Yes, yet another of those posts. Having just gotten through the book and seen parts of a few games played, here are my impressions on the new rule set.
I'm not going to go into detail about all the changes - if you've been paying attention you probably know a lot of the major basic stuff already. Rather I'll go through the book and point out some things and my thoughts on potential impacts.
Overall I think the set is pretty well written. Most questions I've had while reading are soon answered by continuing to read or with a little cross referencing. There are a few points that are a bit confusing and I'll try to remember to point them out below. For the most part though I think it's a pretty well-written product, and hope that the future codices are as well thought-out. I may not agree with all the decisions, but at least they're pretty clearly presented for the most part.
I am also somewhat amused at a number of the changes that match or are close to what my buddies and I came up with as house rules back in 3rd ed (and what a number of others doubtless did too - things like throwing grenades, being able to fall back from something you can't hurt).
p.15 - Allocate Wounds and Remove Casualties - You've probably heard at least the basics - hit the closest guy until it's dead, move on. Something that you definitely want to keep in mind when you're placing models, as there are a lot of shennanigans and sniping that you can do with this. Combined with Look Out Sir and shuffling wounded models to the back in subsequent turns, you can make tough units even more so. If there's someone in the enemy unit you want to kill, position your own firing guys so that he's the closest (ie stop 1" away from him and keep the rest of your guys 2" away from anyone else). There are even more sniping possibilities elsewhere (challenges, targeted witchfire, snipers, characters, different ruin levels, focus fire...) so individual models like heavy weapons and squad leaders are potentially a lot more vulnerable. Homogeneous units have a lot fewer worries and fewer decisions to make.
p.18 - Cover - just like movement is individual, so is cover. No more half unit in cover = all get a save. Be careful with positioning, especially since with Focus Fire the enemy can choose to shoot at only the guys out of cover. I'm sure that crafty players can find ways to use this to their advantage though, tempting the enemy to shoot up the guys in the open while leaving more important ones unharmed...
- Go to Ground - while you're hunkering down, you can still take Snap Shots (hit on 6) and even engage in Overwatch. I can see a lot of shooty Ork units and IG blobs being in semi-perpetual GtGround when they're serving a defensive purpose.
p.21 - Assault/Charges
- Roll Charge Range - A lot of my 5th ed charges were through terrain so they were essentially random anyways, so that's not a big change for me, it just mostly means there's a greater potential threat range. Compared to all the other things in the rules that work against assault and favor shooting, IMO this one tends to actually favor assault.
- Overwatch - Take a deep breath folks. Given that most of the time these will only hit on a six, it's not going to be that devastating from most targets to most chargers. Things to keep in mind if you're worried about it:
- Still hits the closest model, so line up your pre-charge formation accordingly to take best advantage of your saves and whatnot.
- Each unit can only do one Overwatch a turn. You declare a charge, they do Overwatch, you roll distance and move to contact, then proceed to next unit, declare a charge, etc. So sometimes you can arrange to have your tough unit declare and soak the fire, then send in the 6+ save guys behind them free from Overwatch fire. So it may be worthwhile sometimes to try those 10-12" charge attempts just to soak Overwatch from those units you actually want to make contact.
- Range still matters, so keep that in mind when assaulting something with blast pistols, fusion pistols and other 6" range guns - if you're worried about your termies soaking those shots, maybe be sure to start the charge at 7".
- Use your own shooting to thin them down and remove special weapons before the charge.
p.23 - Pile In - Pile ins are 3" and happen at each initiative step. So generally you'll want your faster guys up front so they can hit, then get taken as casualties, then your slower guys pile in later and get their own swings in.
p.26 - Combat resolution - the big thing is that No Retreat no longer exists.
p.26 - Our Weapons are Useless - if you cannot hurt the enemy, you can choose to auto fail your morale check at the end of combat. Risky, but keeps you from being tarpitted forever if you really don't want to be.
p.27 - Disordered Charge - if you do a multi-charge, you don't get the bonus attack for charging or the bonus for Furious Charge (see p.37). Something to keep in mind if you were hoping for some AV10 glances from those Ork Boyz.
p.76 - Assaulting Vehicles - couple quick notes - most vehicles can't fire Overwatch shots. Passengers CAN fire Overwatch to protect their ride from the fire points, and Walkers get shots off too. So be wary of assaulting that wagon full of burna boyz!
p.31 - Regrouping - can regroup if not under *25%* now as normal (no longer 50%). If under 25%, can still try, but need snake eyes. If you have an IC attached, you roll as normal even if under 25% (see p.39). Once you rally you get the 3" consolidate, can Snap Fire, but no Run or Assault. It no longer matters how close the enemy is, so no more escorting units off the table.
I think that's a good bite for now. Next up we'll start with Special Rules and see some peeks at some things that might be coming in future army books. Stay tuned for Part Two!
Also check out some great summary info available through From the Warp!
all crucial points to be aware of as we start to explore this new 6th ed landscape. even if you have been reading the binding off of your rulebook (or like me scouring the blogosphere for the latest rumors, q&a & updates)a list like this highlights the changes to the game itself, not just what changes are going to affect your particular army/lists/play style. there is just so much info to absorb. thnx for the strategic counseling in my first 6th ed game today btw : )
ReplyDeleteThanks for this! Everyone but me has probably read the new rules but my budget doesn't yet allow for the shiny new book, and this is very reassuring that the game hasn't gone all to hell. It does sound like the game may take longer, like there are more steps and sub-steps and each model may have 3 minutes worth of moves, but... overall I'm liking the sound of it. One question: is running still 1D6? I was hoping they'd up that to 2D6 like diff terrain -- deciding to run 1" just doesn't make much sense...
ReplyDeleteThanks fellas! I hope things like this will help people who start playing semi-blind, just using the other guy's (or the other table's!) rulebook without having gone through one themselves, and then allow those who get the starter set book to hit the ground running faster.
ReplyDelete@Seneca - I really do try to avoid commenting on games like that in most cases - I hate that when I'm playing - but since it was a learning game and I was asked some of the time and one player knew the rules much better than the other I don't feel too bad about it. We'll have to get some practice games in ourselves sometime.
@BCT - I don't think that the sub-steps will take long once folks get used to them. Things like the pile-ins, you're only going to have one or two initiatives per side in most cases so it shouldn't take long, especially if people get into the habit of counting up attacks as they're moving the models in. Running is still flat 1d6, ignores difficult (but not dangerous) terrain. Also worth noting that while MODELS choose to move (p.10), UNITS Run, so no Running some guys while keeping your multi-melta still to fire. Even if they don't go anywhere, once the unit has rolled to Run, the whole unit counts as doing so. Still no Assault after Run, Fleet doesn't apply (will talk about Fleet next time).