Nothing lasts forever. That includes models, as so many have found out recently with the shock to the system that has been the first two codices of 40k 11th edition. Of course, Games Workshop won’t be breaking down your door to take away those wonderfully-painted pieces of your hobby, but as has been the case with every new edition of games like 40k, AoS, and Fantasy, certain kits see their associated rules cease to be supported. I don’t mean to be glib in talking about this topic, because for so many, the recent reveals in Codex: Space Marines have been a nail to the heart, the final sunset for units like Pedro Kantor & Tactical Squads. The sad truth of the matter is that, whether due to molds, internal divisions, or lack of sales, not every unit can be maintained in perpetuity within the company’s stocked kits. The Tactical Squad kit quite literally outsold the whole of Warhammer Fantasy, and no, that’s not a joke—it’s earned some rest. I wanted to take a moment, however, to take a step back through the history of the term all this deprecation is known by—’Squatting’—and put into perspective how the game has been changed by these changes of the guards.
Via Ninjabread
We ought to begin where the term originated, back in 2nd edition Warhammer. Squats existed as an army during the initial edition of 40k, being a port from the Fantasy side of things which were given a comedic ‘biker’ bent. They weren’t actually unpopular in their day (though certainly less popular than many of their contemporaries), but the designers knew the writing was on the wall for them as soon as the transition between 40k 1st & 2nd edition began. See, while Squats did receive a book for 2nd, it included no new units, and was very much just carrying their identity forward with a few of the changed rules; this was confirmed by Jervis Johnson, one of the original designers, to be a case of the internal design team lacking a vision for the faction. Although the dwarves received support in Epic—the larger scale game, akin to today’s Adeptus Titanicus—it was known by those working at Games Workshop that Squats wouldn’t survive into 3rd. Therefore, when support for other armies began rolling out in the next edition, Squats were said to have had their homeworld devoured by Tyranids, and production of their model line formally ceased. As soon as 2004, the term ‘squatting’ had come into common parlance, referring to something being removed from the game of Warhammer in their entirety.
Via Bolter & Chainsword
This term wasn’t complimentary. With this being the first real casualty of 40k’s transitions between editions, the people collecting Squats felt betrayed, as the thought of their physical models being unsupported wasn’t something folks thought possible, so long as Warhammer itself continued. To be clear, this had happened in the past, as the changeover from Rogue Trader and pre-40k into the realized game occurred, but not to an entire faction. The pain felt by Squat players echoed throughout the playerbase, and for several years nothing like this would happen again. There were certainly worries of armies like Necrons & Drukhari being given the same treatment, with each going 3+ years without a new book, but plastic updates would eventually arrive to quash those fears. A similar pattern hit Fantasy, with Chaos Dwarves only being playable for 3rd edition, but like so many armies they’d eventually receive new models in the form of Forge World’s Legions of Azgorh, and later on, Helsmiths of Hashut. By the dawn of the 2000s basically no army would undergo the same elimination as Squats, so powerful was their resounding echo. Sure, codices like Daemonhunters and Black Templars would be folded into larger armies, but even so they were destined to once again be spun off.
Via Bonepile Miniatures
Then came 2016/2017. One important thing to note about this period was that Games Workshop as a company underwent significant restructuring: After the failure of Warhammer Fantasy, much of their board of executives were shuffled around, and the first generation of c-suites who grew up with the game took charge. We learned from stockholder reports that this was indeed to be a time of change for the company, and it was floated whether they’d become solely a 40k brand, or how they might handle the continuance of a Fantasy-style line. Pre-End Times, Warhammer Fantasy was in dire straits, and it contained releases which lost money like the Chaos Lord on Manticore kit; by the decision to enter The End Times, and greenlight the production of those models like Thanquol, Nagash, & The Glottkin, Age of Sigmar was already predestined. I say this to refute some of the lasting issues that have come with the transition from Fantasy to AoS, some of which linger to this very day. I grew up with Fantasy, and the scars of its removal (and the haphazard handling of AoS’ launch) have led to a portion of the community never forgiving its successor. It didn’t help that, by the time Age of Sigmar found its footing, both the armies of Tomb Kings & Bretonnia were fully squatted. More would follow later.
Via CoolMiniorNot
40k has always been the golden goose for Games Workshop as a company, and as such they’re far more hesitant to rock the boat compared to AoS. As stated in stockholder reports, Sigmar was a test run to see if they could keep their investments into the Fantasy molds & designs profitable, but because it began as a gamble, risk was inherent to its identity. This led to some absolutely wild model lines, largely formed by expanding small portions of Fantasy’s forces, such as the Daughters of Khaine & Sylvaneth, but also meant something not working could be shuffled under the rug. The first models in AoS to be squatted were the first set of heroes from Warhammer Quest: The Silver Tower, with Mistweaver Saih being the most well-known example. This was the first Dark Elf-style model to be released in quite some time, that wasn’t among Morathi’s lot, so seeing it go without receiving a full force of Malerion’s ilk came as a shock. This is in stark contrast to another release from the very same box set, Tzaangors, which were so often restocked and placed into bundles that it’s become a running joke within the community. Like any sort of death, the hand of squatting would at times feel random, but Games Workshop’s Fantasy brand wasn’t the only one to receive a shakeup surrounding the corporate shuffle.
Via Reddit
The dawn of 40k 8th edition saw the largest squatting of models since the term received its name, from entire lines like the Lost and the Damned, Krieg, & Corsairs, to smaller lines like the Forge World Kroot (farewell, sweet knarlocs). The difference here is that, seeming to learn their lesson from squats and the debacle of AoS’ launch, Games Workshop introduced a new idea: ‘Legends’. With your opponent’s consent, you would be able to play models with deprecated rules that weren’t ‘technically legal’, but Legends units would not be maintained at full balance or legal in any sanctioned tournaments. In theory, this was a compromise that allowed players to keep using the models they’d poured thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours into, while shifting the burden off the balance & stocking teams to maintain kits which didn’t sell well. In practice…basically nobody played with Legends, because they were largely unbalanced. Even to this day, being moved to Legends is essentially being moved to the farm upstate, and Lassie’s fate was to come home with new plastic, or be quietly removed. To that end, Legends hurt even more than full squatting, because you were reminded that these units could still potentially work, but didn’t.
Via Total Wargames
In the modern era, which we’ll talk more about next week, the only major changes occur during so-called ‘index editions’—thus far, 8th & 10th for 40k, and 4th for AoS. Yes, some models will be shifted to Legends during the release of a codex or battletome, but rarely will a major shakeup happen unless an army’s range is being updated in a major way. Of course, there are exceptions, such as was the travesty of the 10th edition Drukhari codex, but far more understandable are the changes made in something like Battletome: Ogor Mawtribes this year, where the army received a facelift. As you might imagine, the more popular a faction is, the more gentle Games Workshops’ touch must be, as to tiptoe around the idea of squatting. For this reason, we need to place special attention on how Space Marines are being handled for their codex release in October, with the introduction of so-called ‘Legendary Proxies’, and the curious case of Deathwatch.
Next week, we’ll talk about the failings of AoS 4th edition with regards to the first major sunsetting of ranges that weren’t just holdovers from Fantasy, and how Marines’ popularity might see GW change their tune on proxy models in the case of remaining firstborn. How have you been affected by squatting? Did you play a faction that was removed from the game, or have favorite models lapse from playability? What would you do, in Games Workshop’s shoes, as a business? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
