What we know….
What we know so far is that on May 24th there will be an announcement regarding the 7th Edition of Warhammer 40,000 and that it is more than a simple FAQ-Escalation-Stronghold Assault tie-in.
This is the real deal and comes less than two years after 6th edition was released. There are plenty of websites showing shots of the pages in the next White Dwarf where Jes Bickham is discussing it, and he states that there is now a dedicated ‘Psychic Phase’ (like 2nd edition, but playing like Warhammer Fantasy Battle’s magic phase) and that the Force Organisation Chart (FOC) is now optional.
You can use the FOC if you wish and indeed, it seems this will grant you certain – as yet unnamed – bonuses for your army. However, you can also field ‘Unbound’ lists which essentially means you can take whatever you like, subject to the unit size restrictions of course; you can’t have a squad of 48 Terminators or 14 Tau Crisis Suits whether you use the FOC or not!
The other noticeable change is that there are now many more mission and objective options. Indeed, objectives can even change in-game via the deck of 36 objective cards.
What we think we know….
We still expect the rules of Stronghold Assault and Escalation to be rolled into the main 7th Edition rule set. There is a belief that flyers will be less effective against ground targets when they are zooming a full speed, and that stationary ground units will be more effective against flyers than they currently are.
We think that units that are charged will be allowed to overwatch as usual but will also have to option to pass a leadership test and run rather than fight… however, the charging unit can take an iniative test and force a ‘sweeping advance’ manoeuvre against the running unit.
We also believe that sweeping advances out of combat and into another unit will be back.
Nerd-rage….
The internet is now full of raging gamers who are incensed at the release of an entirely new edition of Warhammer 40k – less than two years after 6th editions’ release – and the presumably £45-£50 price tag for a new rulebook, and then the release of a new boxed game replacing Dark Vengeance.
The unbound lists have also caused outrage (and some delight) amongst the gaming community. Talk of fielding 10 Heldrakes has been mentioned…. or an entire army of Runepriests, boosting each other with psychic powers and so on. The possibilities are endless really.
The general vibe seems to be that people are unhappy to say the least.
My thoughts….
What do I think? Well… I think I’ll wait and actually see how it all works and ties-in together before I express any delight or rage.
I’m surprised that an entirely new edition has come along less than 2 years after the last.
Many codexes still require an update – Orks, Dark Eldar, Blood Angels, Grey Knights – and it remains to be seen how much this new edition will crap on (or buff) some older books, such as the Necron or Chaos Space Marine Codex.
I am generally supportive of Games Workshop fiercely protecting their IP and their model pricing policy but I am now a bit concerned about the pricing, and here’s why: Games Workshop’s model development and production is an expensive process and the designers, sculptors and mold makers are a very talented bunch who earn their wage. The cost of molds for unit’s like Wraithknights or Riptides and other big kits is extremely high.
This is fine.
Games Workshop (currently) limit, for example, Tau players to 3 Riptides in a normal game of 40k. This goes some way to justifying the £50 price tag. They know that your average Tau player can only field 3, so they can (very) vaguely estimate how many Riptides they are likely to sell over time and they will determine that in order to make a good return on investment that the Riptide needs to sell at £50.
This is fine. (at least, with me it is.)
What concerns me is that with the new ‘unbound’ lists, you can throw the FOC chart away and field 10 or 12 Riptides. Now they are the main stay of your force as you don’t *need* to field Tau troop choices.
They are still £50.
Something is wrong with this.
I don’t imagine there will be a price reduction but maybe they would consider more ‘bundles’ with actual savings rather than the ‘One-click’ bundles that are just there to save you the 14 seconds of your life adding items to your basket rather than actually saving you money.
Forge World provide good bundle offers and I’m surprised that Games Workshop – who are the same company after all -, don’t offer similar deals.
I’m off topic here a little now, but I do believe this is a genuine gripe that gets overlooked.
Anyway, roll on May 24th so we can all see what’s going on.
Cheers,
Neil
Tykens Rift 