Shooting in the Sixth Edition

Bell of Lost Souls has published an interesting article about the tactical ramifications of the changes to the shooting rules in the sixth edition, click here for the article.

As a Guard player I’m very happy by these changes, they certainly make for a more realistic and tactically deeper game.

Dark Vengeance Miniatures Spotted?

Get your salt wagons ready for today this image has been bouncing around the internet which apparently shows some of the miniatures from the forthcoming Dark Vengeance box.

Psykers in the Sixth Edition

Bell of Lost Souls have published a very interesting article about how the changes to the psychic rules in 40K have affected the different armies. You can read the full article here.

I like the new psychic rules. When I returned to wargaming three years ago I was very disappointed by how the fifth edition handled this aspect of the game. To me it felt very bolted-on, an afterthought which seemed very disrespectful to one of the core aspects of the 40K universe.

While the new system is not perfect (what is?), it does go a long way towards rehabilitating the psychic disciplines and, more importantly, gives my opponents even more interesting ways to annihilate my poor armies!

New 40K Rulebook pictures

Miniature Musings of A Bear has posted WD pics of the new 40K book and related merch, check out the goodness here!

I think it’s safe to say I’m a bit excited.

Sixth Edition Rumours Confirmed

Once again The Shell Case doesn’t disappoint and has posted up a list of some of the confirmed changes we’ll see in the imminent sixth edition. They are:

Hullpoints: The previous rumors are true. Vehicles move to the new hullpoints system that will eventually kill them after receiving a number of critical chart rolls. Look for 3+ Hullpoints on most vehicles.

Allies are IN: As had been suspected, a new army chart will report the level of cooperation various armies can have. This will not allow cherrypicking of valuable units from another codex, but instead the ability to integrate a second FOC chart into you army from the selected ally. How deep you can develop this second tree (beyond the mandatory HQ and 2 troops) is determined by what level of cooperation the armies have on the chart.

Fortifications: The truth exceeds the mission based rumors. Look to find a new “Fortification Slot” on the FOC that all armies can access and use in standard army construction. Surprise, surprise, the common choices available happen to have existin Games Workshop kits already available.

Close Combat Weapon AP Values: This is true, and look for a full chart listing all the common CC Weapons in the game and where they land from AP1 all the way down to AP-

You can read the full report here.

Sixth Edition Spotted?

I was bouncing around the internet this evening and found this image, is this possibly one of the first pictures of the new rulebook?

Here’s the original article . The best I can say is that I’m enthusiastically skeptical, while I’d like it to be true I’m more than happy to be surprised. What do you think?

Sixth Edition Press Release – Some Musings

Last night after I posted GW’s leaked press release I started thinking about the ramifications of its content.  Let’s just assume that this is legit for now and instead take a look at it in relation to some of the rumours that have been bouncing around the interweb over the past year or so.

 

First of all, this particular line got my attention:

Only the strength of the immortal Emperor of Terra stands between humanity and its annihilation…

Does this mean that the rumoured changes to the fluff haven’t (as yet) come to pass?  It has been widely rumoured that the Emperor has handed in his blue badge and shuffled off this mortal coil and as a result the Imperium has fractured and chaos (with both a big and a small C) has ensued.  If we assume that this has not yet happened it probably means more or less business as usual although I would be sad if nothing at all gets updated, after all many of the armies underwent modest or extreme facelifts in regards to their fluff and it would be a shame if this was not capitalised upon.

However this does not rule out the possibility of future changes, or in my opinion better yet a specific Warhammer 41,000 expansion book.  This way players could choose to fight themed battles and campaigns in this arena while those who prefer things to be a bit more traditional can stick with the 41st millennium.  I can see no reason as to why this can’t be the case, after all there are rumours abound about Forge World releasing a series of Warhammer 30,000 books and models starting later this year and other game systems, in particular Battletech provides rules to cover battles and armies spanning many different points in the history of the Inner Sphere.

 

Next what really peaked my interest was this:

Across airless moons, within the depths of dark, twisted hive worlds and even in the immaterial realm of Warp space, battles rage that will shape the future of the galaxy forever.

Does this mean that there will be rules for different types of battlefields?  I hope so.  How cool would it be to see a force of Space Marines sneaking across an airless moon with little gravity in order to assault an enemy fortress?  That said, maybe to do this justice it will appear in a Cities of Death style expansion, either way I really hope this sort of thing happens.

 

Finally:

The Rulebook includes exciting features such as dynamic close-combat, flyers, psychic devastation and interactive scenery.

Lets start with this final two points, these seem to be taken directly from Warhammer Fantasy (the £8 Psychic card set is a dead giveaway) but even so I welcome these changes, especially if the rumoured option to spend points on buildings pans out.

