I just want to lay down some coherent thoughts. I know, difficult for me.
First off, I'd like to address the main rulebook itself. Full-color across the board, with a VERY high quality binding. Several fold-out inspirational sections, large artwork, etc. One 'bookmark' ribbon. I really think they should have put in about four or five of these. This is the best book I have seen
GW put out, ever. It should last a very long time. Compare this to the 3rd edition rulebook, which fell apart in days.
Additionally,
aside from featuring a WOMAN in the first few pages, the book has an entire hobby section, and the whole book really pushes the HOBBY. Hard. Big displays, well painted armies, quicky 'get up and running' painting and modelling tutorials, a section of kitbashing. The downside is many paragraphs of self-serving "
WE'RE THE BEST!" gak which is, frankly, a load of total
bs. But, it is the in-house publication, and they're allowed to say whatever they want. The section on finecast, and the amount of extra product you have to buy to prep them (scraping tool, sanding sticks, liquid greenstuff) is an embarrassment, and probably the section of the book that is the most egregious when it comes to bold-face lies.
Throughout the entire book, there are call-outs talking about creating an ongoing Narrative with your games. The "British" viewpoint on the game (non-tournament, play in the pub) is gloriously on display, here.
The battles section is GREAT, a real touchback to early
40K where even the battlefield wanted to kill you. 6th Edition
40K is not a sterile tabletop. While I don't think they went far enough, the 6E battlefield is a living, INTERACTIVE tabletop. I'll touch on this again in a little bit.
Finally, I almost want to cut out and scan the back six or seven pages of reference. There's an ENTIRE game reference back there, along with a list of all basic troop statlines AND every weapon in the game (and upcoming weapons, too!).
All in all, I feel the rulebook is actually WORTH $75. Of course, I paid $60, after tax. *ahem* I could compare this $75 to, say, a $75 self-contained game, but that's really comparing apples to kumquats and, as such, will be discouraged.
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The
FAQ's.
While it is GREAT that they had them up on Zero Day, they suck. I mean, seriously and fully SUCK. People are already all over
GW for things like the Winged Daemon Prince in the
CSM codex being an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT UNIT TYPE than the...Winged Daemon Prince in the Daemons codex. Hopefully, we'll see some 6.1
FAQs up, but I can't help but feel that the
FAQs were an afterthought.
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The rules themselves.
Overall, I think this is an ORDER OF MAGNITUDE worth of improvement. While I see where their proofreaders screwed up, overall it is a solid set of rules. There are some issues.
1) Fliers and
AA. Until all armies get some
AA rules AND Flyer rules, we're in a serious 'have nots' situation. Also, the Necron Flyers are ABSURDEDLY undercosts for what they can do, given the nerf to transports. Oh. My. God.
2) Allies. Great for casual players, awful for Tournaments. The "Allies" chart is an absolute JOKE, and should be thrown out by your local gaming group.
3) The
WTF moment.
Every new set of rules has had the
WTF moment. In the last edition, it was the Mechanized Tide. In this edition, it is the "Look out, Sir!" rule. One rule affects the ENTIRE game, and has already proven to slow down close combat to nothing, as people game the "Character" rule, to gain an additional save. I can see that, for tournaments, this is rapidly going to be the 'new meta'.
We are, for better or worse, back in "Herohammer". Maybe it is good to sell to teenaged boys a game where their Superhero gets to smash through a hundred enemy men, rend tanks, and brutalize the battlefield. This is what 2nd edition came down to, and it is what we've come down to now...except without the cheap Vortex Grenade to drop at the feet of the Superhero, with a smile. People will need to adjust to this, just as they needed to adjust to Mechanized Crush.
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For the fluff/casual player.
WOW. Working terrain! Fortifications! Objectives with cool rules! Allies! Narrative battles! Campaigns! A VASTLY improved table setup and mission generator! Go out there and build your EPIC battlefields, folks! Crack open the BBQ grill, open up some cold ones, and get ready for a CRANKING GOOD TIME. It simply is NOT a better time to be a fluff/casual
40K player.
