Thursday 11 May 2017

First 8th Edition thoughts



Time for me to step from the shadows and reveal myself as the Universe's puppet master, King of neuro-linguistic programming, whisperer of forgotten dreams and the small voice in your head that says ‘go on, do it’.


That's right ‘The Mitch’ here bringing you ramblings from the Tzeentch side of the cosmic double bed. Now I need to make it clear that my Chaos collection is one built around Thousand Sons and Tzeentch marines rather than daemons although I do have a few Daemon Princes and Magnus the Red has mystically appeared in my collection - who can follow the threads of fate eh?






With 8th edition 40K just around the corner and GW teasing us all with daily tidbits I am still not sure what to think. The pioneer in me says ‘just get on with it and embrace the new’. The experienced wargamer in me keeps saying ‘Its not what I would have done’. Whatever happens, as an elderly gamer I have seen several editions come and go; whatever 8th edition is like, one thing is sure, I will still be playing 40K.

So what do I think so far? Im carefully optimistic. The game will be different but it will give us new challenges to consider. I am very happy that GW have taken a good hard look at the Alliance table and are working hard to simplify the factions. The new character rules that mean they cannot join units and cannot be targeted unless they are the nearest target will make for some clever tactical movement. Simplifying game play has been at the heart of the reboot and that I agree with wholeheartedly. One aspects that I am not so sure about is the morale rules for units being shot. I would have preferred the mechanism to cause units to fall back rather than lose miniatures. In my experience taking the position of units out of a player's hands makes for more interesting games BUT frustrates players immensely as they are used to being the Gods of all they survey. Having units move involuntarily adds an element to the game that I think 40K has always missed.

And now I’ve seen this!



This data sheet clearly shows how new factions will only benefit from other units with the same faction name. In addition, in most cases The Thousand Sons get a 2+ save with a 4+ invulnerable which feels right and differentiates Rubric marines from regular marines. What is missing is any detail about points, but I'm using them at my next event however many points they cost.
Will they be game winners? In  some ways I hope not as I want to enjoy my games and that usually means a close, hard fought and tactical (skilful?) game. Will Chaos be better? Will the forces of doom be at the level of the infamous version 3.5? Will  the envisioned ‘Generals handbook’ with annual updates improve game play over the years? Will history end if Eldar are still ‘top race’?



Tzeentch knows the answers to all these questions but she’s not saying...at least not until June 2017, and then all she will say is 'I told you so'.


15 comments:

  1. Interesting read pal! Love the model with the wings deamon prince i think? All the details on the armour plates very nice looking forward to seeing more of your army :)

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    1. Oliver, you can see him/her here https://wargameexclusive.com/shop/chaos/daemon-prince-of-slaanesh/

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  2. Lord Adiatun Varunn12 May 2017 at 01:15

    Welcome Michael, glad to read of the glories of the servants of the Manipulator of Destiny (and, if it is not just my view, congratulations for the text written in blue ... a nice touch).
    The eighth edition looks very promising, not only for us servants of the Four Gods, and for "old people" like me is also a nice dip in the glorious past, we can only hope they keep it seems.
    Just a curiosity: that's not this Daemon Prince in the picture a Daemon Prince of Pleasure? and Gary the Castigator knows about this "sacrilege":-)?

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    1. Of course you are correct, Skranarack - MY Deamon Prince was once a follower of Slaanesh....his story is still in the making.

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  3. Welcome to the blog mate, the Pantheon of the Dark Gods is complete!
    I'm really looking forward to 8th edition, if it achieves half of what it is claiming it will do, it will be the best version of the game ever.....time will tell.
    The down side is (for me at least), is that I've lost all interest in the hobby at the moment until 8th is released (Pre-orders June 3rd, released June 17th....allegedly). I'm sure I'll get my mojo back once it is released and no doubt it will require me to build and paint lots more models!
    I can't wait to see how lethal my Fire Raptor will be in 8th, everything is twin linked, so that will be 14 Avenger Bolt Cannon shots and 16 Autocannon shots (or 24 Heavy Bolter shots) Ouch!
    I'm not sure how Thousand Sons get a 2+ save Michael, is that from some funky ability or is it down to your notoriously bad typing?

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    1. The Thousand Sons get a 3+ save but it improves by 1 if the weapon shooting at them only has a damage of 1. That is most weapons that are not heavy or special. For example a lascannon delivers D6 damage, but a bolt gun etc delivers 1 damage. Does that help?

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    2. Oh wow, I missed that!
      Here we go again, the accidental WAACer strikes again.....you just know that Thousand Sons will suddenly become the latest 'must haves' now that you are playing them again ;-)

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  4. Nice overview! I am very excited with 8th edition. Everything I have read so far has been pretty great.

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    1. Me too Michael. It will be different but as a Tzeentch player I am not at all phased by change.

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  5. Welcome to the blog by yet another appreciative reader, Michael. :-D The Pantheon is indeed complete. I've painted Nurgle, Khorne and more recently Slaaneshi Marines (with no small inspiration from our host the Castigator :-) ) but have so far shied away from the colours of change because, err, it's easier to paint their daemonic aspect than the mortal one. I'm also looking forward to 8th edition, but have the gut feeling that it's going to be a bit of a bumpy ride like when we changed from 2nd to 3rd quite some years ago. All the best.

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    1. I have a dirty secret. My primary army is Necron but I have always loved the ruinous powers and have slowly been building up my Thousand Sons. Im not one of those players who want my army to be better than others. Im really looking for an army that will give me asnd my opponent a good game. I think that 8th will allow us all to have those kind of games where anything could, and does happen. The real competitive players will hate it! :)

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    2. In my case I've dabbled here and there over the years but ever since gawping at the gorgeous miniatures of the 2nd edition rulebook and especially the short story on the last page (the musing of a deranged veteran of the Long War who knows not the present from the past 10,000 years ago) I knew I had forfeited my soul to the Chaos gods. The Thousand Sons have been getting better over the years, and especially the Tzaangors are lovable as only a bird-beastmen can be from a warped, Chaotic perspective. :-)

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  6. Lets be honest my Thousand Sons were never collected for the rules. People would say we are insane at the points cost to effectiveness ratio. Then Wrath of Magnus dropped and now this? Bonus.

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  7. Rory, you're right Thousand Sons have always been way too expensive...they may still be! Let's see how the stars align.

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  8. Lord Adiatun Varunn18 May 2017 at 06:49

    Dear Castigator,I'm sorry to hear about your creative mojo moment, but Lord Slaanesh takes care of his servants devoted to unknown streets... If you please, I would like to tell you about this site where you could find something that will arouse your interest ... before the release of the 8th Edition

    http://fortresserioch.blogspot.it/

    greetings

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