UB: Warhammer 40K

Spoilers, Rumors, and Speculation forum

Posted on May 13, 2022, 11:54 a.m. by Coward_Token

Official first look link

Previews: July 26

Release date: August 12

My comments Show

DrukenReaps says... #2

Nids might be a lot more blue than they generally seem. One of their major things as they've been developed is the cults that slowly mind control larger and larger groups of people. For the other colors I think green is a must for them too. I really think of them more as Simic and you could splash in anything other than white from there. I could see the argument for Golgari though too.

Also whos ready for entire decks of curved foils? lmao

May 13, 2022 12:55 p.m.

SpammyV says... #3

At least Orks get their own secret lair drop.

If the rest of the GW collabs are okay to discuss here, I have a growing wishlist for the Blood Bowl secret lair drop:

  • All cards are silver bordered.
  • Jim and Bob have Commentary Team, like Friends Forever from the Stranger Things lair.
  • A creature with Secret Weapon or an equipment (Chainsaw) or Vehicle (DEATHROLLER) that replicates the effect. If the creature leaves the battlefield, it's exiled and can't leave exile for the rest of the game. Or the Command Zone if it's your commander. I guess they could make Hack Enslash a card.
  • A "roll a die and see what happens spell" like Goblin Tutor called Kick-Off Event.
May 13, 2022 1:12 p.m.

Abaques says... #4

I kind of feel like if you're gonna lump the Imperium into one deck it should be 5-color. Color identity for be all over the map for the Astartes alone. I mean Ultramarines I could see as Azorius, but Blood Angels... Boros. Space Wolves might be Jund.

I think Tyranids feel more Sultai to me.

I get the choices they made, but I do wish they had focused the decks on more specific sub-groups more.

May 13, 2022 6:07 p.m.

legendofa says... #5

For the people like me who don't know about Warhammer 40K, what are your expectations for this product? What would be any major themes or strategies that could appear?

Since I don't know the story or flavor, I figure I'd at least check out the mechanics.

May 13, 2022 6:56 p.m.

legendofa I would recommend watching a video like this one to get a general rundown on things: https://youtu.be/xCGKPRiJp84

It’s kind of a lot.

May 13, 2022 7:07 p.m.

legendofa says... #7

FormOverFunction I'll check that out later today. Thanks!

May 13, 2022 7:15 p.m.

DrukenReaps says... #8

FormOverFunction oh yes, that's a really good video for an introduction to 40k factions! I was thinking I'd do a short summary of the presented factions but better for curious folks to just watch that. It'll give a more complete picture of things. The imperium of man required almost an hour to themselves xD

May 13, 2022 8:48 p.m.

Abaques says... #9

legendofa Warhammer 40K lore is very, very deep and honestly pretty cool I think. It is very, very different than MtG lore.

First off, everyone is awful. There are no good guys. The Imperium of Man is the overarching human faction (although there are uncountable sub-factions) is basically a giant parody of fascism and religion. They regularly will wipe out all life on a planet if they suspect that a few people might be possessed by demons. Speaking of demons, one of the other major factions is the forces of Chaos who essentially all demon-worshipers or demons. The Tyranids want to eat all organic matter in the galaxy. The closest thing to 'good' would probably be the Tau, who almost certainly use mind-control of some kind on their own populace.

Secondly, its incredibly violent. Space Marines use chain-swords (basically chainsaws) to hack through their enemies. The tagline for Warhammer 40K is "In the Grim Darkness of the far future, there is only war." and they mean it!. Magic doesn't have anything remotely close to the level of violence in 40K. I think this is a legitimate line of criticism for the project as a whole. I would not want to start a 7-year old on 40K.

Thirdly, Warhammer 40K is science fantasy. There's basically magic, both in the sense that advanced technology you don't understand is basically magic and in the form of actual magic powered by the Warp or other sources. There is a lot of melee combat (depending on the faction), but also lots and lots of guns and power armor and tanks. It should feel very different from Magic's lore. This is another area I feel there is some legitimate criticism (that also could apply to Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty and Streets of New Capenna) in that there is a pretty major disconnect between the image of a group of knights on horseback and a squad of terminator space marines with heavy storm bolters (think having a minigun for a hand).

Finally, everything in 40K is over the top. The lore wants you to look at the crazy, ultra-violent and grim-dark galaxy and have fun with it. Battles are huge, world shattering events (sometimes literally). Space ships are often 10km long. There are giant mecha called Titans that tower over the battlefield and destroy cities. And some of the cities have a billion people in them! This is one of my favorite parts about 40K. It has fun with itself. Its not some dour, semi-realistic possible future. There is a lot of satire and outright ridiculousness in the humor.

