Hey guys, what's up?
A couple of days ago I was browsing on Ebay and stumbled upon an auction for 40k 2nd edition still sealed. I have been kind of wishing I could go through the box again for memories sake, and since I already have everything
, I guess it has been creeping up on my list of things to 're-acquire'.I actually had a TON of 40k stuff and sold it all to a gaming store that eventually went out of business. Ha. I thought I was getting out of gaming COMPLETELY until I saw an auction too good to pass up on Ebay a few years ago, and it started my Epic craze all over again.
Anyway, some friends wanted to try out 40k, so we picked up two 40k 3rd edition box sets and other stuff, and I HATED it. I understand what the game was designed to do (play larger games quicker), but for some reason I felt it lacked strategy, depth, and whatever else because in the three years of playing it, I can honestly admit that I have rarely enjoyed it. Can't put an exact finger on it.
Anyway, I have other GW games from the 2nd edition time period, and they are some of my favorite games: Man O' War, Necromunda, Warhammer Quest, and of course Epic Space Marine and Titan Legions. I thought 40k 2nd edition was kind of silly by the time I was done with it, as it looked too cartoonish for a wargame. However, after giving up on following all the different books and articles from Rogue Trader, I was SOOOOOO thrilled to get the chance to start all over from scratch with the 2nd edition box set. I can't say that I like everything about 2nd edition, I know it has some faults, and lord knows the new minis are amazing, but there is just something about 2nd edition that the other games have from that time period, and I don't quite know what that is either.
Anyway, the starting price was $10 and I emailed the guy to find out if he would end the auction early, and he put the Buy-it Now option up, so I snagged it. $80. Nuts I know. Hell, I can write it off as a bad poker night. Anyway, I went flipping through some old White Dwarfs (you know, the ones that had 40k, Fantasy, Necromunda, WQ, Space Marine, bla bla in each issue - THOSE WERE THE DAYS!), and I forgot how much fun 40k ed was back then. Even randomly chosing your mission card was fun for me. And I LOVED wargear and magic cards.
Lots of counters, cards, junk to keep track of, but I felt like I got a world of stuff when I first got that set, versus what came in the 40k 3rd edition. Yes, better minis the 3rd time around, but still.
Anyway, I miss what characters meant to the game back then (I know they were overpowering), but I liked that. It was a skirmish game, not an army game, and I hate big games today. My days of trying to field 2,000 points of minis is long gone. 500 points in 40k 3rd is boring. 500 points in 2nd was actually interesting.
I don't know what I will do with the set once I pick up Dark Millenium too ?
(got to have all that too). I still have many of my old 2nd edition Marines.I know I'll never play the game like I used to. Actually, I'll be lucky if I play it any more than a couple of times. It does have a certain feel to it though, that Necromunda, Man O' War, and Warhammer Quest had in that they seem to emphasize fun, versus seriousness in the newer games, which I guess I am over. I miss the comedy, randomness, and I guess the novelty found in the older games that the new ones seem to lack.
I almost picked up Confrontation: Hybrid or Warmachine, mainly because it looked like I wouldn't need a lot of minis to play a game, but I think this will make my last 'game' purchase. I have zero interest in 40k 4th, and think GW is going downhill. As far as I am concerned, GW's golden days were in the mid-90s. Too bad, because I really enjoyed the games they put out then.
Any fond memories of 2nd edition? It seems to get as much slack as 3rd does, so I guess you can't make everyone happy.
. Plus as roaming individuals they kinda rock.
. Although having genetically engineered troops that can dodge matrix style may not be everyones cup of tea!
Check out the SG Necro forum- there are occasional threads about using 40k stuff and this kind of thing.