As for the first two, there have been recent rumours about changes to the close-combat system, in particular the addition of AP stats for close-combat weapons.  I would very much like to see this as it would definitely enhance the assault phase (and hopefully make my Dark Eldar even more deadly 🙂 ).  As for the flyers, this makes sense given the recent raft of model releases.  I’ve also found the current rules, especially the damage table to be less than appropriate for flyers.  For example; if a flyer is disabled in flight it is treated as destroyed, how much better would it be if in this event the flyer can attempt to crash land on an enemy unit or fortification?

 

Anyway, that’s enough speculation from me for now.  If you agree, disagree or just fancy being social please feel free to comment.  Right now I’m counting the days!

Warhammer 40,000 Sixth Edition Press Release Leak

Bell of Lost Souls have reported the details of the imminent sixth edition press release along with a few other interesting titbits, take a look.

 

Warhammer 40,000: Rulebook, £45

There is no time for peace. No respite. No forgiveness.
There is only WAR.

In the nightmare future of the 41st Millennium, Mankind teeters upon the brink of destruction. The galaxy-spanning Imperium of Man is beset on all sides by ravening aliens and threatened from within by Warp-spawned entities and heretical plots. Only the strength of the immortal Emperor of Terra stands between humanity and its annihilation, and in his name, countless warriors and agents do battle against the encroaching darkness. Foremost amongst them stand the Space Marines, the ultimate protectors of Mankind.

Across airless moons, within the depths of dark, twisted hive worlds and even in the immaterial realm of Warp space, battles rage that will shape the future of the galaxy forever.

It is a universe that you can enter today, if you dare. But remember that this is a dark and terrible era, and there is no peace amongst the stars…

The Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook is your essential guide to playing atmospheric battles in the 41st Millennium. It helps you field majestic armies of Citadel miniatures across the war-ravaged battlefields of the far-future, in the ultimate contest of strategy and skill.

With 440 full-colour pages, this hardback Rulebook is packed with rich background and contains all the rules for fighting pulse-pounding tabletop battles. The Rulebook includes exciting features such as dynamic close-combat, flyers, psychic devastation and interactive scenery. As well as jaw-dropping artwork, contained within is a history of the 41st Millennium and a richly detailed guide to the races and weapons of the far-future. It also features a comprehensive hobby section to set you on the path to choosing, collecting and building your own Warhammer 40,000 army of Citadel miniatures.

Warhammer 40,000: Psychic Powers, £8 

One of the many exciting features of Warhammer 40,000 is Psychic devastation, where Psykers wreak havoc on the battlefield. Psychic Powers is the complete set of Psychic cards, which be used in conjunction with Psychic Disciplines. They make a great accessory to your tabletop games.

This set contains 35 large-format cards and come stored in a plastic fan-opening case, which bears the Aquila. There are 7 cards for each Psychic Discipline, each of which is represented by distinct artwork. There is also an instruction leaflet that classifies which powers can be used by the main Psykers in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Extras

There are also “Munitorum Templates” (£12, designed with a metal effect look), “Munitorum Tape Measure” (£10, looking like a Servoskull) and “Munitorum Dice” (£10, while stocks last).

 

You can read the full article here.  I think these prices are correct as they do tally with those of the fantasy equivalents.  Also, I know I should’d buy they Munitorum extras but I know I will.

40K Sixth Edition to arrive early July?

At the weekend I noticed that GW’s website is no longer offering the main 40K rulebook for sale. Since they usually discontinue items four weeks or so before their replacements arrive I’m going to throw my hat into the ring and predict a release date either Saturday 30th June or the following weekend, Saturday 7th July.

This would make a great deal of sense for a number of reasons.

1. It’s more or less exactly two years to the day after the release of the 8th Edition of Warhammer Fantasy and given the success of that enterprise they may be hoping that warp lightening will strike twice.
2. It’s close to the end of the school year for many countries and it would fiscally behove them to provide the Snotling Market with a ready-made excuse to spend their summer in store.
3. It’s very close to many people’s (and parents) pay days so most will have £60 or so spare cash burning a rulebook-shaped whole in their pockets.
4. It’s a smart thing for them to do from a corporate standpoint, their fiscal year started in June so this will bump up their Q1 and Q2 sales without cutting in to the inevitable peak in Q3 caused by The Hobbit and Christmas.

Or I could be completely off target, it wouldn’t be the first time!  Anyway, what do others thinks?  Feel free to comment in the usual way.

 

Letting the 5th Edition Rest in Peace

Since it’s pretty much guaranteed that the 6th edition of 40K will be with us in one or two months, many of us will have now already played our last game under the current rule set.

Is this a bad thing? That’s for everyone to decide for themselves however TastyTaste on the Blood of Kittens website has written an interesting article exploring why now is a time to rest and reflect before the new edition hits.

You can read the article here.