6th Edition review: From a Balancing Standpoint.
The new rules and how they affect you.
Hello. Welcome to my review of what I think of the new 6th Edition Rule Set for Warhammer 40,000. First off, I'd like to state that this is my first ever article on Dakka Dakka and will probably have many errors in it. Please, any such newbish errors can be ignored or messaged back to me for correction.
I just wanted to take a moment to mention my own thoughts and opinions on the new rule set that came out this weekend (August 30th, 2012). I have to mention now, I haven't delved into this tomb of battle (my first thought upon seeing this thick book of rules, fluff and information) as much as I might like yet, and I do not yet have a full grasp on all the finer points of the game yet. I feel I've got enough of it in though at the moment to present a quick review at this time.
Wound Assignment
The new wound allocation rules I think are very fair and, honestly, nice to see around. It makes you have to be more careful about how you place your squad on the field of war. The new rule stands basically like this, whoever is the closest model to the squad shooting them takes the hit first. So no more of the odd "I've got a unit with 2 wounds each, and three of them have power claws, two of them have flamers and one has a big choppa" (I admit, I made some of this stuff up, but you get the point). The flaws with the old wounding system are out, and that flaw was being able to spread out wounds so if only three wounds where going to said proposed squad above, one would go to the big choppa, one could go to the power claw and that last wound could go to a flamer, thus not a single nob would die. Now, whoever is closest to the squad is going to take all three wounds, until he dies and the remaining wounds then move on to the next closest model, until all wounds have been saved to taken.
I also feel that, with the new wound system being in now, many tactics that should have worked before hand are now more powerful, instead of pointless. Have a fast squad that tends to get behind someone? Well, now if you attack from an unexpected angle, you might cause wounds to something/someone that your opponent was trying to hide behind the rest of the squad. About to get assaulted by a squad that you know you will get slaughtered by in melee? Cause enough wounds to them in the shooting and you might be able to prevent their charge by killing the couple of models that would have given them the inches needed to get into the assault.
The draw back you might say from this? If you are use to having your meltaguns in the front to get as close as possible, or have your awesome HQ leading a squad from the front, well. Break that habit now or stay in 5th edition. Otherwise, your going to loose those models fast. As for independent characters in a squad, they can no longer be picked out at all (except by a few select special rules). However, even with that said, if you have a character in the front of a squad, wound allocation would still be placing those wounds on him if he is closest to the squad causing the wounds. You do, however, have a look out sir special rule. I haven't read that rule as of yet, but the basic is you roll a dice for each wound that would be heading towards the characters way (Sargent and some upgrades to squads also benefit from this rule), and if you roll well, I think a +5, you get to place that wound onto another model. The model that took the wound ended up jumping in the way of the shot.
Wound allocation is the same in the shooting as it is for melee, which makes every ones life easier. From what I've read, and I might still be wrong on this but, you now pile in 3" into the assault when your initiative turn come into effect. So you now react to things coming your way in a more dynamic way. This also means that, as you clear off closest models from wounds being caused, you pile in with fresh ones who are now ready to strike. It might catch those of us use to the older system off guard for a while, but it's not hard to really understand.
As a final note on wounds, if models are equidistant from the squad causing the wounds at them, then you "randomly" assign the wounds between any of them that are closest to the squad, or basically from what I think I've read, the person who controls the squad taking the wounds places the wounds on one of those models till it is dead or all wounds are saved. So be careful on where you place the wounds if and when you get the chance to do so. If you place it on someone whom you wish to keep, he might not survive!
Shooting
Basically, nothing has changed too much here. You shoot after moving still. You still declare your shooting like before. And the to hit chart hasn't changed. Actually, none of the damaging/to hit charts have changed when it comes to infantry. The biggest changes to shooting are now with Rapid Fire weapons, snap fire, Interceptor/skyfire. So for the most part, shoot like you always have with a couple of smallish exception.
