So unless you've been living under a rock for the last week or so, you have got to have seen the big news: 8th edition has been announced....
I for one am very excited about the coming changes! I see this as an opportunity to clean up the ruleset and make it more accessible for new players as well as fun for old veterans like me. I'll talk about this in a little bit but first I want to have a little talk about what has actually been revealed by Games Workshop. I am going to do my best to avoid speculation.
So the first few questions people had were about the usability of models that already exist either from Games Workshop or from Forge World. Games Workshop wouldn't stop you from using models that exist already, if they said all models from the previous lines are now gone and no longer playable, how many of us would that alienate? Just about everybody! Of course some armies might fall by the wayside like Tomb Kings from the old WHFB range, but remember there are rules for the models that you already own and as far as I am aware these armies are still perfectly playable.
The next question was about 'blowing up the universe' as they did with the fantasy world. Well I have already briefly spoken about this in another post, the only reason that I could imagine for blowing up the universe would be to 'create' more space, which is not an issue that you have with the entire galaxy being accessible. Games Workshop are definitely sticking with the galaxy we all know and... love?
The rules! For free! Possibly as a download! Well I saw it coming with the way that AoS rule set was distributed, its a good model, as it was a pain to spend £50 on a rule book, plus another £30 for a codex, and even more for a supplement, never mind the cost of the models (I know our hobby is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination but hundreds of pounds on books is a bit too far). I see this as a solid idea and a great one that will appeal to newer players. As for questions about dumbing down the rules, maybe cleaning up the rules is more what they're aiming for (certainly what I am hoping for). For example there are forty-one pages on unit types alone in the BRB. There are also seventeen pages of special rules in the main rulebook, never mind other rules that are spread out through the different codices such as battle focus from the Eldar codex and supporting fire in the Tau codex. Also, some of the rules just plain don't make sense, like a plasma gun that can punch through Terminator Armour but can be stopped by a sand bag (cover saves can be taken no matter what). It's a lot of information to wade through just to know how your unit can move and if they can fire a weapon after they have moved. 40k rules have long been in desperate need of simplification and cleanup.
With regards to codices, let's be honest here, your codex will always eventually be replaced for a new system, so is it a surprise that that your codex no longer functions with the new rule set? It shouldn't be really, and let's face it it's not the first time that all of the previous codex equivalents have been killed all at once (Just look at the swap from 2nd edition to 3rd).
Three ways to play seems like a solid plan, it works well in my opinion for AoS and can't see a reason why it wouldn't work for 40k, points will still exist for those who want to play competitively and for people like me who like the more story-driven/casual play we have the open/narrative play systems.
A living rule book works well for regular rule updates, it helps address bad wording of rules, unusual interactions between units and their particular rules. It's just like a FAQ!
Next up the new unit profile, showing a return of the movement stat, with marines still moving 6". WS and BS have become standard roles, where BS always was this way it's a new way for WS I like this as I need no longer refer to the WS table every time I fight! A quick note on this they are a standard roll but it does say expect modifiers! Strength, Toughness, Wound and Attack seem to be staying the same. You'll also notice that Initiative seems to have disappeared. I'm not sure whats going to happen with combat, and as said earlier I want to avoid speculation. A big change is that there is no longer armour values, as they show with the dreadnought stats, showing a large number of wounds!
Weapons have also changed, seems the templates have disappeared, with the flamer now doing D6 hits up to 8" away, but still auto-hitting. AP has gone the way of the dinosaur with a minus to armour saves. The lascannon is now S9 with a -3 rend and does D6 damage. Whether this means D6 after an armour save or before I do not know.
Finally for today the Psychic phase, so from now on every psyker gets to cast as many powers as allowed on its data sheet, similar to their mastery level previously. Each ability allows you to roll 2D6 and the power will or won't go off. There will still be perils, and a chance to "dispel".
So we've had a lot of words so far so a picture to break it up!
My final remarks today are going to be in reference to the hatred of the new ruleset that seems to infected a percentage of the 40k community. Hatred, I feel I must point out, for a thing that no one has yet seen.
I have seen people saying they won't play this new edition of the game; to those people I say: you don't have to, no one is forcing you. I know people who still play older editions of 40k occasionally, I know people who still play WHFB, nobody as far as I am aware is going to come to your house and shout at you for playing an older game edition if that's what you want to do. The new system has been constructed with feedback from the gaming community in mind, which means that (hallelujah) Games Workshop have actually decided to listen to players and take on board complaints and niggles, probably from the very same people who are now throwing dramatic strops and threatening to burn their armies.
Another discussion I somehow became involved with was a gentleman who had decided they were doing away with points and how was he meant to have a balanced game against his opponents? To him I pointed out that points are going to be a thing so don't worry, he continued his rant until an admin deleted the thread as it had got out of hand with name calling and such. Before you make your decisions about a game system maybe, just maybe, check your facts first and find out if your fears are true or if it's all just so much rumour and hot air.
People screaming that their £30 codices are now worthless, well yes, I have codices dating back to 3rd edition, I can't use them to play any more, but they're filled with wonderful art work, and superb fluff, so I don't see them as useless.
Finally people complaining that their Forge World stuff won't be as good any more. Well maybe that is a good thing, there are some Forge World units that are massively undercosted. I know from personal experience; I have tipped up to a game and my opponent rocked up with a Brass Scorpion that very swiftly ate my army, and I can tell you being on the receiving end of that is not fun.
So thats my take home of whats been said so far. Hopefully more details will come out in the next few weeks and then a massive amount of detail will spill at Warhammer Fest 2017.
So that's it for this week! See you next time from the table of a Plastic Addict!
