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Monday, July 23, 2012

Discussion: 6th edition thoughts so far


Puppy is still working on some of those new Tyranid posts. Hopefully one shall go up tonight but until then, what are people's thoughts on 6th edition so far? I've had about 20 games and it's no where near as bad as we thought in the build-up during the first part of this year. No where near as disgusting as that fake pdf either. Thankfully. It's certainly not perfect and I still have my issues with the system but neither was 5th. We'll likely never get a perfect system from Games Workshop but it's playable, enjoyable and I'm sure once tournaments start grinding out and our games reach the 100s level, we'll find a sort of middle ground for list building and what levels of anti-tank and anti-infantry are going to be required.


So, let's hear your thoughts. The nitty gritty so to speak. What do you love and hate and what would you like to see tweaked. What are your thoughts in general and specifically about each army and what are your hopes for the coming releases. We'll try and take this discussion and the comments from it and aim a few articles at answering questions we can through tactical concepts so consider this a brainstorming session for the entire 3++ community!

Comments (86)

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Love:
How about 4+ Cover saves from Venomthropes.

Outflanking GH with a combi-WGBL, Saga of Hunter

Divination.

Hate:
Not enough money to buy more toys!
22 replies · active 663 weeks ago
Oh, and First, I suppose.
Stop trying to make that a thing. Stop it.
Matt-Shadowlord's avatar

Matt-Shadowlord · 663 weeks ago

Sooooo 2009.
:D
Worth it for the bite from Kirby, that's for sure.
*doesn't let go*

I was always a good fish and fisherman :P.
Be very careful with assessing Psychic powers in general, Divination in particular, and especially Prescience. Eldar players have known for a long time that re-roll powers are usually the best because they multiply the effectiveness of large and/or powerful units. However, that multiplier comes at the cost of replacing your units with a psyker, and if you sit down and do the math, even a 75pt Farseer with Guide/Prescience isn't worth the loss of extra bodies on the field. Although Fortune had its limited uses, Doom was the only power that consistently made the army more efficient, and that's only because it affected multiple units. Farseers without Runes of Warding are literally wastes of points almost all the time.

On a related note, single models have been overcosted for a long time in comparison to their contributions to the game. I see most HQs in particular as being necessary evils of the FOC, whose costs should be minimized as a form of damage control. I'd be hard pressed to name even a handful of single model HQs that I'd rather take over equal points of massed infantry or a vehicle.
Some good points, but I would argue that 3 power a turn psykers are extremely efficient in this edition. Eldrad has been carrying my Eldar in 6th. At my shop, Mephiston/Grey Knight Librarians seem to be doing very well too.
Since Eldrad's value is contingent on what he's buffing, tell us about the army he is "carrying", especially how it operates relative to its performance in 5th edition. How might it fare with 210pts of other units replacing Eldrad?

Psykers can have a place, if they're cheap enough, and if their abilities justify the reduction in wounds the army suffers by their inclusion. I'd classify Mephiston as a 2-power psyker with a conditional jump pack, but he's still on my list of exceptions to my distaste for HQs due to a combination of 1) he's very powerful, and 2) he's fast enough to apply that power where it's needed. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of GK Librarians with 3 powers; The Summoning is a nice trick, but other than that (and maybe Might of Titan for certain squads), I just don't see those powers as worth 50pts apiece.
On the other hand, you have to take an HQ, either in main list or allies. Farseers with Prescience are force multipliers, and not leaving home without one is usually a good idea. 90 points to give a unit a reroll and mess with enemy psychic powers (and give Ld 10 to a unit) is utterly worth that to me, especially since the unit I can bless can change according to my needs. This turn I'll reroll my War Walkers, next my D-Cannons, next my Harlequins for more rends. Totally worth it, especially since there's very few armies out there that can stop it anymore.
I agree that the 90pts (93pts with a Singing Spear, which retained S9 vs. vehicles) Farseer with Runes of Warding is a great buy because it gives you a flexible multiplier in addition to the 50% chance of screwing your opponent out of at least 50pts of lacklustre psychic powers for a mere 15pts. However, I wouldn't bring two of those Farseers.

