviour ultimately taking the form of something equally as monstrous as the antagonising forces. However in later editions of the game, the Storm of Chaos campaign and the attempt to progress the settings narrative was forgotten. Fast forward to September 2014 GW releases the first of the End Times books, Nagash. Now Nagash, is kind of like Warhammers version of Sauron or Voldemort, he created necromancy and most undead creatures. He is a historical figure in the setting in the sense that he has been killed and defeated multiple times, though his essence remained in items and books that he had created in life. Think a bit like horcruxes before Harry Potter. His return is the first major event in the End Times narrative. Towards the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015 four more End Times books were released, Glotkin, Khaine, Thanquol and Archaon. Loads of crazy shit happens in these four books, characters that have been in the lore for years get killed. Some get resurrected, the winds of magic enter into mortal hosts creating the incarnates and the God King Sigmar returns for one final battle. But ultimately the Warhammer World we all knew a loved ends up being torn apart and everyone dies. That sense of foreboding futility wasn't unfounded.
Enter the Age of Sigmar, as it turns out Sigmar survived the death of the old world and apparently clung to the fiery core of the planet which hurled through space and got caught by this cosmic dragon. Who then helped Sigmar learn to traverse the realms through realm gates. Whilst travelling the realms Sigmar discovers other survivors from the old world who have now become gods themselves. These gods unite and usher a cosmic realm spanning age of utopia. But as is always the case the Gods soon tire of working with each other and follow their own agendas. Chaos finds a way to break into these new realms and as is always the case with Chaos manages to fuck everything up for everyone, the bastards. Sigmar retreats to his realm of Azyrheim where he broods for a few millennia and decides to create the Stormcast Eternals, a heavenly army forged from the souls of the greatest warriors of the realms. He then opens the Gates of Azyrheim and unleashes his new army on the forces of chaos. So yeah,big Epic fantasy story. What is my issue. Well frankly its all just a bit wishy washy, these realms are not simply realms as in kingdom states, they are planes of existence. Each realm is a world unto itself, in addition each realm corresponds to a wind of magic, so there is a fire realm, a realm of death, a realm of metal etc. At this point in the story each realm has been thoroughly taken over by the powers of Chaos. Hence the reason for Sigmar's Stormcast army, who's purpose is to take back the realms. Suddenly the story line is starting to seem all too familiar. An army of superhuman warriors taking back worlds for the good of mankind and other mortal races. Seems a lot like the premise of 40k, the Stormcast Eternals are definitely fantasy proxy's of space marines. The realms could easily be seen as worlds that need to be bought in compliance and Sigmar the God King is an absolute dead ringer for the God Emperor. Now it is no secret that 40k outsells fantasy and Space Marines make up for the majority of sales. So it does make sense from a selling perspective that GW would try and make Warhammer AoS similar to its's best selling game. However my issue with Stormcasts is that despite all appearances, from a narrative perspective they do not have that something that makes Space Marines special. To look at the models are impressive, they look superhuman and in terms of scale and are much closer to the size a space marine model should be. Space Marine models are not much bigger than a basic guardsmen but they are supposed to be 8ft tall angels of death. The Stormcast models dwarf them. However the Stormcasts despite their stylish and imposing appearance are not Space Marines. The background of the Stormcast are that they are the greatest warriors of the realms that are taken from their native realms and reforged into heavenly champions. In the process of becoming a Stormcast Eternal a lot of their humanity is lost a long with memories of their former life. Also each time a Stormcast dies they are simply transported back to Azyrheim where they are reforged and once again all their memories are lost, so in many respects they don't die however anything that gave them personality or depth falls by the wayside. Space Marines go through a similar process, they are genetically enhanced to the point they become something more and in some respects a lot less than a normal human being. They go through a process of indoctrination that wipes away a lot of their former life. However each Space Marine does have their own personality, they are functionally immortal and a lot of their human life is eclipsed by centuries of life on the battlefield. But their is still that core of humanity to them that gives us some empathy towards them. The very reason the Horus Heresy series of books has been so popular is that we get insights into the human side of Space Marines they may be superhuman, but they make mistakes, they fall just like the rest of us do. They are subject to petty jealousy and envy, we become attached to key characters because we can see their struggle with what they have become. To once be human, but then essentially to be turned into a weapon, to never feel love except for the exhilaration of battle. To be the watchers of humanity but never actually be part of humanity. There is a great sense of tragedy to Space Marines. There is none of this with the Stormcasts, they are completely faceless. In many respects they are identical to daemons, because like daemons each time they are vanquished they return to Azyrheim to be reforged, similarly daemons simply return to the realm of chaos. The only difference is daemons actually have personality and remember