It has come to my attention that this forum is quite dead, in all reality. At least compared to Rogue Trader and Dark Heresy, it is all but abandoned. I know that there are many people who play Only War, why do you think it has gone quiet on this board?

No idea. I check in daily, but I don't really have much in the way of conversation to start. Perfectly happy to add to things, but I mostly just homebrew rules on here =P

Perhaps a combination of lack of new material, be it FFG or GW, and a lack of creativity, in the way of people like myself. Some are still wondering if FFG is done with OW, working on DH2, Star Wars, or something else new/revamped, or if they are just being slow, and the typical practices of these companies, putting up walls around their corporate selves, and just ignoring any and all inquiries as to if they are still making stuff, and if so what, and when, makes for little help, but they won't come out and say "done", because if your brother/cousin/friend/stalker happened to be introduced to this game tomorrow, they still might throw money at it, to get all the good books, and hope for more. Are you still buying Naruto CCG stuff? You might, if you really liked it, and you and your friends still play for fun, but they were very dodgy about it ending, until they had sold enough of the last set to still make it profitable, and then pulled the rug, so to say.

On the GW front, they are in one of their churning-out phases, right now, which is good, but it doesn't help OW because of focus. If you like Ad Mech pieces (not a whole codex, in my opinion), or a nice new shot of Craftworld spec to your Eldar, maybe a washing over of new daemons, you have gotten, or will be getting, your wish, but if you want Guard? Nope. I'm not sure what the next IG/AMil installment of GW could be, other than a shot in Imperial Armor, for even more of their vehiclesbook that fleshes out the regiments, but they didn't seem to want to do that, when they had the Codex Space Marines as a wonderful template to borrow from, and they figure availability of sculpts, flexibility of the codex, and such, can probably give you enough of the Cadian, Catachan, Vostroyan, or whomever build you like regiment, so there you are, or something like that.

As for people, some of us just aren't creative at the moment, I guess. I'm giving new Star Wars a bit more focus, and I barely even understand how that weird system WORKS. My little takes on OW usually smack of too much silliness, or an anime feel to them, so I just keep them with me. Or, I usually mention psykers, and usually get rolling eyes

I'm a bit busy actually GMing Only War

I am an active, weekly GM of an OW session myself, but I like to check the forum to discuss problems with the rules, and see different ideas for scenarios or campaigns. There is a lot of good on this board, and it is kinda sad that it seems so empty now. My group likes playing OW more so than the other 40k RPGs so it is even more of an issue. Not much seems to get posted, and though there are often a lot of commentators, not a lot of original posts come up.

Come on, don't be shy! For those of you who think you aren't creative or original enough, you could just share what has been going on in your campaigns. I find that to be a great inspiration for my own - as well as a benchmark for how a game of OW should play out.

As an aside, does anyone know what thread the "100 scenario ideas for OW" is posted in? I combed through the board a couple times, and must have missed it. I remember there were some really good non-combat scenarios that I could use.

I also feel that this forum is dead. Mostly because there is no new material so there is nothing to talk about With no new material, playerbase that moved to other 40k games or even other games entirely the OW is dying. I was thinking about moving on too. Not that i don't like OW but because i see that FFG don't plan to keep the system alive with new supplements i see no reason to stay.

After a few very long campaings i GM'ed in last year. Players beat tau, eldar, orks, dark eldar, chaos, humans, mutants. They were commandos, infantry, recon, mechanized infantry etc. Not much new to do. Of course FFG could revive my beloved game but instead they do nothing, not even a "guys we are done with OW, move along"

Despite the lack of published material, the Dark Heresy 1.0 and Rogue Trader boards are still very active - so I don't see that necessarily correlating to forum activity. As for things to talk about, there is quite a bit! I think there has been far too much "look at this lasgun I designed" and far too little "this is what happened in my campaign"

I'm actually getting ready to run my first OW game in two weeks. I also wish they had another enemies book. I was sad when there wasn't any nids in the Enemies of the Imperium book.

Nids can be found in Only War - Salvaging Solace, or in the Deathwatch books.

Been a while since i played.

Thinking about a penintent regiment based on Mushroomhead...

I think it might be that RT, DH, and BC default sorta stories lend themselves more easily to discussions, and debates about the shared setting. DW and OW boards have sorta similar, team on an assigned mission to fight stuff structures. Which produces great stories, is a lot of fun, and is an over generalization.

But all the same it's easier for GMs to get into a discussion about "What consequences, legal or otherwise, should befall the PCs for preying on Imperial Vessels in the expanse," or "How should I deal with PVP when my PCs are evenly split between the Dark Gods," than it is with "How hard should the Commisar come down on my guys for taking trophies?" They're all good questions, but it seems like when the PCs are spending more time navigating society, there's more room for interpretation of the setting and therefore discussions about portrayals of the universe. That makes up a decent amount of conversation on the other boards I think.

