As I was checking the rules for a new model in the Warmachine app, I noticed a small feature had been added to the unit profile: a ‘rulings’ heading, which put an official rules clarification from an FAQ right there with the rest of the model’s rules. It’s a tiny feature, but if you’ve ever had to fumble through an errata document for Warhammer 40k in the middle of a game, you’ll agree that it’s a very smart idea that other games should copy.
I’m not surprised that the first place I’ve seen this is in the Warmachine app. Warhammer 40k has put serious effort into supporting game balance and competitive play for about five years, but Warmachine has been focused on those audiences for more than a decade, with a free rules app that gets regular updates.
Back when GW didn’t really consider competition play to be worth supporting, Warhammer 40k codexes weren’t updated every edition, and the community had to create their own errata documents, Warmachine got free marketing out of the fact that it had clear rules supported by regular updates.
The latest version of the 40k app is actually very solid and stable, and gets updated with points changes, alterations to rules text, and balance updates. But the game has 19 pages of rules commentary, and all the Warhammer 40k factions have FAQs in their errata documents. Getting that information in-line with unit stats would make it so much easier to reference in the middle of a game.
Adding features to apps takes time of course, as does populating them with data. And to be fair to 40k, Warmachine has only just begun to implement in-line rulings. The developers have a monumental task, as the game has rules for a truly colossal range of out-of-production Mk1 to Mk3 models, plus the current Mk4 range.
If you’re intrigued by my description of Warmachine as a game that has always supported competitive play, check out this feature about its core dice resolution system – it’s a mathsy subject that creates a surprising amount of drama.
Source: Wargamer