the battles and foes they have fought and these are the villains!!! The Stormcasts are they good guys, who we are supposed to route for, there should be more to them than cool aesthetics, we need to care about them. This said its early days and hopefully GW will expand upon the concept of them having no memory, there is potential there for interesting stories. What if a Stormcast started getting flash backs, what if he remembered his former life etc. In conclusion, I think the setting has not yet been fully fleshed out, it seems GW are going for a storyline that unfolds over time, with the release of supplements and scenario books. There is potential for this to be an interesting setting, however right now it seems fairly generic fantasy fare. All the darkness has gone, but in all honesty I think that this is maybe not a bad thing, in a world where Game of Thrones, a very dark low fantasy story is one of the most watched shows on tv fantasy as a genre is striving to become darker and more gritty, so I think it's a pretty brave move of GW to bring a bit of light and magic back to the genre. In this setting it is chaos that is on the back foot. The Stormcast's are the ones invading the chaos held realms, they are the invaders, where previously it was Chaos that was the ever present threat. So we shall see it's early days, I think it's important to remember this is an entirely new game and new setting, its an evolution.
Is it a Money Spinner?
I think it is important to remember that above all else GW is a business, it's main goal is to make money. This opinion will put many peoples nose out of joint, as hobbyists we have a lot of emotional attachment to the games and setting. To us these games are a lot more than just products, they are stories and concepts that we have built an attachment to, for me I have been with WFB for nearly 20 years. Each character death in the End Times book was like a personal blow, I grew up with these characters and in some respects it felt like losing old friends. I'm quite sure there were people in the GW design studio who felt the same. But ultimately as a company GW needs to make money. If we want to continue to enjoy these products GW has to stay in business so they can keep making them and putting out new content. I honestly believe if this was just a money spinner, GW would have simply discontinued the game and concentrated their efforts on 40k. Like I said earlier 40k is GW's bread winner, so if this was simply about money what would be the point in continuing with a product that was causing you to haemorrhage cash. The problem with WFB was that it required a huge buy in, fantasy armies comprised of multiple units with a high model count. This poses a few issues, to get a decent game you needed a lot of models. One box of miniatures would often only equate to half a unit. A decent sized game would often comprise of 2000 points worth of models. Depending on a units points cost an army would usually comprise of around 5 blocks of troops. So if we say 5 units, that's 10 boxes of models, costing around £20 each (again depends on the unit). So already that is £200 and that is for a basic sized army (this is also a conservative estimate on price). This is before you have bought paints, brushes, glue, modelling tools, army book etc taking the total cost to over £300. Now imagine you are a 10 year old kid who wants to get into the game. Not many kids have that kind of money to throw away. Then there is the huge time investment of painting and modelling and learning the rules, which to be frank were not the easiest to learn. As we know for a 10 year old there are other distractions out there, namely games consoles, that require little time investment at all. Suddenly all those models become half made lumps of plastic gathering dust on a shelf or in a box at the bottom of a wardrobe. That 10 year old kid in all probability is not going to return to GW, hence they lose a customer. Age of Sigmar by contrast needs a lot less models, the rules are simple and free, army books are gone, replaced by warscrolls, also free online, (before an army book was essential to play the game and could cost around £30). The starter set is great value for money and you can actually play a decent game with the components. In fact the age of Sigmar starter box is amazing value for money. To put this into perspective the box contains 2 starter armies, a unit of Stormcast Eternals costs £30, that's just one unit. The starter set itself costs £75, it has 2 Stormcast units not to mention the rest of the army and the chaos force that is included in the set. So you can see it is actually a massive saving. So some one new wanting to get into the game can do so relatively cheaply. The Stormcast Eternals have had a lot of criticism levelled at them for being Space Marine clones for fantasy and therefore an attempt to cash in on the success of Space Marines. My view on this is why not, fantasy never had a poster boy and now it has. If Space Marines are a best seller why not try a fantasy equivalent. Yes it is a bit shameless but in my opinion they look cool. They are also great for new starters because they are big, bulky and easy to paint.They look like super heroes and that will attract a younger demographic. Especially as super heroes are the new hotness with the advent of Marvel's conquest of the cinema. At the end of the day a lot of us veterans get a bit precious about GW forgetting about us, we have invested in them for years and they repay us by killing our game and setting. But honestly, a lot of us already have army's, those of us who have been with the game for years have multiple armies. There is no necessity for us to buy, so GW needed something to attract new blood and the Stormcasts are perfect for this. So in conclusion no I don't think this is a cash grab, I think it is a smart business decision to save the essence of WFB whilst making it more accessible to younger/new players.