You raise an interesting point on the subject of allies, since the 93pts Farseer and a unit of 10 Dire Avengers (120pts) is a decent anti-Tyranid package. (Incidentally, don't ever upgrade your Dire Avengers beyond an Exarch and extra shuriken catapult; even that is a tough judgement call in the context of precision shots and challenges.) Personally, I can't wait to use Corsair allies with Wasp Assault Walkers, Nightwings, and Phoenix Bombers, since the planes don't seem to have a defined FOC slot in the Eldar army. I'll probably wait until the "Summer of Fliers" works itself out, though.
Consider as well though that Characters now can absorb a lot of hits that would otherwise wipe out the unit. Surely characters and their relative value is much more situational than in 5th.
I considered it, and found them wanting. For example:

170pts Chapter Master w/Artificer Armour, Relic Blade
170pts 10 Tactical Marines

Even with the Chapter Master's Orbital Bombardment, I would rather have another 10 Tactical Marines any day of the week. The Artificer Armour saves them from 6 wounds, and the Orbital Bombardment badly kills a squad or pops a tank every two games (more with parking lots). Another full Tactical squad doubles your anti-infantry shooting, claims another objective (two more with Combat Squads), gets 7 more S6 attacks against vehicles and MCs, and has 4 more effective wounds. I picked this combination for its simplicity, but it still illustrates my point even if I were to upgrade the Tactical squad and Chapter Master a bit more.

Incidentally, Orbital Bombardment is the main selling point of for the Chapter Master among the non-special characters in the Space Marine codex; the others just don't make enough of a contribution to justify their cost. I'd probably only fill the compulsory HQ unless I thought I'd run out of FOC slots, at which point two Masters of the Forge with 12 "Rifleman" Dreadnoughts would at least be an entertaining start to a list of 2000pts or more.
Chaos princes... worth their points...

Chaos greater D at 100 + 30 for the AC is great value...

One could even argue a TW Lord, kitted to the hilt is good value... a well equipped wolf lord is 260 points, and will often single handedly destroy his points cost and then some....

Lone Wolf, TDA, SS, CF... worth its weight in grey hunters...
Demon princes are worth their points, yes.

Greater demons? not so much. You are paying 15 extra points for that champion that does nothing, and in case he gets sniped out of the unit you are loosing your demon prince for the GD.

You are paying 15 extra points for nothing, and still runs the risk that your GD will cost you 230 points instead of 130.
That is true to an extent, however if you're taking allies you need an HQ and a 100 pt rune priest with div is quite cost efficient or 100 pt blood angel libby. I can't think of too many things which I'd rather be taking at 100 pts than a bare bones libby and even more so a rune priest (4+ runic staff).
A big element you're overlooking is the tactical flexibility a farseer brings. Sure, you could ditch the farseer to bring up one squad's strength, but the farseer allows you to strengthen the squad (or squads) that need it that turn.
Enlargingcloud's avatar

Enlargingcloud · 663 weeks ago

Generally I think your post is somewhat on point about the use of Eldar powers.

However, note that War Walkers with scatter lasers and falcons in 5th were the main reason why guide actually was very useful, many times more useful than doom. Scatters already wound easily, and falcons were the easiest way to concentrate str8 shots.

In mechanized builds, generally it seems that a cheaper seer is best, while in hybrid and the notorius footdar builds that wander around tournaments, Eldrad is generally king.
Anonymous's avatar

Anonymous · 663 weeks ago

How are venomthropes granting 4+cover now?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but dont defensive grenades give stealth now?
Princelarming's avatar

Princelarming · 663 weeks ago

And Venomthropes don't give Defensive Grenades anymore... FAQ'ed...
They deny enemies charging the Venomthrope brood their extra attack for charging, which is admittedly much weaker...
Love: Flyers! Oh the heavens have parted and Matt Ward's last codex was a broken, OP piece of anus-cheddar after all! Orks as allies make my overlords happy as well.

Hate: The fact that more AA...I mean skyfire is sure to appear and dismantle my flying circus of DOOM.
1 reply · active 663 weeks ago
OH, Monoliths with a 5+ cover save make me giggle maniacally.
Love the added strategic element in terms of model placement, love the added complexity of list building (allies, fortifications), love the wound allocation rules (they can be just as fast and feel a lot more natural than 5th edition).

