Ulthuan

Do you still play 8th but mostly play 9th? Have you stuck with 8th but dabbled in 9th? Which game do you prefer? And why...?

Can KoW be an answer?

I prefer 8th but I don't think either fixes the problems of WFB - too complex and convoluted in terms of rules and too much for a newbie to take on.

KoW is popular stateside, isn't it? No reason why it can't be the answer in text, although I'm really poling to compare the fan-made 9th to the original (and best?) 8th. I really loved 8th and was pretty devastated when it died and the scene fragmented with it. I'm now so involved in 9th I can hardly remember how to list build in 8th! I think the internal, and hopefully external, balance of 9th is just radically better than 8th - so many units are now playable!

I recocnise that it is a complex game, as 8th was, but I like that in a game. I guess the worry is always recruitment.

Is 40K complex? I don't play it, but it seems popular - how does that game recruit fresh blood?

I switched completely to 9th Age.

I keep playing 8th. Might try some 9th in the future, as my friend seems to like it.

Ferny wrote:Have you stuck with 8th but dabbled in 9th?

This. For me 8th is just a vast world of possibilities I've hardly dipped my toe into. 9th Age is a fine game but so long as I keep finding 8th tournaments to play (got one this month) it'll stay on the 'to do' list.

John Rainbow wrote:I prefer 8th but I don't think either fixes the problems of WFB - too complex and convoluted in terms of rules and too much for a newbie to take on.

But John, newbies have been picking this game up for 33 years, it's been vastly successful! Are you saying it's too much like hard work for the current crop of players?

Is echo everything Ferny said.

8th was good, but at times ridiculously unbalanced which isnt fun for anyone. The fact that 9th Age tourneys are run without comp is a great achievement (/work in progress!).

Things i love about 9th vs 8th:
Most important: internal book balance, making all units usable is just great. Hopefully never again will there be that model you never ever use because you would be gimping yourself so heavily, or its rules straight up dont make sense.

No laser guided cannons
Honours for character customisation
No game ending spells
Proliferation of low level mages
Varied point values for items / honours depending on whether its for a hero or lord (honestly this is massive because there are far fewer instances of stuff that you'd only ever take on one or the other)
BS shooting buffs (units useful again)
Spear buffs (units useful again)
BSBs can use full 50pt allowance for magic banner AND items rather than taking a 5pt banner and then being allowed zero items
Minor rule changes ie streamlining overruns
Secondary objectives being very important (less gimpy 100% chariot builds!)
External book balance.. never again face a Morathi dark elf avoidance army with 59 pegasus riders protected by 5 point sea dragon cloaks.

I mean the list goes on and on.

Long live 9th age!

SpellArcher wrote:

Ferny wrote:Have you stuck with 8th but dabbled in 9th?

John Rainbow wrote:I prefer 8th but I don't think either fixes the problems of WFB - too complex and convoluted in terms of rules and too much for a newbie to take on.

But John, newbies have been picking this game up for 33 years, it's been vastly successful! Are you saying it's too much like hard work for the current crop of players?

I would disagree on this, especially in the last 5 yrs or so as the other competitors have released games.

I've printed out 9th and the army book the day before yesterday. It looks solid. I do not play competitively - I even play WH once per year - but it seems to be a good basis to work upon.

In the meantime, I keep my eye on Eliassons WarhammerArmiesProject, especially concerning 'unofficial' army lists like Dogs of War and Estalia.

it is and it isnt complex, i mean look at how many rules are in 40k, every weapon has different rules!

i think its a very solid game, all the games i have played so far involved alot of thought, where the player who planned/played the best comes out on top.

you get a better feel of being a commander as unit power is alot closer and you need to be precise in your movement and combats. its almost a little bit more abstract which i like!

Yet to try 9th

When GW killed 8th I put my Elves away for a year to try some historical gaming (which I've thoroughly enjoyed) and now i've been coaxed back into WFB I'm still playing 8th as there's still a decent sized group of people at my local club who play it. I may well suggest to them at some point we give 9th a whirl but would need a few of them to take an interest obviously.

That being said I do like 8th and the guys I play against aren't the sort to play the beardy lists/models/builds type thing, we dont just go all out for the nasty spells etc, we play to have a laugh and hopefully win so tend to have good, balanced games mostly. Which is all I'm really after from the game.

Gandalf_82 wrote: That being said I do like 8th and the guys I play against aren't the sort to play the beardy lists/models/builds type thing, we dont just go all out for the nasty spells etc, we play to have a laugh and hopefully win so tend to have good, balanced games mostly. Which is all I'm really after from the game.

Then you'll absolutely love 9th, it's fantastic for fluff games because pretty much all units are viable, and real choices. Once you adjust it's a much more streamlined rule set too, and because it's pdf searchable rulebook!