Seriously?

So Warhammer Community has seen fit to preview the contents of the first Warzone: Nachmund book: Vigilus Alone.

Oh, look! Abaddon is on the cover! You'd think this campaign book will be centered on Chaos, right? Well, not exactly.

Instead, we get an Army of Renown for a Phobos Army (or Vanguard Spearhead), datasheets for the new Captain in Gravis Armor and Primaris Ancient (I'm pretty sure they already have datasheets in the codex because of the Dark Imperium boxset, but I could be mistaken, but I guess they need to promote the new models), and a codex supplement for Order of the Bloody Rose. Adeptus Astartes and Adepta Sororitas already have their codexes, and they get more stuff. Whoo! Unfortunately for Chaos Space Marines, who are still stuck at one bloody wound, they don't get anything. No Army of Renown, no codex supplement like Hive Fleet Leviathan (which was awesome) or Cadia (which sucked - even though I tried my best to make it work during the Octarius Campaign), nothing. And I don't even play Chaos Space Marines. I actually feel sorry for the poor Heretic Astartes. They need help, and they need it soon.

Well, we all know they will be getting new models and a new codex. We already have the Eldritch Omens box previewed during Christmas, and Chaos will be getting a new Warpsmith, new Chosen and a bunch of new stuff, so yay (?). Just like with Hexfire, which saw the release of Thousand Sons and Grey Knights codexes alongside it, and Shadow Throne, which was supposed to be released alongside Adeptus Custodes and Genestealer Cultists codexes (they got delayed, unfortunately), I assume the Chaos Space Marines and Aeldari codexes will be released at the same time as Eldritch Omens. We just have to be patient. In fact, I bet the second Warzone Nachmund book, which will be released after Eldritch Omens and the Heretic Astartes and Aeldari codexes, will contain supplements and extra army stuff for Chaos armies.

However, I still don't think this is a good idea. The timing is screwed up. If you want to do this, you shouldn't be releasing Warzone Nachmund: Vigilus Alone first. You should probably do all the Chaos Space Marines (and Aeldari) releases first, and then have a campaign centered on them. I say this not only because I think Chaos Space Marines need their 2 wounds and help in the meta, but also as a campaign master. Okay, we get this campaign book with all the cool narrative, Crusade stuff and missions, but what's the bloody point when the Chaos Space Marine armies are currently unplayable!?

Are we supposed to watch them get their asses kicked every single time they play? Oh, cool! Look at the Phobos Vanguard Spearhead and the Order of the Bloody Rose! Nice Skitarii Veteran Cohort there. Grey Knights and their Dreadknights! And then the only Chaos forces who can put up a fight are Death Guard and Thousand Sons. Oh, I guess xenos are technically on the Chaos side, so the Orks, Tyranids and whatnot should be fine. World Eaters get crushed (a prevalent problem in my campaign). The main antagonists, the Black Legion themselves, get their asses kicked - especially with only one wound Marines and a vastly oudated codex. Even with summoning allowed in the Campaign, the poor Chaos and Chaos Daemon stuff get steamrolled. It'll be a one-sided campaign. What am I supposed to say? Gee, thanks for the shiny new Space Marine and Sisters stuff, let's continue kicking the Chaos guys while they're down!

No. This has to stop. I'm not much of a competitive player and while I do participate in tournaments, I kind of suck at them. I like runnng narrative events and conducting Crusade campaigns. But even I recognize the problem. You can throw away the competitive lists and try to be as fluffy and narrative as you like - hell, my Black Templars were fully Primaris for most of the campaign, running Repulsor Executioner tanks as opposed to, I dunno, 8 Terminators with storm shields in the middle of the table, Primaris Chaplain on bike and Helbrecht (and I didn't even bother with the Crusade relics or Relic Bearers in my campaign), and still they are a bit too...strong in what's meant to be a casual campaign. On the other end, Imperial Guard was like the whipping boys of the campaign except the few times the World Eaters played, and they were worse than the poor Guard.

Even if it's casual and narrative, it's currently not fun for the players who haven't had updated codexes. They did a great job for Hive Fleet Leviathan and made it competitive - the Tyranids player certainly had fun during the campaign I ran. Why can't we have more of that? Seriously, if you want to do stuff like this, you really need to sort out the timing of releases. Don't release a first book with Adeptus Astartes and Adepta Sororitas stuff before Chaos Space Marines get their codex, and have the antagonists hamstrung by an obselete codex and bad rules. Who's going to participate in the campaign? Other than World Eaters, Thousand Sons and Death Guard, I literally have no Chaos Space Marine players in the campaign. And I suspect Chaos can only play Thousand Sons and Death Guard if they want a chance even for a "casual" campaign. I don't think anyone wants to touch "regular" Chaos Space Marines right now, even though they (especially Black Legion) are supposed to be the main antagonists for this campaign!

Don't get me wrong, I love the Crusade campaigns, the lore and everything. Getting everyone to participate in them is fun...except for those whose armies are so terrible they get tabled in a couple of turns in an extremely one-sided manner - that is most certainly not fun. And this Warzone Nachmund: Vigilus Alone stuff is looking like it's going to turn into another one-sided affair for non Thousand Sons and non Death Guard Chaos players. Just...no, dudes. God-Emperor, just...for the love of Holy Terra, please sort this out. I don't know, maybe use some common sense instead of relying on marketing hype? Think about what's practical for players. Why release bonus army stuff for armies who already have a codex and continue to put off the army stuff for those without a codex? What kind of campaign am I supposed to conduct when one side has their arms tied behind their backs while the other side receives even more cool new tools to upgrade their armies?

Consider releasing the Chaos Space Marine codex and whatnot first before you launch the Warzone campaign books, that's all I'm saying. Please.