I'll start off by saying this isn't a GW bash post, but a simple question. I have played 40K for many years up to 5th ed and a couple of 6th ed. I'm not the best of gamers, but I did enjoy going to the odd tourny as a fun thing. My point is its the looks that draw me to a game, not the rules. Obviously the game has to be good as well for me to continue investment! I'll even pick a dud army because 'it looks better' - by mistake usually as I get a rush of blood and hit buy before looking into how an army functions!
First up I will say that the whole Gothic 40k thing is cool, very cool. But I'm starting to think its becoming GWs shiny gold pen, over used and over exaggerated. Sometimes just because you can doesn't mean you should. I'm talking about a lot of the newer releases that have been coming out. Mainly the Space Wolf stuff. The dred with an axe and shield, the shoe barge and the Santa sled. There are a ton of other models as well, and I'm including the Imperial knight in that... I know its an old classic concept, but its just dumb. IMO GW should be evolving 40k in a way that's suits a more current taste. I think they should keep the Gothic touches, but make things look more slick, more believable. I wince when I see a Space Marine walking around in a computer game especially the new Space Hulk game, it looks off. The plastic kits are great, but they are putting to much into the ornate pieces instead of concentrating on the actual look with little sense... it'll be fine just chuck a few crests and army badges... its fine... Here are some examples...
Now I'm sure this is a taste preference, but Infinity are getting there models right! They are metal for a start, but it holds detail so much better than plastic, even compared to today's standard of plastic kits. Look at this new PanO knight... it looks futuristic, Gothic (you could paint in a more gritty way) and looks like it can move around in a realistic way. There is no reason why space marines couldn't look more like this concept.
Now their are some dogs in the Infinity range - don't get me wrong and everything is not all better over here. But the old sculpts are being renewed fast!! From this...
To this.. (Hell of an upgrade!)
I think now Covus Belli have toned down the Manga look to what I would call a more video game look... to me its current. I'm also preferring the skirmish sized game, less models does not mean less of a battle, in fact I think it makes a game richer as individual models can do so much more... basically one model is like controlling a unit in 40k...
Maybe I just needed a break from 40k, maybe I just needed a change. But I know that if I was just getting into the hobby, 40k does not not look as cool as Infinity...
