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I've just been reading through some of the 5th Ed rumors and I must say that overall they seem like they will improve the game. The biggest bone of contention is the Strength 4 defensive weapons deal. Combined with the cover save for vehicles rule will mean that all tanks, skimmers, and walkers will be way too static for the game. So my first thought is... The elimination of this rule will most definitely be the first step taken by many gaming groups. Vehicles should be moving and firing, that is what they are best used for. I imagine that IG, Tau, Eldar, Marines/CSMs in particular will want to overturn this rule. It doesn't make sense, Infantry all of the sudden are way more mobile, but vehicles will have to park themselves inside a building to get the full benefits of their firepower.

I'll try playing it GW's way at first, but I can't imagine it will make the game more fun. Tau and Eldar skimmers got nerfed enough for me by the 5th Ed rules, but they should still be able to move 12" and fire with all of St6 or less guns. It is really out of character for these armies to hover around inside buildings and forests, when they should be moving quickly across board using their speed to protect them. Overall I like the improvements to the vehicle rules, but this rule looks ripe for house rule overturning.

Anyone else agree?

I just think about how much more fun 40K has been with vehicles that can actually move and shoot. 3rd Ed, when you couldn't move and fire ordinance was one of the least interesting times to be an IG player. I loved the change that 4th edition let you have with moving and shooting vehicles, both regular and fast. It made mechanized guard fun to play, even if they weren't the scariest army out there you could actually execute armored moves across the board. I had no problem with Tau, Eldar, and Marine skimmers moving 12" and shooting, I just had a problem with how impossible to kill they were. If 5th makes skimmers and ground vehicles more balanced that will be fantastic, but a mechanized Eldar army should be able to move more than six inches and still fire most of its guns. Mech Eldar and Mech Tau both rely on the ability to concentrate their fire on the move to stay out of harm's way. Mech Eldar in particular doesn't have impressive amounts of firepower and really needs those shuricannons to make an impact. Now that their vehicles will be more fragile, they really need to retain their firepower abilities. If they can't get an obscured save without losing most of their firepower they are essentially not living up to the fluff behind them. Same story with Land Speeders. They have a pilot who can shoot the assault cannon, and a gunner who can fire a heavy bolter. They are made to do strafing runs, just like Falcons and Dark Eldar Skimmers.

The main reason that I suggested that the Str 4 rule is worth overturning is because vehicles need to be shooting first and foremost. Therefore, vehicles will be way more static as a result since the middle ground of a gradual advance has been nerfed badly. Combine that with vehicles no longer being scoring units, they won't have much of an incentive to go anywhere. I like that Predators and similar vehicles can lay down heavy bolter fire on the move. It gives vehicles an incentive to make tactical moves as opposed to a bunker wedged in a forest.

The biggest change to game play that I can see arising from 4th edition to 5th edition will be the emphasis on troops as the only scoring units. I see this as a boost because it will end the day of land speeders and falcons popping out and making last turn objective grabs. Infantry are getting faster, which is good also, combined with random game length it will mean that winning games will mean taking and holding objectives.

The problem that I see arising from this is that so many vehicles are geared to have strength 5 or 6 weapons (chimeras, devilfish, battlewagons, land raiders, predators, hammerheads, hellhounds, falcons, etc) that should be able to move in support of the infantry as opposed to just hanging back and laying down covering fire. It is what tanks were designed to do, and if tanks can't fire their supporting weapons on the move, they won't. They aren't scoring, so why risk moving them out of cover where they are hull down? Tanks need an incentive to move, not more reasons to stay put. If a Falcon or Hammerhead can't get a skimmer moving fast save and still shoot most of its weapons, they will just end up floating around in cover. Infantry will be getting a big boost from the new rules, I feel like if they keep tanks mobile then we will actually see more tactical decision making. The simplest way to do that is to let them keep their Str 5 +6 guns. Otherwise they will just end up floating around in the back field.