AoS may not be what we expected as the next edition of WFB, but honestly it is not the next edition, it's the 1st edition of a new game. It's a game for a new generation of gamer and frankly I like it. This is something I can introduce my son to when he older. Yes it is different from what once was, but change is part of life, we adapt and overcome. We are living in a golden age of miniature wargames with more choice out there than ever before. Kickstarters spring up daily, offering us the chance to invest in games we want to see become successful. If you don't like the new direction of Warhammer fantasy there are other games out there. Kings of War, War Machine and Hordes etc. Or you could just carry on playing 8th Edition nothing is stopping you. But from my point of view AoS is here to stay. GW would not have put a statue of a Stormcast Eternal outside their HQ if they were not totally invested in this. Warhammer Fantasy is not dead, its simply evolved.
Fast forward to the present and it seems that my once beloved game is dead. The setting gone/transformed into something totally different. From what I have read online Warhammer: Age of Sigmar has polarised the community. Its totally Marmite, you either love it or hate it, some have embraced it and others have taken to ebay to sell their Warhammer Fantasy collections as if enacting a bizarre funeral right. Criticisms range from a dumbing down of the new setting, overly simplified rules and even accusations of it just being a money spinner for GW. This opinion seems to come from the introduction of the new Stormcast Eternal faction, or as they are being called by the community Sigmarines. Do I agree with these opinions? well that's a long winded question. Let me break my answer down.
Rules
I will agree the rules are quite simple the rule book that comes in the boxed game is pamphlet sized and can be obtained as a free PDF download on GW's website. But frankly simple is not always a bad thing, ever heard the term minutes to learn a life time to master? I believe this will be the case for AoS. Chess is a simple game, but that does not mean it lacks tactical depth. Its the same for AoS. It's a grower not a shower, it's not yet put all it's cards on the table so to speak. I think a lot of the disappointment lies with the fact that people thought this would be the next edition of Warhammer FB. But it is not, it's an entirely different beast. Stat lines have changed, points costs have gone and the ranking up of figures in large unit blocks is no longer necessary. Army books are gone and have been replaced by warscrolls that detail a units stats and abilities these can also be obtained free on the GW website of via an AoS phone/tablet app. It is not a mass battle game like WFB but at the same time its not really a small model count skirmish game either. In short it's completely scaleable to the kind of game you want to play. Want a game with 100's of models? Great AoS will let you do this. Want a game with about 30 models a side, AoS allows you to do this. In short it is a much more versatile game. Yeah the fact that points cost's are gone could be construed as an issue, as it no longer restricts players to equal sized forces. But A, when in history have battles ever been fought with completely equally matched forces and B, just use your common sense, as human being we have the ability to work out what is fair. So in short in terms of rules I think the game has depth, it is easier for younger players to pick up, and should prove a challenge to more veteran players, especially when more units and terrain pieces have been released. Plus the option for lower model count games makes AoS more financially accessible. I'm not saying its cheap (GW seldom is nowadays) but it is far more accessible than WFB which required large blocks of infantry usually over 100 models a side to play a decent game.
