Maybe corm means when a picture is left or right justified instead of centred? Most of the writers just centre the images but I know I sometimes try to be clever and put them left or right, with the text in columns next to them. I'll stop doing that.

Thanks for replying man I know your work is nuts :D

This doesn't happen very often dude, because usually we're pretty much on the same wavelength, but I'm going to - well "argue" is too strong a word. I'm going to resist what you're saying a bit :)

I agree in a way (take that!). But in another way, I don't. The game could certainly be better, as I said to Thor, and as I firmly believe. And by better, I mean it could be simpler, have less book-keeping, and in some ways yes, represent the fluff better. But could it be more balanced, in the way you're suggesting? I have serious, serious doubts about that. All these games we play, historical or fantasy, are activities that represent some setting AND are fun to play. But what if your setting is inherently unbalanced? What if it's impossible to accurately represent the 40k fluff in such a way that 2000 points of anything is as effective on the table, and fun to play with and against, as 2000 points of anything else? We're talking about a universe here where there's magic, and tanks, and giant robots, and some units that can't even shoot. It's probably impossible to balance modern soldiers against ancient Egyptians in a wargame for fun and effectiveness, and they're both real human forces separated by a mere couple of thousand years of history. So what reason do we have to think 40k could ever be balanced and still be a decent, fun representation of the fluff? I think we have very little reason to think that.

I'm not asking you to change your mind here, but I am asking you to imagine, for a moment, that what you are saying can't be done. Or at least pretend that you think it can't be done. Then you might see where the hard-core story guys are coming from a bit. Maybe to them, it's good enough? Sure, they're not going to object to it being tidied up. But what if what you wanted to achieve, the balance thing, could only be achieved by doing even more violence to the fluff than is currently being done? What then? Would you still want it balanced, or would you be largely happy with how it is and take the good with the bad? Fun is the aim right?

I'm not saying this is the case - maybe it can be done. But at least give people some credit and take what they say at face value. If someone says they're happy with something, or they don't care about tight rules, they might honestly have good reasons (to them) for saying that. And they might not like being told that they're wrong, and they're only happy because they don't know any better.

Ha! Remind me again why I'm bothering helping my son to learn the value of patience and frugality, if society is just going to relentlessly chip away at his self-discipline? Is that what we want? To all be toddlers? Because that's what a person who thinks they deserve everything they want at all times is: a toddler.

To bring it back to the topic at hand though, one of the things I genuinely love about our particular hobby, and that makes it an important one, is that there is no instant gratification. The whole thing is slow, it's like the gaming equivalent of slow-cooking a meal made from produce you grew yourself, or brewing your own beer. Our armies have real value and the moment you play a game for the first time with your painted models is priceless.

Well, I perceive it as being dominated. But I'm a contrary bastard ;)

Something else that worries me is the constant glorification of indulgence. I saw a poster the other day with a big picture of melting chocolate and some lady's lips on it, advertising an apartment block (for some reason that's what they went with: nothing says "building" like lips and dripping chocolate I guess). It said "Treat yourself: you deserve some decadence."

I actually felt... disgusted. Disgusted at the grotesque creatures we seem to want to make ourselves into. Decadence is not meant to be a good thing! The Romans had sumptuary laws that made it illegal for people at home to have luxury goods while a war was on. Imagine how that would go down today. My inner Conan boiled to the surface and started sneering at the weakness of "civilization."

Heh, wow, you really got me going somehow! I have the link too, I'll check it out :)

I'm with the general consensus. A game where it's all about command, and the actual combat is largely unable to affected once battle is joined? That sounds veeery interesting.

Hey have you heard of Frostgrave? I just heard of it, it looks like Osprey's answer to Mordheim and people are saying it's pretty cool. I'd love to see you review that (if you haven't hit your Osprey quota for the year yet).

I did, I did! They're not exactly curtain rods - our house has sliding windows and every window has a piece of dowel in it as a makeshift lock. Just the right size for a three year old to pull out and hit people with...

Hi Porky, yeah, it was a bit of work. The hardest part was scanning the map, funnily enough. I really like the game though, so I'm feeling enthused. I think the game deserves the attention it's getting.

I read a book about the Cathars once, the clergy had a strange doctrine of non-violence, veganism and chastity. They lived more like Buddhist monks than Catholic clergy. Funny how the Catholic church's response to peaceful non-breeding heretics was to massacre them. Seems almost a waste of effort.

My friend said it was great, except that apparently Charlize Theron doesn't even try to do an Australian accent. Everyone else has a go and she's just "fuck it, I'm American in this world."

I was duped too till I saw DC's reply. The bot insidiously cut and pasted part of what DC said.