I'd guess that's part of why OW and DW have less discussion. Fun great games, but less setting ambiguity to pick apart.

I think it's just the other games are more popular and have more of a following, It's hard to roleplay soldiers, for alot of people who do not have connections with the military.

The lack of new content is also a issue.

Also people are just busy.

I think it's just the other games are more popular and have more of a following, It's hard to roleplay soldiers, for alot of people who do not have connections with the military.

The lack of new content is also a issue.

Also people are just busy.

Even Black Crusade? The game line that took twice as much time to get supplements for and also only appeals to a select subgroup of people here (myself included). Playing the bad guys properly can be a lot trickier than your average goody two shoes character (or at least more of inclination towards doing "good", seeing that 40k is all about shades of grey).

I consider Only War, Black Crusade and Deathwatch to be "specialist" games, while Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader are generally more appealing for a broader audience. The latter also translates towards more activity on their respective forums. The base of their settings are broader and more vague. You can go in a ton of directions story wise, unlike OW/DW where you're directed towards a specific goal as a guardsman and Deathwatch Space Marine.

Okay fine, Black Crusade can also be a basis to go into a ton of directions story wise, but only if you like playing the bad guys. You don't NEED to lead a Black Crusade after all.

I still wish we had gotten that Chaos Undivided supplement and maybe a few more adventure supplements. Oh well. Sure, they didn't state that the line has ended, but it has been ages since we got anything so we can only assume. And stats for vehicles like the Chaos Predator tank without having to look at the DW books to copy the loyalist equivalent (assuming you have those books in the first place).

I think it's just the other games are more popular and have more of a following, It's hard to roleplay soldiers, for alot of people who do not have connections with the military.

The lack of new content is also a issue.

Also people are just busy.

Even Black Crusade? The game line that took twice as much time to get supplements for and also only appeals to a select subgroup of people here (myself included). Playing the bad guys properly can be a lot trickier than your average goody two shoes character (or at least more of inclination towards doing "good", seeing that 40k is all about shades of grey).

I consider Only War, Black Crusade and Deathwatch to be "specialist" games, while Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader are generally more appealing for a broader audience. The latter also translates towards more activity on their respective forums. The base of their settings are broader and more vague. You can go in a ton of directions story wise, unlike OW/DW where you're directed towards a specific goal as a guardsman and Deathwatch Space Marine.

Okay fine, Black Crusade can also be a basis to go into a ton of directions story wise, but only if you like playing the bad guys. You don't NEED to lead a Black Crusade after all.

I still wish we had gotten that Chaos Undivided supplement and maybe a few more adventure supplements. Oh well. Sure, they didn't state that the line has ended, but it has been ages since we got anything so we can only assume. And stats for vehicles like the Chaos Predator tank without having to look at the DW books.

I can only go off experience with role-players I play with and know, but I see them often recruiting for most of the other games then only war. Even Black crusade.

And are chaos really the bad guys the Imperium is no saint ever MUAHHAHAH

I think it's just the other games are more popular and have more of a following, It's hard to roleplay soldiers, for alot of people who do not have connections with the military.

The lack of new content is also a issue.

Also people are just busy.

Even Black Crusade? The game line that took twice as much time to get supplements for and also only appeals to a select subgroup of people here (myself included). Playing the bad guys properly can be a lot trickier than your average goody two shoes character (or at least more of inclination towards doing "good", seeing that 40k is all about shades of grey).

I consider Only War, Black Crusade and Deathwatch to be "specialist" games, while Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader are generally more appealing for a broader audience. The latter also translates towards more activity on their respective forums. The base of their settings are broader and more vague. You can go in a ton of directions story wise, unlike OW/DW where you're directed towards a specific goal as a guardsman and Deathwatch Space Marine.

Okay fine, Black Crusade can also be a basis to go into a ton of directions story wise, but only if you like playing the bad guys. You don't NEED to lead a Black Crusade after all.

I still wish we had gotten that Chaos Undivided supplement and maybe a few more adventure supplements. Oh well. Sure, they didn't state that the line has ended, but it has been ages since we got anything so we can only assume. And stats for vehicles like the Chaos Predator tank without having to look at the DW books.

I can only go off experience with role-players I play with and know, but I see them often recruiting for most of the other games then only war. Even Black crusade.

And are chaos really the bad guys the Imperium is no saint ever MUAHHAHAH

I think that's one of the reasons why a game like Black Crusade is able to work in the first place. Don't bother trying to play Chaotic Evil in case of D&D.

I think that's because in OW you really are a small part inside a vast command structure. 99.9% of the RPGs out there is just your little band of adventurers/heroes/misfits doing their stuff on their own. Even in DH you are a small clandestine inquisitrial cell. With OW if you are in a artillery regiment, you can't just in the middle of a siege go "We're taking the Basilisk out for a spin, ktanxbye!" Your commanding officers would have a fit!

