The Angry Initiative

Introduction

This is an initiative to improve internal and external balancing of codexes and improve fluff - rule transition.

Disclaimer

Games Workshop in no way endorses this codex nor any of the other Angry Codices. No infringement is intended with this work, nor any other of the Angry Codices. The intent of the angry codices is NOT to make GW go out of business, but rather to improve the quality of the hobby, which leads to a happier and larger player base.

The Old Direction

Currently GW is running what I like to call a revolving door business model, where only ever a handful of units in each army is worthwhile, and only a couple of armies are competitive. This shifts around ever so often, so the armies and units which were weak, left out in the cold, become stronger, get into the warmth, making people buy the new hot stuff. Sometimes people are left out in the cold for too long, and nobody likes being out in the cold for too long, which can lead to people leaving the hobby. And sometimes armies are left for too long in the warmth, which just gets sweaty and nasty, causing yet more leavers.

GW tells its player base that the game is meant to be played for fun with friends, and expect the player base to find out how to make their games enjoyable. Well this is the Angry Pirates iniative at making the game more fun and hopefully makes the fun and competitive aspects of the hobby able to mesh a little better.

A New Direction

What I suggest instead is a rock, paper, scissor system for each unit, each unit counters certain other units while they get countered by other units, this is already true, to a certain degree. The Angry codices attempt to put this system into place. This is done firstly by nerfing the strongest units, which trade equally with their counters and hammer everything else, and secondly by buffing the weakest units, which trade equally with the units they are supposed to counter and get hammered by everything else. Thirdly all events of automatic counters, that is armies that counter a specific unit type without specifically building their army for it, are changed so that is no longer the case. Finally, all armies receive counters for all unit types; no unit should be safe for counters. This shuts down any opportunity for a unit to be untouchable and out of this world overpowered. The rock, paper, scissor system is a safe net making sure the game cannot go sour for any players, even if a unit is overpowered.

In the end this has a couple of consequences:

1. For the player: No player ever has to get beaten up by the same 3 wraith knights every game. If your opponent brings duplicates of the same unit, then your opponent should be vulnerable to a counter list.

1. For GW: People will have to flesh out their collections more if they want to be able to counter their enemies units, if an opponent is countering your wraith knights you will have to go out and buy something else to bring.

2. For the player: If you don´t like a certain model you will not feel forced into buying it, example: the grey knights nemesis dreadknight, even though it has garnered massive hate online you still see at least one in every grey knight army. Grey knight players feel forced to take this unit because of the huge internal imbalance between their units and the lack of proper counters to the dread knight. If all armies were able to counter it then grey knights players would have feel less forced into taking this unbalanced unit.

2. For GW: When models are bought on the basis of unbalanced rules it is much harder to know what models the community do and don´t like, the dread knight would probably have sold poorly, were it not for the unbalanced rules. While this would be initially bad for sales, it would also allow GW to gather data on exactly what models the community like.

Current Angry Codexes:

Codex - Necrons Angry Robot Edition

All non- special char and lords of war units have been completed. Testing has begun. This codex fundamentally changes the Necrons. All Angry Robot Necrons are Fearless Necron Warriors are not elite warriors, they are 8 pts but feature heavy stat reductions. Necrons are no longer just another space marine chapter. This is the main focus of the angry editions and probably the one that will feature the most change. This is because the main editor of these pages is very fond of the fluff, but is not content with the accompanying crunch.

Codex - Chaos Space Marines Angry Anarchist Edition

Made formations and detachments to represent some of the different chaos warbands. All psychic diciplines redone and buffed. A number of cost changes, mostly decreases, for some different units. All marks, except nurgle, have gotten buffs.

Codex - Daemons Angry Demon Edition

Made ally charts for each mark of Daemon + buffed all the psychic diciplines. Might leave it at this.

Codex - Dark Eldar Angry Emo Edition

Less armour 14 hate, less monster hate. Much more internal balance, I think? Vehicles now give AOE buffs to units allowing you to field a mix of infantry and vehicles, without losing?

Codex - Grey Knights Angry Witcher Edition

Less ap 3, less force weapons. The army is less elite, while not the explicit intent it had to be done because the army had too much anti marine, too little anti horde. Number of point decreases and a couple of point increases. Major nerf to Dreadknight.

Codex - Craftworld Eldar Angry Munchkin Edition

Minor changes to distortion weapons + some point increases.