Setting/Fluff (long ramble)
I have to admit I am not a great fan of the new setting. To give a bit of background, WFB was set predominantly in the Old World there. To all intents and purposes it was like a fantasy version of Renaissance Europe with magic and monsters thrown in for good measure and it was grim like grimmer than Game of Thrones grim. The idea was that humanity and the forces of order were locked in a constant battle with the forces of chaos. In short if you were a peasant in this world your outlook was pretty dire indeed. The likelihood of your existence was you would probably fall foul to orcs, beastmen, undead, chaos incursions, or even elves if you strayed to close to the edge of the forest. Not to mention you could also end up with some vile mutation which would get you burnt by witch hunters. The "good" races were morally ambiguous, The Empire was constantly defending its borders, but was also subject to religious and political turmoil. The Elves were fractured into 3 separate peoples, aloof high elves who's island kingdom was beset by courtly back biting and an almost xenophobic attitude to the outside world. The blood thirsty Dark Elves, who were into enslaving people for the purpose of blood sacrifice to their murder god. The Wood Elves basically xenophobic tree huggers with itchy bow strings. The dwarves had hid themselves away in their underground kingdoms, turning their backs on the troubles of the outside world. Then we had the Bretonians, chivalrous knights, who like in our own history treated the peasantry as subhuman. Lastly we have the Lizardmen, basically reptilian dinosaur riding Aztecs, created by godlike aliens known as the old ones as labourers. As you can see this was a dark setting, but also had a smattering of with influences from Tolkien, Lovecraft and Moorcock with a smattering of black humour in the vein of Black Adder. More often than not mighty heroes would fight terrifying monsters and slay them in single combat, only to be crushed to death under said monsters weight. The tone of WFB was always one of a foreboding sense of the inevitable everyone was doomed, the four Chaos Gods Khorne, Tzeentch, Nurgle and Slaanesh ever plotting to drown the world in cataclysm . This is pretty much how the setting remained for 20 years. Some things got changed or simplified, but the fundamentals were always there. In 2004 (I think) there was an attempt at a player driven narrative campaign called the Storm of Chaos, which saw Archaon the Everchosen finally ready to launch an incursion into the Empire and Enter the Flames of Ulric in Middenheim. This campaign was supposed to progress what had been a pretty stagnant storyline. The idea was that players would log results of victories from games played in store etc. The campaign had scenarios which would have knock on effects in following scenarios throughout the campaign, dependent on factors like victory conditions etc. The outcome was that Archaon did not succeed and an was in fact unceremoniously knocked unconscious by the Orc War Chief Grimgor Ironhide (an unlikely hero). Though a little silly this did have notes of some of the dark humour of the setting, humanities saviour ultimately taking the form of something equally as monstrous as the antagonising forces. However in later editions of the game, the Storm of Chaos campaign and the attempt to progress the settings narrative was forgotten. Fast forward to September 2014 GW releases the first of the End Times books, Nagash. Now Nagash, is kind of like Warhammers version of Sauron or Voldemort, he created necromancy and most undead creatures. He is a historical figure in the setting in the sense that he has been killed and defeated multiple times, though his essence remained in items and books that he had created in life. Think a bit like horcruxes before Harry Potter. His return is the first major event in the End Times narrative. Towards the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015 four more End Times books were released, Glotkin, Khaine, Thanquol and Archaon. Loads of crazy shit happens in these four books, characters that have been in the lore for years get killed. Some get resurrected, the winds of magic enter into mortal hosts creating the incarnates and the God King Sigmar returns for one final battle. But ultimately the Warhammer World we all knew a loved ends up being torn apart and everyone dies. That sense of foreboding futility wasn't unfounded.
