Like dozens of other bloggers I’m going to give my first impressions of 6th edition. Like almost everyone else in the 40k verse I bought my rulebook this weekend (Saturday since my LFGS was afraid to sell it Friday J) and I spent a fair amount of time reading up on it on Saturday and on my breaks on Sunday (yay for overtime). Outside of the fact that the book could kill my dog if it fell off my coffee table onto her let’s get started J:
I like it. Granted I haven’t played any games yet and it could totally fall apart on me but I really, really like it after reading the book. Just like in the change from 4th to 5th there is going to be a lot more mobility in the game now.
I’m on the fence about combat. In some ways it got a hell of a lot better but in others it got a hell of a lot weaker. It’s going to be seriously tricky till you get the hang of it and model placement/movement is going to be even more unforgiving.
Shooting is in the same boat. Snapfiring heavy weapons is cool and so is mobile rapid fire at full range. I like that the rumors were wrong about how many shots you could get since this keeps shooting slightly more in line. I love that you can focus fire on portions of the unit (hint: this could prevent your opponent from pulling the models you really don’t want him to pull while you soften him up) based on cover save.
I like that it’s 25% now for rallying. I always felt 50% was a little unfair to non-marine armies.
Vehicles are going to be more useful but also more brittle. The shoot and scoot potential is amazing in armies with transports that can block line of sight. I do seriously dislike the change on assaulting out of a transport that hasn’t moved but I see the dynamics involved and appreciate it. Besides with the potential moves in the shooting phase anyway this isn’t as bad as it appears.
Flyer’s aren’t a be all end all. They will be a solid addition but since most armies, outside of necrons, will not be able to swamp you with flyers and I don’t see it being a huge issue.
I feel 6th will be more about combined arms than just parking lot or all foot. I think a blend will wind up being best.
And the two things everyone was screaming about before the edition drop:
Allies:
People seriously crapped their pants for nothing. They’ll be kinda fun but I don’t expect them to be over the top at all with all the FAQ’s (except Sisters) limiting special abilities to only same codex armies.
Fortifications:
These are also pretty decent additions and offer some great conversion opportunities. I think at the beginning 100ish points will be seen in a ton of lists in worry of flyers but I don’t think there is any problem with them. The fortress won’t be usable at the competitive level just because of deployment issues so it’ll likely be pulled but everything else looks pretty good.
Stand-out Rules:
Scouting/Infiltrating/Outflanking:
Well, there is no way around this….They got hammered. No assaulting on the turn you infiltrate or outflank. Scout is no longer a free move but a redeploy. Basically they want to guarantee shooty armies a single chance at shooting you before you engage. In some ways this even makes sense since first turn assaults could drive some people to throw up their hands in anger but I can’t help but lament my scouts in their LS Storms which are now going to sit on the shelf.
Pistols:
Dual Wielding pistols is in. If you have 2 pistols you can fire both! This is pretty damn sweet.
Tankhunters:
Holy shit. This just got real! You can reroll your failed pen rolls and even re-roll your glances if you choose.
Fearless:
No more overflow wounds when you lose!!!!!!! Bring on my Tyranid hordes J
Reserves:
No more than half your army can start in reserve. Pretty harsh but I understand GW wanting you to play with your toys J
Fleet:
Re-rolling a single dice for your charging makes it pretty consistent. Which is nice and I’m thinking it’ll be fun.
Rally:
No mention of the enemy models preventing rallying that I saw. That's a pretty big deal unless I missed it.
That’s just
my first quick read. I’ll be trying to get a practice game or two in this week
to get a feel and I’m going to dig deeper into 6th over the course
of the next few weeks. I’m going to delve a little deeper into how it affects
Tyranids in particular as, unlike most of the internet already, I think they
got a hell of a boost for 6th. Keep an eye out.
