The other night myself and my friend Gary played a pre-9th edition game using the free download rules. My space marines vs his chaos daemons and instead of the basic Only War scenario that comes with that download we decided to tryout the Four Pillars scenario that appeared in one of the recent Warhammer Community pages. Without having access to the new points we stuck to the current 8th edition points and unit rules. We also don't have the new secondary objectives so we could only use the one from the mission itself.
At the end of that game I thought about the changes and here are a few of my initial thoughts. I'll do a part two once I get my hands on the actual rules and have played a couple more games fully under the new edition.
1.
Table Size.
I prefer the idea of playing the traditional 6x4 foot table but for this game we played the reduce 44x60 and it shows during play. The reduced table width meant that we were fairly packed closer together during the game but it in a good way it also meant that my opponent's ability to deep strike was less likely to be dropped into my lines or behind them unless I moved forwards. It forced Gary to drop his bloodletters later in the game and on the edge of his own deployment zone. It doesn't seem like a huge difference but it could make a difference on the game play.
2.
Command Points.
This was huge! Having a large pool of command points plus regenerating 1 a turn meant that we could both use stratagems that might never have seen the light of day under 8th edition. I could still use the re-roll, the regular stratagems but I was also able to drop an orbital bombardment and on two occasions the stratagem (I forget the name) that lets me rapid fire 2 the bolt rifles of my troops. This was a big improvement.
3.
No Overwatch.
This was my only negative that came from the game and even then it didn't play a big part. Under 9th edition you can only fire one Overwatch (unless you play Tau of course). On a tactical level it means you have to choose where you want to use it, just like if you can deny a psychic power and you have to choose which power to risk the deny on. However, I think that against a aggressive hoard type army... daemons, tyranids and orks mainly, that only getting to overwatch once is not enough. If they really want to reduce overwatch then it should be a +1 cost to the stratagem for each time it has been previously used that round.
4.
Actions.
Within the mission we only had the secondary that comes with the mission itself. To start with we got actions wrong. We had not properly read it and assumed that when using an action it meant that you couldn't do a psychic power, shoot or charge, and if you were charged then the action was wasted. If other secondary objectives are going to be like that, then I think they are going to be largely awkward to achieve once the game really gets underway. I can't say much more until we get our hands on the full rules and we can read them fully.
5.
Morale.
The morale phase has changed and I don't understand why. The 8th edition way worked so much better and made more sense. Now, you roll as you did but if the morale test is failed one model dies or runs away. You then have to roll for each remaining model and on a 1 one more model dies or runs away. While it might reduce unit casualties from morale but it also adds a small amount of time to the game that really wants to be a bit more fast paced.
Otherwise the game played the same as 8th always has. These five points just stood out to me a lot more, both good and bad. Other than some initial kneejerk reactions, I think this will be a good edition. We just need to see how it actually plays out once we get the rules in our hands. Once I get mine next weekend I'll do a part 2.
Have you had an opportunity to try the new rules yet? What did you think?