Enter the Age of Sigmar, as it turns out Sigmar survived the death of the old world and apparently clung to the fiery core of the planet which hurled through space and got caught by this cosmic dragon. Who then helped Sigmar learn to traverse the realms through realm gates. Whilst travelling the realms Sigmar discovers other survivors from the old world who have now become gods themselves. These gods unite and usher a cosmic realm spanning age of utopia. But as is always the case the Gods soon tire of working with each other and follow their own agendas. Chaos finds a way to break into these new realms and as is always the case with Chaos manages to fuck everything up for everyone, the bastards. Sigmar retreats to his realm of Azyrheim where he broods for a few millennia and decides to create the Stormcast Eternals, a heavenly army forged from the souls of the greatest warriors of the realms. He then opens the Gates of Azyrheim and unleashes his new army on the forces of chaos. So yeah,big Epic fantasy story. What is my issue. Well frankly its all just a bit wishy washy, these realms are not simply realms as in kingdom states, they are planes of existence. Each realm is a world unto itself, in addition each realm corresponds to a wind of magic, so there is a fire realm, a realm of death, a realm of metal etc. At this point in the story each realm has been thoroughly taken over by the powers of Chaos. Hence the reason for Sigmar's Stormcast army, who's purpose is to take back the realms. Suddenly the story line is starting to seem all too familiar. An army of superhuman warriors taking back worlds for the good of mankind and other mortal races. Seems a lot like the premise of 40k, the Stormcast Eternals are definitely fantasy proxy's of space marines. The realms could easily be seen as worlds that need to be bought in compliance and Sigmar the God King is an absolute dead ringer for the God Emperor. Now it is no secret that 40k outsells fantasy and Space Marines make up for the majority of sales. So it does make sense from a selling perspective that GW would try and make Warhammer AoS similar to its's best selling game. However my issue with Stormcasts is that despite all appearances, from a narrative perspective they do not have that something that makes Space Marines special. To look at the models are impressive, they look superhuman and in terms of scale and are much closer to the size a space marine model should be. Space Marine models are not much bigger than a basic guardsmen but they are supposed to be 8ft tall angels of death. The Stormcast models dwarf them. However the Stormcasts despite their stylish and imposing appearance are not Space Marines. The background of the Stormcast are that they are the greatest warriors of the realms that are taken from their native realms and reforged into heavenly champions. In the process of becoming a Stormcast Eternal a lot of their humanity is lost a long with memories of their former life. Also each time a Stormcast dies they are simply transported back to Azyrheim where they are reforged and once again all their memories are lost, so in many respects they don't die however anything that gave them personality or depth falls by the wayside. Space Marines go through a similar process, they are genetically enhanced to the point they become something more and in some respects a lot less than a normal human being. They go through a process of indoctrination that wipes away a lot of their former life. However each Space Marine does have their own personality, they are functionally immortal and a lot of their human life is eclipsed by centuries of life on the battlefield. But their is still that core of humanity to them that gives us some empathy towards them. The very reason the Horus Heresy series of books has been so popular is that we get insights into the human side of Space Marines they may be superhuman, but they make mistakes, they fall just like the rest of us do. They are subject to petty jealousy and envy, we become attached to key characters because we can see their struggle with what they have become. To once be human, but then essentially to be turned into a weapon, to never feel love except for the exhilaration of battle. To be the watchers of humanity but never actually be part of humanity. There is a great sense of tragedy to Space Marines. There is none of this with the Stormcasts, they are completely faceless. In many respects they are identical to daemons, because like daemons each time they are vanquished they return to Azyrheim to be reforged, similarly daemons simply return to the realm of chaos. The only difference is daemons actually have personality and remember the battles and foes they have fought and these are the villains!!! The Stormcasts are they good guys, who we are supposed to route for, there should be more to them than cool aesthetics, we need to care about them. This said its early days and hopefully GW will expand upon the concept of them having no memory, there is potential there for interesting stories. What if a Stormcast started getting flash backs, what if he remembered his former life etc. In conclusion, I think the setting has not yet been fully fleshed out, it seems GW are going for a storyline that unfolds over time, with the release of supplements and scenario books. There is potential for this to be an interesting setting, however right now it seems fairly generic fantasy fare. All the darkness has gone, but in all honesty I think that this is maybe not a bad thing, in a world where Game of Thrones, a very dark low fantasy story is one of the most watched shows on tv fantasy as a genre is striving to become darker and more gritty, so I think it's a pretty brave move of GW to bring a bit of light and magic back to the genre. In this setting it is chaos that is on the back foot. The Stormcast's are the ones invading the chaos held realms, they are the invaders, where previously it was Chaos that was the ever present threat. So we shall see it's early days, I think it's important to remember this is an entirely new game and new setting, its an evolution.