First exception is Rapid Fire. Rapid Fire is very similar to what it was before. One shot at full range, or two shots if the target is at half range. No more of the 12 inches away stuff. That means if you have a rapid fire 30 inch range weapon, your rapid fire range is now 15 inches. If it was 18 inches, your rapid fire is now 9 inches. For most armies and players, this small change isn't going to change anything for them. Tau and Imperial Guard probably feel this more than anyone else.
Rapid Fire weapons can now be shot at full range even if you moved. So ignore that whole penalty for moving reducing your range. Tau players, your Fire Warriors are now mobile and even more useful than before. What this means is, if you had rapid fire weapons, you can now move and still shoot the one shot at full range of your guns, or still at the two shots for the rapid fire range like before. You can now choose to close in and cause more damage without risk of not moving far enough and not being able to get the more shots and getting none instead. Now, no mater what, you'll get at least your base shots.
Snap Fire is going to be everyone's new best friends. I don't think this rule made any codex broken or overpowered, or hampered or weakened anyone. If anything, it gave armies weak to assaulting or armies with lots of heavy weapons a little mobility. Snap fire is a new ability never before seen in the games of Warhammer (or at least as far as I know and I've been playing since 4th edition). Snap fire does several things, the two most important things namely being the ability to shoot weapons when you move, even if it's a heavy weapon, or being able to shoot at approaching enemies before the assault.
Snap fire is a special rule everyone has. The only models that don't get it are those that have Slow and Purposeful and vehicles, and even that is only for reacting to someone assaulting them. Each are too slow to react to people charging them as either they just move too slowly, or can't line up the guns soon enough as they take too much effort. All models can use Snapfire for heavy weapons, so long as those weapons are not a template or blast weapon.
Snap fire works like this, if you move and decide to shoot that heavy weapon you are carrying, then you can opt to snap fire it instead of not shooting at all. The penalty, yes there is one, is that you can't use your full ballistic skill and instead shoot as though your ballistic skill is 1 (basically, you have to roll 6's only to hit). With this new rule, I can see twin linked weapons gaining a bit more for the cost needed to field them. Now, if you miss with that snap fire shot, and you paid the extra for twinlink, you can try again for that 6 to hit.
You can also use snap fire to shoot at units that have declared charges on your squad as a reaction to their charge. Almost anyone can do this, except for vehicles (walkers may be exempt from this) and units who suffer from Slow and Purposeful rules. What this means is that, you can shoot one final time at someone about to assault you before they actually come to grips with you. Just like with heavy weapons on the move, it is also 6's only to hit. (And for those Tau players thinking about Markerlights, give it up. You can't improve this BS skill any farther from what I can figure out at this time. You shoot as though your BS is 1, it does not change your BS to 1. So, the markerlight hits can't be used, even if they had one on them. And also, you can't markerlight with a snap fire charge reaction and shoot a missile at them from a skyray (or any seeker missiles). Erratas and FAQs say you can't.)
In the end, Snap fire is a way for armies who excel at shooting but suck at the assault to get that one final shot off before they, usually, die. Tau is now back in again, along with several other armies.
Then we have Interceptor/skyfire. Skyfire is a way to counter fliers and their evasive maneuvers, but a unit with skyfire that doesn't have interceptor is penalized at shooting ground units as though they snap fired their weapons at them. So basically, for the most part, if you have sky fire, you shoot things out of the air, not into the ground. So far, the only unit with Skyfire are Fliers and the Imperial Guard Hyrda Flak tank (as of this moment as far as I know). I'll cover more about fliers and hitting them later. Suffice to say, they aren't easy to hit.
I think that is about everything for shooting. Recall once more that wounds are caused to models closest to the unit causing the wounds. This means you can help ward off assaults just that little bit easier... sort of... And you can also use that to "target" indirectly certain models if you are fast enough and able to get into good position. (No. Blast templates still cause wounds to models closest to the squad shooting, not the models under the template. Sorry.)
