Re: [GZG] Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi!

On 7/7/08, John Tailby <john_tailby@xtra.co.nz> wrote:

> I think most authors start from a point about what would be a cool
story to
> tell, and high tech hover tanks is a cool story, as are some of the
tales
> from the 40k universe.

In the case of Hammer's Slammers, it was less that hover tanks is a
cool story, and more that writing stories about Vietnam wouldn't sell
in the 1970s, but if you add some "SF" elements, it would sell.  Never
underestimate the influence of marketability.

As someone who played 40K when I was getting started with miniatures,
I like reading some of the 40K fiction, which oddly enough doesn't
really resemble the results you'd get from playing games of 40K.
There are some cool stories in the 40K universe, but the rules are so
badly broken it's sad.

The essential problem is that none of the GW crew has either military
experience nor any real education on the subject, so they don't
understand what's silly and what's not.  Their target audience is
basically two-fold:  Kids who get their mothers to pay for the minis,
and members of their cult who will accept whatever nonsense they
choose to print.  So they aren't worried about making sense either.
Reference the "marketability" comment above.  They aren't going to
change unless and until their target audience does something else with
their money.

I will aruge that applying Real World tactics does sometimes work in
40K, given the right match-ups.  I've seem reverse-slope defenses
shred orks, and Space Marines in hard cover shoot enough of a
40-figure squad to get them to run because the other player was
marching them across an open field.  I've demonstrated to someone why
having tanks unescorted by infantry in close terrain is a Bad Idea in
a nearly real-world manner.  Granted, it was Space Marine scouts with
anti-armor hand grenades, but given my current job includes a pair of
slides explaining how an RKG (I think--I'd have to check the slides
again) works, that's not enough to trip my suspension of disbelief.

On the other hand, I've also seen a Space Marine take a direct hit
from a tank main gun and survive, and a squad have to concentrate
their fire on a single model, ignoring the entire horde behind it
becaus that model was technically the "nearest squad" and a bunch of
other dumb shit.

I dislike GW's marketing methods and whatnot, but this discussion
seems to have generated far more passion than a frickin' game is
worth, IMHO.

John M. Atkinson
-- 
"Thousands of Sarmatians, Thousands of Franks, we've slain them again
and again.  We're looking for thousands of Persians."
--Vita Aureliani

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