Viewing The Pandemic Through Gaming
AKA a new edition of Warhammer 10k.
AKA a biased view of 9th edition 40k.
Author’s Note: this first couple of paragraphs of this piece are very similar to the one here as I published both on the same day.
I haven’t written anything in awhile, at least since I got the rights to Reaper, Inc. back. There really hasn’t been a reason for it, I’ve been mostly working, it’s just that I mostly didn’t feel I had anything interesting to write about or say. While I’m not sure how interesting this piece will be or how much I really have to say, I feel like writing it, so whatever, strap in for some hopefully coherent rambling because, here we go —
For those of you who don’t know, which I’m guessing the whole five people who read this blog, for awhile¹ I played a game called “Warhammer 40,000”. For awhile too I was really good at it, a community leader, ITC Rep², and fairly top ranked. While I never won a major event I came close, had multiple top 3, 5, and 10 placings.
I’m not saying any of this to boost about how awesome I am or rather was. What feels like a life time ago at this I wrote “Reaper, Inc. Part 2 — About Me” and in it I talk about my self a bit in order to give the reader some idea if the author of the piece they are reading has any idea what they are talking about. Hence my backstory³.
So if I was so… good or rather involved in the game and community what happened?
Covid.
Before I left for a travel shoot, the details of which I’ll keep to myself for now, although if you read my other piece published today you might be able to get an idea of what it was, I was reading a retrospective on 9th, and a line into really stuck out to me⁴.
For better or worse 9th edition will always be remembered as the edition that came out and largely excited during the pandemic.
Whether it was good or bad edition is somewhat blurry as it existed during a time of absolute chaos. I personally hated 9th but it’s the only edition that I played that I soundly left with an over whelming winning record of 2–2–2⁵ in tournament play.
I think my issues for hating 9th are mired with the issues going on with my life at the time. It came out when I was largely too scared to leave my house, I was working a vastly different job that wasn’t film, and all my freinds⁶ kept playing in a crowded basement maskless as opposed to a somewhat more open and ventilated store⁷. They got closer, started another text group/chain/discord, left me out, and for the most part, most of us, grew apart.
This upset me deeply, people I would see at least once a week, spend a lot of time with, eat a lot of meals with, were leaving me out because I didn’t want to get risk really sick getting really sick⁸. It felt bad. Really really bad. It also showed me who my true friends in the group were.
I’m removed enough from it and mature enough to understand hatred for it was more of a bi-product of everything surrounding it rather than the game it’s self. I couldn’t you if 9th was a bad edition, a lot of people hated it but it came out during a time when everyone was miserable. The game also grew significantly during that time⁹.
Now that we are fairly far enough removed from covid¹⁰ and another edition has bit the dust the main — review — I want give 9th is this:
I don’t think 9th was a bad edition. 40k at its core is a flawed game¹¹. I’m sure it was no worse than the end of 6th or 7th. Honestly I’m sure it was fine. It turned more people on than off. So what if a handful of grizzled vets who did nothing but complain and 3d print their armies quit during it? They weren’t growing the game anyway.
With that in mind will I play 10th? Is it enough to get back into the game — full time?¹² Do I think it will be a good edition? Do I even care either way?
Probably. At the minimum game or two.
I think I’m 5–10 years out at the earlist from returning to something like that. I enjoy it but I currently¹³ want other things out of life and am chasing my dream career¹³.
It’s probably fine. Most editions are. Besides people, gamers especially, just like to complain.
Not really but life takes you down strange places. I didn’t expect to go from playing all the time to maybe playing once everyone other month so out of the blue¹⁴. I also never once thought I’d be cramming 500 pounds of overflow prepackaged meat into a multiple refrigerators after working a 14 hour day in what was basically a hut with doors thats didn’t lock¹⁵.
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[1]: And I still kind of still do.
[2]: When that was still a thing.
[3]: To a good enough extent anyway.
[4]: While I’m paraphrasing to an extent I promise I’m trying to plagiarize or take someone’s idea or thought as mine own, if I could find it again or the original author reaches out I will 100% gladly give them credit and really want to, I just can’t.
[5]: To be fair one of those losses wasn’t really a loss. After somehow managing to tie two games in my first RTT of the edition 2.5 years in I dropped out. So it’s technically a loss and I’m counting it as such but my real record is 2–2–1. It’s also the only edition I could easily track my competive record in.
[6]: My friendship circle was almost exclusively people I met and played the game with.
[7]: Stores were not doing in store play but you get the idea.
[8]: I did wind up getting covid from one of the few places I shouldn’t. It was after I was triple vaccinated and was largely fine during and after. Maybe more on that at a later time. As far as I know there wasn’t a out break from my “friends” playing on weekends in a crowded not greatly ventilated basement every weekend.
[9]: People were bored, at home, and had nothing better to do than paint models I guess. Once you have a painted army they figured they might as well use it. Good for Games Workshop. While that wasn’t what I saw coming, I can’t be mad at that outcome, however unexpected it maybe.
[10]: I’m not looking to start any fights here, do what makes you comfortable.
[11]: Most table top and card games are to an extent.
[12]: I’m not sure full time is the right word but in retrospect, grinding all those games, listening to podcasts, reading rules, discussing things, it really felt like it.
[13]: At least for now.
[14]: I was working on slowly weaning myself off playing all the time to pursue film full time but I kind of just jumped into the ocean, without a life vest, and did both without any sort of real plan.
[15]: More on that later, maybe.
