Hi All,
One of the big posts on the Warhammer Community site today revolves around the new army construction rules, and how detachments will work. It seems that detachments will represent the major internal faction differentiation in each codex, rendering this is a valuable insight.
The article starts by explaining the major buff the Space Marines get regardless of their detachment.
For an edition that is supposed to have less re-rolls this is a pretty powerful buff. It also massively impacts armies with big units like knights, or key squads. I have a feeling we will rapidly slide into a similar meta as 7th edition where certain armies get more powerful formations and these will dictate the meta.
Moving on, we also get to see the Nids new Invasion Fleet detachment rules:
We know Sustained Hits means: exploding 6’s to hit. I imagine Lethal Hits will be a mortal wound mechanic, but the last option is the most interesting. Judging from this snippet, I think we can see characters are now joining units. This would massively simplify the game, and reduce the amount of re-rolls and the like. It would get rid of Heroic Intervention which was a messy mechanic and overall just improve the game. I am hoping they go in this direction.
GW goes on to describe how each detachment will have its own enhancements including relics, and likely, warlord traits. Each detachment also includes its own stratagems:
Neither of these are particularly groundbreaking, and the new format for strats does make them a lot more clear.
Overall I am still apprehensive about this new edition. I know AP has been toned down but I am skeptical that they have meaningfully reduced the killyness of the game. I also think their detachment rules idea has the danger of bloating the rules while also emptying the flavor out of individual chapters and regiments. During 7th ed, you needed to keep up on every possible release as they might have one really good formation and is often why players needed so many books to play the game. In this edition it may be mitigated with a good app but I am still doubtful. We shall see, maybe I am overreacting, but I think I’ve seen this one before…
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