I'm mostly just trying to figure out where I want to go from here, so I'd be interested hearing how other people have reacted to the demise of WHFB. Have you moved on to another system? (which one?) Are you sticking with WHFB in some form? Have you pretty much given up on wargamming? Or what? Any feedback would be appreciated.
So you need a game to support your hobby, even if you don't game that much? And you wish that game to be some sort of fantasy battles, with many troops, heroes and big units?
Then the most important thing is to locate those people in your vicinity who could play a game of your liking somewhat regularly. In that regard, it was the same it always was.
For me, that has meant learning the basics of Kings of War (Mantic Games) and The 9th Age (massively supported fan-iteration of 8th ed Warhammer Fantasy), and rehearse my understanding of the 7th and 8th ed's. All have given me impetus to paint more, and I'm getting semi-regular games with most (not the 8th, since the meta went totally T9A here). I might be looking into Oldhammer (3rd ed) this summer.
I think the fantasy player base was diminishing already since mid-7th ed, and the 8th ed didn't solve this problem. (Refer to my data on the forum discussion.) And now there's some sort of competition between pure 8th ed, two or three individual fan-iterations, T9A, Oldhammer and Kings of War.
I'd say the answer, as of now, is to learn the basics of several of these systems/iterations, and play with people who like one or more of them. In time, you'll be able to agree with your friends on what you like, and if you like to participate in the larger scene. That will eventually narrow your games to two or three at most. I don't think that's too much trouble, if it keeps you interested in the main thing, the hobby.
-Z
