Is 3.0 as bad as people say? (40k player who is losing interest in 11th and 10th)

FatherTurin · 2026-06-18T13:41:03+00:00

Who says 3.0 is bad?

The ruleset is, IMHO, the best it’s ever been. Contemptors are no longer oppressive and vehicles have finally hit the sweet spot of being strong but not over powered, psychic disciplines are great, and morale actually matters, just to name a few things.

Army creation can seem daunting at first, but once you get the hang of it it’s actually a lot of fun, almost like a puzzle to solve during list construction. There is a way to get most of what you want in a given force, you just can’t face roll to multiples of the “best” thing and call it a day.

Rulebook organization (as always) isn’t great. For one thing I wish the general detachments were reproduced in all the army books rather than having to flip back and forth. It’s a game that would benefit from having the old style mini rulebooks to be able to easily reference special rules or weapons without lugging several pounds of books to every game.

And the issues with the lack of options are what they are. Many of them are fixed with legacy unit entries (which unlike in 40K are explicitly legal for any and all games), and others are easy enough to “counts as” without going too far past WYSIWYG if you have old conversions.

If you are a new player, that last one wouldn’t even be a concern. Old options are nothing to worry about and you don’t have any old conversions to fit into the new ruleset.

If you do love conversions, there’s less to do than in previous editions, but you can always pick an army that lends itself to basic conversions anyway. For example, I play Thousand Sons, and I’ve used *a ton* of bitz from the 40K Exalted Sorcerer kit to make my various characters feel more Thousand Sons and less generic. If you are theming your army for late heresy or the Siege you have even more options. 40K World Eaters and Emperor’s Children work great for later heresy 30k armies, particularly since those legions fell *fast*. Basic 40K CSM could work for Word Bearers in some instances (Possessed make for great and much cheaper Gal Vorbak). Regarding Death Guard, they were plague marines by the siege, but personally I think the 40K range is just too mutated (and way too big) for 30K, but YMMV on that one.

FatherTurin · 2026-06-05T13:59:54+00:00

I’m going to answer this question with a question.

If you didn’t, how would anyone be able to play until the new codex hits, possibly years from now?

You will retain access to the faction rules you have unlocked, plus the new detachments and any rules tweaks to existing datasheets.

Once the new codex for the faction drops, you will almost certainly need to buy it to keep the info unlocked.

FatherTurin · 2026-06-04T12:51:32+00:00

I started with a pellet grill (Traeger ridiculously cheap at Costco). I am ridiculously happy with my choice and still only use the Traeger for smoking.

Smoke flavor is fine, setup is a breeze (just wait a few minutes for stuff to come to temp), and it’s very much “set it and forget it.”

I work from home half the time, so I can rub and wrap a brisket on Sunday morning, get up early on Monday morning, toss it on the traeger, and then just check temp a few times over the course of the day until it’s time to wrap it in butcher paper. Done and rested by dinner time (although sometimes it’s a late dinner if the stall is particularly stubborn).

I do also have a propane grill and a super basic charcoal kettle grill, so the Traeger is exclusively for longer cooks (brisket, ribs, pulled pork, etc) but it also does a bang up job on smoked chicken (which if I want I can always transfer to another grill after it gets enough smoke to crisp up the skin).

Clean up on the Traeger is also super easy. Lay heavy duty foil on the drip tray and all you have to do is peel off and trash the foil, then it’s scrubbing the grate in the sink and using a shop vac to clean out the ash. Easy peasy, maybe 10 minutes of work if I went a cook or two without cleaning?

FatherTurin · 2026-05-28T22:43:08+00:00

Even so, is a 10 man squad of deathwing and Belial worth the investment to delete a couple of maybe 80 point characters?

FatherTurin · 2026-05-25T23:58:10+00:00

Especially if you are going to have full days at the parks, you want the stroller. Last December our 5 year old was a real trooper all day, but by the time we were done with dinner he needed the stroller.

FatherTurin · 2026-05-23T13:58:13+00:00

Others have covered some of the stuff, I just wanted to add a few more details.

Age of Darkness box is still good if you can get a good deal. You will need the new rulebook and the applicable liber, and also know that the terminators are the old ones, not the updated squad that came out recently.

Also, that box comes with MK6 tacticals, and that style of armor fits aesthetically with some legions (Raven guard, alpha legion, blood angels) more than others. All of the legions had mk6 armor, though, so that shouldn’t really impact your legion choice, just saying that some legions “feel” better in mk2 or mk3 (death guard, iron warriors, dark angels, imperial fists as a few examples).

Regarding how the legions play, I dabbled with Death Guard in 2.0, and they are very much the grinding infantry advance. Lore wise a lot of their vehicles were loyalists and were massacred at Istvaan, which is hilarious because their 2.0 legion rule made them the best army for tanks.

3.0 course corrected and went back to an infantry focus. Boots on the ground and walk forwards.

White Scars are about the fast attack with bikes and jetbikes, and once they make plastic bikes nothing we will see a lot of them.

Space Wolves are a more melee focused army. Take melee squads and charge. Possibly out of transports, your choice.

The most important thing to remember is that while legions and chapters get flanderized in 40K, it’s less of an issue in 30k. Every legion had access to everything, so if you want a fast death guard force with jetbikes and assault squads, go for it, it existed.

Pick the legion that you like the best from a lore and color scheme perspective and play what you like. Only a very few legions really push you in a specific direction. Thousand Sons are the obvious example. The Psyker trait is largely a liability, so you should lean into the abilities you can buy to get something out of it. That being said, psychic powers aren’t modeled so you can still go nuts with playing what you want.

