What are some of your favorite rules that you have come across while rereading Warhammer Fantasy Battle 3rd Edition? Full disclaimer, I actually started in 4th/5th, but I heard about the Oldhammer renaissance and reading the 3rd Edition rulebook now has been quite a treat. It definitely has brought back memories of many of the things I enjoyed about earlier versions, and explains why I never had much success in finding a satisfying game of 6th/7th edition. So what are some of your favorite rules? I'll start a list:
1) The Free Hack: I find this to be much better than the "automatic run down and destroy entire unit" rule of later editions. It is still thoroughly bloody but it also allows a routed unit to turn around, rally and come back into the battle with a vengeance. Looking at a small handful of WFB3 battle reports, it seems like this happens a lot, which is a great way to keep your carefully painted and detailed unit in the narrative of the battle.
2) No Leadership Penalties: I haven't been able to find a single leadership penalty in the rulebook yet, which is appreciated. Sometimes it is hard enough to pass a Leadership 7 test, without reducing it further for other modifiers. This way, even a unit badly beaten in the first round of combat stands a chance of holding steady and dishing back some damage.
3) Fewer Attacks: Compared to later versions, each model has far fewer attacks (an approach changed by recent editions no doubt to sell more miniatures). Frenzy confers no extra attacks, spears only offer half of the second rank and additional hand weapons come with a -1/-2 penalty to hit. On top of that, the "to Hit" chart is more difficult (requiring an average of 5+ to hit). The result is that combats last a little longer and smaller units can last as long in a battle as units twice their size in later editions. Judging from WFB3 battle reports, the emphasize definitely seems to be on smaller warbands, who can perform the parts of much larger armies in more recent versions.
What are your favorite rules?
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