The devil is in the details, though; it's all the little rules/fixes that are making me love this edition

Examples:

-reworded poison rules
-focus fire
-precision strikes
-clarification of scout moves
-a much expanded weapons section

Also, for those of you who have been pouring over the rules, read the fluff! Its actually some of my favorite of the last couple rulebooks.
1 reply · active 663 weeks ago
It's weird how much I've had to point this out for people, but the fluff section is quite good.
Disappointed in fliers, actually. Right now, it's due to the lack of Skyfire/interceptor rules for everyone. However, I dislike that it's something I'll have to devote points to in every competitive list I make, even when it becomes more available.

Loving Overwatch. Stand and Shoot is a game changer, and as I play shooty armies I like it. It also makes one think harder about assaulting, which is probably better for tactical play.

A lot of stuff I'm ambivalent on, but I'm finding that the best part of this edition is making people re-evaluate their armies and codexes. I'm enjoying dusting off units that weren't used before to see if I can make them work now (Heavy Bolter Devastators! Stealth Suits! Warp Spiders!). I also like that this edition is making it very easy to just play, not worrying about optimizing and playing. Yeah, the competitive aspect is still there, and the meta won't change too much I suspect, but there's definitely ways to make people think about it differently!
6 replies · active 663 weeks ago
carldooley's avatar

carldooley · 663 weeks ago

disappointed in flyers, grant your local players access to the flakk profile for their Missile Launchers for free. it tends to level the board.
Well, except for the armies that don't have missile launchers like, oh, every non-Imperial codex out there. Though I agree that it's silly that they don't automatically have that anyway.
carldooley's avatar

carldooley · 663 weeks ago

admittedly, tau and eldar don't have flyers, but granting a similar ability to their missile pods and EMLs would be easy enough to do. and then, DE, orks, & necrons have flyers of their own, nids have flying beasties, and there are the fortifications as well.
Auretious Taak's avatar

Auretious Taak · 663 weeks ago

*cough* Hunter Killer Missiles *cough*
I'm not actually sure what you are saying here. That HKMs have skyfire? Or should? Or you should allow them to? Or something?
I think he just coughed out an HK missile is all. You're reading to much into his post.
I hate anything with the word mysterious attached to it.

Random charge lengths suck. I even hate it when my opponent fails a charge he used to make because of it. It just doesn't sit right, even when it's to my benefit.

Look out Sir can be absolutely ridiculous. Other than that I like the new wound allocation rules well enough.

I actually find Flyers to be a pretty fun addition to the game, but the list I faced with 8 of them in it the other day was pretty ridiculous to fight without some way of getting more AA. This does need to be addressed.

Warlord traits are hit and miss. Psychic powers also. Though Divination is pretty solid for it's primaris power.
5 replies · active 663 weeks ago
Can you give more details about the fliers' performance on the board?

I'm not so sure of the awsomeness of fliers like everybody else seems to think.
I haven't playtested them yet but Rules of a mandatory move of at least 18 UM, keeping them in reserve, pivot up to 90ºC and most important: most official flier models have their weapons fixed on their hull in their front arc (45º fire arc).

All those things make me think that you will have very limited targets available for yor flier.
a) The minimum move isn't that bad, really. In a standard 6x4 board to go from one side to the other width-wise takes 3 turns. Doing it length-wise (which is now relevent due to one of the mission deployment methods) takes 6 turns. This is assuming you never pivot, ever. If you do turn (UP to 90 degrees, this is important as you're not forced to do only Right Angle Turns), this point becomes largely moot.

b) There is nothing that states that Flyers MUST start the game in reserve. It's only if it flies off the board as part of its minimum 18'' movement. And to be honest, if you do let it Zoom off the board, then you did it purposefully. With the abilitiy to make Right Angle Turns, you can literally avoid any nearby edges before you move. And if you do let it Zoom off the board, then you have to remember that reserve rolls are always 3+ before any modifiers.

c) Fixed Weapons: Again, we run into the 90 degree pivot. You can pivot before you move, and thus can plan what you want to attack beforehand. Unless you're running around behind enemy lines, you will always have targets, as you can see over nearly any terrain in the game. Yes, you are stuck firing forward. Which is why you have the 90 degree turn to face said target. Then going back to previously mentioned, when you return from reserve after Zooming off the board(if you want) you come back facing any direction you want.

