Games Workshop has previewed the new Chapter Approved mission pack for Warhammer 40,000, set to become the default mission set used in organised play and most pick-up games of 40k. Among its innovations will be a new set of asymmetric deployment maps and asymmetric missions, bringing narrative games back to the heart of Warhammer 40k for the first time in years.
Warhammer 40k attracts a lot of different fans for a lot of different reasons – people who love painting miniatures are a very different group from people who just want to read Horus Heresy books, for example. When it comes to the miniature wargame, Games Workshop recognises and makes products for three main groups.
First there are the total newcomers, the people that Warhammer 40k starter sets are primarily marketed at. For a couple of editions GW talked about the ‘Open Play’ style, but I suspect that anyone the firm was marketing beginner products at didn’t pay close enough attention to the marketing to even notice the phrase – perhaps why it’s no longer a talking point in 10th edition.
The other two supported playstyles are Narrative and Competitive. While very few people in the hobby want to abandon either side of the game – people who love games with a story still need a set of rules, and people who like competitive rules choose to collect Warhammer 40k factions instead of just playing chess – they do speak to different motivations and expectations for gameplay.
GW has largely served these two sides of the hobby separately. Competitive 40k is supported with balance updates and annual Chapter Approved mission packs. The concept of good game balance and good gameplay experience has taken a key role in how Warhammer 40k codex releases are designed, which sounds silly to say in the context of modern 40k – but older editions really put more emphasis on lore appropriateness than game balance.
Narrative gaming gets lots of support in White Dwarf, but as for flagship releases it’s mostly restricted to Crusade supplements. Those have been very slow to release in 10th edition 40k. But the fact that it’s possible to play one style without engaging with the other is the bigger factor: there is less cross-pollination between the two styles, and competitive (or at least, ‘balanced’) 40k dominates the conversation.
The annual Chapter Approved mission pack is right at the core of Warhammer 40k, particularly competitive 40k. There’s real gravity to the big, officially sanctioned deck of missions, not to mention the fact it’s what you’ll face if you go to any tournament.
Now I don’t expect the new asymmetric missions that GW revealed on Monday to show up at strictly competitive events. But the fact they’re right there in the game’s most influential mission pack will do a lot to raise the profile of narrative 40k, and remind players that sometimes, it’s more fun to play to find out what happens than it is to play to win.
The Wargamer team loves all styles of wargaming, from competitive to narrative to extremely silly – if you do too, come and say hello in the official Wargamer Discord community!
If you’re a competitive Warhammer 40k player who wants a game that’s even more competitive, look, I’m just going to tap the sign marked Warmachine again. Here’s what was announced at Adepticon this year, and why it’s so exciting.
Source: Wargamer
