Warhammer 40K Tabletop Thread XLIII: "This Is A New LoW For Us All"

[Grim Portent]

I can't actually think of any Chaos Marine models I own that have been Squatted. Specific loadouts sure, I used to have a unit of Havocs with four flamers which isn't a thing anymore, and some of my lords can only be fielded in particular armies which does make things more awkward and annoying if I wanted to field the exact same random collection of models I did back in 5th edition today, but I'm pretty sure all the actual models are still usable.

Chaos marines, chaos bikers, raptors, possessed, chaos spawn, chaos lords, sorcerers, daemon princes, the tanks, berzerkers, plague marines, rubric marines, noise marines, fallen, chosen, terminators. All still part of the chaos lineup.

Specific upgrades or gear combinations might not be available anymore, but the roster itself has just gotten bigger since I started 15 years ago. Of actual codex units the only two I can think of we lost is generic Lesser Daemons and Greater Daemons, and let's be honest, they weren't a proper part of the roster.

[LeSwordfish]

Jump Pack Lords definitely went but are coming back in the next Chaos book, which will be the next codex released.

[Grim Portent]

Remembered a unit that actually got Squatted, Mutilators. Not that anyone particularly misses them.

[Wraith]

New Thread Time

The Custodes thing is gentle teasing and/or sarcasm. Probably. We'll probably be able to say for sure in about 3 months or so

[BananaPhone]

Citation required.

It wasn't exaggeration or hyperbole earlier when I said that the ONLY place I've seen people complaining about this are on Twitter, many of whom are reposting their own repulsive YouTube comments as some kind of 'evidence'. This may be anecdotal on my part, as I certainly don't go seeking out such specimens, but it's exactly the sort of people one would expect to be as obnoxious as they are biased.

They don't speak for me, or anyone I know, or have discussed it with in the last ~month. They're loud, not numerous.

In my experience it's been the opposite. Citation required that most of the fanbase are in favour of it.

There are approximately 10,000 Custodes active in the Imperium in the Great Crusade. Way, way more once you include those who have died and then been replaced over the next ten millennia.

Here's an exhaustive list of all of the ones we know about. There's less than 90 (or as sometimes refer to it, 0.9%) that have come up in the last 40 years, across what may well be over 1000 books.

"I personally haven't see it, therefore it can't be true" is not a strong point from which to make an argument.

"They were written as being the sons of nobles, all the art work was of men, all of the writings were of males, all references to their names and prnouns was male...so therefore there were always women among their number!"

Please, spare me. I find the "Well they never said there weren't...." a weak excuse.

I will repeat myself:

"Prior lore referred to noble sons being handed over. All the art-work, the way they were written and referred to etc they were all male. If you want to bring in Lady Custodes, do so along the lines of the Primaris Marines - something new for X purposes. Maybe say they were Sisters of Battle veterans who performed exceedingly well and were elevated or something. Some will grumble, most will let it slide if you create some cool stories and miniatures and rules around it. Have some stories or rules exploring how the new lady custodes assimilate/fit in with their new all-male colleagues, some of whom have been around for god knows how long. You could do a lot with it that makes most people happy and moves the lore forward.

What you don't do, is blatantly lie that it's always been the case (it clearly wasn't), then subsequently tell people who don't like being lied to to gtfo if they don't like it."



You can add them if you want, but make the lore and reasoning well-thought out. You can announce the changes on twitter, acknowledge the past and then come up with new lore for why lady custodes are now being included (desperate times, Emperor sent his golden boys to plug in gaps on front lines, casualties taken means some Sister Sororitas veterans are being elevated because their faith is the most zealous or something). You don't gaslight your own community then give them the middle finger when they complain.

The fanbase aren't dumb. They've seen what's happened to Star Wars, to Star Trek, to Doctor Who, to The Terminator, to the Lord of the Rings/Rings of Power and many more, they've seen it all and now GW's way of handling this has evoked such a spectre in a hobby they love and have spent thousands of dollars in, WH40k. So yes, they're angry and reacting poorly because they don't like being lied to and treated poorly for perceived political reasons. I'm neither here nor there for the addition of lady custodes, as long as the lore around it is good and it's handled well. But I have a lot more sympathy for a fanbase that's seen multiples of their favourite franchises go down in flames for years because of smug cultural vandals who thought they knew best, who now start smelling smoke among WH40k.

[Renegade Paladin]