Now that those are addressed. You have to look at what flyers bring. They bring the ability to fire 4 weapons at full BS at all times (unless you evade for a 5+ Cover Save). You are only ever hit by a 6. Templates, Blasts and things which don't use BS to hit auto-miss you. Add into the fact that if you look at all the flyers and more importantly their points totals, they're extremely difficult to actually kill in the current game with currently the only models able to reliably killing flyers being other flyers.
"b) There is nothing that states that Flyers MUST start the game in reserve."

p. 80 - "Flyers must begin the game as Reserves - it takes time for a Warlord to organize and coordinate air support."
also flyers that zoom off the table go into ongoing reserves and automatically show up next turn.
WELL, he means outside of that ONE sentence...there's nothing that states that Flyers must start the game in reserve.
If I had to pick my favourite rules revisions from 5th to 6th, they would have to be:

1) The squadron rules, which are no longer deathtraps. Space Marine Landspeeders got a nice boost, as did Eldar Vypers and IG Hellhounds/Bane Wolves. I mention the fast vehicles, especially the skimmers, because...

2) ...of their ability to fire additional weapons and (for skimmers and bikes) get 5+ cover just by moving.

3) The above changes to squadrons (and vehicles in general) go hand-in-hand with the new wound allocation, which now rewards mobile forces compared to static ones.

4) The deployment rules for missions, insofar as you're never going to be in a situation where many your heavy weapons have to move onto the board, ruining their firepower on their first turn. This opens up a lot of army configurations, including anything from more Devastators/Long Fangs, to Dark Reapers, to artillery of all kinds.
I love mysterious objectives, they give troops something to go out and grab and be awesome with 2/3rds of the time. even the 1 in 6 chance of having a little explosion might at worst kill a couple of guys[ or nothing if you scout it with a vehicle :) ] makes people not so gung ho about minimum size objective grabbers.
they give your troops something to fight over all game long rather than just try and nip in at the last moment. I havn't used mysterious terrain yet[keep forgetting.. even 10 games in lol] so no particular thoughts on it. I do love dynamic battlefields vs the drab 5th ed fields.

I love the option of gambling on better psychic powers or keeping the stock standard ones. I find it annoying that shutting down powers is afforded to wolves. eldar and nids I'm fine with having it, nids can't ally and eldar are only bro buddies[i.e. wont stop your own armies powers due to counting as enemies] with DE and tau.

Focus fire is very cool, wound allocation is fun and takes the same or less time than in 5th.

The Relic [mission] is fun but pretty unbalanced. It's a great teaching tool on how to block opponents armies and tactical movement however.

just a few thoughts :)
Love: Psykers and the new powers, Flyers (how cinematic!), vehice power reduction

Hate: Nothing so far!
First I don't think the "fake" was a fake. I think it was just a Beta (or alpha) idea.

Second, they should have used more of those ideas. It was better.

Overwatch is a neat idea, but they implemented it in a hamfisted way. It's too good to low BS armies. I would have preferred to see something like -2 BS. (would have made guadsmen and orks the same....but are base humans really better shots, or do they just take time to aim sometimes?)
2 replies · active 663 weeks ago
It was from GW, but it wasn't an early version of 6th. It was some sort of test side project some of the developers played around with, or something to that effect, but they decided to go a different direction with 6th.
Whatever it was, it was better.
I think GW made me bitter after many years so even with a lot of the new rules, I'm still not coming back. I think of GW like an abusive ex-girlfriend - I stalk it to see what it's up to, curious about the new things going on, but I'm not going back.
4 replies · active 663 weeks ago
Vegetable's avatar

Vegetable · 663 weeks ago

Don't kid yourself, you've never had a girl friend
Considering he's engaged, your comment *might* bit a bit uninformed.
Auretious Taak's avatar

Auretious Taak · 663 weeks ago

Maybe he skipped the whole girlfriend thing and went the whole 'Hey this is really crazy and out there, but I just met you and well, lets have a steam punk themed wedding and get married!'
If he's engaged, the only thing we can confirm is that he might not have ever had an exgirlfriend.
Like: Pretty much everything. Particularly fliers, vehicle changes, and allies.

