We’ve had some time, we’ve played some games, we’ve been thoroughly defeated…wait, just me? Nevermind. Anyway, how is the new edition shaping up? I’m going to dig into each of the key changes to see if they’ve helped or hindered, and also get my community's thoughts.
Terrain areas
You wouldn’t think shapes that I cut out of a cereal box could make such a difference, but you’d be wrong! (And yes, I did just that; it’s a great way of getting some ready to go quickly). Instead of having random terrain scattered around the board, somewhat in a sensible fashion, or super strict L-shaped walls that are repetitive and boring, you have terrain areas with interesting terrain set up on them. Honestly, the terrain areas have been one of, if not the best, additions to the game for me.
Not only do they make the battlefield look more interesting, but they have multiple functional purposes. They block line of sight. And I mean they really block line of sight. Much more than random bits of terrain did before. You can easily use terrain lines of fire to your advantage now, for both attack and defence. Plus, the addition of random units that aren’t infantry sometimes getting the ability to Kool-Aid Man through walls is hilarious.
We’ll discuss this more when talking about dispositions, but the terrain areas being the objectives creates a much more thematic vibe to the whole thing. You are fighting over locations, not just random circles on the ground. And you are protected by the -1 hit cover while you do so.
I must admit, of all the changes around terrain, hidden has come up the least. Given how blocking line of sight is, by the time you are close enough to shoot, you are within range to spot the hidden units anyway. I do think it has its place though; I just don’t think our group has experimented enough yet. With clever placement, I think hidden could be excellent for surprising people stepping into your line of sight, or for keeping sneaky units hidden to hold crucial objectives in the backfield. We will have to see on this one.
Dispositions
These are the other contenders for best update of the edition. Dispositions have fundamentally changed the way we play games of Warhammer 40k. In the past, GW did their best to create varied missions, but they still ended up feeling samey and usually favoured one side over the other. Dispositions, on the other hand, mean that your army has a specific purpose, a goal that you can control. No matter who you face, you know that your objective will be something you have built your list to deal with. Stopping the opponent from doing theirs is just a bonus. No longer will you have an army of fast attack troops forced to sit on objectives to score points; they’ll be using Recon to whizz to different sections of the battlefield instead. Some armies do indeed love to ‘Take and Hold' things, so they can lean into that. I know my Thousand Sons terminators are going to get some action this edition, sitting and not moving no matter what you throw at them. Mwhahaha…I mean, you see?
All that’s left to know at this point is how well they are supported in the codexes as they are released. Some armies are super low on detachment combinations, so their available dispositions are limited as well. Speaking of detachments…
Detachments
Similar to dispositions, how detachments go in this edition is going to entirely depend on how well they are supported. As of now, some armies really struggle. Tau only have 7 different combinations they can make detachment-wise, and my Thousand Sons aren’t much better after the first rule tweaks were released.
That said, the ability to pick and choose parts of your army to focus on with specific rules is very fun. I can have a large contingent of Robots alongside my sorcerers if I want (or I could until the rules cha- no, I’ll stop. I’m not salty at all!). Or I could run 3 small detachments next to each other for some truly varied buffs. These are the things I’m most excited for in the codexes, as I think they could do some really fun stuff with them. Fingers crossed.
Small but mighty changes…mostly
Engagement range is now 2” - They learnt from AoS, again. Changing to a wider (and simpler) engagement range rule is definitely a win. It means more of your units can be in combat at a time, and you aren’t disappointed that your one awesome model is the only one that couldn’t get far enough on the charge.
Picking targets after you roll to charge - A solid win here all round. It just makes the charge phase less stressful and more straightforward. You pick something to charge, roll, and see what you have to work with.
Ingress move is now 8” - We haven’t felt too much of a change here, especially because you have to get in base-to-base contact now, so it’s still a 9” charge. Clearly I’m not bringing enough melta weapons to my games.
Overwatch only at the end of the movement phase - Thematically I had to do some gymnastics here. I did like the idea of you reacting when people were charging into your face, but then I thought of how you can set up overwatch in X-COM for when people run across your path, and the new method made sense. Mostly. You can pick targets that didn’t move…but whatever. It’s generally a smoother experience.
Pile-in’s happening all at once - I mean, sure. I think half the time we did this anyway.
Fights first - Another one where I think most of the time we did this anyway. It was mainly having Fights First on defence, which changed, and that never came up in my games. There are definitely some people who don’t like the change, though. But from my point of view, it’s fine.
Overrun fight - Literally hasn’t come up. I’m sure I’ll enjoy the first time it does, though.
Community
Let’s hear from the community, for Warhammer is a social game and I can only give you part of the picture. These are some thoughts from my local club. First up is Oli, who gave such a thorough quote I wanted to give him first dibs (honestly I think he’s out for my job!).
“Having played a few games of 11th now I am getting a real feel for it. The terrain layouts are great, firing lanes are much more restricted and really encourage movement, the maps somehow look much nicer too, more like a ruined industrial/residential district than the random collections of L shaped ruins from 10th. That's a little subjective though.
One thing I am really appreciating is the way the dispositions encourage building a list to a type of play style. Which in turn leads to a much more thoughtful plan of attack. Primary is pretty easy to max out so restricting your opponents primary is just as important as maxing your own. Secondaries keep things interesting and introduce a random element that encourages an element of flexibility in your list.
Changing detachments really feels much more like you are changing the way you play, with a priority assets list playing very differently to a purge the foe list, and playing against a reconnaissance list feels really different to playing against a take and hold list. It means if I ever get bored of my priority assets list and want to play in a more aggressive style, I can switch detachments and my army and how it plays is going to be quite different.
Also, the game seems to play faster now. Several minor tweaks to how the game is played have sped up play. My last few games have finished about an hour faster than before. Although my group plays casually and doesn't watch the clock, it's still a notable change.” - Oli
“My terminators actually felt useful sitting on an objective. They were more than just an offence unit and they’re defence abilities finally felt some value. Plus it played really well with Grey Hunters and their Action & Shooting ability. Finally a reason to put them in a list.” - Tony
“Being able to play recon instead of being forced to contest central objectives ala king of the hill meant I felt like I was playing with a proper gameplan in mind - where I was trying to achieve something. My opponent and I both had to adjust around each other instead of scrapping over a few designated circles. The game has shifted from being entirely territory control to variable and tactical.” - Mike
“I feel like the dispositions make it a lot clearer what I need to do to win and how I need to disrupt my opponent. Which is good to keep me on track.” - Mark
Overall, my local club is enjoying the new edition. A few of them are wary about how it’s going to unfold with the release of the Codexes for sure. It’s definitely something we’ll keep an eye on. Others, including me, are slightly concerned about narrative play. Yes, the new way missions are created is inherently more narrative, and that’s great. But it’s not as narrative as the crusade lore and custom upgrades, etc we used to get in the codexes. They have released a narrative deck, which is definitely a different way to approach it, but I have yet to try it. Looking through it, it looks ok, but I just don’t know if we’ll get the same depth as before.
Overall thoughts
It’s probably a jinx to say this, but this is one of the best edition launches in recent memory. There haven’t been any ridiculous combos they had to fix within the first week because of how broken they were. The rules seem solid, and even the factions with the least detachment options can still have a good time, even if they will be eagerly awaiting their codex. And overall, there seems to be very little pushback in the community. There are definitely issues that need addressing, but not in the core rules. These are the kind of issues that codexes can solve, so we shall sit back, relax, play some games, and keep our fingers crossed that the next codex on the roadmap shall be ours!
