Shall We Resume The M42 Project?

'New Start' by Fawn McNeil

Howdy! SandWyrm here. It's been not quite 6 months since I last posted anything here on M42. Is the project dead? I've never thought so. Rather, I considered it to be in a state of hibernation as I learned the rules of another game that has taken 40K's same basic structure and made massive improvements to it.


I'm speaking, of course, of Flames of War.

Originally, I had thought that Flames would be a nice source of ideas for improving 40K, being so similar in structure and all. Which of course it is. But I wasn't prepared for the full experience that I encountered. Besides showing me a better way to do various mechanics (which can all be further improved on), it has also shown me the ups and downs of moving to a new game system. As well as what it's like trying to convert other players over to a new game. That's some important information to have!

We got a glimpse, in the 'leaked' PDF that made the rounds a few months back, of what GW might have in store for 6th Edition. Which still isn't anything like the tight, competition-ready ruleset that we've wanted for so long. At best, it'll be fun but competitively flawed. At worst, it will kill the hobby we love. No matter what, it will mean more money out of our pockets in order to adapt to the arbitrary changes that GW will introduce in a new edition. You then have to hope that whatever you buy won't be made useless by the 2nd or 3rd new codex that comes out. :(

There has also been the realization on my part that this project is going to need some funding to proceed much further than it has to date. Unless we're prepared to spend years creating something that will only ever be a niche in the wider wargaming community, someone is going to have to be on it full-time. Eventually, it will have to be many someones. From designers, to testers, to business managers. That demoralized me for a while, as I didn't know where the money would come for any of that. But I've recently discovered a funding option that might make it possible for us to get started on the game in a serious way. More on that later.

But...

All of this depends on having a community that's still interested in supporting the project. Without that, there's no point in trying to proceed further.

Because personally, I've reached the point where I just don't want to play GW's version of 40K anymore. I still love the models and the fluff. But when I walk into the game store these days, all I see are Marines on the table. Hell, that's all I bring to the store anymore. Because frankly, they're just more fun to play. GW's poorly designed rules ensure that if you try and bring anything else, you'll just be frustrated. That's not very enjoyable.

I enjoy Flames of War immensely as a game. But let's face it. We all want aliens and robots on the table. Robots and aliens are cool! We shouldn't have to walk away from the cool Sci-Fi stuff in order to get decently written rules!

So...

So what do you say? Is the community still interested in having an alternative to GW's 28mm wargame rules? If so, I'm willing to put my sweat into getting the funding and making that dream a reality. But I need to know that I have your support. Else I might as well just go play Flames, Warmachine, or World of Tanks instead. :)

-SandWyrm