Dislike: Some ally combinations. My DE are still stuck with weak ass troops!
4 replies · active 663 weeks ago
not true. You get Daemon Plaguebearers.
I think allies can score...
Dark Eldar only get Eldar as Battle Brothers everyone else is distrusting and no one is allies of convenience.
Well then I don't see what the problem is. Weak troops? 10 Wraithguard count as Troops! They're good in 6th, right guys? Guys?
They definitely got better. High points cost still stinks, and range is always an issue but they got boosted as well. Overwatch, AP2, and hull points all add to their usability.
WestRider's avatar

WestRider · 663 weeks ago

Love: Hull Points. From both sides. The Vehicle Damage Tables have been the bane of my 40K Experience for almost 15 years now, and finally I can usually rely both on my stuff taking a couple of hits from outside Melta Range before dying and on my Opponent's stuff going down eventually, rather than just Stunning it for the whole Game.

The new Wound Allocation System is growing on me fast. Even tho I've failed every LOS roll, so far, I like the system. For mid-complexity Units, once you've got the hang of it, it's way faster than 5th, and even for DeathStars with Characters at the front, it seems to go a bit faster.

Secondary Objectives as standard. Mixes things up a bit, provides some more options, especially in Missions that can otherwise come down to a Draw pretty easily.

The general clean-up of Rules. While there are still plenty of holes and poor wordings, it feels like a tighter system than every before.

There was at least one other major thing I liked, but I'm blanking on it right now.

Dislikes: Mysterious Anything + Random Charges. Both of those come down to the same thing, really: They add way more "single point" randomness that's awkward to compensate for. I want to beat my Opponent, not have him lose because a handful of dice rolls totally swung the Game.

The new system of Pile In Moves in the Assault Phase seems kind of awkward sometimes. Also more time-consuming for large Units, since they have to move twice per Assault Phase in protracted Combats, even tho they're covering the same 6" as in 5th.

The general shift more toward Firepower over Assault. The Game didn't really need more reinforcement in that direction.

Not Sure/Withholding Judgement: Flyers, new Psychics, Hammer & Anvil Deployment. Flyers are really going to depend on how things shake out with the next few Codex Releases. Psychics are very hit and miss, nice sometimes, but probably nothing to build an Army around. Hammer & Anvil, I just don't have enough experience with yet.
3 replies · active 663 weeks ago
Remembered the other thing I like: The removal of Full Reserves options. If you want to play a Game, get your ass on the Board and play the whole Game, not just 2/3 of it.
They haven't removed it completely. Anything that must deploy by deep strike (drop pods/daemons) doesn't count against your limit of half of your army.

Independant characters do though. So if you go all drop pods and flyers you need one or two units to start on the board for every IC you want in reserve.
In which case you're playing a very dangerous game; if the enemy can kill those one or two units first turn, you lose.
So far I like it. I've had two games with my SoB so far and it's been great. Vehicles are still pretty useful, but just not as crazy good as before. Building are dangerous to stay in due to taking hits from every glance/pen plus more hits from the pen rolls, but are useful as they save the unit from lower strength rolls. I think that having my long fangs in a building helped save my exorcists because my opponent concentrated his firepower on the building rather than my vehicles (and then proceeded to roll a 1 to pen with every lascannon shot the entire game- literally rolled a "1", not figuratively). Even warlord traits were reasonably useful. I didn't test out fortifications or mysterious anythings though.

What I don't like is that flyers are so hard to kill. Luckily I only faced one in my second game (a storm raven) and it did pretty much nothing, but I couldn't really hurt it so I had to just try to ignore it.

I'm currently undecided in terms of challenges. I like that you can use them to save your powerful characters or have some interesting duels, but I don't like that guys like Mephiston can walk up to a unit and kill off the only guy that can hurt him without any recourse.
Like: Hull points, it just seems fairer now when fighting. Also allies - I really like the fact I can just get the models of an army I want to patch holes without having to spend a whole lot of money buying an entire army (i'm really liking manticores and TWC at the moment).

Dislike: maybe it's just growing pains, learning a new set of rules and not having played enough games but I'm really not a fan of the missions (I much prefer the nova style of missions) particularly the one with the relic and don't really like the short board edge deployment. Not being able to assault when walking on from reserve (outflanking ok not so bad, but mainly not being able to assault from your board edge). Also I thuoght 6th was supposed to balance shooting and assault more, but it still seems like shooting is more important in 6th. Oh and AP values on cc weapons it just makes terminators and 2+ armour too good in combat so you never charge them just shoot the crap out of them.
i havent had time to play a game yet *cries*
2 replies · active 663 weeks ago
i know that feel bro
Me either, and I hate to think I'm bringing a crappy list since I have no idea what's good yet. Oh yeah, my first game will be tomorrow.
Like: shaking the foundations of the game (is mech king anyomore?) and changing everybody's approach. Fresh air. Plus all this excitement that comes with it.