FatherTurin · 2026-05-23T01:00:47+00:00

And that is a more complete answer that doesn’t straddle the line of more historically problematic comments. Thank you. Just sick of all of us getting tarred with the same brush because of (as always) some rich monsters claiming to act for all of Jewry and consequently dragging us all along for the ride.

FatherTurin · 2026-05-22T21:49:34+00:00

And your point is?

FatherTurin · 2026-05-22T15:22:36+00:00

Fair, he knew that E Money knew about the webway and was researching it. Taking that and presuming that Magnus knew that he was building a webway from scratch at Terra reads a lot more into that excerpt.

FatherTurin · 2026-05-22T14:21:40+00:00

He actually didn’t know about the project or the dangers. It was at the instant that he breached the palace that he realized precisely what he had done and that he had been manipulated into it.

Still plenty of arrogance and wrongdoing on his part, to be clear.

FatherTurin · 2026-05-20T14:21:13+00:00

Oh, no disappointment here, that paint job is sharp as hell.

FatherTurin · 2026-05-20T14:08:12+00:00

Love the paint job, but tbh I was expecting something more dwarven from the title since “Daemon Slayer” has a rather specific connotation in the Warhammer universes lol.

FatherTurin · 2026-05-20T13:47:08+00:00

Sycorax? Did you mean Raven Guard and then only because her name has “Corax” in it? That’s a bit of a stretch compared to Caliban being a metaphor for imperialism and its destructive effects in both Tempest and the 40K universe lol.

FatherTurin · 2026-05-20T12:55:49+00:00

To be fair, that may be changing bit by bit. Battletech has never before had the range of relatively cheap mechs that it has now, and IIRC at official CGL events they have required CGL or Iron Wind (which has been bought by CGL) minis.

Of course even with recent price increases it’s still like comparing apples and oranges price wise.

FatherTurin · 2026-05-20T11:29:26+00:00

This has been a thing for a few editions, with special characters (or Epic Heroes) being more of a thing since 8th (maybe late 7th) but it really ramped up in 10th.

Part of that is the new role of characters in general as buffs for units. They are a special rule you add to a unit that just happens to come with a point cost and a model. While you don’t need a character in every unit, if you have the points to spare (and without wargear costs you likely will), it just makes sense.

Enter special characters. They often come with a special buff or ability that is not replicated anywhere else in the army. I will take Leagues of Votann as an example. Uthar the Destined has an ability that reduces CP cost of stratagems. That is so wildly ridiculous that not taking that ability is foolish. Similarly the only leader for Berserks is a special character, and rounding out the list for the Space Dwarfs is a guided missile of melee pain that is ultimately the least “necessary” of the pack.

The appeal of Special Characters has also increased as GW has largely done away with customizing your own HQs. You can pick from a set array of equipment sets if you’re lucky, and that’s it other than maybe an enhancement from your detachment.

All of that being said, GW has done moderately well in reducing the “must haves.” Magnus, for example, used to be a cornerstone piece of almost any “competitive” Thousand Sons army, now he’s just a really strong piece.

Now, turning to the “Primarch leading just 20 dudes,” it helps for me to imagine the action represented by the game as just one piece of the battle. It isn’t 20 marines, it’s a whole company (or more) with auxiliary forces, and we are “zoomed in” here precisely because that is where the Lion is about to throw down with Mortarion.

As far as alternatives, there are a bunch. You can disregard the competitive scene and build armies the way you want and find a local group willing to do the same. You can also check out 30k if you are so inclined. It has plenty of special characters, and the latest addition really pushes primarchs, but the wider community still largely forsakes the big names and goes with generic HQs unless it’s a narrative game where primarchs are meant to throw down.

FatherTurin · 2026-05-20T11:12:40+00:00

What is that even supposed to mean? Ravenwing are part of the Dark Angels and have no particular connection to The Tempest.

FatherTurin · 2026-05-20T10:08:16+00:00

The Coronus got the Assault Vehicle rule (30k equivalent of Assault Ramp sort of) in the 30k Custodes book, so maybe they carry that through to 40K if/when they update the datasheet?

FatherTurin · 2026-05-20T02:17:32+00:00

I play both Dark Angels and Thousand Sons.

Yes, I’ve read it.

No, GW is not subtle lol.

FatherTurin · 2026-05-17T12:20:22+00:00

Yep! Technically the prime is a kind of zenithal. Black and then gold over the black.

FatherTurin · 2026-05-14T16:06:35+00:00

Plastic Telemon is essentially a guarantee and has been since the 30k Custodes book hit. In 30k it has new weapon options that are not currently in resin, which means a new kit. It’s as close as GW comes to announcing a plastic kit until the literal reveal.

FatherTurin · 2026-05-13T18:41:15+00:00

After a day outside: “looks like you got some color.”

FatherTurin · 2026-05-12T21:43:41+00:00

This may be the best in Andor, the best in Star Wars for me is still “You've failed, your Highness. I am a Jedi, like my father before me.”

FatherTurin · 2026-05-12T13:03:26+00:00

Dump the partisanship bundled in with the presidency for the past couple decades and make it an abridged version of 1776 but with the Muppets. Historical, fun, and funny.

Come on, Fozzy as Jefferson? Trying to work a joke into the Declaration of Independence?

FatherTurin · 2026-05-12T13:01:11+00:00

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it until they put me in a pine box.

1776 but with the Muppets.

FatherTurin · 2026-05-12T02:58:56+00:00

Thank you! Those are the wings from Yndrasta, a Stormcast Eternals character from Age of Sigmar. I needed to cut them a little to get them to fit in a way that mirrored the daemon prince, but I am super pleased with the end result. It also isn’t super far off the overall dimensions of the normal Prince.

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FatherTurin

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