BREAKING NEWS: 8th Ed 40K Infantry Split Fire and To-Wound Table Explained!
Two major developments in 40Ks 8th Edition reveal today. Let's start with the To-wound table.
Instantly easier for newbies to use, and requires no need for a reference table... unless you can't remember that one above.
So a good thing, but also a nerf for plasma guns against terminators. High toughness just got that much tougher against the big guns, with T4 and above starting to get away from being 2+ to wound for anything below melta-gun strength. With weapons reported to have no cap on Strength, we'll just have to see how this goes.
With that said, lasguns and small fire will be wounding bikers and Plague Marines on 5+ now, as opposed to the old 6+. This gives all weapons a wider range of decently woundable numbers, as opposed to the relatively thin band (and unwoundable Toughnesess) we had before.
Overall a balanced change, which should get more models being useful in the game.
The second part is the split fire mechanic for Infantry, which is such a tremendous buff to Space Marine Tactical squads, you'd think it was made solely for their benefit. Specialist squads of heavy weapons are required no longer, with every gun in a unit able to take a different target.
We can actually see Guilliman's battle philosophy in action now, with Tactical squads able to perform a number of battlefield roles. They'll no longer just be a objective securing tax!
It doesn't just end there though... if you think about a Fire Dragon squad all sporting melta guns, you could certainly be assured of a tanks destruction. However, there were no points for overkill. A few of those melta shots would be wasted. Now you can reserve half the shots in that unit for shooting at whatever falls out of that tank!
Autocannon Havoc squads can probably take down two Rhinos a turn now!
And here's the biggest thing about it: Multiple Small Units is no longer a rule exploiting tactic.
MSU means taking loads of small units, as opposed to fielding fewer larger ones. Because units could only shoot at one enemy per turn, it diffused the overall fire power of the enemy. A lot of shots could have been wasted, and even if you could wipe out the unit, you'd only have taken out maybe one jetbike squad out of ten.
Now fire can be split between models, that tactic is no longer viable. Honestly it was a rules exploit anyway, and nothing prevents you from continuing it as a psychological tool (Do I make sure that unit is gone, or do I split my fire across them?). It's just less of a problem now, particularly when combined with the new style Morale tests getting models to vanish off the battlefield.
Note that this trick is only said for Infantry... what does that mean for bikes and cavalry? We'll have to wait and see, but it would be great for this to be unique to Infantry. Gives them something other than the "Cheap filler" or "Awkward Elite" role.
Characters tomorrow. Expect to see Age of Sigmar style abilities to make them more than just a melee beat stick!
Until next time!
Thanks for reading.
If you liked what you saw, and you want to help out, please leave a comment. Sharing this with your friends, and following me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ would also be hugely appreciated.
If you have anything you want me to look at, let me know in the comments below. I'll probably be able to write an article about that topic within a day!
If you really love what I do here, you can make a one off donation at my PayPal, or become a true hero to table top education and make a regular donation to my Patreon. Every Little helps!
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| Image from Warhammer Community |
Instantly easier for newbies to use, and requires no need for a reference table... unless you can't remember that one above.
So a good thing, but also a nerf for plasma guns against terminators. High toughness just got that much tougher against the big guns, with T4 and above starting to get away from being 2+ to wound for anything below melta-gun strength. With weapons reported to have no cap on Strength, we'll just have to see how this goes.
With that said, lasguns and small fire will be wounding bikers and Plague Marines on 5+ now, as opposed to the old 6+. This gives all weapons a wider range of decently woundable numbers, as opposed to the relatively thin band (and unwoundable Toughnesess) we had before.
Overall a balanced change, which should get more models being useful in the game.
The second part is the split fire mechanic for Infantry, which is such a tremendous buff to Space Marine Tactical squads, you'd think it was made solely for their benefit. Specialist squads of heavy weapons are required no longer, with every gun in a unit able to take a different target.
We can actually see Guilliman's battle philosophy in action now, with Tactical squads able to perform a number of battlefield roles. They'll no longer just be a objective securing tax!
It doesn't just end there though... if you think about a Fire Dragon squad all sporting melta guns, you could certainly be assured of a tanks destruction. However, there were no points for overkill. A few of those melta shots would be wasted. Now you can reserve half the shots in that unit for shooting at whatever falls out of that tank!
Autocannon Havoc squads can probably take down two Rhinos a turn now!
And here's the biggest thing about it: Multiple Small Units is no longer a rule exploiting tactic.
MSU means taking loads of small units, as opposed to fielding fewer larger ones. Because units could only shoot at one enemy per turn, it diffused the overall fire power of the enemy. A lot of shots could have been wasted, and even if you could wipe out the unit, you'd only have taken out maybe one jetbike squad out of ten.
Now fire can be split between models, that tactic is no longer viable. Honestly it was a rules exploit anyway, and nothing prevents you from continuing it as a psychological tool (Do I make sure that unit is gone, or do I split my fire across them?). It's just less of a problem now, particularly when combined with the new style Morale tests getting models to vanish off the battlefield.
Note that this trick is only said for Infantry... what does that mean for bikes and cavalry? We'll have to wait and see, but it would be great for this to be unique to Infantry. Gives them something other than the "Cheap filler" or "Awkward Elite" role.
Characters tomorrow. Expect to see Age of Sigmar style abilities to make them more than just a melee beat stick!
Until next time!
Thanks for reading.
If you liked what you saw, and you want to help out, please leave a comment. Sharing this with your friends, and following me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ would also be hugely appreciated.
If you have anything you want me to look at, let me know in the comments below. I'll probably be able to write an article about that topic within a day!
If you really love what I do here, you can make a one off donation at my PayPal, or become a true hero to table top education and make a regular donation to my Patreon. Every Little helps!
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