I thought it was time to discuss what appears to be GW clearing house in preparation for 9th edition and where that leaves the current incarnation of WHFB.
There are dozens of Fantasy blogs and forums we have all enjoyed, many times we have lept to each one in anticipation of rumours and new realeases, not to mention following Army creation and painting progress, but these have remained eerily silent in recent times. making it difficult to remain positive about everthing happening to 8th. It's obvious hobbyists are excited, cautious and concerned about changes to a hobby, many have known for decades.
First of all the End Times was a huge undertaking and I got the impression the ET saga, with dozens of scenarios, new characters, units and story really had the potential to be a lasting legacy for gamers. It offered such depth to the game, that myself and thousands of others purchased the books and models. However I feel GW didn't give us enough time to really appreciate it. The information contained was vast, far outweighing a single game edition release. Lets face it the meeting of the warhammer world and real life is often a slow burn and when coupled with the so much info and gorgeous new models to buy and add to the plastic mountain it took us all a while to settle down and start to formulate how it was going to effect our gaming. When we finished the books, or heard the spoilers this likely contributed to the unrest, as many people dropped cash on new releases believing it was the beginning of something, but this was in direct contradiction to the storyline.
Then came the rumours of 9th! And wgat felt like a breath of life, quickly evaporating any excitment and left us with an enormous void. Suggesting to people the organisation were going to write off units and even armies.
There are many suggestions as why this has happened, with supporting evidence that GW are making moves to protect their IP as well as reinventing the game to appeal to the more popular gaming style of 40K and it's little brother 30K (the latter incredibly generating more income in 2014 than the entire fantasy range). With that in mind it is clear why GW considered it time to reimagine fantasy from it's current incarnation.
So that leaves us all wondering in the dark. But there are suggestions of two marketing dates available in the GW release calendar, one in Early May and one Mid June where a new Fantasy release could be set for general release. This has stalled many people with their gaming and modelling In Fantasy, but given the discontent with the hollow left after the End Times I would take this as an encouraging sign there are still thousands of people keen to see a recreation of the fantasy world.
I guess its mere moments away so I will remain careful optimistic. Bearing in mind that if 9th edition fails to hit your hobby spot you still have thousands of miniatures in the current edition, likely thousands unpainted in your own collection ;) which can be painted up and gamed with. Do you remember when GW cancelled specialist games? That wasn't the death knoll of Necromunda, Inquisitor, blood bowl or Gorkamorka, those games flurished in communities worldwide. If the rules and models of a new Fantasy fail people will revert to 8th edition and with ebay there will be a representation of each army available for purchase long into the future.
The spirit of the hobby remains exactly the same.
The spirit of the hobby remains exactly the same.
Rusty