Dislike: is it that difficult to make proper FAQs? is there a reason why have flyers been introduced in a way that only other flyers can counter them, aside of selling the kits?
oh, and the damn fortress of redemption :p
Shas'o Scattershot's avatar

Shas'o Scattershot · 663 weeks ago

I love the boosts to shooting. Rapid Fire weapons max shooting distance even after moving, Overwatch, and snap fire of weapons that couldn't normally be fired at all.

Love the inability of assault armies to drive 12 and deploy into assault. Now they have to suffer at least one round of shooting hopfully rapid fire shooting.

Its a small boost - but Tau Pathfinders who walk 6 inches can attempt to snap fire Heavy markerlights in hopes of a lucky 6 to hit a flier and launch seeker missiles at ballistic 5. Seems an okay way to deal with fliers until a real skyfire unit appears or the Tau get a flier of their own.

Hate - random Crisis Assault jump move. It was a guaranteed 6 now it could be as low as jumping two inches... leaving my suits in the open.
3 replies · active 663 weeks ago
Seeker missiles are only BS5 until you're shooting at a flyer, at which point their lack of a Skyfire rule requires them to fire on 6's just like everyone else. Or, best case scenario, you actually manage to convince someone that the BS5 is a fixed value, at which point the BS5 and BS1 fixed values come into conflict, and you have to dice-off to see which takes precedence.
This actually needs clarification, but let's be honest: Tau just desperately need a new codex.
I disagree that it needs clarification. The BS5 is not a fixed value that replaces an existing one, like striking at I10 with a Banshee mask or I1 with a power fist. There is no initial value it's modifying, and the rules not only do not state that it always fires at BS5, they actually tell you to resolve shots normally at an assumed BS of 5. Well, a BS5 model without Skyfire shooting at a flyer normally has their BS dropped down to 1; therefore, a Seeker missile without Skyfire shooting at a flyer normally has their BS dropped down to 1.

The Signum/Flyers and Banshee Mask/Power Axe combinations are ambiguous; Seeker missiles hitting flyers on 2+ is just wishful thinking.
Alastores's avatar

Alastores · 663 weeks ago

Like:- Hull points are a good idea. Troops having to get out of score is also good. Removing models from the front is generally a good idea (no one I played against remembered to allocate wounds in 5th, meaning that sarges and heavies got left to the end, and it's tiring to remind people. No excuse for that now), although I dislike its effect on assaulting.

Dislike:- Assault. Seriously, why the hell did it need that much of a nerf? Random Charge - which I still maintain is a nerf over flat 6. Overwatch (which yes, doesn't matter if you ar echarging a devestator squad. But even a tac squad's overwatch can do enough damage to make you fail a long distance charge. It only gets worse with bigger units. Admitedly, overwatch firing is one of the few areas Space Marines aren't the best). No assault out of blah.

Was someone at GW running into some 'killer' Howling Banshee army, or something?

HATE:- Death of Glory. Admitedly, it's mostly the wording of the "No, you can't save ever". I'm sorry, the Terminator Armour - which can be stepped on by a TITAN isn't able to make any save at all here? Worse, Monsterous Creatures just die? I'm sorry, they are living battle tanks. Worse, its the 'cinematic' edition. I'm sure The Hulk would be much easier to deal with if you could just drive tanks at him. Godzilla? Eh, run over his foot, he'll die.

Actually, I dislike 'cinematic' as a reason for rules in general. Ruleswriters - you make up the damn rules, we'll handle the cinematics...if we want them.

I also hate the "If you aren't Imperial, screw you!" attitude. Minor things - Missile Launchers theoretically getting flakk. Who doesn't get Missiles? Xenos!. Overwatch doesn't really bother charging marines. The stupid Imperial Statue. (Yes, new codices will probably get their own terrain. Why does the Imperial one need to be baseline?). The Allies table - If you are Imperial, you can ally with 12 codices! And are probably battle brothers with them!). Marines HAVING to be exempt to the new psychology rule added in (I'm sorry, Marines are immune to the gibbering nightmarish presence of a Daemon. Why do we need the Grey Knights, then?)

