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FAQ: How Should GW Deal With HQ Spam?

hor of space marine and chaos

The new 40k FAQ should be out any day now, but how should Games Workshop deal with HQ spam? Get rid of the problem altogether, or just let it continue?

I’ve been noticing more and more over the last tournament season that it’s HQ spam lists that seem to be winning most tournaments.

It’s not one specific faction, or <insert prefix> Stars, winning every tournament anymore, but it seems like in 8th players will always find out what’s broken and use it to their advantage by taking multiples of them.

Now, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, that’s part of what makes a great tournament player. But, we all know how Games Workshop likes to fix the problems that arise in their rules, and we’re on the verge of another FAQ… We hope…

Waiting on FAQ Meme

So what’s the problem, and what do I mean by HQ spam for those of you who don’t know?

If you look at Matt Root’s winning list from Adepticon it was 7 Hive Tyrants, 4 Mawlocs, 8 Mucolid Spores and 9 bases of Rippers over two detachments. And let’s not forget about Nick Nanavati’s winning list from LVO which also had 7 HQs.

Eldar PsykerThe problem arises when you look at the Supreme Command Detachment and realize that you can have an entire army comprised of HQ units. All you need is 3-5 HQ’s, you get +1 CP, but there’s no need to take more than three per detachment unless you have some leftovers.

Or, you can take that one straggler, put him in a Vanguard Detachment with 3-6 Elites to finish off your leftover points.

So how is Games Workshop going to fix this? They could restrict it to no more than one to two Supreme Command detachments, add a minus command point tax (like say -5/6), or get rid of them completely.

40k FAQ Future

Will that happen? Most likely not, but hopefully the upcoming FAQ will have some kind of fix in it.

For now, I’m going to put my hobby on hold, just like many others have, and I’ll wait to see what’s changing next before I start working on, or buy, anything else.

What are your thoughts? Do you think HQ spam is a problem? Or am I way out in left field here?

Barclay Nurgle Wrapper

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About the Author: James Rodriguez

I’m a huge fan of anything tabletop. I play strictly Chaos in Warhammer, and Imperial in anything Star Wars. I spent 8 years in the military. Now I’m happy to be a civilian working with a great group of people.
“We are all tyrants. Do not fool yourself. We were bred for nothing else.”
-Mortarion