What Supplement Should Games Workshop Publish Next?

 

When 9th edition dropped we were introduced to a new narrative format within it's hallowed pages. Crusade was the new narrative where you could take a starter force and slowly build it up while playing against your friends who were doing likewise. The system worked by awarding experience points to units for having played the game with a couple extra for things like being "marked for greatness", gaining and removing permanent injuries or negative effects, plus the addition of new narrative relics for your characters. Add to that, this is where your narrative missions came in for a better gaming experience. 

All in all, Crusade was a very fun style of play. But it is not without it's detractors among the community and it does have some small flaws. Crusade uses Power Level over the points that Matched Play uses as a means of keeping things simple. Players don't like Power Level though, as it does not take into account the difference between say a heavy bolter and a lascannon. There is also the small problem that if one player's army consistently wins games and keeps improving over other armies it can become a little unbalanced. It does work if you play for the fun and not competitively, as was intended. But competitive play, from my experience, has unfortunately creeped into Crusade and it does make a difference. Even so, I really enjoy Crusade games. I find it highly enjoyable and slowly you can add your entire army to your roster. Technically I find it more enjoyable than regular Matched Play I suppose.

However, in the two years since 9th edition hit the shelves Games Workshop has done almost nothing to expand upon the Crusade mechanic. We had a couple of campaign books for the Pariah Nexus and I think Octarius, and one other (I want to say Death Guard vs Mechanicus). But they haven't really supported Crusade with proper materials. What Games Workshop need to put out is a decent series of expansions for the Crusade format, and I don't mean specific war zones like they have done. If you look at the source books that have been released for Necromunda you'll see what I mean. We need a nice hardcover book or two that includes errata to balance out a few things, options for playing with points rather than power level, the relics and upgrades from the old narrative books like the Pariah Nexus, rules for creating our own HQ characters, and a host of new narrative missions. 

Crusade really feels like it has been almost abandoned and left for dead. It feels like an after thought that has been forgotten in favour of the standard competitive play - which obviously does make more money for the company. I think some of this is because they probably didn't expect people try and play  it in place of regular games. I fully imagine that it was expected to be something played a few times and then put to one side and if so, that is a real shame. With some proper thought out expansions we could see Crusade set up and expanded upon like we see Necromunda has been over the last few years. 

If you haven't tried Crusade I heartily suggest you give it a go. Leave your usual Matched Play expectations at the door and play for the fun. I can almost guarantee that you'll have a fun series of games telling the story of your own personal crusade. Let's just hope that Crusade as a format won't get left behind again.