Other than the ongoing "Imperial gets all the important weapons and Space Marines are just better" issues, most of that doesn't matter. But given the profusion of Imperial Codicies and the general feeling of the book - it REALLY doesn't feel like this is an end time for the Imperium. It looks like they are a massive unstoppable juggernaut, with only bare tatters of once proud Xenos enemies opposing them.
2 replies · active 663 weeks ago
And They Shall Know No Fear being exempt to Fear is a bit of a no-brainer, if you ask me. Clue's in the name. Space Marines don't feel fear of foes, they fear failure or dying without doing their duty. There was an article abut it in WD a year or two back.

MCs and Tank Shock is a bitch.

FMCs not being able to Skyfire has got to be FAQed, it's silly as it stands. True, the Harpy won't get to use Skyfire even if it had the rule, but Lords of Change/Daemon Princes with Bolt of Change would do a lot to help out Daemons when fighting Flyers (because they can't... fight flyer with flyer)

Warlord traits are weird, Strategic is usually the best because it's usually got some kind of application no matter who your Warlord is. Seriously, when you get Inspiring Presence on your Bloodthirster. Or Legendary Fighter on Creed. But even strategic has problems - what if I don't have any Outflankers? It's funny when you have Master of the Fleet and Divide to Conquer to make your opponent roll his reserves on a 5+.
Alastores's avatar

Alastores · 663 weeks ago

"Clue is in the name": - I did get that bit. However, while the NAME may indicate they should be, the game does not have to follow that, especially if fear is supposed to be anything more than fluff itself. Essentially, it's once again "Hey, look, Space Marines are immune to psychology"

And that only because they got given a dramatically named ability? Again, if normal Space Marines can face down Daemons without quailing, why do they need a specialist chapter to face down Daemons without quailing?

Essentially, you are looking at the Dramatic Name and assuming, which is exactly what GW's done, which is exactly my problem. If it had been called "Stand Fast" or "For the Emperor" or "Rally!" - all of which are valid names for "Regroup automatically" - then they wouldn't be fear immune. And that's all "They Shall Know No Fear" did when it was created. They just wanted a Cool Name to show that Marines - while they might fall back - would always be able to stop a rout.

Stopping a rout is a bit different from an entity of raw emotion projecting primordial terror into your hindbrain, or looking up at the 80 foot tall incarnation of slaughter that's just noticed you. It's fluffwise a bit ridiculous to say that even a Space Marine would not feel a qualm on facing that. Better able to cope with it than a Guardsman? Yep. That's why they've got a higher leadership score.

But immune because they are a speez Mahreen? No. That's just stupid.
Like:

Allies! These are great, let you plug holes in your main codex, and bring a whole new dimension to list building. They also let you think up funny combos, such as this: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/4...

New wound allocation and shooting rules in general. These made model placement FAR more important, and skilled players can really utilize these rules to their advantage, as opposed to 5th ed where it was far less important and being able to roll saves well was the best skill.

Dislike:

Random charge range. More randomness is not good, especially for something that really should be fixed. I hate the CC rules in general too, as they take up way too much time and the end result is the same as in 5th, guys smacking each other around. Different initiative step pile ins, shittily written rules (does my PF guy pile in at i4 or i1?) and stupid allocation+LoS means that if you want to fight any sort of sizeable combat with 3-4 different initiative steps, it'll take an hour.

Challenges are a nice touch though, and serve to buff single beater models quite well.
I really hate the challenges. Mephiston is boned based on this alone. It basically guarantees he will be tied up for at lease one extra combat turn since he first has to pulp your sergent/nob/etc first.
4 replies · active 663 weeks ago
On the other hand, Meph gets to pick out your Fist and kill him, instead of having to grind through the whole squad first.

Its a double edged sword, in a way. You trade getting to kill more members of the squad for getting to kill the one member of the squad who can actually hurt you. It makes models like Cron Overlords w/ 2+ save, for example, a lot more dangerous, as they can charge alone into a marine squad w/ PF sarge, challenge him, kill him off, then grind down the squad without being in any real danger, as opposed to killing off some random chumps then have the Fist smack wounds off you.
Danny Internets's avatar

Danny Internets · 663 weeks ago

Have to completely disagree with you here.

