The League of Votann Controversy

Unless you've been living under a rock lately you know that not only are space dwarves returning to Warhammer 40K but their return has come with some controversy. Two issues mainly. One important and one not so but just a big niggle to those of us who have been in the hobby for a very long time. With that in mind, let's discuss what has happened.

A long time ago under Rogue Trader and 2nd edition, there existed a subhuman faction allied to the Imperium called the Squats. You have to remember that back in the very early days of the game, Warhammer was essentially a parody of Games Workshop's other wargame, Warhammer Fantasy Battles. 40K was basically fantasy in space. You had space knights (space marines), space elves (eldar), space orks (orcs... duh) and space dwarves. 

Squats were presented as fantasy dwarves with a odd Hell's Angels style bike/trike fixation. Models and artwork showed dwarves on attack trikes with horned viking helms in addition to the flak armour and lasgun wielding dwarf troops. They were all a little comedic in a way and at the time they really fitted the strange tongue in cheek approach that the game had back then. As Games Workshop took 40K into a more serious style in the 1990's, Squats were found to be not in keeping with the new feel of the universe. Squats vanished from the rules and their miniatures likewise faded from the shops. In universe it was decided that their homeworlds were devoured by the Tyranids and they were no more.

For many of us who remember those good old days, we have always held out hope that Squats would one day make a return. Under 6th edition I even used some Mantic Miniatures space dwarves (Forge Fathers I think they were called) and used the space marine codex. There were rumours that they might come back as the Demiurg but that never happened. But we never gave up hope. Then this past April it was announced that space dwarves were coming back and we got excited. Rumours and whispers ran rampant through the community and excitement was high. And then it came crashing down.

This is the niggle and less important issue that has arisen with the previews of the new Leagues of Votann. The initial models looked like armoured space dwarves and while different to the classic Squats we were interested. Then we got that awful awful hover trike and for many the excitement dropped away. As further previews were released it became very obvious that these were not the Squats we were looking for. Many people changed their mind about buying the new army, disappointed with what we got. For transparency I was one of those people. The new models turned me right off. Oddly though, the Squat models released for Necromunda would have been perfect had they used those and kept a similar aesthetic for the vehicles. I'm hoping that the new army does well for the game and Games Workshop, but they could have sold a lot more if they made them more the Squats of old but updated.

But I hear you cry that isn't really the controversy and you are right. So let's hit the current problem. Take a look at the follow screenshot. 

So what is going on? The codex was leaked a few weeks ago whether intentionally or not I cannot say but many players have seen the rules for the new League of Votann. The army is horribly overpowered, even more so than recent releases such as the Tyranids and Tau Empire. The Leagues have all the best attributes of Space Marines and the Tau Empire. They even share some of the same rules such as a variant of Armour of Contempt and the Railgun of the Tau Hammerhead. They are going to be exceedingly tough and difficult to deal with. Assault seems to be their one weakness but you've got to get there and good luck with that.

This has led to a number of tournaments and local gaming stores banning the new army in organised events until such time as it receives a suitable FAQ and appropriate nerf. Both of which may well be two to three months in coming following the release as that seems to be what Games Workshop has done in the past. I do not blame stores and tournament TO's for this reaction and I sincerely hope that Games Workshop takes this onboard. While the controversy over the overpowered nature of the army has certainly fuelled many players into buying the initial release and put money in the company coffers, Games Workshop needs to take on board that this continued excess power creep is going to hurt the game. Older codexes cannot handle the new armies. If this is the new power level for the game, and dear gods I hope not, then all previous armies will need a severe overhaul to balance them out. 

With that in mind I do have to wonder whether this is a sneaky ploy on the part of Games Workshop. Have they released this codex in it's current state just to reduce the power level in a couple months after they have everyone's money? Is this just me being negative because of knowing what the company was like of old? Probably but time will tell once we have had the full release.

It must be reiterated that this only applies to organised games. Players can still play friendly games as always and I do look forward to being crushed by them in the weeks to come. It will be a new novel experience and a fun game. But having seen the codex I have to join my voice to those who are calling for an FAQ and a nerf as soon as possible.

So what are your thoughts on the new Leagues of Votann? Do they deserve to be nerfed or do you think that they will fine once the community adjusts to their arrival? Do you agree that they are not the Squats we were looking for or are just happy to have space dwarves back? Let me know what you think it the comments below.