Warhammer 40,000 world champion Richard Siegler played one of the first streamed games of the new edition. We asked him for his favourite rules changes.
Richard: I had the pleasure of playing the brand new edition of Warhammer 40,000 at the Warhammer Open Dallas showmatch. It was my first time experiencing the core rules, updated faction rules, and the new terrain layouts. Let me be the first to say there are a host of exciting changes coming that will delight the community. Here are just a few of them to give you a taste of what you can experience when the new edition launches.
5 – Force Dispositions
Flexible Force Dispositions allow you to play Warhammer in the way that your army excels. The typical wargame formula of surviving on objectives or killing enemy units is best suited for armies centred on durability and damage output. But many other armies are very good at reaching out to all areas of the board, or doing actions to recover data or set traps for the enemy. Shifting the primary mission design from one size fits all to five distinct dispositions allows players to better match their army's preferred playstyle with primary missions best suited to that style.
4 – Points Updates
The way points costs work is being updated in two main ways. First, there will be separate point costs for some wargear on units, allowing different weapon options to become viable choices. This change won't be on every unit with wargear, but units like Adepta Sororitas Retributors or Adeptus Mechanicus Ironstrider Ballistari will have a lower base cost, but pay points for their best wargear.*
Second, a new system of point steppers will typically increase the cost of some datasheets on your third unit. Some extremely powerful datasheets, like the Defiler, may have this additional cost if you take a second and third unit. This change will help with internal diversity for armies and encourage players to consider their other available options.
3 – Secondary Missions
Secondary mission cards account for half of the total points you can score during a game. In the previous edition, it was possible to draw difficult-to-score cards multiple turns in a row. The new edition solves this issue entirely by allowing you to keep hold of any secondary cards you don't score for future turns when they might be easier to achieve. While you can only score up to 15 secondary points in any given turn**, this change provides players who are falling behind on the scoreboard plenty of opportunities to catch back up by the end of the game and turn their fortunes around.
2 – Terrain
Warhammer 40,000 tables will look like far future battlefields, with models fighting over terrain objectives and strategically valuable positions, rather than neoprene markers with big, clunky U- and L-shaped ruins. The new style of terrain layouts has been standardised from the Combat Patrol level up to the final tables of the Warhammer World Championships so all the community can experience Warhammer the way the designers intend. This has the added benefit of making it easier to marshal the vast data of all Warhammer games played to influence balance updates.
1 – New Tactical Challenges
And finally, number one is that the core rules and terrain layouts dramatically reduce the power of turn one alpha strikes, whereby one player deals too much damage to their opponent before they can react. Dense terrain layouts with excellent protection near the edge of your deployment zone, the Hidden mechanic for Infantry, Beasts and Swarms, and the Benefit of Cover becoming -1 Ballistic Skill combine to ensure that your games will evolve into a mid-board battle over terrain objectives that put your strategy and tactics at the forefront of every game.
These are only some of the very exciting changes to Warhammer 40,000 awaiting you in the new edition. Whether you are a returning veteran or a new player, there has never been a better time to enjoy the game we love so dearly.
Thanks, Richard! The new edition kicks off with the Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon boxed set, which is available for pre-order now.
* The Munitorum Field Manual will be released soon, containing unit points, wargear points, Force Dispositions, Detachment Points, detachment unique keywords, and Leader options.
** This also applies to Primary mission scoring.