Is it a Money Spinner?
I think it is important to remember that above all else GW is a business, it's main goal is to make money. This opinion will put many peoples nose out of joint, as hobbyists we have a lot of emotional attachment to the games and setting. To us these games are a lot more than just products, they are stories and concepts that we have built an attachment to, for me I have been with WFB for nearly 20 years. Each character death in the End Times book was like a personal blow, I grew up with these characters and in some respects it felt like losing old friends. I'm quite sure there were people in the GW design studio who felt the same. But ultimately as a company GW needs to make money. If we want to continue to enjoy these products GW has to stay in business so they can keep making them and putting out new content. I honestly believe if this was just a money spinner, GW would have simply discontinued the game and concentrated their efforts on 40k. Like I said earlier 40k is GW's bread winner, so if this was simply about money what would be the point in continuing with a product that was causing you to haemorrhage cash. The problem with WFB was that it required a huge buy in, fantasy armies comprised of multiple units with a high model count. This poses a few issues, to get a decent game you needed a lot of models. One box of miniatures would often only equate to half a unit. A decent sized game would often comprise of 2000 points worth of models. Depending on a units points cost an army would usually comprise of around 5 blocks of troops. So if we say 5 units, that's 10 boxes of models, costing around £20 each (again depends on the unit). So already that is £200 and that is for a basic sized army (this is also a conservative estimate on price). This is before you have bought paints, brushes, glue, modelling tools, army book etc taking the total cost to over £300. Now imagine you are a 10 year old kid who wants to get into the game. Not many kids have that kind of money to throw away. Then there is the huge time investment of painting and modelling and learning the rules, which to be frank were not the easiest to learn. As we know for a 10 year old there are other distractions out there, namely games consoles, that require little time investment at all. Suddenly all those models become half made lumps of plastic gathering dust on a shelf or in a box at the bottom of a wardrobe. That 10 year old kid in all probability is not going to return to GW, hence they lose a customer. Age of Sigmar by contrast needs a lot less models, the rules are simple and free, army books are gone, replaced by warscrolls, also free online, (before an army book was essential to play the game and could cost around £30). The starter set is great value for money and you can actually play a decent game with the components. In fact the age of Sigmar starter box is amazing value for money. To put this into perspective the box contains 2 starter armies, a unit of Stormcast Eternals costs £30, that's just one unit. The starter set itself costs £75, it has 2 Stormcast units not to mention the rest of the army and the chaos force that is included in the set. So you can see it is actually a massive saving. So some one new wanting to get into the game can do so relatively cheaply. The Stormcast Eternals have had a lot of criticism levelled at them for being Space Marine clones for fantasy and therefore an attempt to cash in on the success of Space Marines. My view on this is why not, fantasy never had a poster boy and now it has. If Space Marines are a best seller why not try a fantasy equivalent. Yes it is a bit shameless but in my opinion they look cool. They are also great for new starters because they are big, bulky and easy to paint.They look like super heroes and that will attract a younger demographic. Especially as super heroes are the new hotness with the advent of Marvel's conquest of the cinema. At the end of the day a lot of us veterans get a bit precious about GW forgetting about us, we have invested in them for years and they repay us by killing our game and setting. But honestly, a lot of us already have army's, those of us who have been with the game for years have multiple armies. There is no necessity for us to buy, so GW needed something to attract new blood and the Stormcasts are perfect for this. So in conclusion no I don't think this is a cash grab, I think it is a smart business decision to save the essence of WFB whilst making it more accessible to younger/new players.
