I don't want to post the photos for legal reasons, but you can find a link here. I'm going to accept these as legitimate. I've been Photoshopping for years, and these images show none of the obvious signs of manipulation.
Here's the most interesting part:
If you're a Warhammer 40,000 player you'll be familiar with the Force Organisation Chart. It's still there in the new Warhammer 40,000, and if you follow it, your army is referred to as 'Battle-forged'. A Battle-forged army is a very desirable thing as it gets certain in-game bonuses. But there's another way to use your miniatures, and that comes in the form of taking an Unbound army. Basically, Unbound armies allow you to take whatever you want from your collection, and throw the Force Organisation chart out of the window (while still adhering to unit sizes and heeding the relationships described in the all-new Allies Matrix).So, not only are we not moving to a highly restrictive percentage-based force organization, but now we'll have the option to field an Unbound army that's effectively a mini-Apocalypse force (except with some Allies restrictions). Correct me if I'm wrong, but that's the exact opposite of what those rumors from a "reliable source" were saying.
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| How could anyone have doubted that they would try to sell as much plastic as possible? |
Upon hearing about the anything goes option, the percentage proponents are already declaring the game to be doomed. However, I'm rather happy that GW didn't go the more restrictive route. That being said, I see the 40K Cabal playing Battle-forged armies almost exclusively, with the occasional prearranged Unbound game. As I said in my last post, the Cabal is composed of friends who are capable of coming to mature agreements about the kinds of games we play. Unless the bonuses for Battle-forged armies are significant, I could see Unbound games becoming very one-sided.
Also of note is that they've added six Maelstrom of War missions in addition to the existing Eternal War missions. Maelstrom of War uses a deck of Tactical Objective cards that give you objectives ranging from controlling markers to eliminating enemy characters, vehicles, flyers, etc. Once you achieve your objectives, you get the points and draw new ones. This could be pretty interesting as it may add a dynamic element that the current missions don't have.
Additionally, there's now a psychic phase and it looks like the way psykers are used has changed a bit. Although the White Dwarf goes into little detail, apparently manifestation of psychic powers will involve a Warp Charge pool that involves a number of dice equal to the roll of a D6 plus the total of your psykers' Mastery levels. A player can use as many of the dice as he wants to manifest powers, but the more you use the more likely you are to suffer Perils of the Warp, which is now a table with "some very scary results".
The new edition is supposed to be "fully compatible with all existing Codexes, supplements and rules expansions."
My gaming group has been pretty happy with 6th, but we don't really have any power gamers. We also have an unwritten rule that Allies are for accommodating multiple players, not supercharging an individual's army. I think most of us are looking forward to a revised edition, although my guess is that this edition is really just 6.5.
ReplyDeleteThe WD talked-up three major changes, while mentioning "refinements". But of the major changes, only one really seems to significantly alter a feature of the game.
I'd bet the only big change is the addition of the psychic phase, possibly because the 6th Edition version didn't quite work out how they hoped. It actually sounds pretty interesting and makes me want to get Tigurius into playable condition.
The Maelstrom of War missions aren't replacing the Eternal War missions and don't sound too different from the kind of things they introduce with supplements. Although after seeing how skewed our Purge the Alien or Relic games can get, the Cabal is very interested in these new mission types.
Oddly enough, I don't think the addition of the Unbound army allowance is that big a change, either. All they're doing is saying that people can play small Apocalypse games. I'm sure most casual players will use it every so often but will typically stick to Battle-forged. Our gaming group has occasionally allowed deviations to the FOC in special scenarios, usually with some penalty for deviating. This new change seems to provide a "GW Approved" method for doing that.
Fantastic blog guys :)
ReplyDelete" it's big, it's ugly, it's a Space Marine vehicle." - Extremely well said ;)
How does micro-sol work exactly? You dissolve the edges so it's blended into the model?
Hope to see you guys in game sometime next year ;)
Eternalcrusade.com
Micro-Sol works by softening the clear plastic of the decal. It becomes almost gel-like and melds into the surface. The ink that makes up the image stays intact.
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