chaos failure

[Muninwing]

Everybody's talking about chaos. Traitor's Hate is, according to the internet, an utter failure in bringing to the game a representation of what players think Chaos actually is.

But... there's a fundamental flaw in the way we view Chaos. Much like politics, a non-issue for one person is a make-or-break for another, and what we surround ourselves with is what we tend to assume is the “one right way” that something should be. Also like politics, we have commentary from people outside the system that have different ideas of the breakdown than those directly involved -- because, really, none of us exist in a bubble, and these things do actually have an effect upon us even at arm’s length.

Chaos is a mess. Normally, that'd make sense... but it's just so many missed opportunities that it's frustrating. There doesn’t seem to be a designer with a vision, instead we see a combination of tepid addons to a bowl of mush that could have been great.

Imagine... a galactic imperium with the power to control a billion billion worlds, with hundreds of organized groups of monastic genetically engineered super-soldiers, trillions of soldiers, and fleets upon fleets of world-breaking space ships... that has fought off the innumerable swarms of space-locusts and the belligerent riots of green magical soccer hooligans... spending vast amounts of time and resources to guard against a great foe... and being willing to sacrifice said resources in case of the foe's rise... that nearly broke in tiny pieces because of a huge heretical revolution...

Chaos is, based on the structure and focus of the Imperium, the one true enemy. Everything else pales in comparison.

the Tyranid hive fleets extending their tendrils in waves, Ork hordes rising to cause trouble, Tau expansion spheres challenging stability, the influence of the remains of the last ancient galactic empire, the rising of an ancient space empire of terminators with magic guns -- none have had the resources devoted to fighting them that the Imperium has slated toward fighting against Chaos. It’s been 10,000 years and 13 (12 now, i guess) further wars that have routed the chaos forces, and some of their forces are still able to be that much of a threat.

But on the tabletop, chaos is laughable.

and we all are at fault.

“But i’m just a player -- i’m not one of the terrible writers who have not done the game justice!” you say. Oh no, you’re in this too. Because, think: when Chaos gets mentioned, what’s the first thing that happens? Bitter complaints. About what? The two major issues for chaos fans (and i count myself in that mix) are the Eye of Terror campaign (that chaos totally won) and the 3.5 codex. The first one is important as an example of why this is our fault, and the second is part of the actual reason.

The EoT was over a decade ago. Now, finally, GW is acknowledging it and finally moving forward. But they had stalled out -- you can see some of it as early as the 4th edition fluff. They hit a breaking point, and realized that if the player-controlled events of the EoT were canon, the result would be a terrible setting. Not terrible as in “turn the grimdark up to eleven!” but terrible as in largely unusable. That much chaos? No. too much, and probably an indication that the chaos book of the time was able to overcome the odds because it was just too good -- and this, starting in 4th, we had a reframing of exactly what Chaos was. It means that back then, there was a problem -- and out of pride rather than any understanding of the good of the future, we doubled down on our indignance. We expected -- we demanded -- that Chaos was supreme. Even if that meant the end. In fact, seeing what happened with WHF, it would exactly been the end, and a signal of change into something else. Yes, GW should have given that context a little more directly... but it doesn't take rocket science to figure out.

Chaos was caught in a power conflict. On one hand, unfettered chaos (as defined by the 3.5) would mean the certain downfall of the Imperium. On the other hand, if that happens the game is over and we all go play X-wing. And our attachment and even obsession (dare I say it?) with what was caused us to miss what else had happened.

Why so much power? A set of rules that was so customizable that it was seen as a disadvantage for opponents to have to memorize it all. The 3.5 dex had it all -- build-a-bear Chaos Lords, legion remnant rules, sacred numbers, and the ease of running seven or eight completely different kinds of viable armies (back in the day i had a Thousand Sons sorcerer force AND a Word Bearers summoning spam army… and i know that i could have repurposed the same models into at least three other fun builds). But the design philosophy shifted in 4th edition, and Chaos got streamlined, but it also got redefined and it lost its flavor as a result. and that's both GW's fault and ours.

The old 3.5 dex was fun. It had fluff-based armies, variance, and power. It had an old style of organization, with buyable increases. It had variable units and could accurately represent the remains of the Chaos Legions very well. But that in and of itself is its major flaw. The “buy increases” style changed (and the tyranids suffered more than chaos did), partially because it created huge imbalances as people found optimizations, and it caused other players to have to remember too much…

And the model changed.