I for one am very excited about the coming changes! I see this as an opportunity to clean up the ruleset and make it more accessible for new players as well as fun for old veterans like me. I'll talk about this in a little bit but first I want to have a little talk about what has actually been revealed by Games Workshop. I am going to do my best to avoid speculation.
So the first few questions people had were about the usability of models that already exist either from Games Workshop or from Forge World. Games Workshop wouldn't stop you from using models that exist already, if they said all models from the previous lines are now gone and no longer playable, how many of us would that alienate? Just about everybody! Of course some armies might fall by the wayside like Tomb Kings from the old WHFB range, but remember there are rules for the models that you already own and as far as I am aware these armies are still perfectly playable.
The next question was about 'blowing up the universe' as they did with the fantasy world. Well I have already briefly spoken about this in another post, the only reason that I could imagine for blowing up the universe would be to 'create' more space, which is not an issue that you have with the entire galaxy being accessible. Games Workshop are definitely sticking with the galaxy we all know and... love?
The rules! For free! Possibly as a download! Well I saw it coming with the way that AoS rule set was distributed, its a good model, as it was a pain to spend £50 on a rule book, plus another £30 for a codex, and even more for a supplement, never mind the cost of the models (I know our hobby is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination but hundreds of pounds on books is a bit too far). I see this as a solid idea and a great one that will appeal to newer players. As for questions about dumbing down the rules, maybe cleaning up the rules is more what they're aiming for (certainly what I am hoping for). For example there are forty-one pages on unit types alone in the BRB. There are also seventeen pages of special rules in the main rulebook, never mind other rules that are spread out through the different codices such as battle focus from the Eldar codex and supporting fire in the Tau codex. Also, some of the rules just plain don't make sense, like a plasma gun that can punch through Terminator Armour but can be stopped by a sand bag (cover saves can be taken no matter what). It's a lot of information to wade through just to know how your unit can move and if they can fire a weapon after they have moved. 40k rules have long been in desperate need of simplification and cleanup.
With regards to codices, let's be honest here, your codex will always eventually be replaced for a new system, so is it a surprise that that your codex no longer functions with the new rule set? It shouldn't be really, and let's face it it's not the first time that all of the previous codex equivalents have been killed all at once (Just look at the swap from 2nd edition to 3rd).
Three ways to play seems like a solid plan, it works well in my opinion for AoS and can't see a reason why it wouldn't work for 40k, points will still exist for those who want to play competitively and for people like me who like the more story-driven/casual play we have the open/narrative play systems.
A living rule book works well for regular rule updates, it helps address bad wording of rules, unusual interactions between units and their particular rules. It's just like a FAQ!
Next up the new unit profile, showing a return of the movement stat, with marines still moving 6". WS and BS have become standard roles, where BS always was this way it's a new way for WS I like this as I need no longer refer to the WS table every time I fight! A quick note on this they are a standard roll but it does say expect modifiers! Strength, Toughness, Wound and Attack seem to be staying the same. You'll also notice that Initiative seems to have disappeared. I'm not sure whats going to happen with combat, and as said earlier I want to avoid speculation. A big change is that there is no longer armour values, as they show with the dreadnought stats, showing a large number of wounds!
Weapons have also changed, seems the templates have disappeared, with the flamer now doing D6 hits up to 8" away, but still auto-hitting. AP has gone the way of the dinosaur with a minus to armour saves. The lascannon is now S9 with a -3 rend and does D6 damage. Whether this means D6 after an armour save or before I do not know.
Finally for today the Psychic phase, so from now on every psyker gets to cast as many powers as allowed on its data sheet, similar to their mastery level previously. Each ability allows you to roll 2D6 and the power will or won't go off. There will still be perils, and a chance to "dispel".
So we've had a lot of words so far so a picture to break it up!
A salt pile, I wonder where this is from?
My final remarks today are going to be in reference to the hatred of the new ruleset that seems to infected a percentage of the 40k community. Hatred, I feel I must point out, for a thing that no one has yet seen.
I have seen people saying they won't play this new edition of the game; to those people I say: you don't have to, no one is forcing you. I know people who still play older editions of 40k occasionally, I know people who still play WHFB, nobody as far as I am aware is going to come to your house and shout at you for playing an older game edition if that's what you want to do. The new system has been constructed with feedback from the gaming community in mind, which means that (hallelujah) Games Workshop have actually decided to listen to players and take on board complaints and niggles, probably from the very same people who are now throwing dramatic strops and threatening to burn their armies.
Another discussion I somehow became involved with was a gentleman who had decided they were doing away with points and how was he meant to have a balanced game against his opponents? To him I pointed out that points are going to be a thing so don't worry, he continued his rant until an admin deleted the thread as it had got out of hand with name calling and such. Before you make your decisions about a game system maybe, just maybe, check your facts first and find out if your fears are true or if it's all just so much rumour and hot air.
People screaming that their £30 codices are now worthless, well yes, I have codices dating back to 3rd edition, I can't use them to play any more, but they're filled with wonderful art work, and superb fluff, so I don't see them as useless.
Finally people complaining that their Forge World stuff won't be as good any more. Well maybe that is a good thing, there are some Forge World units that are massively undercosted. I know from personal experience; I have tipped up to a game and my opponent rocked up with a Brass Scorpion that very swiftly ate my army, and I can tell you being on the receiving end of that is not fun.
So thats my take home of whats been said so far. Hopefully more details will come out in the next few weeks and then a massive amount of detail will spill at Warhammer Fest 2017.
So that's it for this week! See you next time from the table of a Plastic Addict!
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