Editing Robin Cruddace (section)

==Notable Victims of The Cruddace==
*[[Imperial Guard]] (5th Edition): His first work gave Cruddace the "Treadhead" moniker. Though the internal balancing and fluff are pretty good, the codex really throws a wrench into the metagame; months later, the infamous leaf-blower list will be crafted using this codex flooding tournaments with melta-vets, artillery and various other spams. 
*[[Tyranids]] (5th and 6th Edition): This is where everything went wrong and how Cruddace became synonymous with nerfing. Cruddace literally took his least favorite army's codex and proceeded to figuratively [[Nurgle|smear shit all over it,]] by simultaneously nerfing anything the 'Nids had that was competitive into the ground, and then writing stories essentially portraying them as being a weak and pathetic race that lost every battle it fought in. This was when the consecutive stream of nerfs from 3rd edition onward hit their absolute peak. Although the codex churned out some nifty units ([[Hive Guard]] coming to mind), the balancing at the time was wonky as fuck, deleting the much beloved [[DISTRACTION CARNIFEX]]. This also introduced the [[Pyrovore]], arguably the most useless unit in the game. and the consecutive nerf stream continued up until 8th edition, which was the only codex that has granted the nids any significant stuff since '''2ND EDITION'''. <span style="color:purple">'''***SSSSSS Crud-assssss hassss not the neckbeardssss to be writing fohhhhh usssssss he mussssst be taken to the poolssssss***'''</span>
*[[Tomb Kings]] (8th Edition): Largely forgettable compared to his other works. Noteworthy in that it clears up a lot of contention from the previous book (like making liches '''actual''' wizards), fleshes out their lore (it doesn't really, it just includes a lot of long-winded descriptions of what they look like when they're killing people. You'll get sick of paragraphs-long descriptions of "bronze blades flashing as blood sprays into the sky and skeletal feet trample maimed foes into the earth" long before you finish the book) and gives the Tomb Kings [[Awesome|Sphinxes that they use in battle]]. It should be mentioned that most TK players absolutely hate most of his changes. Giving an army that actually relies on magic unreliable magic was a massive dick move and would frequently cause spontaneous game-loss regardless of how you played. It was also one of the most rigid books ever written because the army was neatly divided into "must have" units and "don't touch" units (and the must haves weren't all that good, they were just the only units that were decent, whereas the "don't touch" units often were incapable of actually doing whatever it was they were meant to do, i.e. character-hunters who couldn't kill another character to save their lives and monster hunters who had, at best, a 1 in 12 chance of actually killing another monster). Essentially there were two workable builds. The "Khalida plus archers" build that carried over from the much better 6th ed book and the list that Cruddace seemed to think you should be playing; Tomb Guard Deathstar, with Necropolis Knights, sphinxes, and Chariots. It's notable that, once again, he wrote a book that revolves around tank-like creatures (sphinxes), large blobs of expendable infantry, and a deathstar composed of the most elite unit in the army, led by a character with a powerful, but very short ranged aura. He also made them slow as all hell compared to previous versions. Weirdly reminiscent of his 5th edition Tyranid Codex.  
*[[Sisters of Battle]] (the 5th Edition [[White Dwarf]]-only not-even-[[Codex]]): Continuing on the nerfing trend after [[Matt Ward]] butchered the Sisters in 5th ed. The team-up of Ward and Cruddace heralded a severe Gav Thorpe-esque reduction and tactical blunting of the previously known Witchunters list - gone are any inquisitorial support, leaving the Sisters outgunned and outclassed. Immolators? Can't take them with troops! HQ? Too expensive to be useful! Decent Elites slots? BWAHAHAHAHA - no.
*[[Empire|The Empire]] (8th Edition): Again, not very memorable. Adds some gee-whiz new war machines, but most infantry gets a price hike when other armies are getting their points costs ''lowered''.
*[[Chaos Daemons]] (6th Edition): playing the nerfer-in-chief yet again, but balanced out (somewhat) by Phil Kelly and his random tables of random. Sadly, the victims are manifold - [[FAIL|Juggers have no armour]] and [[Just as planned|Tzeentchian psykers and Flamers buff your opponent]].  It's all not as bad as the internet makes it out to be, especially on 1d4chan, but it is close. Because you can take Screamers and Tzeentch Heralds in the right combo to have a Jetbike unit with a '''re-rollable 2++''', and Warpflame isn't a big deal if you fire your spells on one unit at a time. Just pretend everyone is Necrons! Also, Daemons do have ways to deal with flyers, like a Slaanesh Prince with Lash of Despair and Biomancy. Expensive, but it works, and let's not forget Bloodletters behind a quad gun that can fire at BS5. Oh, and did we mention you have [[Cheese| a Monstrous Creature that has nine attacks on the charge, always hit on 3s with hatred, wounds everything on a 2+, ignoring armour and inflicts Instant Death? And can wreck a Land Raider by smashing it with Armourbane (Skarbrand)?]]