I'm not even a 40K player, but the lore is so amazing that I eat it up. If that's your jam, have fun with it! If not, I'd avoid it. I hope this helps.

May 13, 2022 10:23 p.m.

legendofa says... #10

Abaques That sounds ridiculous and completely stupid levels of grimdark and I love it. Sounds like it takes a while to really get into, so I'll save a deep dive for another time, but I'll definitely check out at least the surface levels.

May 14, 2022 12:08 a.m.

SteelSentry says... #11

I'm disappointed that, because of the Astartes creature type, any reprints in the future are unlikely. Right on the heels of the first non-branded reprint of crossover cards (Stranger Things), it's just unfortunate.

May 14, 2022 8:16 a.m.

Abaques says... #12

SteelSentry I agree. If you want any of the unique cards in these decks you'll need to buy the decks because they will never be reprinted in any meaningful way. If any of the cards are really good they will skyrocket in price. Honestly I kind of wish they just made the whole set silver bordered and just had it is almost a standalone type of game.

Personally I'm debating getting all four decks and just sleeving them up as a ready to play battlebox. I really hope the decks are well balanced between themselves.

May 14, 2022 12:11 p.m.

TypicalTimmy says... #13

I suspect the Necrons will have a very strong Phyrexian feel to them.

I think the Imperium will make a solid line between big and tanky with support. I think we will see the most utility out of vehicles and equipment here. It'll probably have a very Boros feel to it's play style.

Orks likely will feel like Goblins, in that going wide with a bunch of small creatures is how you win the game. When you play Orks, if you don't win in the first round, you won't win in the second. I wonder if WOTC is going to fuck the Orks up in their subtype? It would be easy to use the Orc subtype, but Saproling is far, faaaaar closer to what they ACTUALLY are.

We best see a decent blend of Saproling Barbarians and Saproling Wizards.

May 16, 2022 1:18 a.m. Edited.

TypicalTimmy says... #14

Between D&D and Warhammer 40k, if they do WoW and / or TES I'll die a very happy Timmy. If I had to choose between the two, I'd say WoW is a better Commander set with TES a better block set.

May 16, 2022 1:22 a.m.

Coward_Token says... #15

May 16, 2022 11:38 a.m.

Coward_Token says... #16

I wrote a thing.

I'm sorry.

June 1, 2022 12:35 p.m.

Hey , they get rifles , i wonder why everyone in Kamigawa was carrying around "big arms" and why Light ·em Up doesn·t actually show the firearm that the character is clearly using .

That Astarte Squad unit is pretty cool , i would probably run that . I think somebody mentioned how the Imperium should be 5-color , true , true . Who knows , i might pick up the Imperium or Necron decks . Adding Necrons to my Phyrexian deck would be an interesting tableau .

June 6, 2022 9:53 a.m.

Coward_Token says... #18

I actually wonder why 40K got the UB treatment; between it being a relatively expensive tabletop game with lore attached, you'd think it'd be viewed as competition for MTG rather than a complement.

June 9, 2022 11:26 a.m.

DrukenReaps says... #19

Coward_Token Most the folks I meet playing 40k also play mtg. Nerds be nerdy ;) Probably a third or so of the lgs' I've been to also sell both among other things.

June 9, 2022 12:21 p.m.

SpammyV says... #20

There's some overlap, but it's not guaranteed. I met my best Commander group when we all were going to our college's board gaming club, but there were a substantial number of board game fans who just had zero interest in CCGs at all. For ever PleasantKenobi advocating for both games, you've got the people who only play one and have no interest in the other. Me, for instance, the only GW game I'm interested in is Blood Bowl.

Although, the crossover is one sided, isn't it? It's not like Dominaria United is going to come out and GW is going to release an Urza or Karn model in the grim dark future.

Magic's not the only example but it's funny how there's a couple of games now that do have their own theming and implicit or explicit setting that start to become vehicles for these licensed crossovers.

June 9, 2022 12:54 p.m.

Coward_Token says... #21

SpammyV: They ought to do a Fblthp one. Totally Lost indeed.

June 9, 2022 3:15 p.m.

Duncthelunk says... #22

Looking forward to what the Tyranid/Sliver precon is going to look like.

August 12, 2022 11:52 a.m.

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