FOB Lite Comp - Where Is It?

Over the past couple of months I've been asked about potential updates for FOB Lite Comp. This has largely been inspired by the release of the End Times books and the recent FAQ from GW re character percentages.

Taking a step back, the basis of FOB Lite was to be a permissive comp system - with the caveat that it had "some" restrictions to knock the top off the more egregious combos. It has also been an evolving system with the restrictions lessening as more and more 8th Edition books were released.

The underlying philosophy was to not be too prescriptive as to what people could and could not bring. As a TO I have found that people want to bring their toys and it's only other people's armies that are broken.

The arrival of End Times has really thrown a spanner among the pigeons!

So what are my thoughts?

First, and foremost, we are in a state of flux. While we are always part way through a release cycle, End Times has amplified that tenfold. Things are very much a moveable feast until all the books are released and we see the final "shape". In the interim we see some races getting boosts - and I don't think anyone would argue that all ET releases have seen a ratchet up in power - while others wait their turn.

Secondly, Warhammer has fundamentally changed. New rules mechanisms are being introduced - e.g. Combined profiles - that drastically change the nature of the game. These are hard to fully reconcile within the existing FOB comp system without making calls that some people will like and others will hate.

On that basis I won't be updating FOB Lite to reflect the partial release of End Times. Once all the books are out then I will revisit that and see where things are at. It may be that comp is not needed at all and we have reached some sort of nirvana. I hope so.

Shadowing all this, is the expected release of 9th Edition mid-2015. Typically this sees a reset of all comp until things have been tried and tested under the new rules.

As to how this impacts upcoming events, the only one scheduled with FOB Lite Comp is the NZTC at the end of February. I have been discussing this with a few people and you can expect a definitive announcement in the next couple of weeks.

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