*[[Space Marines]] (6th Edition): There seems to be an uncanny pattern of switching back and forth between Cruddace's Treadhead and Nerfer personas; this one uses the former largely because of the army that he himself plays - no really, he plays [[Howling Griffons]]! It is however an incredibly stable codex with fluff--although derived from the previous edition--is not terrible. There are some casualties (like the deletion of the [[Black Templars]] as their own, separate faction and subsequent amalgamation into the book), but there are some nifty bright spots, specifically the Chapter Tactics. Now you can choose from seven different chapters to play, each with their own unique strategies. Would be seen as a great codex if it wasn't for Heldrakes and Riptides, but technically that's not his fault (c'mon, the non-Space Marine players need some things to even the playing field).
*Due to [[Games Workshop|GeeDubs]] deciding it would be a grand idea not to tell us who the author is any more, we no longer have a way of determining who else might fall victim to the ominous touch of the Cruddace.
*He's confirmed to have written the 6th Edition Tyranids Codex (aka, the book that nerfed an already fairly low tier army into complete uselessness) thanks to White Dwarf. Much Rage abound. Also makes you wonder why censoring the names of the authors was a good idea considering White Dwarf informed us of who wrote the book.
*We also know he's one of the three guys writing [[Warhammer 40,000 7th edition]], getting second billing after [[Jervis Johnson]].
* While unconfirmed, he's the main suspect behind the 7th Edition Dark Eldar codex given the style of writing and changes to the crunch (farewell Flickerfields and most special characters, including Vect).
*We also know he co-wrote Codex: Deathwatch (7th Edition) with [[Phil Kelly]] through an interview. It's a mess, featuring stuff like rules that cannot be used since he forgot to include options for characters to use the rule, as well as forgetting basic equipment (like the Assault Marines Jump Packs), as well as the most boring formations in any rulebook.
*He's also been confirmed as one of the writers behind [[Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition]], once again getting second billing after Jervis Johnson., as well as being a lead writer on most Codies, so Ultrasmurf Tank spam and Imperial Guard Spam aren't OP for no reason.
*The April 2018 issue of White Dwarf confirms him as one of the main writers for the 8th Edition Dark Eldar Codex. While generally extremely well received, there are some baffling decisions like the the Squatting of Kabalite Trueborn and Hekatrix Bloodbrides. Bloodbrides can be (sort of) explained by Wyches coming with 2 Attacks base now, but the writers could easily have opened up more wargear options or something. The same rationale may have been used for the Trueborn due to Warriors getting to take more heavy and special weapons, but the same principle applies. Another is adding the Crucible of Malediction, (a wargear choice already available to Generic Heamonculus) as a very overcosted Stratagem. (Sort of) Justified by Urian Rakarth not having one, but it against raises the question: Why not just give him the Crucible anyway?
**As it turns out the Dark Eldar are extremely mono-build as far as competitive play goes so they are sadly the latest Victims. With very minor variations (some might take a Razorwing or two), each Tourney List is literally:
*** Black Heart Spearhead: Labyrinthine Cunning Archon with Writ of the Living Muse plus 3x Ravagers
*** Flayed Skull or Black Heart Batallion: Naked Archon x2, 6x 5-Elf Kabalite Squads with Blaster in Venom
*** Alaitoc Battalion: Jetbike Farseer with Doom, Jetbike Warlock with Conceal or Jinx, Ranger Spam.
* Warhammer Community's article on which GW figures make official visits to the 2018 NOVA Open lists him as the lead designer of 40k. Suddenly, an edition characterized by stuff that the Guard does well (such as massed volleys) makes a lot of sense.
* It was stated in an article about Kill Team that Cruddace had a hand in it. Especially with the Rogue Trader release.
* While some were hopeful and optimistic to the approach of [[warhammer 40,000 9th edition|Warhammer 40k’s 9th Edition]], months of codex creep and rules bloat have made many wishing for another rules revamp. Ork Players found their greentide in the garbage while Chaos Marines Players lost an entire codex’s worth of wargear and options in one of the [[FAIL|worst blunders since his Tyranid days.]]
* The Crud is the lead designer for Warhammer 10th edition, and there is already much wailing and gnashing of teeth as Tyranids see Synapse nerfed in an article mentioning him
* The poor Death Guard… After 2 editions of mediocre rules, it seems that 10th edition has made them a zombie of their former selves. Gone is the armywide durability, replaced with a slow, miserably weak army that can’t make use of their army rule moving at 5” while the plague weapons they have can bypass the wound roll if they critically hit; defeating the purpose of -1 toughness.