iendjinn

Recently I’ve started playing 40k again, partly because pushing minis around is fun but also because it’s a good excuse to get a regular in person social event in the calendar.

I last played 40k at the start of 9th, having got back into the game after a long hiatus a year or two into 8th edition. I really enjoyed 8th edition, finding it to be streamlined mostly in the right ways and balanced enough for regular casual play. Because one of the main reasons I stopped playing again was the GW rules treadmill we’ve decided as a group that we’re just going to stick with 8th edition rules.

One thing that we agreed straight away was that stratagems and command points are bullshit and actively detract from the fun of the game:

• Even more rules in an already complex game
• Often results in not fun “gotchas” for the person on the receiving end
• Adds re-rolls and rules referencing that slow the game down

After a few games we’ve also agreed the following house rules:

• Stratagems, relics, and warlord traits are not permitted
• Destroyed vehicles that don’t explode remain on the battlefield and become difficult terrain
• Morale checks are made by rolling 2D6 (as in pre-8th edition) and a roll over the unit’s leadership is a failure
• Units that fail a morale check must immediately make a move 2D6” towards the nearest board edge, if any model reaches the edge of the board the unit is destroyed. Any model unable to do so is destroyed
• If a unit in combat fails a morale check and rolls 3 or less for its move then it is immediately destroyed
• Characters can join units
• Characters can be targeted unless they are part of a unit
• When a character is joined to a unit, that unit may use the character’s leadership

I’ve got a few more ideas for things which might improve the game (mostly around cover and encouraging light infantry to make use of it) but for now this is what we’ve come up with.

By and large we’ve not encountered any weird interactions as a result of the changes, and the occasional discrepancy can just be quickly discussed and altered later if it didn’t seem right.

I’m also really grateful to one of my friends, who after I commented I might build a table-topper to give us a bigger play area, turned up the following week with a really nicely built (and light weight) plywood and space metal contraption that gives us all the space we need for playing at 1000 points. I can’t ever see myself wanting to play larger battles than this, as even when both players know their army it can easily take well over an hour for a full game.

1. 40k House Rules 27-Dec-2025

   40k wargaming journal

   Recently I’ve started playing 40k again, partly because pushing minis around is fun but also because it’s a good excuse to get a regular in person social event in the calendar.

2. ~500 Minutes Standing On My Hands 24-Dec-2025

   fitness

   This year has been a bit of a mixed bag for physical fitness improvement. Life is always a balance between different goals and I’ve certainly tipped the scales towards family and career over the past 12 months.

3. More Mothership 09-Nov-2025

   mothership rpgs review

   In the interest of playing more games I decided to offer to run a session of the Mothership RPG for a few colleagues… and it’s turned out to be a success so far. Four sessions in we’ve run the Haunting of Ypsilon 14 and nearly all of Another Bug Hunt (ABH).

4. Cy_borg Headlines 11-Oct-2025

   borg rpgs worldbuilding

   Over the course of my Cy_Borg inspired cyberpunk campaign I made numerous pretend social media posts, headlines, and other bits of world building. I’m posting them here for posterity and in case anyone finds them and is inspired for their own campaign.

5. Mothership And Helium Hysteria 07-Sep-2025

   mothership rpgs review

   Our cyberpunk campaign has reached a season finale and as such needs the full group present for the next session, this meant that we ended up having enough players to play but not enough for cyberpunk.