The Road to 11th Edition continues, and though the news has slowed down somewhat, it’s still significant none the less. While shooting is all well and good, there is nothing like glorious combat, and that’s what we’re looking at today. Plus a couple more new models.
New Models
There are two more model reveals to take a look at today, the Weirdboy and the Chaplain with a jump pack. Honestly, while it’s not as clear cut as the last pairing, I feel like there is an obvious winner here. The Chaplain is a nice model, really nice details and the classic skull mask is always a welcome sight. I especially like the smoke trail being used as a flying stand, I hope they do more like this as flying stands have historically been all over the place and often flimsy. However, the Weirdboy is something else. Firstly, it’s weird. Secondly, it looks like it’s gone insane (probably has). Third, it has some rags and straps for clothing that make it look like some wandering nomad wizard. And finally, it’s headdress/backpack with all the gizmos attached to it looks amazing. While I’m looking forward to seeing all the new models, I think I have to confess to being most excited about the Orks.
Combat
Ok, so these changes are a little confusing at first glance, but they make sense…eventually. I’ll try and break them down as much as I can.
Engagement range is now 2” - So if you are within 2” of an enemy model, you are engaged with it. You can’t normal move into that range, only charge. But, you now can move through engagement range, so long as you don’t end inside it. This also stops some weird wall shenanigans as anyone within 2” of the enemy unit can fight.
Pick charge targets after rolling charge distance - Very nice change. You now pick a unit, roll to see how far they can charge, then pick a unit to charge that is within the distance you rolled. Important clarification here, if you roll, for example, 8, and a unit is 8 inches away, you can charge it. If the unit is more than 8 inches away, you can’t. Targets are measured base to base. Engagement range only comes into it when actually moving the models and seeing which models are in combat.
Ingress moves (Deep strike etc) are now 8” away - Any move that drops reinforcements onto the table now only has to be 8” away from the enemy, rather than the 9” it was before. Because of the charge targeting being measured base to base now, this means you still need to roll 9 to get the charge off, but you have a little more space to squeeze stuff in. Plus those 18” melta weapons are going to hurt!
Pile in’s all happen at once - This is another nice simplification. At the start of the fight phase, the player whose turn it is piles in all their models in combat up to 3”, to get as many models into that 2” engagement range as they can. Then the opponent does all theirs. Then they fight. This also applies to consolidation moves, which also happen all together after all fights are done.
Fights first and charging - Honestly, I thought it already worked like this haha. So you know how when you charge you get ‘Fights First’? Well apparently if the opponent managed to get a Fights First through some sort of ability, they would be able to pick that to go first. I always naturally assumed if both sides had fights first, the active player would pick the first fight. Which is how it works now. See, I’m ahead of the curve! Also when you’ve done all the Fights First fights, you continue to alternate with normal units, you don’t reset with the active player picking from the normal units. These are all just nice clarifications and making it more sensible, which is always nice.
Overrun Fight - Don’t you hate it when you charge 2 units into an enemy, only for 1 of the units to kill it and the other unit to be left twiddling its thumbs? Well never fear, now you can take that unit and pile in again towards a new target.
Phew, we got through it, and I think I made some sense…more or less. Generally, I don’t think these changes are going to make a big difference to most games, except perhaps the engagement range and charge roll changes, but they are important nonetheless, and will make things cleaner.
What’s Next?
It’s been suspiciously quiet since the combat changes were announced, but I’ll expect we’ll get more soon. I don’t think there are many more rules changes, if any. 11th is a very light edition when it comes to changes, but that’s often the case with the odd numbers. What we’re still waiting for is more model reveals, and to find out what that mystery deck is?! Seriously, how could they mention it so early on then torture me, Keep an eye out for more on the Road to 11th Edition.
