BREAKING NEWS: 8th Edition Warhammer 40K Unit Profiles Analysis!

Damn Games Workshop, can we slow down a little bit? I've got books to mark!

So, a few things here to unpack.


First of all, the return to the movement value. This is going to give GW designers a lot more flexibility in determining speedy themed armies, and how units work together. We've already seen the differences and similarities appear just with the screen shots above.


The Tactical squad and the Dreadnought both have similar moves values, which gives us the impression the Dreadnought is meant to be striding up with the infantary giving close support. The Terminators, on the other hand, despite being tougher than the average Marine, are a little bit slower. These are heavy hitters coming in after battle lines have already met.


We all could tell that the standard WS and BS rolls were coming... I don't think anyone will miss them. With 7th Edition changing the close combat rolls to 3+, 4+, or 5+, then it was effectively all the same anyway. Ballistic skill was always a standard dice roll anyway, with the only difference being army special rules (Tau marker lights and Mechanicus doctrina imperatives).


The interesting bit comes in with keeping Strength and Toughness. It looks like the To Wound table will still be around, and this is the first indication  we have for confirming the rumours of Games Workshop's difficulty progression.


The rumour goes that Age of Sigmar is designed for young, new players, with 40K being the next game up with some more complexity, and Horus Heresy being for grizzled neck beards who love nothing more than rules lawyering and arguing over RAW and RAI.


With Strength, Toughness, and presumably the To Wound table being in 40K, but with the To Hit table removed, we can see this as being an introduction of a layer of complexity for a new player progressing from Age of Sigmar.


The wounds have gone up, presumably because everything can hurt everything now. The Dreadnought now has a whopping 8 wounds, to make up for the fact it now needs to wade through seas of lasgun fire. I think this will make for more epic combats, but I will certainly miss the one shot krak missile exploding these things!


Terminators to no ones surprise now have an extra wound. With two attacks, two wounds, and presumably a standard 2-shot Stormbolter, they're effectively double the Marine in a single model. Points costs alone will let us know how good this will be compared to more tactical Marines.


Strangely enough, Attacks has remained the same. We may be seeing the continuation of the 2-CC weapon +1 attack rule. Again, with the idea that this should be giving increased complexity over Age of Sigmar, this means that wargear selection will still be a big thing in 40K, as opposed to the very woolly options list in AoS.


Leaderships have dropped down as well, but not to the level of AoS Bravery. Whilst we can expect to see some significant changes to how Morale checks are done, we can again expect to see a little more complexity over AoS's running away mechanic.


Armour saves have styed the same, with Terminators and Guilliman even getting a 2+ armour save. With the standard Marine getting a 3+ save, I think we can infer that even the humble bolter will be getting some kind of Rend value, most likely of -1 to saves.


I base this on the fact that Stormcast Eternals are probably representative of what a "Good" armour save should be, and the -1 Rend would bring the Space Marine power armour save in line with that.


Aaaand, that's about it. I'm going to bed now. No more updates until tomorrow, okay GW?


Until next time!


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