Ok, well I might as well jump on this bandwagon. Everyone's talking about 6th edition. I'm sure you've all heard the chatter. The main topic of discussion is who will be in the starter box. Well, odds seem to be on Sisters and Chaos Space Marines, which would be fine. Or they could, ya know, release something completely different. Maybe traitor Guard as their own codex? Maybe they stumble across a lost human civilization that doesn't want to play nice with the Empire, like often happened in the Great Crusade?
Yeah, it's probably Sisters and Chaos. Whatever.
Here's my thoughts in a nutshell, I hope that this is more like the transition from 3rd Edition Dungeons and Dragons to 3.5 D&D, and less like the D&D transition from 3.5 to 4.0. Make sense?
Ensure that it's backwards compatible. I'm not saying every awesome army list from 5th should be awesome in 6th. I'm saying that I don't want 5th edition codexes to be invalidated by the edition change. I think the designers can do this if they are thoughtful in their approach. Codex Creep is a fail approach to game design, and is not necessary if they do their work right. I think they've figured this out at this point, but who knows what the future will hold.
A few "wishlist" items:
-Make vehicles like Landraiders more survivable.
-Streamline the wound mechanic. It's not that it's unfair or broken or cheesy. It's really not. But it is time consuming!
-Move the storyline forward. Kill the emperor, save the emperor, launch a Black Crusade. I could give a shit less. Just move forward in some way.
-Give us a new Xenos race. Something different.
-Make cover additive with armor instead of substitutive. A Marine in cover ought to be more resilient against normal shooting than a marine in the open. I think that the 8th edition mechanism of reducing to hit rolls is a nice thought in that direction, plus it "feels" more realistic.
-A general commitment to balance and clarity. I don't think that's too much to ask.
Anyways, that's my .02 to add to the pile of pennies clanging around the internetz.
