GW might have had some logic from their point of view for eliminating the Black Templars.  I was bored for a bit this morning and had a little time so I was typing up my designer notes that I use to justify my logic for how I was going to treat the Black Templars in a codex.  Then I started realizing...here was a "Chapter" that was as big as a Legion, more secretive than the Dark Angels, at least as good at CC as Blood Angels, at least as non-compliant as Wolves, potentially with as widespread an intelligence network as the Inquistion, still true to the Emperor's decrees & mission, with possibly the most powerful fleet in existence (certainly one of the top three Imperial starships), apparently totally independent of support requirements from anywhere in the Imperium (can you say generations and generations of workers on the support ships?!), Techmarines who wll put up with Mechanicus' rituals & secrecy...until in interferes with the success of a Crusade and thereby the Emperor's will, AND finally beyond all oversight of any official Imperial body.  Not just technically, but literally.

Then given Sigismund, their founder, close to both Dorn and the Emperor, selected by Dorn and approved by the Emperor to be the first, and only while the Emperor was active, Emperor's Champion as the paragon of what a Space Marine should be.  Which probably means that the Black Templars have inherited the Imperial Fists original mission and Dorn's original role.

Think about how much of a nightmare that would be if they had kept developing it instead of eliminating it.  So, roll the suckers up and turn them into whiny little candy arses who wish the Emperor would let them have their own psykers again so they could worship them or some such.

Battlefront (Flames of War) have taken over Dust Tactics, yes, I know, old news, but the trivia I've heard is that part of the divorce with FFG limits Battlefront from "reducing the value" of the Dust Warfare product they still have on hand....which means Battlefront with their Flames of War mentality cannot touch the actual game they'd love to fiddle with.  Instead, Tactics is getting "warfarized" a bit.  BF has been doing a lot of good, they now have multiple specific battle boxes for each faction, consisting (so far at least) of a hero, vehicle(s) and a squad or three.  They have also rationalized and consolidated the various rules (which were spread over a half dozen books) in a new rulebook...but then the meddling comes in.  First they got rid of the simple & clear LOS rules for ones that are a bit muddier and arguable; as in over the table top arguable.... 

Next, and most stupid, they started introducing firing arcs for vehicles, which I consider a good idea in a number of cases, but then they make the exception for turreted vehicles.  Well, okay, that works too.  Then they decided that the Axis walkers that turn at the waist (making the entire upper torso a turret) are "fixed gun" vehicles too.  Hello <knock, knock> anyone home?  The justification for walkers was their extreme (compared to tracked AFVs) agility in urban and close environments, but now Battlefront decides not only to kill that but make them fixed forward tank destroyers that are easier to see & easier to kill than a real tank destroyer...dumbasses.

However, I did pick up Osprey's little skirmish game, Ronin.  It looks like a lot of fun and thanks to some stuff I snagged for free at NOVA and a couple of other places, I can build up a Buntai or two for some quick and easy fun.