The problem is twofold: first, that the 3.5 worked well and was unified… and second, that was over a decade ago, and nothing exists in a vacuum. The 4th ed Marine codex was also adaptable, but that went away. There’s a ton of changes that have happened in the game, and none of them have impacted either Chaos or Chaos players in the least, except for seeing how far outdated and behind their book is. Adaptibility and choice become burdensome with rules. And the call to streamline the rules has been constant since 4th. The people who claim that the game is too hard to learn, that it uses outdated metrics that this game or that game do better, the persistent trolling about AoS-ifying 40k while not acknowledging that warscrolls are potentially more burdensome with extra rules in the long run.

We all want it to be simple enough so that we can play, but complicated enough that play is satisfying. Often, when we complain about it being too complicated, what we are really saying is that we do not like how it is complicated, rather than just that is is complicated. We would sometimes rather that we got the advantage, that we understood it to the best of our abilities. What it is matters less than what we want it to be in comparison to what it was or what some other game is. Rather than look to improve, we look to tear down. rather than complain that our book is subpar for currently-comparative reasons, we compare to something that is not longer possible as if it is just an assumed.

If every other book from 4th onward was similarly simplified like the Chaos 4th ed codex was, people would still have hated it despite its ability to compete. Too few viable options, too much change from that last book. But that last book has become a rallying-cry it really doesn’t necessarily deserve -- it had some messiness too, and it had its problems. Having to keep track of how many chosen, what was and wasn’t, marks, which specific builds had which options (Thousand Sons couldn’t use certain units, for instance… another long-gone balancer of sacrificing certain options in favor of certain benefits, one that the DA also dropped in 4th, and others later). It was burdensome.

In our yearning for the past, we have allowed the present to be substandard. It’s the Miniver Cheevy of 40k -- we complain and daydream, and do nothing. “Miniver scorned the gold he sought, / But sore annoyed was he without it; / Miniver thought, and thought, and thought, / And thought about it.” we complain online, we lament what we do not have instead of what we do. Rather than look for improvements, we sigh and drop it. “Miniver coughed, and called it fate, / And kept on drinking.” We assume the role of the burdened underdogs, who have no other option. We do the best we can. We see a new SM codex released and complain that they have toys we do not. We compare now to before, now to someone else, and we always feel cheated. We question “why don’t we have grav weapons?” because Space Marines have grav, but we don’t ask “what should we have instead of grav that fits our theme?” We aren't willing to accept that until GW figures out what they want Chaos to be, it will simply "not be" in any meaningful way. And rather than ditching the victories of decades past and the old method, we and GW have all been complicit in the stagnation and blandification of Chaos.

In part because Chaos has lost its theme.

Perhaps that’s why the writers and designers have done so little with Chaos, or perhaps that’s why new blood has not been able to create them in true form through the rules. Space Marine chapters with their own books each have their own themes of atonement or savagery or embodiment of extrahuman nobility. Eldar have their ancient survivorship schtick, Dark Eldar have their 90s goth/fetish club thing going on, Necrons are the resident scifi cosmic horror. Tyranids are insatiability and innumerability, Orks are the comic relief. Tau are what happens when technological expansion occurs too quickly and a budding force is too impatient. Each has ideas in the units and the rules and the models that reinforces these themes in multifaceted ways. Heroes, Grunts, Hooligans, Dying Nobles, Xenomorph-Locust infestations… each one has a *thing* and the units, rules, and models to back it up. Except Chaos. Because being the butt monkey of all Imperium jokes isn’t a *thing* but the result of not having a thing. Spikes aren’t a thing.

Chaos is supposed to be terrifying. In a galaxy of active threats, the greatest is the unseen enemy, the infestation of heresy and depravity. The promise of power, the allure of supremacy, both hold in its sway the safety and solidity of the Imperium far beyond any external danger. Maybe it’s you, and you don’t realize it yet. Maybe it’s your neighbor. Whoever it is, you will probably suffer -- because power comes with a price. BUt within that power, you will suddenly have the ability to break role and convention and expectation and reshape your surroundings to fit your perspective and desires and needs.

Power comes with a price. In theory, chaos could even have been “take SM, give them a power boost and a disadvantage” and rock the table. But it seems like every boost they are given doesn't even keep up with the regular codex-creep of standard loyalists, meaning they only gain a drawback. Somewhere along the line, they just became substandard SM without ATSKNF at slightly too many points. Because they have no niche they fill, no theme to live up to. Just the ghost of a decades-old book to pine for.