Build those objective markers. Build those terrain pieces. The battlefield setup rules which explain how to lay out fortifications, terrain, and objectives are wonderful. Don't skimp on the random objectives, and the mysterious terrain. Unlike in Fantasy, this really HELPS
40K build an exciting, unpredictable battlefield. Yes, it is entirely possible that the Comms Relay Objective you MUST TAKE
AT ALL COSTS is in the middle of a razorwing hive nest.
Embrace the random, embrace the fluff, throw out the Allies table in favor of your own. Make great terrain. Make great battles. Make great stories.
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For the tourney player.
I'm so very sorry. This rulebook is a big middle finger to your desires to have a streamlined coherent set of rules, where there won't be any disagreements, and the 'roll a
d6 rule' will never be used. Heck, I know most of you will be ignoring all the terrain rules, get pissy about the allies metagame, and will be convinced that all is lost. Oh, and then you'll be annihilated by Necrons, over....and over....and over...
No, in all seriousness, this rulebook is several pounds of screaming declaration. This is not a game designed for tournament play. End. Of. Story.
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For the tournament organizers.
Can I buy you a beer? No, really. Good quality stuff, because you're all going to be drinking heavily. I'm really sorry.
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The Codexes.
Way, way too early to see the Meta, but here we go. Metagame and Allies will be discussed in their own sections. Armies with a flyer are [marked]. Armies with an actual Skyfire unit are *marked*. Armies with flyers AND a skyfire unit are [*marked*]. A flyer is an army with a Flyer or a Flying Monsterous Creature. Forge World units are NOT considered, here. Flyers are NOT considered for the purposes of Skyfire, I'm looking to denote armies that have dedicated Skyfire/
AA platforms.
Black Templars - Slight buff. New wound allocation rules buff codexes with lots of
ICs.
[Blood Angels] - Mixed. the loss of +1
Init off of Furious Charge hurts the entire army.
FNP changes are a wash, I think they're better now. they have a Flyer.
[Chaos Demons] - I think they're somewhat hosed, but since they don't use vehicles, they will be less affected by the meta change than most. However, the power weapon nerf affects them a LOT. They DO have Monstrous Flyers, so that's a big buff.
Chaos Space Marines - Hosed until the new codex, which will catapult them into top tier or make a lot of
CSM players so. Very. Angry. Reason: Cultists.
Dark Angels - Hellllllloooooooooooooooo DEATHWING and Ravenwing! Welcome back. New Codex will vault them into a top tier army, NO PROBLEM. AND they gain a Flyer!
[Dark Eldar] - Can't charge out of the webway anymore. But they have a Flyer. Lack of AP2 close combat weapons will force a change to bring the units that have them into play. Their vehicles are now stupidly fragile, and flickerfields need a
FAQ ASAP.
Eldar - Uhm. Yeah. Anyone got a Samm-hain army around? No? Bonus:
DE Harlies are better than Eldar Harlies...but you can take them as allies, now! Most powerful Psykers in the fluff...ohhhh, so sorry. Thankfully, you have Eldrad, right? Right? Bueller?
[Grey Knights] - Somewhat Nerfed. The
GK meta has to be seriously re-thought, as the mechanized rush and Psyfleman Dreads will be going down like tin cans in a shooting gallery. However, Psyfleman Dreads are also one of the only non-deciated
AA platforms in the game, due to their strength, range, number of shots and twin-linking-looking-for-6's. The loss of AP2 acorss the board hurts, expect to see Terminators-as-troops make a MASSIVE appearance. They have a Flyer, so they're still in the running for top tier.
[*Imperial Guard*] - A wash. Hydras are now dedicated
AA platforms, and Mech Guard is vulnerable. But
IG has the tools in their Codex to cope, and cope well. Top tier army, welcome to the age of the powerblob. Only Army with Flyers AND
AA.
