Is Warhammer 40k all about what you bring? Or how you play?

[Gloks]

I've been looking at other tabletop miniature games lately like Warmachine/Hordes and X-Wing and I can't help but think how much more balanced these games are compared to 40k. Obviously they are a different type of miniatures game to 40k but almost all of the units for each faction are usable and competitive for any list. With GW releasing an amazing amount of models/codex's at a very rapid pace, I find that I just cannot keep up. Don't get me wrong... its a good thing but I almost don't have enough time/money to buy all of these new things based upon how good the units are due to recent changes and then build them, paint them and then field them to play. There are so many units for so many armies that just aren't really playable. Not if you want to win. Compare it to warmachine/hordes where the rules are much more streamlined and tuned for tournament play, and most units are playable at any level. Its more about how you play then what you bring. Its the opposite for 40k. Obviously there are certain warcasters/warlocks that are favoured over others but you can still do extremely well with the non favoured ones as its a very well balanced game.

I might be able to buy a new squad or 2 every few months but with the constant changes I can't even afford to field a competitive army as a lot of the models I had that were good aren't anymore. I want to switch to Warmachine/Hordes but Im not nearly as attached to the models themselves as I am with GW's models which is the only reason I haven't switched already. Am I just totally crazy and talking nonsense or are you only ever going to have a chance of winning if you can constantly update your army with new things to adjust to your new codex or a new rulebook coming out every year. Theres obviously skill involved when playing 40k but I find that the skill factor isn't on the level it is for other games like the ones mentioned above. I've been finding that its all about the list you bring rather then how you play it with 40k and I simply can't compete with others.

Sorry for the bad english. Im Swedish... english isn't my strong suit

[Voltigeur]

40k is an odd beast, there's nothing quite like it out there. I've found it depends more on who you play than what you play. I play with a group of friends for fun. We self censor so that we don't bring lists that are too strong or no fun to play against. I don't play tournaments or pickup games because I don't feel like 40k is suitable to either of those formats. You certainly can play that way but from what I've seen it becomes more of an arms race at that point. Skill does come into it, but it's an uphill climb if you don't have the latest and greatest units/rules. Chasing the meta is also quite expensive, so if you're on a budget and want to be competitive there are probably better games out there for you.

I've tried Warmachine/Hordes, it's far more balanced but it just hasn't captured my imagination for whatever reason.

[CotC]

There's no balance in the mechanics at all; some of the armies are flat out terrible, but it really does depend on how you play them. I've got a friend that rocks an impressively annoying DE army, for example, and another friend that uses his Tau to set up ambush after ambush.

The recent stuff from GW seems to be more focused on selling models than fluff or mechanics, though, which is frustrating.