Assault
Assault mechanics are basically the same, but there have been many revisions and changes to this system. Basically, you get into the assault, attack at your initiative and sort out combat resolution, sweeping advances and consolidation as we are all use to. The changes are Charging into the assault (not getting into it, but the actual act of charging), and pile in movements as well as wounding. I'll cover most of the changes and what this means for you here.
Charging is (from what I've read so far, which I admit, I skimmed through this section as I tend to not want to assault with many of my armies) declared in the assault phase as normal. You can move and shoot before you charge like we are all use to doing, to the extent of my knowledge. However, you now have to roll 2d6 to see if you can get the charge. That's right. If I got this right (I hope not, but I think I do), people can now move 6 inches, and possible charge 12 inches into you! That makes a threat range of 18 inches for a charge. Of course, I'll take the other side and if you roll double 1's, it's an automatic fail (if I'm right. I want to read that up before I say too much more on that. Still, at least it's a 8 inch threat range). Only advantage is the Snap fire to prevent that 18 inch charge from hitting you. Maybe you'll get lucky and take down the couple guys in the front needed to get to base with you.
Also, certain units are better at charging other units, like jump packs and flying monstrous creatures, as well as bikes and maybe a few others I haven't thought of yet. If you didn't use your jump packs in the movement, then you can use them in the assault to permit you to reroll your charge dice, either just one or the two of them, if you failed a charge. Also, if you get into the assault with any of these fast moving units, they get a round of combat before actual combat, where they get one free hit per model in base to cause more damage. For you fantasy players, consider this like an impact hit, but only monstrous creatures get one free hit.
Pile ins now happen at each models initiative value. This means, when it's your models turn to strike, you move forwards and get to attack. More dynamic and realistic with the new wounding system. As your comrades are dropping, you move in to attack back. Or, at least you move up when you try to attack back. It's probably going to take you assaulter type a few moments to get the hang of this bit, but I'm sure you'll still like it. Pile ins are now 3 inches as well, instead of the 6 inches. So it's maybe a little easier to fight your way into a gap out of assault? I'm not sure, but it still isn't going to be easy to do that.
One final change that will have some people angry, and other people nodding their heads in agreement. Power weapons and many other have been changed. Powerweapons now no longer ignore all armor, but like with shooting weapons, not have an AP value. Power swords are now AP3, and Powerfists and Thunderhammers are AP2. AP also now effects vehicles more than just AP1, so this also takes effect there. A little good, a little bad. You'll have to check the rule book to see what your close combat weapons do now.
In summary, I'd have to saw a warning, be careful who you charge. Flyers can't be charge, as well as monstrous creature who have wings and happen to be flying at the time. Also, squads can shoot back, sure at 6's only to hit you. But if you are charging a big enough squad, or a player who happened to be luck, you might not have a squad left when you get to assault, or only a few members still alive.
Fliers
I know you've all probably wondered about these guys. Yes. Fliers are in. If you haven't gotten that yet from reading above, then I'll say it again. Fliers are in.
Fliers are covered with special rules, modes of movement, and even other abilities. One of their key abilities is Zoom, which means they can move at incredible speeds, all the while shooting and damaging things. For full explanation, read the rule book. This review isn't a replacement or simplification of the rule book. I'm just pointing out changes and the goods and bads of each major change.
Basically, fliers are hard to hit unless you have Skyfire. Other fliers (at least vehicles) have to choose if they are shooting with Skyfire or not at the start of their phase (I can't recall which phase they choose, but probably the start of the shooting phase). Fliers can shoot other fliers without penalties for the most part. As for how to hit them, it's like shooting a weapon with Snap fire. Recall that rule I mentioned above? To sum it up and say it again, as it never hurts to, you shoot at them as though your BS is 1. That means only 6's will hit. If you read Apocalypse rules for flying, this shouldn't be anything new for you. For those of you who didn't read those rules, well now it is in for smaller matches as well. Knowing this, I can see twin linked heavy weapons are going to start to become worth their points now, if they weren't already that is.