I'd like to find something better than just the old discarded mechanic of buying mutations, or the current randomized table mechanics that just do not work. 3.5 is a dead end, with old mechanics and not enough currently competitive options. The one thing it had is, conspicuously, the one big idea that CSM have not had since.

What about... theme?

chaos is, after all, a lot like politics. charismatic or forceful leaders get more attention than effective ones. personality matters. people follow because leaders lead... or refuse to follow because other leaders command them not to, then claim that it's the fault of the leader they refuse. The right person could take righteous people and lead them to hell. Add more ideologies, more complications, more differences, and there's so many more permutations of undercurrents that can warp the population, can corrupt the common and the great alike. Each of these is part of, but not the defining, theme of Chaos.

what exactly is the theme of chaos? it's not "marines, but spikey" because they have different options and different restrictions, and should have something they excel at over marines. it's not "the strongest" because they are weaker than some. it's not "legions" because the warbands exist. it's not "warbands" because the legions were so formative in the older players that they will refuse to give that ground. it's not "subtle subversion" because Khorne is not subtle. it's not "the chaos gods" because some chapters are traitors or heretics who do not embrace the Four. it's not secularism, as compared to the sacralized Imperium, because so much of Chaos is that aspect of worship.

it's freedom.

Freedom to worship, or dabble. Freedom to follow an alternate idea of right and wrong. Freedom to break convention and rank to follow who you want, or vie for Freedom to explore new expressions of self, of ideology, of motivation. chaos is about what happens when there is no organization, no guiding hand, and the individual is given the freedom and the motivation to act upon their own freedom -- by rejecting the overcontrolling Imperium, sometime has to fill that vacuum of control, and that’s the freedom to make those choices on your own. While the SM chapters are all about adherence to doctrine (even if they vary that doctrine), chant prayers, receive awards for adherence to rules, and living a patterned monastic life; chaos is the opposite. perhaps some convene to do things the same as others. perhaps they have old longstanding traditions that allow for some patterned dogma... but they are all in touch with one thing above all. they are all variations and changes. The 3.5 was the ultimate free book, where you could choose to adhere to a legion’s logic or create your own Mr Potato Head Chaos Lord. It was options, mutations, spells, and the supremacy of the variation. And it embodied that theme of freedom in its free-feeling structure.

Chaos is self-imposed rules and restraints, ethics over morality, joining up with whoever you want to stand beside, and wrecking stuff because you can. It’s actual Libertarianism, actual Anarchism, super-powered Mad Max post-apocalyptica, layered on top of a crazy daemon-worshipping religion of conflicting dogma and incompatible philosophies. Space Marines thrive on being rigidly disciplined, because the lure of that freedom backed by their power is terrifying to behold.

Yet… today, they have the least freedom in their codex. They have non-viable units, few choices for certain slots, milquetoast formations, no rule that replaces ATSKNF -- and none of the malleable, varied flavor of the past. Back before the 4th ed Codex, you could play an all-Tzeentch army and be competitive. You could play a band of Night Lords with raptors coming out the wazoo (very painful) and still have fun. There was less netlisting then, it is true... but there were so many builds that worked passing well that you didn't need them to play and do well. And there were very few waste-units that padded the codex, very few options that a decent player couldn't make work.

If you wanted to make chaos great again, you would need to do three things:

First, you would need to overhaul the whole game’s points metric.
Without that core rot being fixed, nothing layered on top is secure. If a central complaint about chaos now is that the units are too expensive for what they do, then applying a new scale to only them does not work. And while some argue that points are not a good system for balance, i will simply say that i’ll concede this point once they offer a better balance mechanic instead of just pointing out flaws.

Second, you need to approach the theme, learn from what the 3.5 gave, but reinvent that for the new era.
Do CSM need access to Grav? It fits theme -- wildly destructive, old tech, relics from the old graviton (which would perhaps fit better). If nothing changes, yes. But grav is spammed because grav does good things quickly for cheap -- not unlike D-weapons, and indeed are often justified as an answer to heavy-D armies. If grav weapons were more expensive, they wouldn’t be spammed as much, and maybe Chaos could have something else instead. I’d love to see their weapons being adapted relics, having extra abilities or access to things that are more widespread-mayhem-based. Maybe we bring in volkite and graviton, but have the archaeotech be unstable? Think of the old Chaos Dreads, that had to roll for their bloodlust -- and could go into a shooting spree against their own units if they were unlucky. WHat about resurrecting the daemonic Kai Gun as something like that? High-S, decent number of shots, maybe one or two extra effects, and has to be shot at the closest unit within LoS if they fail a Ld check.