With his jump pack movement and Fleet, Mephiston should almost always be the one charging (rather than the one being charged). In these cases, he should almost always be issuing a challenge in the first round of combat. Mephiston WANTS to be stuck in combat.

Unless you have strong assault models with 2+ saves, you do not try and kill Mephiston in close combat--you shoot him with plasma, melta, and lascannons. Fighting a challenge usually means that Mephiston wins by a small margin and that the combat continues during the enemy turn, preventing him from being shot at. With the enemy character dead (very few units have more than 1), Mephiston can score a few more kills in the following assault phase and handily win combat, breaking the squad, and freeing himself up for the controlling player's turn. Rinse and repeat.

Furthermore, mobile characters benefit tremendously from the reduced 3" pile-in move. Mephiston can engage units on the flank and ensure that only a few models will be engaged, often completely eliminating any return attacks. This can also be done to avoid challenges if desired (only engaged models can issue or accept challenges).
I guess I am just sick of getting stuck in with big IG blobs with 3/4 sergents, but on the other hand... its nice not taking ANY wounds while doing it, even if it takes longer.
This is great.

I charge with Meph and challenge. He accepts. I kill him. Stay in combat and don't get shot. During their turn he wipes squad and goes leeroy again.

I charge with Meph and challenge. He declines. I likely sweep through squad and the potential Fist never gets to touch me. I'm more vulnerable to shooting next turn but have still achieved what I did last edition and wiped a squad.

Against squads with multiple challenge options, it's annoying so you need to try and assault in a way where you cannot be challenged at the beginning of the combat phase.
Auretious Taak's avatar

Auretious Taak · 663 weeks ago

I like Power Weapons. I like that if I reallyw anted to I can run units of space wolf hoplites with power spears and storm shields. That is just awesome.

i dislike that Power Axes are meh and why take them when you can take a slightly more expensive powerfist that is wholly more effective the vast majority of the time. If they were -1 or even -2 Initiative and thus on a marine striking before that initiative 1 step, that'd make them much more appealing to many models out there.
2 replies · active 663 weeks ago
Power Axes ARE better in many circumstances then Fists. For Marines, especially Wolves, you are basically trading -2S for +1A and 10 points. If you are using a storm shield, sure, there's no reason to ever use an axe because you can't get +1 A, but in other circumstances, it's good. Also, there are a good number of models that can access power weapons but not fists, and the ability to get their choice of power weapon is nice to have there.
Yep yep. There are lots of models that come with a generic Power/Force weapon, so sticking an Axe on them is free. Some can't even take fists, so this is your next best thing. I like giving my Librarian a Force Axe - WS5 and AP2, plus Force if you need it, all for free. Him and a Power Maul sergeant in a squad give you some options for challenges.
Likes:
Bike and jump infantry, FMCs, random charge and assault moves (see below)
Army specific: harlequins again, Screamers, chaos shooty FMCs.

Dislike :
AP 3 power weapons, the current state of flyers

I'm totally cool with random charge distances because of premeasuring being in. Now you have to decide whether to risk a distance or stay passive. Same with shooty guys. It'll just take some getting used to, but it isn't different from a 2+ save: you should make them, but there's no guarantee
Like:
Allies, strangely enough. Like the idea, not sure the execution wont be broken as hell, that we will see in some time. But i do like the idea that space marines actually ally with other space marines.

Double FOC - At 2k points, FOC starts getting very croweded.

Wound Allocation: You can still do shenningnans, bt now you have to actually think about it in the battlefield. And there is a chance that the best shennignans will fail to poor dice.

Dislikes:

Flyers: Right now because of the lack of the way to deal with them.

Random Charge Lenghts: Dont like too much random. Too familiar with it screwing you either way you think about it from Fantasy. The better averages is a boost for assault armies, but really small.

"Misterious": Random crap punishing you for trying to make use of terrain is horrendous.
Likes:
- Hull Points
- Shooting wound allocation
- Allies
- Fluff Section

Dislike:
- Order of deployment:
- Choosing sides BEFORE placing objectives
- Choosing terrain AFTER placing fortifications
- Abusiveness of combat wound resolution

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