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Information from Games Day France 2004 - Brusilov | |
| Warning: First of all, I would like to warn readers that many of these information are rather imprecise (no such things as precise dates) and are my interpretation of was said during my interview with Phil Kelly As you may have note, the original guest from the GW Development Team at French Games Day on April 25, was changed from Andy Chambers to Phil Kelly. This was my first meeting with the man and I must say he was quite nice and open, although I bothered him for quite some time (over half an hour or so it seemed). The GW development team: one of my questions (not the first but I’ll start with this) concerned who was suppose to take over from Andy as Overfiend for 40K. Phil argued that there would no longer be any such pivotal figurehead. One of the reason was that people got the wrong idea about one person being overly critical to the development of the game. He also mentioned that in the future the development of Codex would be done in a more collegial manner, getting everyone in the team involved, instead of having a couple of people (such as Andy Hoare and Graham McNeil) write an entire Codex from bottom. However he did mention the fact that from a rule perspective Pete Haines was probably the most capable, while Graham knew the fluff very well. Nevertheless he emphasised again the fact that further development would be done by the entire team. Another point we discussed at great length was the ‘future of 40k’ from a fluff perspective. Phil mentioned that GW did not intend to move from M41 to M42 just like that, they wanted to make a big deal out of it (although he said they did not know what yet). He quite like the idea of current 40k as “2 minutes before midnight (or the apocalypse if you prefer” kind of situation. He also mentioned quite often the idea of loose ends (we’ll get back to this when we talk about specific species, especially the Eldar). He argued, quite rightly in my mind, that EoT had created a lot of opportunities for the further development of the background. And GW, as already stated, intended to continue to develop those loose ends in the future into full fluff parts. As far as a world campaign is concerned, it would seem GW has no immediate plans for those (like I’ve been arguing for some time). He argued that world campaigns, albeit fun events, were very time and energy consuming. However he did mention that if a campaign were to be done he would like it to be about Abaddon pushing his advantage. The Space Marines: we discussed SM a little. Most things people already know about. The Codex is likely to be the first one released, it would include ways to personalize your Chapter. Phil said that the Codex would be in ways akin to the CSM Codex, 70% Ultramarines and 30% for the rest (he compared it to the way the Black Legion formed the core of the CSM Codex). However I forgot to ask about what specialisations they were thinking about, although I’m unsure as to whether he would be allowed to answer such a question (he did check Emails and notes to make sure he was not revealing something he should not be talking about ). As to the specific Chapters, Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Blood Angels and Black Templars, he said that they did not know yet how many books they would do. It seemed, from what he implied that this or those books would not be released for quite some time. He also said that the BT needed a serious overhaul (comparing them to the Iron Warriors of the loyalists ). Tyranids: they are likely to be the second Codex to be re-released. Phil said that he did not quite like the way the Nids were currently working. He said that most often armies include the biggest creatures, Carnifexes, Tyrants and the small creatures like Gaunts. He said that the Warriors and Raveners were not used enough and that they need balancing. He also stated that the Hive Fleet customising would stay and that he hoped to include new Tyranid creatures, but this was still far from certain (seemed like the Codex is yet under development). He did also mention the fact that they were looking at how the Nids would evolve in the future (an edition from now) and that they had a new artist (can’t remember his name). The Alien Hunters: as we already know the Codex was pushed back to make way for the rewrite of the older Codices. We discussed a little the possibilities for the Inquisition. They’re looking at making the Ordo Xenos very much technology oriented (as Phil stated, “faith can only get you so far”), this would probably mean the Mechanicus would be included (I’ll get back to this). Puritans would probably get the best Mankind has to offer in terms of technology, while Radicals would use Xenos technology to fight the enemies of humanity. However when I asked about alien henchmen he said this would be pushing it too far and found it unlikely they would do it. The Deathwatch would also be expanded upon and Phil did mention Terminators. The Adeptus Mechanicus and the C’tan: I enquired about the link between the C’tan and the Mechanicus (you never know) and Phil laughed, saying this was one of the loose end GW kept in store for future developments. It seemed however the release of either C’tan were unlikely in the immediate future, but he also revealed that personally he quite like the Outsider. As to the Mechanicus itself, it would seem some people in the studio are quite interested in them so this is another project that is floating around (again not for the foreseeable future, unfortunately). The Eldar: we discussed this topic quite extensively. I asked whether they intended to make a single book for all Eldar sub-armies. He said that it was unlikely because it would involve cramming the book with too many different possibilities. He commented that the Harlequins would deserve a book in their own right (but said nothing about either Exodites or Dark Eldar, but I do not think it means anything). When I enquired about whether they intended to do the same kind of modularity for Eldar as they did for other armies, he said that doing so would break with the concept, that of a dying race by creating the false impression of an infinity of Craftworlds. Nevertheless, Phil Kelly seems to have interesting projects concerning the Eldar, they partly involve the loose ends (once more) and opportunities created by the EoT, especially in Eidolon and Belial IV. He reasoned that the Eldar would be trying to get as many artefacts out of the Crone Worlds as they could (but argued this was not a full scale reconquest, there are not enough Eldar and there numbers are dwindling). Another idea involves the Altansar Craftworld, which Phil has been slowly working into the fluff for the past several years. This is his baby and he hopes to include them in the next Codex as a new Craftworld. I personally very much look forward to what he will create. He was quite loquacious on this topic actually and compared Altansar with the Army of the Dead in LotR, the damned helping the living to win. It would seem that this army will have a strong undead theme to it, at least it seemed like it when Phil talked about it. Another thing he did mention was the fact that he is hoping to create a new Aspect that would reflect the Eldar as a dying race although he said nothing more about. The Star Child: this was a topic that I wanted to raise with a member of the development team for quite some time but never got the occasion to do so, until today. Phil said that for some time they had thought of scraping the idea entirely, the result of this was the article at the end of the 3rd Ed. Codex which seemingly killed the Star Child idea as it did the Illuminati and the Sensei. However the fact that the topic came back to the surface on the occasion of the release of the new CSM Codex meant it was not quite dead. Phil said that this was possibly another loose end and that they decided to keep it under wraps for now, not actually killing the idea, but not expanding on it either. As I said it’s a possibility but certainly not in the immediate future. This will conclude my report on the topic… One last thing, however, I did ask “the Squat question” in a joking manner of course. Phil sighed and moaned, he said that he had been hoping nobody would ask him the question the whole day (I enquired it about 20 minutes before GD closed). He noted that maybe he should say that Squats were fishermen living on the sun, and that they came in our universe through a window (or something like that). This is the real end. To Phil Kelly (if you ever read this): I hope I did not deform or interpret your comments too much and that my little report is close enough to what you told me. Once more I would like to thank you for your kindness and the time you were willing to give me. | |
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