A Priori

Philosophers have a fancy term for when something is so goddamn obvious that you can grasp it without actually experiencing it: a priori.  That the rules for allies contained in 6th edition 40k are incompatible with tournament play is knowledge that can be acquired without actually running tournaments with these rules.  It is a priori knowledge.  Allow me to make a few observations before I proceed. [Editor's Note: Please note that this article is speculative in nature, and as such might not make as much sense once the new Edition arrives, which will bring with it some more balanced coverage as well. There are some additional editorial comments included in the rest of the article after the jump. Also remember, there should be a number of Errata and FAQ documents coming out that aren't reflected in this article.]

[Grand High InquisiEditor Newbreed's Note: I did not write the above editor's note and do not agree with its views. I believe all 5th edition players should prepare for the imminent apocalyptic cluster-f*ck that awaits us. Those who claim otherwise are ardent GW loyalists whose views must be ignored by all right-thinking folk. Doom, I say, doom.]



1.  Competitive tournament gaming must, by definition, reward skill before luck and list.  This is called "balance."  The extent to which balance was achieved in 5th edition was questionable--Tyranids were weak and Grey Knights were strong.  GW cares very little about competitive tournament gaming and we should not expect the rules to be written with this type of gaming in mind.  In other words, it is conceivable that GW would produce a rules set that is not conducive to tournament gaming. [Ed: GW have themselves said this before.] [Ed: The swine.]
2.  Fluff supports allies.  Haven't we all read Warrior Coven by C.S. Goto?  No?  Then we simply aren't operating on the level of mutual respect I assumed.

The Death Watch ally with the Eldar to defeat the Dark Eldar.  In a particularly touching scene the Eldar pay grudging respect to the psychic abilities of the Death Watch Librarian. There are many other examples of factions allying or, as the Eldar have done with orks, manipulating each other.  However, it's not fluff that concerns us here, but if it did we would certainly point out that the Ally rules do not allow for the construction of a Genestealer cult Imperial Guard army--a sloppy, inexcusable omission.
3.  This is bald-faced money grab by Games Workshop.  Allies are a lazy, ill-conceived addition.  The expectation is that everyone will run out and buy a mini-army to use as allies.  Eldrad models will fly off the shelves.  It's important to understand that from the rules writer's perspective allies were included to sell stuff.  This was the imperative that spawned the rules for allies, not fluff, balance, or "cinematic" feel. [Ed: Do note that this does allow players to expand their collection with allies without the need to buy an entire new army, which is nice for your pocket, and from a customer relations view.] [Ed: He hits me because he loves me.] 

In theory each codex was written with game balance in mind.  [Ed: There is a comment from GW out there stating that each Codex is only meant to be internally balanced. Cookies if you can find it.] [Ed: Internally balanced is a meaningless term. The idea of balance suggests other codexes and an overarching game enviroment in which balance is judged.] This is a basic premise of game design.  Although it is Games Workshop and Mat Ward we're talking about.  Nevertheless, there was some thought of it, however little and however lacking in play-testing.  The most obvious examples of this are the weaknesses of  specific codices vis-à-vis psychic powers: Tau, Orks, Dark Eldar, and Necrons.  Orks, of course, have no access to melta and limited long range anti-tank assets.  Imperial Guard have limited close-combat options but excel at dealing damage at range.  Yes allies will strengthen weak codices (e.g., Vulkan added to Sisters of Battle), but already strong codices will get stronger still.  Everything scales up but the strong codices scale higher.  The use of allies magnifies imbalances it does not redress them.  Tournament players (haters will call them WAAC) are already thinking up with the most potent combos.  What makes a potent combo?  Simply it is an addition that removes a structural weakness from a codex.  In the words of our very own Floody, he'll be adding Mephiston to his Grey Knights army "because Meph is the bane of all the crap that hurts GKs." [Ed: An important question here is: What is he removing from his list to make this room? He can't simply be adding on the guts of 400 points to his existing list.] [Ed: It's  literally the very next thing he writes. Just keep reading. He also has to add those just oh-so-awful and not at all buffed jump infantry.]

Let's consider the objection, "Allied additions aren't free--you gain something but at the cost of something else."  This is a weak argument and we don't need to let it detain us for very long.  When our Grey Knight players adds Mephiston for 250 points what does he gain and what does he lose?  He loses, roughly, a psyfleman and two strike squads.  What does he gain?  A Blood Angels troop unit and Mephiston: a psychic hood on an eternal warrior HQ that flies around the table killing things.  This leaves the psycannons to do what they do best: remain stationary in the center of the table churning out mass amounts of 24" range shooting. 

Contrary to popular belief the use of allies will not increase the diversity of armies at tournaments.  Armies with limited options for allies will be completely absent unless the fickle finger of fate grants them some type of super-combo.  And Tyranids?  Don't worry about them, they left the building when they heard cover-saves are now 5+.  The most competitive combos will be mandatory.  I suspect it will shake down to about six to eight combos.  Now it's early days yet and the GK/Mephiston combo may not be the most broken synergy out there (but I'm inclined to trust young Floody's intuition).  I'm even willing to grant that the combination of allies and new rules may put an older codex out on top.  This is an important point.  Rest assured, however, that whichever codices benefit most, will do so in a spectacular way. 

Significantly, those who don't take allies will be punished the most on the tournament table.  Perhaps your ideas of allies is to have an ork army with Blood Axes and the Bad Suns working together in a grand waaagh!  Sure you'll get an expanded FOC, but you better avail your sorry ass of some obliterators instead or else expect to go 0 and 5 over the weekend.

Allies will see use in a few tournaments this year, but when the ETC bans their use Irish tournament organizers will follow.  Pure 6th edition being played on a tournament table in Ireland will be a rarer sight than a corncrake.  

Now, let's discuss the new terrain rules.  Mysterious Forest anyone?

[Ed: And that's a very pessimistic look at the new Edition folks. Stay tuned to get some more balanced coverage this weekend when the product actually launches.]

[Grand High InquisiEditor Newbreed's Note: All is doomed. Warhammer Fantasy levels of doomed.]

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