"Edition Wars!" Topic

Everyone likes to gripe about GW and its 8th edition of Warhammer--the 8th version since 1983 (one every 3.5 years).

WRG put out 7 editions of ancients, plus 3 versions of DBM (its successor) plus 2 versions of DBMM, not counting the DBA versions--so at least 12 versions since 1969 (one every 3.5 years).

Battlefront is now on its 3rd edition since 2002, or one every 3+ years.

Field of Glory now has two editions.

Star Fleet Battles, don't even get me started.

I think people complain too much.

It would also be interesting to know the cost of the editions when released, as a ten dollar release is much easier to swallow than a thirty dollar release.

You also have to consider whether the new edition is playable with your old army or if it eliminates a bunch of your existing units and adds a bunch of new ones to purchase.

Many companies produce new editions to improve and streamline their games. GW is doing it to drive sales.

And I'd also like to know which editions require new models or made old models obsolete. Which editions had wholesale changes vs. those with a couple added punctuation marks.

I'm just curious; I have no personal involvement, anymore. I gave up Warhammer back in 1992 (back when my friends and I played the good old orange book.)

But when considering edition wars, I think both sides should look at the many variables.

Perhaps ALL of these editions deserve ridicule, not just GW. Of course, GW still deserves more, since the 'new editions' aren't really that new and are increasingly expensive items mainly full of fluff and pretty pictures.
I'm holding out for WFB 11th edition, because it will be SO MUCH BETTER!

"Star Fleet Battles, don't even get me started."

Seven editions, including SFC and the Mongoose version, since the mid-70s, with no miniatures replacement required.

Next example?

"which editions require new models or made old models obsolete. Which editions had wholesale changes vs. those with a couple added punctuation marks."

I won't hold GW to task for WFB's first three editions, but they are similar from a rules POV. 4th edition is where the army book format got started, cheerfully obsoleting all prior content.
4th and 5th are a "cleanup" pair, as are 6th and 7th.

For 40k, the first three editions are all quite different in army structure, the shedding of whole armies and introduction of new armies, and just enough details that the shed and new armies don't translate readily into editions where they weren't published. After 3rd, each edition has been largely tweaks, though in same cases those tweaks had very large effects on army composition and play styles. The like and dislike of these editions is often based on how your chosen army was treated by the changes.

"Star Fleet Battles, don't even get me started."

Seven editions, including SFC and the Mongoose version, since the mid-70s, with no miniatures replacement required.

The OP doesn't know what he's on about, but I question your count as well. SFB itself has had only four actual editions since 1979, as well as a number of marginally related games in the same setting that really shouldn't be considered as SFB. Federation Commander might, maybe, be close enough to qualify as a 5th, but it's arguably more of a standalone streamlined version, and not an especially well-received one at that. The Starmada and ACTA versions are barely even related, and SFC was a computer game – those aren't new SFB editions by any stretch of the imagination, any more than Federation & Empire or the card game.

Regardless, you're correct in pointing out that SFB has had far fewer editions than the OP seems to think. The current "Doomsday" Captains' Edition is about 23 years old now, in fact. There's a very big difference between having lots of supplements and having lots of editions, after all.

"You also have to consider whether the new edition is playable with your old army or if it eliminates a bunch of your existing units and adds a bunch of new ones to purchase."

I've been playing 40K since 1995. I don't have a single model I can't use in any of my armies. Yeah, they add new units but you don't have to buy them. As a matter of fact if you look at the 3rd edition codex one of the new units were Obliterators. The models looked neat, not as neat as the current ones, but the rules for them were pretty naff. They certainly were not a "must-buy" unit. My Chaos Space Marine armies have had a few additions over the years, but no subtractions.

Traveller or DnD anyone? Shadowrun? Cthulhu? Star Wars?

Who says we aren't complaining!

Its not so much the new editions but the reason for them and their qualtiy.

Often new editions of Warhammer have had little purpose and in the case of 8th Editon are quite bad.

I'd be happy to pay for a 9th Edition if it fixted the mistakes of 8th edition.

New editions also tend to require new army books….

TomT

Yeah, should have said "versions" instead of "editions". I was also thinking of Federation Space when I started the count that far back.

While SFB, in any flavor, has had fewer revisions, it does fit the model for complete replacement of materials with each edition. It gets a pass for that, IMO, since the Steves tend to wait until the warehouse is utterly empty before doing revisions.

As for FedCom not being well received, I suppose that depends on who you ask. The old SFB crowd didn't need or want a simpler version since they revel in the complexity that only they understand (I do know several, so this is not just idle mud-slinging), but the big rules don't sell to newbies much, either. Gotta do something to get new customers, and it does seem to have worked.

DBA – edition changes sometimes have changed basing for a few units, which I ignore since I don't play tournaments. More troublesome is changes to the army lists. But DBA doesn't cost much and it's not linked to a product line. The changes are attempts to make the rules better, period. You may not agree with the changes, but that's another story.

Let's see, there was 1, 2, 2.1, 2.2 and now 3.0 is on the way. The first edition was in 1990? That would be 4 new editions in 23 years…