the next edition of Love Hammer 40,000– The tenth in the Games Workshop The venerable tabletop miniatures game—is shelved with this imageummer, bringing with it a sea of rule changes that will make the dreaded dense game look faster and cleaner to play. Of the few we can say about the challenge of the tables war hammer Festival 2023 To try it for the first time, it feels like the company He might be on to something.
After revealing the huge launch box Leviathan This past weekend, Games Workshop opened tables inside Manchester’s central conference complex to hundreds and hundreds (and hundreds—Waiting times to play the new version regularly beat the three-hour mark) for WarGames to get a brief overview of how the new rule systems work 40 thousand Generally from June 2023.
The hands-on demo was a limited slice of what’s already shaping up to be a less bloated version of the current game, saddled with dreadfully layers of additional rules spread across multiple reference books and other intricacies. Players are limited to just one battle round, with only a fraction of the new Navy and Tyrant Troops that will be available in the game. Leviathan—Two new Screamer-Killers and two teams of 12-unit Infantry Termagant for alien Tyranids, two Ballistus Dreadnoughts along with four teams of five-man Marines Infernus Flamethrowers. The ability to issue tricks has been restricted through command points, a dense layer that is simplified in the new version, to only allow them to be spent on recycling. And with only one target in the center of the table to fight for control of, all you can really do is be less of a tactician and more than just… a playful kid firing your guns and then instantly crashing into each other at once, basically.
But guess what: being a fun kid shoot your guns and then instantly crash into your enemies. The battle lines are all at once very fun, and Version 10 seems to be laser focused on trying to make this fun as smooth and fast as possible. The battle round I played in – which ended in a close draw thanks to one push from the Infernus Marine fending off a Termagant charge after destroying them with a tank missile and a barrage of periblaster fire, while the other valiantly shrugging off a terrifying charge with a Screamer-Killer long enough to keep her and the intense objective control stats at bay Off Center Board – Finished in under 30 minutes. tThe hat was partly off Due to the oversight of the Games Workshop staff that encourages us to stumble into action Dice hurry, however It was also because so far 40 thousandThe tenth edition of the game is committed to making the game still deep, But without a lot of extra layers to hinder the frustration that can happen war hammer It feels less about rolling dice and making plays, and more about flipping through the rule books to see if you can jam another key in the fighting business.
As someone who didn’t play the sci-fi side regularly war hammer For the better part of two decades (I was a third child, and I Final return to the hobby Focused largely on Games Workshop’s fantasy game, Omar Sigmar), and see the changes made on the board 40 thousand Hand in hand made it less intimidating than I had previously felt I felt an attempt Getting into the current iteration of the game. The biggest hurdle removed with the new version is the introduction of data cards – which already exist in a similar capacity in Omar Sigmar—aims to put every rule necessary for a unit on hand for the player to see, rather than having to turn to rulebooks. Although experience with the military eventually overcomes this hurdle, it is a vital component for bringing in newcomers or returning players who have not been seen. war hammer at its most complex, and allowing them to proceed smoothly and swiftly.
Also welcome Games Workshop’s tweaks introduced turn-by-turn phases, condensing and tweaking the old structure in order to arrange gameplay flow more logically. Psychic powers, which previously had A.J sincere play stage Before other battles can begin, they are now used in standard ranged battles and melee combat instead, while many tricks (portals issued to units by spending command points accumulated through control targets as the game progresses) previously released in Individual unit tours begin as capabilities to deploy elsewhere. Although the testing was limited here – there are no units on the board that have psychic powers to use, and as mentioned earlier the trick behind rerolling is off the table – everything felt faster and smoother to play with not feeling like you were being robbed of the decision-Make or things you do with your alternating time.
This is also reflected in part by the changes to units in general in the 10th edition: everything feels tougher and not in a bad way. In general, most units in 40 thousand It now feels more stable, and with less armor penetration abilities in play (bonuses to attacks that make it harder for an opponent to successfully parry your attack), it means things are more likely to last a bit longer. This is amplified by the modified final part of the Battle Round, the Shock Phase. Previously, units that had been reduced to less than half their strength at this juncture had to undergo a morale test, and if they failed to do so, they could find themselves further shattered as the models in the unit were removed to account for the soldiers’ orientation. Now, failed shock tests don’t result in your weak unit losing more forms, but in it running out of its ability to compete for an objective area the next turn, or being affected by command orders.
On the surface, this may look bad, Like your units coming to the new version will feel weak. But in practice, they don’t. wCatching up with a few dice rolls on your side, It can still feel a good charge or devastating shooting round, even if the lowest infantry unit is less likely to be completely wiped off the board in a single attack. This paints Fight to be less about kill counts and more about battlefield holding strategy and competing effectively. It still makes for great stories that charm newcomers One side of our board, an enemy Screamer-Killer killed an entire group of Inferus Marines in a single attack, putting the Space Marines behind, while on the other side, a similar situation resulted in a downed but not out squad of soldiers holding on to the second Slayer in close combat, She even inflicted some wounds with her pistols as a good measure. But it ultimately makes for a game that’s unlikely to bother you when an unfortunate twist takes a unit completely out of play before they can do anything.
Although my time with the new version of 40 thousand It was short—and constrained enough that I don’t feel fully aware of all its intricacies and changes just yet—and it made me more hopeful than ever about falling into the bleak darkness of a distant future once again. Hasier entry points, Not just in a new base Changes, but in new forms of play war hammer (I’m really excited about Combat Patrol, prof A smaller-sized match type built around Army Combat Patrol GW boxes), Effective way Erase some of my personal comments-About getting closer to the game I adored as a kid. With a more level playing field for access to new rules – Primary rules will be free when v10 is released, and every faction in the game will have new rules and datasheets from day one without having to wait for new rulebooks for months or years in the release lifecycle – Ability to choose An old favorite My beloved houseor trying out a new faction like the Tyranids or Tau, seems less intimidating or a great investment.
in his new era, Warhammer 40K Still very much feels like itself – convincingly strategic and mechanical – without feeling overwhelming in ways that make me feel hopeful that the game, on the verge of More mainstream awareness and popularity ever in 40-Date year, is about to get a little more open all kinds of people. And in Games Workshop’s epic, chaotic story of perpetual war and conflict, it’s always nice to have more hands that can hold a chain or two by your side.
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(tags to translation) Warhammer