Think of the Reaper Autocannon. Personally, i’d rather my Terminators carry an Assault Cannon for theme reasons and battlefield role, but they have less strength, less accuracy, less range, more shots, and the addition of rending. But that’s a decent tradeoff, a decent comparison. And while individuals will be quick to point out that most times this is tried Chaos gets the lesser version, there are ways of balancing equivalents. Sure, the Reaper is longer range than the Assault Cannon, and that changes their roles… but the only longrange weapon that most terminators get (DA have their Plasma Cannon, which helps) is the Cyclone. Why not do a swap? Give Chaos terminators an options for longrange with the Reaper and a new shortrange missile option? Now they can play on a comparable field with comparable options. Of course, someone will point out that X is better than Y, and one is clearly the only one you should ever take because they are clearly superior… missing the entire point. We don’t want copies, we want comparable. Thy should actually have different strengths and weaknesses. The issue with CSM is that, without a real theme (and no, “random” isn’t a theme) there’s no way to create a concept other than comparison to SM, and that comparison as a design choice is always going to be bad for Chaos -- either Loyalists will do it better, or CSM will have some unwanted penalty, or there will be a random spike in usefulness that precludes players from taking all the other far-less-useful stuff (hello Heldrake). Using the big picture, it’s never going to really work.

Third is to rethink units that just do not function.
The CSM have some quality stuff, that just need to be refitted for the game as is today. Holding on to the ideas of the past keep Obliterators from changing -- for fear of further disruption of the biggest complainers, the designers have pretty much just copy-pasted at least this unit… but it’s really not applicable to today’s designs. Oblits are a combination of terminators and Havocs, that have the disadvantage of unreliability. If it’s just regular weapons, why not take Havocs? The vision of indestructible living weapons platforms are great in the mind’s eye, but they are relics of the past. Now… if they wanted to apply the much-hated “randomization is chaos” here, they would be highly unpredictable but perhaps fit in the meta a bit better -- give them plasma stats and a roll: a 2-3 is a regular profile, a 4-5 becomes +1S, and a 6 becomes D. The 1 is up for contention -- if their points wouldn;t increase prohibitively, giving a disadvantage like AP4 would save point but invoke disappointment and potentially cause them to be thrown against a wall… but if the range was instead increased to a pieplate centered on each model, at S7AP3 with armorbane, they could still be useful (and wouldn’t wipe out their own squad). now, the S7/8/D is useful, the AP2 is valuable, and there’s a disadvantage on rare occasion… maybe even one that could prove better-benefitting and change their roles later.

There should be new mechanics that could change all the old units for the better. Because, let’s face it -- CSM have fewer options than they should, and plenty of them are lemons. Mutilators... because let’s copy-paste Obliterators from older books without being concerned as to whether they make sense. Warp Talons, because the coolness of ripping a hole in space is exhausted the moment they appear on the table and get shot to bits (because blinding your opponents doesn’t affect their ranged accuracy?). Copy-pasted-from-4th Legion marines of the Four, because none of the other four relevant legions (BL are separate…) matter, and throwing that little bone to older players is outdone by screwing them on points. The warband mentality, because only Marines and marines that have recently fallen somehow matter in a setting built upon how terrifying ancient festering evil can be.

It needs an overhaul.

But expecting that overhaul to go backwards would actually be worse.

[Muninwing]

i do want to make one thing clear, before finger-pointing...

the divide between the narrative and competitive gamers is also partly to blame. the narrative gamers love the concept and image of times past, the competitive tried to stick it out with a themeless book and lash-spammed us all into a coma.

if you took some of the "mathematically, this is the best unit to take" spam out of the game, and out specifically of the CSM entries, then perhaps the theme issue would have been addressed earlier. if a whole batch of new entries are added into a codex, and still we get Heldrake spam, it might be the optimist trying to make good with what we have, but it's ignoring why there's a problem.

But... the mindset of "i just play whatever and don't care about winning and losing, so i don't understand what everyone is whining about" ignores that this is a game, and that competition and balance (even complicated balance such as unequal sides with different goals) are needed in order to structure play... and important to some people, even those who are not super-competitive.

there's good reasons to be unhappy with the new chaos. and, yes, ultimately, the final blame falls on the designers for just failing to release a quality product. But at every opportunity for moving forward, the designers have been just as stuck as the players in the past. and both need to change that in order to reach a finally decent product.