AoS may not be what we expected as the next edition of WFB, but honestly it is not the next edition, it's the 1st edition of a new game. It's a game for a new generation of gamer and frankly I like it. This is something I can introduce my son to when he older. Yes it is different from what once was, but change is part of life, we adapt and overcome. We are living in a golden age of miniature wargames with more choice out there than ever before. Kickstarters spring up daily, offering us the chance to invest in games we want to see become successful. If you don't like the new direction of Warhammer fantasy there are other games out there. Kings of War, War Machine and Hordes etc. Or you could just carry on playing 8th Edition nothing is stopping you. But from my point of view AoS is here to stay. GW would not have put a statue of a Stormcast Eternal outside their HQ if they were not totally invested in this. Warhammer Fantasy is not dead, its simply evolved.
Saturday, 18 July 2015
Its Been A While, I'm a Dad Now!!!
I remember when I first started this Blog, I went in with the best of intentions, but alas it seems to have fallen by the wayside. I think my last post was 3 years ago, First's for 2012 or something, I'd look back and check but my inherent laziness forbids me.
I have to say looking back then I didn't think in 3 years my life would change too much, i'm a complacent creature at the best of times. I dropped the weight (steadily regained a bit of it recently but that's through being a dad, I'm slowly working it off). Oh yeah I'm a dad now and my little boy Roo is coming up to his first Birthday. Fatherhood crept up on me to be honest, I never had any aspirations of being a father nor have I ever had any desire to have children. I always found the thought terrifying, not because of the whole its a tiny little life in your hands thing, nor the daunting responsibility thing. But mainly because it seemed fucking messy and time consuming, and believe me it is. What follows is a list of things that as a parent you may as well just kiss good bye too, In no particular order.
I have to say looking back then I didn't think in 3 years my life would change too much, i'm a complacent creature at the best of times. I dropped the weight (steadily regained a bit of it recently but that's through being a dad, I'm slowly working it off). Oh yeah I'm a dad now and my little boy Roo is coming up to his first Birthday. Fatherhood crept up on me to be honest, I never had any aspirations of being a father nor have I ever had any desire to have children. I always found the thought terrifying, not because of the whole its a tiny little life in your hands thing, nor the daunting responsibility thing. But mainly because it seemed fucking messy and time consuming, and believe me it is. What follows is a list of things that as a parent you may as well just kiss good bye too, In no particular order.
- 6-8 hours sleep, yeah its not going to happen, get used to it, At first it may seem like your little bundle of joy sleeps like a baby and then after a few weeks you realise who ever coined that phrase was a lying bastard. My biggest tip is buy a Tommy Tippee perfect prep machine, they are a life saver, it makes milk prep 100 times easier and you will get your money's worth out of it. Also buy a bungalow because soon those stairs are going to look like the crags of doom, as you drag your half conscious formula milk spattered carcass up and down for the majority of the night.
- Hobbies/Social Life etc, you will kid yourself that having a child doesn't change the fact that you are a human being with interests. Its bullshit, it's all baby now, all conversation is about baby,a 3rd of your shopping list is now dedicated to baby. Then when you finally find the time to sit down and actually indulge yourself, you end up drifting into an uneasy slumber.
- Sex, HAHAHAHAHAH!!! yeah right.
- Enjoying meals, More often than not you end up wolfing down your meals,especially when your child learns how to crawl. Then life simply descends into an odd games where your infant tries to injure themselves in ever more creative and elaborate ways and you try and stop them.
- Alcohol, you thought a crying baby was bad enough, then you got a hangover!!!
- Clean clothes, don't even think about trying to look nice from day to day. Drool, shit, piss and puke these will be your new brand names. The heady scent of vomit and baby wipes your new cologne.
I could think of more, now don't get me wrong being a parent is the most rewarding thing any human can do. Its a joy to see my little boy each day. But god its tough and by no means a walk in the park. Before the little man was conceived I was planning on buying a french bulldog and an Xbox 1. I have to say I wouldn't trade my boy for either of them.
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