Is it hobby season yet?

   I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but GW has been busy lately.  Of course, being an acolyte of the Emprah for so long, feel the need to keep up.  If this were a race, GW just got drafted as a receiver and I got an offer to man the phones.  I've fallen a bit behind...

  I only note this because I have the pressure from a couple of different angles.  My son cannot be more geeked for the new core game and my main hobby buddy is deep in the parsing and analyzing of all the new rules, points, and evolutions that have been released.

  First, the Horus Heresy:  NO!  When I managed the stores in Philly and Jersey, we were already flirting with the idea with events and house rules (that aren't dissimilar to the real game later, coincidentally).  I own ten pounds in weight of pewter Mk 6 marines from Rogue Trader as well as certain old vehicles produced before the time of computers and resin.  I've read most of the novels and steeped myself so far in that universe that I still call today's Chapters "Legions".  I very much dig the universe, but I have two things that will keep me from it:

    First, I don't want to return to the 'old style' of the rules.  I'm very happy not having to remember the WS and Wound tables (not that it was a problem), trace arcs for vehicle facings, and argue over base contact for templates.  I don't miss the old days and very much enjoy the modern iteration of the game.  I don't like the constant adjustments, but that's a discussion for further down.  I like simple and fun and I did not think 7th edition was either.

    More importantly- 

MONEY!

  I'm not poor, but this hobby definitely requires money that I don't have.  I already own almost every unit for every army in 40k, the same for Necromunda, Underworlds, and even Middle Earth SBG!  I have nine editions of books, dice, and play aids stashed or in use.  There's much more, but I don't have the time or interest in boring you (the reader).  As a core game, this Horus Heresy will have books for days, new miniatures kits produced every month for years, and support that sucks up every one of those free dollars.  I've made the mistake of owning everything, meaning that anything new has to be bought just to keep up.  I don't want to add to that cycle an more!

  But damn! do I want that game...

  Secondly- GW has dumped all over my precious 40k!!!  If you read that in a negative connotation, settle down.  They literally spent last week doing a data-dump to update the game.  First came the new points values for everything, then came the balance datasheet to adjust the rules, and finally the newest Chapter Approved dropped on Saturday.  With all these documents, GW changed the game significantly and it impacted me directly.

  (Here's where I'm being a petty baby:)  I had the perfect Eldar army list.  It included everything that I wanted and was very effective on the tabletop.  Most of the models were even painted!  But then the points values came out and made my army list too expensive with every unit getting a points increase.  Then the balance datasheet came out and changed the way a couple of my units were meant to act and made some decisions harder.  Finally, the new Chapter Approved ripped away the starting CP and adapted the secondary objectives and missions so there's more to have to consider.  All of this means I can't figure out an Eldar list now!  This even has me building old-school Shining Spears for a bike-force, but I just can't seem to settle on anything now.  Thanks, GW.

  I also want to take a moment to shout out to all those in the community that DEMAND more attention to the game from GW.  They want constant points-adjustments, tweaks to rules, and even nerf-bat olympics against every new army that comes out.  Because balance or something.  I got into this game as a social activity to share my tactics and modeling hobbies with people.  I dropped out of law school because researching isn't something I wanted to be forced to do.  Now GW is giving these people what they want and I'm stuck spending more time researching than playing.  How dare you?  Please remember this next time you claim that GW doesn't listen to the community and makes unbalanced rules due to incompetence.  

  Well, that's my rant for the week.  It was a busy week in the world of GW and I was definitely paying attention enough to finally have something to say.  Now back to trying to figure out these Eldar...