Also, a flying unit "zooming" around the field can't be shot at with template weapons or blast weapons. Anything that needs some form of template can't shoot at them if they are in zooming mode of flight. Sorry vindicator. It's just moving too fast for you. Meltaguns also will have limited effect on most fliers, as you don't hit it's base, but the actual hull of the model as it is floating on the base peg. You might get it if you are close enough to hit, but you probably wont see any melta on it.
I think that about covers hitting a flier. Basically, it's hard to do.
Also fliers MUST start the game in reserves. They can no deep strike either. However, they made reserve rolls a little easier. So more than likely, you'll get it in turn 2, and if you don't get it in by turn 4, it will automatically come in at the start of turn 4. However, there is a little loop hole in this rule. A flier with the Hover special rule (Stormraven's in particular) can deploy as normal and deep strike. When they do however, they loose their flier special rules for the turn(s) they are hovering. When hovering, they are counted as being a fast skimmer. This rule doesn't seem to apply to flying monsters though. They just start on the board, or in reserves if you choose.
Monstrous Fliers
Yes. You heard that right. Monsters can fly now if they have wings. Winged daemons, it's time to come out and play again. As if Daemons weren't bad enough as it was to fight. Now, forget it. Daemons are easily the most powerful codex out there. Especially once you consider the ally possibility of Chaos Marines (and their Chaos Icons making deep striking near them easy). Even without the Chaos Marines, Daemons (which I always felt was always worth twice their given points for the most part) just got even more outlandish. You saw the rules for hitting fliers? Same thing for flying monsters. 6's only to hit while they are flying. Your saving part is, if they are flying then they can't assault you. However, with models such as Fate Weaver on the field, why would he ever assault? Just fly around, make it 6's only to hit, probably 6's only to wound as well, and reroll that +4 ward save of his. For 333 points? I'd take him to!
Now, the up side of flying monsters. Tyranids, that codex you keep hearing about but haven't seen played in 5th edition for the most part? Yeah. They are now able to compete with other codexes on a more or less level playing field. This was something they really needed. It was a power boost they truly needed. They are now the terrors that they always should have been. And mixed in with the new psychic powers for them as well... and it really gave that old army some rigor again. Daemons didn't need this, but the Tyranids did, and you can't give to one and not to the other. However, I personally will gladly take one codex getting stronger to make another one become playable again.
Downside of the flying monsters? Yes. There are some. Flying monsters might only be able to be hit on a roll of a 6's, but as monster who has taken a wound need to see if they got knocked out of the air. Once back down to the ground, it becomes open game again for everyone else shooting that turn. as well as possible assaults. And as always stated, enough bolter rounds into anything (living) will take it down. (Especially if it's poisoned.)
I would like to note, Flying Monstrous Creatures can come down and stop flying to assault you, but if the do, they are no longer considered flying until they start to fly again. This does mean that they can fly up to you, drop down, and assault. Well, by fly, I mean move like with a jump pack. This gives Monsters much versatility. If you have a monster who flies and is more shooting, take the 6's to be hit and fly around. For monsters who are designed for assault, use flying to get closer and to evade your opponent's attacks, and then dive in and rip things apart.
Vehicles (in general)
Here are some interesting things to know about. Hull Points, jink, and Disembarking. I'm sure everyone wants to know about the fabled Hull Points that have been running around as a rumor. Well. It isn't a rumor. Hull Points are in and they aren't too bad.