[Necron] - AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Buffed so high, they should be banned from tournaments. Necrons are the OMGWTFBBQ codex. 36" transport unassaultable flyers! Everything causes glancing hits! Swooping attacks ignore cover and smoke! Still causes night fighting, and acute senses no longer counter it! Zam! Blam! Blooey! Every Necron player should be rolling around on the floor, laughing until they pass out with glee. Any Necron player who dares make a complaint should be punched in the face. Twice.
[Orks] - Hard to say. Trukks are stupidly fragile (like Dark Eldar) but the new wound allocation rules give them massive power blobs. Expect a return of Flash Gits. They have Flyers, which automatically buffs them to mid-tier or higher. The loss of the +1
Init in Furious charge HURTS them. Precision Strike off of
IC's HURTS them, because most of their blobs have a single 'important' model. However, a unit of Nobz on Bikes, which is an all-character-army, is this brutal thing of legend. Also, Mega-Armoured Nobz are BACK IN THE GAME, thanks to the power weapon nerf. I think it is a good day to be an Ork.
Sisters of Battle - Only Codex whose special rules can buff allies! WOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Purge with fire, sisters, it's a disco inferno! This is the "Dark Horse" candidate for top tier army.
[Space Marines] - Light buffs, nothing seriously nerfed. Will be interesting to see if Vanguards can make a come-back. Lysanderwing makes a strong showing here. Gained a Flyer that assists Deep Striking. HMMMMMM.
Space Wolves - Buffed, I think. Their usual mech tactics got nerfed, but they may be the best Psykers in the game now. And with a plethora of characters and TONS of
ICs, they will play the Herohammer Metagame very well. Spamming Long Fangs is a good
AA defense, and most builds have this built in, so the lack of a Flyer won't hurt them as much as other armies.
Tau Empire - Spanked. While Rapid Fire helps them a lot, and I expect them to become the second best vehicle killer in the game, the loss of Target Locks and the new Wound Allocation rules mean Tau players have a lot of re-thinking to do. Stealth Suits are now VERY powerful, and a unit of 2 Gun Drones off of a vehicle can deny an objective. There's a lot of whining right now, but I think that this is another "Dark Horse" Codex once the meta settles out. Not setting the Skyray as a Skyfire vehicle is one of the stupidest decisions made. It makes it an artillery platform only, and not a very good one at that. HOWEVER, once a markerlight touches an enemy flyer, that flyer is *$@#()$ DEAD from Seeker Missile Spam. This Codex is the most nerfed in the Flyer Meta.
[Tyranids] - Man, this one's tough. The loss of synapse creatures (fearless) to go to ground is off-set by Monstrous Flyers, and the fact that they have NO VEHICLES. Everything they have either contests or outright claims objectives. With the new battles, and monstrous creatures being able to take cover again, this goes into the "Dark Horse" category.
So, let's top five:
1) Necrons
2) Necrons
3) Necrons
4) Grey Knights
5) Imperial Guard
Dark Horses: Sister of Battle, Tau Empire, Tyranids
Possible big losers: Tau Empire, Chaos Space Marines.
Note that both 'losers' are just possible, as one needs the Meta to settle down, and both have the promise of new Codexes soon.
CSM is a "Big If".
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The Metagame.
The Power Weapon Nerf is big. Power weapons are AP3, and that means
TEQ is the new King of the Battlefield. (TEW == Terminator Equivalent, aka 2+ saves). The fact that a 'power weapon' is now a sword (AP3,
Str), Axe (I1, +1
Str, AP2), Maul (+2
Str, AP4, Concussive) or Lance (weird)....means you can declre what weapons your unit has before the battle. Expect a LOT of magnetized weapon arms coming into play, ASAP, until this is clarified. The Chaplain Crozius is AP4. That's got a lot of players honked.
I also think
GW missed a great chance to make Chainswords stand out. They're the same as all other
CCWs like knives. They should have been (-1
Init, +1
Str). OH WELL.
