Codices and Rumours of Codices...

Peering through the dark haze of uncertainty, our scanners

show Tau on the horizon.  ETA: Unkown.

These are Dark times for the Tau...  or so every Tau related blog this side of Ke'lshan says. 

In these mournful obitiuaries for the Tau Empire, exhibit 'A' is always the aging codex.  Exhibit 'B' is always the latest army to come out. Those two points in and of themselves should explain a lot of the hysteria.  People always seem to be entranced by the shiny new object. 

Good or bad, the rumor mill will always be active.  GW's secrecy certainly doesn't help the matter, but I feel it does give an aspect of perpetuity to the game of 40K.  There are some game communities I have been a part of (*cough* *Magic: The Gathering* *cough* *cough*) where it seems the sole source of joy within the player base is a well-defined rumor season, followed by the full reveal of the new realease a week or more prior to release day, which then leads to the actual, physical release coming and going without a whimper because everyone is already waiting for the next rumor season.  That is commercialization at its finest.

Now, all that being said, there is one effect of the rumor haze which leads to a sticky (and very legitimate) point.  With rumors of a possible new codex, does one keep buying the current line of models and risk being slapped in the face by a revamped product line, or does one wait until the possible new codex arrives to make any purchases? 

I would break it down like this: 

• Dedicated players want to know how to spend there money on release day.  That is why the rumor mills harbor so many veterans.  Thus, I would suggest that those who have been in the hobby a decent amount of time should (and probably would anyway) wait.  

• Casual players who might look at the whole gamut laid out before them and not be able to put it into context should go ahead and get started.  Without knowing when anything will land, new players can concentrate on what exists now and worry about learning the game.  That way, when an actual release comes, they are ready to use anything that comes their way.  A small starting force is all that is needed for this, so any potential replacement costs should be low, if they exist at all.

• People who like the hobby for the hobby's sake are going to buy what they want anyway.

I myself fit somewhere betwee the last two bullets.  I am going to buy what I want anyway, but I am still new to playing the game and will mostly be concentrated on what I need to learn how to play effectively.

The Tau are fine.  If you look around enough, you will find battle reports from players who consistently win with their armies.  Even in the reports of losses, lessons can be learned.  The game can be competitive, but it is supposed to be fun. 

In the mean time, do what is most enjoyable to you and the rest will come.