I'll start with Hull Points. Every vehicle now has hull points assigned to it. Most have three, some have two and the tough ones have four. What does this mean for you? Well, if you love your vehicles and didn't want them blowing up after thousands of hit results that glanced, don't count on that anymore. I would almost count vehicles as the old monstrous creatures where (and still kinda are). Hull points are like wounds now, and any time someone glances or pens, you lose a hull point. Glances no longer go to the chart, they just take a hull point. Penetrating hits go to the damage chart, but this isn't the damage chart of old. It's been changed and the damage chart is actually more forgiving, probably do to the hull points. I think it's far trade now. It's harder to blow up a vehicle for the most part on the chart, and easier to shack and stun it. AP2 weapons add one to the chart result, and AP 1 adds two to the chart results. So a high AP weapons is more likely to blow up a vehicle if it pens.
With hull points, your vehicles aren't going to last as long as you might be use to. That means get them out cheaper than your use to probably. A Laindraider is still a tough target, but when all you need to do is glance it four times in a game and it's wrecked, it isn't as nigh unstoppable as it once was. However, those techmarines no one really used before might have a use now. They can not only repair damage results from the chart, they can also repair a hull points to a damaged vehicle. Handy, no?
What do hull points mean to you? Well. If you happen to be Necrons, your gonna love fighting vehicle armies of old. You'll glance them to death with those Gauss weapons you love so much. For every roll of a 6 to penetrate the armor is an automatic glance. That means an auto-hull point being lost. Set up right, with a ghost arch and a squad of full warriors (and recall rapid fire weapons now can shoot full range even if you moved), you can easily glance a vehicle to death in a single turn. Even a Landraider doesn't like them. Add in those little scarabs... and it could be trouble. Having your troops inside transport? Still a good idea. Rhinos are still every bit worth their points. They have 3 hull points, so it isn't like they'll survive forever, but neither will they get wrecked too easily. And they still add armor to your troops.
Jink is a special rule all skimmers now have. Skimmers just got a boost, making some of those old cost for skimmers some of us are still paying steeply for (namely Eldar and Tau) now become a little more worth it. This rule, by the way, is also there for jetbikes, eldar jetbikes, and bikers too. What's the rule? What's so great about it? Give me time, and I'll explain.
Jink is a nice rule all skimmers have. It's nice because, if your skimmer moved even just half an inch, you still gain it's benefits. Okay. Enough suspense. This rules means if you moved you get a +5 cover save. If your turbo boost or flat out you now gain a +4 cover save. Now I recall something everyone was jealous over the Tau for... anyone recall those Disruption Pods? Yup. Basically, if your skimmer is moving, you get a chance to dodge shots the old fashion way, by dodging. Tau still have disruption pods they can use, but now they aren't so needed.
If you are a xenos player, you should like this rule for the most part. Most of us who have skimmers (fast skimmers seem to be the typical too, even better) are use to keeping them on the move anyway. Well, now we gain benefits for it. That wave serpent you pay 90+ points for just became somewhat worth it's points. Devilfish for 80+ points, same thing. Dark Eldar Raiders I'm sure just got a good boost as well, especially when combined with the rapid fire rule as well. Imagine a fast skimmer who moves 12 inches, shoots it's dark lance at something big, and then has the ten or so warriors shooting their poisoned shots at nearby infantry, even if they are 24 inches away. Sounds nice, doesn't it. Or take the Eldar Jetbikes now. They get this ability too, with an increase to toughness and a +3 armor save. Add in a Warlock (who's abilities are ALWAYS active, yeah. I found that out recently myself) that gives them conceal (+5 cover save) with Jink (if it stacks, I can't find anything that said it doesn't) and you have a +3 cover save base if you move, and a +2 cover save if you turbo boosted that turn. Wouldn't that be nice? (Eldar cover saves from Jink and Conceal do not stack from what I can tell. Each gives them a +5 cover save, and you can "choose" between which save you want to use, always using the better of the two. So yeah...)