I think that's because in OW you really are a small part inside a vast command structure. 99.9% of the RPGs out there is just your little band of adventurers/heroes/misfits doing their stuff on their own. Even in DH you are a small clandestine inquisitrial cell. With OW if you are in a artillery regiment, you can't just in the middle of a siege go "We're taking the Basilisk out for a spin, ktanxbye!" Your commanding officers would have a fit!

I would Execute a few on the spot.

I think that's because in OW you really are a small part inside a vast command structure. 99.9% of the RPGs out there is just your little band of adventurers/heroes/misfits doing their stuff on their own. Even in DH you are a small clandestine inquisitrial cell. With OW if you are in a artillery regiment, you can't just in the middle of a siege go "We're taking the Basilisk out for a spin, ktanxbye!" Your commanding officers would have a fit!

Agree with this. Even if characters are part of command structure they still have to follow orders and chain of command.

Also as one of my players said yesterday. In OW characters are too similar since everyone has the same background- military.

Of course he simplified a bit but DH or RT give players more freedon in creating various different characters from all ways of life. He already made few characters in OW ,all ultimate soldiers who can shot, fight, drive, repair, knows about lots of things and he sees no reason to make another charater like this since it will always become expandables in space if they survive long enough or they will die in the most grimdark possible way. And that is sadly true.

Another thing that don't appeal for some players are that you play on the lowest level in the grimdark food chain Space marines are better, inquisition agents are better, admech are better, rogue traders are better and so on.

Yup it's like Call of Cthulhu (you're gonna die against hideously powerfull monsters) and Paranoia (you're gonna die and you have zero control over your equipment.) mixed together. That can be a tough combo to sell.

I think that's because in OW you really are a small part inside a vast command structure. 99.9% of the RPGs out there is just your little band of adventurers/heroes/misfits doing their stuff on their own. Even in DH you are a small clandestine inquisitrial cell. With OW if you are in a artillery regiment, you can't just in the middle of a siege go "We're taking the Basilisk out for a spin, ktanxbye!" Your commanding officers would have a fit!

Agree with this. Even if characters are part of command structure they still have to follow orders and chain of command.

Also as one of my players said yesterday. In OW characters are too similar since everyone has the same background- military.

Of course he simplified a bit but DH or RT give players more freedon in creating various different characters from all ways of life. He already made few characters in OW ,all ultimate soldiers who can shot, fight, drive, repair, knows about lots of things and he sees no reason to make another charater like this since it will always become expandables in space if they survive long enough or they will die in the most grimdark possible way. And that is sadly true.

Another thing that don't appeal for some players are that you play on the lowest level in the grimdark food chain Space marines are better, inquisition agents are better, admech are better, rogue traders are better and so on.

I guess it's time to combine Dark Crusade with Only War then. Rebel, kill your commanding officers, take control of the regiment and honor the dark gods.

Or maybe go with a setting where most of your regiment has been killed off and high command believes you're all dead. You're basically trying to survive on some planet, while uncovering its deeper mysteries as you explore its desolated cities and outskirts, finding pockets of survivors here and there.

That puts more emphasis on your team and gives you more autonomy at the same time.

I'm thinking about survival horror games for some reason.

If you manage to survive after a long RP campaign, you could continue using your characters, or a subset of characters in a Dark Heresy game or Black Crusade game, depending on certain factors.

There is a regimental drawback in Shield of Humanity that let's you play a traitor regiment. (Or a single squad!) What it actualy comes down to is your more effed when it comes to getting stuff and you have Enemy: imperial guard.

So if you want to play the Volscani Cataphracts (YES!!!) or Robin's Renegade Basilisks you can!

I think you should flesh out a regiment for your RRB, Robin.

What I've found particularly useful in getting players out from under the thumb of command is to not drop them into the middle of an all out war in which the whole regiment must remain together or die. For lack of a better term, welcome to "Spaceghanistan" where the rebels are in hiding, the locals aren't the trusting type, and the players are the first true Imperial presence in centuries outside of that one guy we all pay taxes to because they say we have to. My players get sent on long patrols, have to interact with villages, track down insurgent cells, find out what's causing the rebellion in the first place, and all with little more than a radio for the most part. Sure it can be sort of awkward at first, but it's lead to some of the funniest interactions ever where they ended up hating an innocent villager and thinking the leader of the local insurgent cell was their best friend ever.

Severan Dominate is a spaceghanistan, and is intended as such.

Severan Dominate is, from what I've seen in the concept art and description, a chance for your players to play conventional war against not-Chaos. Everything the Imperium has the Dominate has, they follow the same tactics and even look similar. What I mean by Spaceghanistan is not a stand up, trenches dug sort of war but that the enemy blends into the populace, they strike from the hills, there's secret tunnels and the enemy doesn't stick around to fight it out if it turns against them. I think the Dominate forces could fulfil this role, but I've honestly made up my own campaigns every time I've run a game, and our group as a whole has ignored the spinward front setting all together.