A codex out of date before it’s even released (bearing in mind those out of the world are from the pre-order boxes), is that a new record?

On a more serious note: I did come across an interesting idea being discussed in a few the places from this. That is, “is it even possible to balance armies with GW’s release cycle?”

With there being new codex every three months (ish) that means there is never really a point we’re any codex is released as balanced against all others. A best it is balanced against all those that came before it (or more realistically, it is balanced against those since released for the edition as previous editions are often simply missing key features that are newly introduced) as any that are subsequently released did not necessarily exist when the latest is released.

In order to achieve balance, they would need to release rules, balanced against each previous release (which itself incorporates more and more with each release) and then pull that off at least seventeen times in a row (or however many codecies there are, I heard this number but I could be off). Under such circumstances, is it any such wonder that balance is rarely achieved.

No game is immune to power creep, people like to write new and exciting things, but at least things that release together as a moment in time tend to work with each other. Or living rule sets that can be continually tweaked as updates feedback on each other as the meta spirals into some approximation of a middle ground.

This off course raises the question of GW’s desire to balance the game they make vs their desire to continue with a business model that succeeds regardless. That’s a road well trod that I shalln’t journey down at this time of night but this thought has been with me for a few days but I wonder what you all think?