Now. Disembarking is completely different, so listen up. This is a huge change and made a lot of things just work now. The big change here is you create an invisible 6 inch bubble around all your access points. The models of the squad disembarking MUST remain COMPLETELY inside this 6 inch bubble. This is their movement. They can not move any farther in the movement phase that turn. They can still run and shoot as normal. When you disembark, you also can not assault or declare charges that turn, unless you have left an open-topped vehicle or a vehicle with the assault special rules. This includes even if the vehicle stood still the turn before. So paying more for those open-topped transports isn't such a bad thing now, is it?
How will this effect you? Easy. You now don't have that extra possible 2 inches to move around in. You can't have your vehicle sit still the turn before, leave it, move with the extra two inches, and then assault like nothing was wrong with it. You now can't assault, and your movement is leaving the transport. Cut, Tied, and Dried. This also means that drop pods are extremely flexible. You have 6 inches from it's hull to move your squad after they come in. That's a lot more room than the 2 inches from before. So drop pods are plus. Same goes with assault vehicles. You might loose that 2 inch extra from before, but it makes this easier to figure out and manage. And it feels better as you play. It just makes sense.
In the end, be careful about your hull points, don't think your tanks are still invincible. Vehicles are more on level with monstrous creatures, which is fitting and gives the Tyranids another aid they really kinda needed, being the only race without any vehicles to their name. Skimmers are now awesome and a little more worth their points we tend to pay for them. And Disembarking makes a ton more sense, is simplified and easier to understand.
Psyker Powers
I'm not going to go into everything here, as I haven't gone through this section yet... But to put things simply, check your erratas and FAQs on GW website. You have more options than before. More powers. And the system is a little more forgiving for those being subjected to such heresy as warp energy. You now have Deny the Witch as a last ditch try to negate some of these powers, as well as warp counters to help you with the number of powers you can cast in a single turn.
Deny the Witch is an interesting rule. I think they use to have something like this before on certain units, but now everyone has it. Any time someone is casting a Psychic power at a squad, the squad being effected can make this "saving" roll to deny the powers of the warp. For most anyone, on a roll of a 6 you'll be safe and prevent the power from going off. If you are a Psyker yourself, then you have a few extras for this. If your Psyker mastery is higher than your opponents, then you get a +1 (I think, need to read more still) on your Deny the Witch roll. And psychic hoods now extend a Librarians Deny the Witch to squads nearby him. It no longer works as it once did.
As for casting psychic powers, they streamlined this and made it easier to understand. For every level of Psychic mastery your psyker is, you produce a warp token. I believe you do this at the start of the player turn. That means you can cast some psychic powers even in your opponent's turn. In order to use a power, you have to pay warp tokens as a cost. Most powers only take a single token to cast, though some might take two, or even three. I've not go over this section very well yet. I tend to play Tau, though I also play Marines from time to time. Very few if no psychic powers in those armies. I've toyed with Eldar before, but they weren't my think back then. I've heard of one power that costs two tokens, but I can't confirm this. That about covers Warp Tokens.
Eldar, eat your heart out. You still aren't the most "Powerful" psykers out there, but you get a lot more now than you did before. For every power you buy for your Farseer, you now get a free one automatically from certain disciplines in the book. Read the Erratas and FAQs. Only codexes/races that doesn't even need to worry about this are the Tau, Black Templar, and Sisters of Battle. Even Tyranids get more choices and options now.
How this effects you? Not much really. You have more options, you still have your codex powers, and it basically runs the same way as before. Only real effect here us the fact that you have a bit more protection against opponent psykers. Warp tokens give a physical representation of the powers per turn limit as before, and it makes it more clear on when you can do what. That's really about it. Nothing overly new, besides the new powers.
New Categories
I'm sure you've been reading this and seeing some new categories of troops. I'm not making this up, okay? They helped define and state more categories of troop/vehicle types. Before they had some categories that weren't well defined or where "added on" to another type. No more. If you are playing with Bikes, you have a Bike category. All rules related to bikes are there. Then they also have a Jet-bike category! Any rules are stated for them there. No more, are bikes the same as jet-bikes in addition to... So now there are definitive types in the game. If you're a jump troop. You're a jump troop. If you're a Jet-pack troop. You're a Jet-pack troop.