"Look out, Sir!" - This is the game changer. It buffs characters, super-buffs Independent Characters, will cause the
WAACs to conga-line their troops, and super-buff already existing Deathstar Units. It also slows down handling wounds in shooting *AND* close combat, with
CC taking a seirous hit. Tourneys are going to have to radically re-calculate the time it takes to play a game.
I hate this rule.
Vehicle Damage/Hull Points - Vehicles are going to be glanced to death, but you no longer have to worry about a glancing hit making your vehicle useless. Squadron Damage is now SANE. Hull points have been applied poorly, not enough thought went into this. A chimera is 3
HP, a Land Raider is only 4. Weapon destroyed results are now randomized, put those sponson weapons back on.
Movement - Nerfed for everyone except Flyers and Necrons.
Embarking/Disembarking is a lot more LOGICAL, but people are going to be upset at such a radical change to the rules. Random charge length is another nerd-rage inducer.
Pre-measuring - All in, baby. And it is about time. The movement to cut out all guesstimating (Which favored people like myself) is complete.
Wound allocation - Closet models get killed first. You can't kill a model you can't see. Precision strikes. A lot of stuff that's going to slow the game down, create new shenanigans...and most casual players will roll right through, because we won't be trying to
WAAC our way through a battle.
Pysker Powers - Wow, total upheaval, in firing, using, and the 'new random powers'. Lash...sucks even worse now.
Objective Claiming: Vehicles can't claim objectives. Units *IN* vehicles can't claim objectives. They've defined EXACTLY what can claim, and what can "Deny". This change is very important, and nerfs vehicles. If you want to hold an objective, you have to put boots (claws, hooves) on the ground.
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The Missions/The Battlefield
Just simply awesome. Three radically different table deployments, six 'regular' missions and a few 'Example' missions of 'make it up yourself'. Terrain is defined, buying fortifications is a BLATANT 'buy our product' rule...but one that will be good once people start building themed terrain for their armies. Setting up terrain goes like this:
Place your fortifications. Roll for terrain density. Players alternate placing the available terrain. It is OKAY to set up terrain to help your army. You are encouraged to work with your opponent to create a narrative.
You can also just place everything randomly. Obviously, tournaments will go with fixed terrain, because that's what tourney players want, and placing terrain before each battle slows things down way too much, especially when combined with the wound allocation slowdown.
Random battlefield effects, a list of well-defined terrain types (trewnches, tank traps, razorwire, etc) and a list of random objectives and random 'battlefield debris' makes for an exciting time. You can, of course, also allow for people to choose their objectives, or place specific objectives and debris to create a stunning narrative battle scenario!
I cannot stress how much the Missions and Terrain rules have riveted(*) down that this is a HOBBY game, meant to be played together with people to create an epic adventure.
(*) See what I did there, -=]_.=- ?
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Overall, I think this is a serious WIN for my style of
40K play. Enough so that I'm going to try and put together a local group that plays the game for fun. I am genuinely excited to play Warhammer
40K again.
But the
WAAC/hardcore/'ard boyz are going to dislike it a lot. Unless they're Necron players. Those people are still rolling on the floor, laughing and gasping for breath.
But, understand this: We are back in the land of Herohammer, where Mighty Heroes stride the battlefield. A "Hero" is going an Independent Character, in 2+/?++ armor, with an AP2 weapon, and some form of high mobility, or lots of cannon fodder to hand wounds off to. Be the rules, he WILL be in front, leading his troops. Ground transports will fall back to a secondary role, eclipsed by Flyers. Battletanks may see an increase in use, but the fact that they can be glanced to death in a single round is...bothersome. All in all, it'll take about a month for the Meta to settle down, and as Codexes and
FAQs get issued, you'll see the power structure settle as well.
Still. Unbelievably great to be a Necron player, good to be Guard and Grey Knights. Everyone else is...about the same.
--B.
"This is why I hate the novels. They squash our imagination and creativity and create way to many fluff lawyers. To many "you can't do that because Fluffy Kitty novel says Captain Ichypants lost his pointer finger in the battle of Dogtown"." 
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