I've stated this because I have in fact seen people play "they are really all sub-types of this, so if it effects this, then it effects those as well". Let me tell you, unless it says it effects "this" now, it does not. If it says it effects jump infantry, it wont effect normal infantry. Or say... Jaws of the World Wolf (Space Wolves special Psychic power), when it says it effects bikes, monsters, infantry and tanks; then it means it effects ONLY Bikes, monsters, infantry and tanks. That means that Jet-bikes, Jump-pack, Jet-pack infantry, flying monsters, skimmers and fliers are NOT effected by it. Don't let them tell you otherwise. Unless there is an errata on it, or the core rule book says otherwise, it still only effects the listed units. Jump/jet infantry are NOT infantry. They are a type of infantry, but they are not infantry. A jet-bike is not a bike. It might be a sub-type of a bike, but it is not a bike. They are now listed separately, and for good reason. (Also, another common cheat I've seen from Jaws of the World Wolf. It only effects the models under the line. It does not effect the unit (squad) that is hit by the line. Don't let them get away with wiping out your whole squad! It isn't that powerful!)
How this effects you? Not much really. Minis my rant on Jaws of the World Wolf, it just helps to clarify things for everyone. I always say, when in doubt use your head and try to figure it out. If the power says it opens up cracks in the ground and kills people who fall into the crack, then it should be common sense that anything that flies or hovers probably isn't going to be effected by it. And also, always check the erratas. Heck. While your at it, check all the erratas, not just the ones to armies you play. If you can, print them all up. It makes everyone's lives so much easier and makes game play more balanced.
Overall
In an overall view, 6th edition has helped balance out a lot of armies. Some armies that use to not even be playable has gotten new life breathed into them. Tyranids are thankful for the much needed help. Imperial Guard tank lines are not going to run all supreme. And Tau now can get that last ditch shot at someone before they get dismembered (assaulted). Just about anyone and anything can shoot on the move, making units that had to hide in your deployment zone to be of any real effectiveness can progress on the offense. Fliers are now in and controlling the skies can be a tactical advantage for you. Wounds are now more logical, and you can't play wound bounce (sorry guys who use to finagle the rules like that).
This isn't your 5th edition. This is now 6th edition. Things have changed. For the better? For the worse? Don't know yet, but I'd like to think that seeing more variety other than space marines on the field of battle is a good sign. I'd prefer to think that the Eldar, Tyranid, Black Templar and Tau gaining ground and being a standing army out does the extra strength that the Daemons and Necrons received from this. I'd be willing to say I'd even be happy with the Hull Points to make vehicles more fair and balanced, though I honestly do wish they either had an armor save for glancing hits, or double their hull points. Is 6th edition worth playing? I'd have to say it's still being a blast and I think it was much needed. I liked 5th edition. I learned on it. It worked well, but 6th edition is better in so many ways. At least, till some loop hole pops up and everyone starts taking advantage of it... Makes me think of 5th edition and their tanks...
Overview
So. I think that about covers everything I can overly think of without handing you the rule book. Check your vehicles in the core book. Double check your new special rules. Print out your erratas, at least for your army. And be ready to have some fun. Will your original army of old be up to the task? Probably not anymore. But I'm sure you'll find a way to play your favorite army, or even go back to an army you loved but felt was too underpowered. Whatever you play, however you play, always recall he spirit of the game. Have fun. Play to enjoy, not to win. Someone has to loose, it's part of he game, so have fun. And if you're the one loosing, try to do me a favor? Look good as you loose. If your troops are gonna die, make a pretty corpse.
Signing off,
Tesunie Kataren
Member of the Tau Moonstar Sept
Allies of the Craftworld Storm Bringers
Sociable neighbors of the Imperium.
