"My take on 8th Edition Part II" Topic

Had a chance to read up some more and watched a couple of really good games of the 8th edition rules at my local game store. Heck, the six players even had most if not all their models painted or in the process. That alone is a cut above and some really nice gents too. I plan to go back once I have all my stuff painted up as I had to mostly start over having sold or given away a lot of 40K figures.

As I mentioned in the other thread I plopped down the 60 bucks to get the rule book as I was unsure I wanted to invest the $160 USD for the Dark Imperium set. Anyway the hardbound rule book is a beauty. Yes, about the first two thirds is chocked full of fluff and background story along with page after page of incredibly well painted armies with grand gaming tables full of equally beautiful terrain and the iconic and excellent art work that is evocative and just makes you want to get out there and start playing games of 40K. Or not.

Then the book gets into the core rules (what was the free pdf you can still download) but that is only the basics and not what is really the meat of the 8th edition rules. (Remember the first hit is free kiddies, then you have to pay.)

By meat I mean gobsmak'n tons of material to expand your games. Yes there are the classic six scenarios but with this edition and this rule book GW really pulled out all the stops and has provided a depth of ways to jazz up your games.

I mentioned in the previous thread about command points and stratagems. Well I had only seen the tip of the ole ice burg me fine chums.(Beware a fisherman who calls you his chum.)

I will try to be brief but might fail, so bear with me.

In the section of the rulebook titled "Fighting a Battle" the rules introduce you to the basic concepts we are all familiar with to set up a game and have a good romp with our minis on the tabletop. Here you are given a random table of three options for what the victory conditions are for your introductory game. Nothing fancy right, so what?

Well then you turn the page and you are introduced to three concepts of game play, open play, what most of us would call a throw down where you just bring what you have in your collection and go at it. This section adds three scenarios along with all the information for setting up the battle. Again, nothing to write home about.

Then comes the Narrative Play section which adds seven more scenarios all with their own objectives and stratagems and of course lots of advanced rules, but wait…

Then there is the Balanced Play, i.e., we both bring x number of points and test our cunning and forces against each other most common to many 40K and tournament experiences but even here another six scenarios are added and more stratagems and ways to create interesting and challenging games. Then just for fun there are three pages with various tactical objectives oh, and more scenarios.

Then the rule book gets into Battle Forged Armies section which is were I mentioned in the last thread you get to design you force to gain command points by way of detachment selection. Regardless of how your force is designed you start with three command points off the top. If you want to bring three Imperial Knight titans (Super Heavy Detachment) to the tabletop that is fine. You get three command points added to the three you started with so you have six to spend on either re-rolls or stratagems. However for the same points or power rating if I've brought say a Battalion Attachment( +3 command points and Minimum 2 x HQ and minimum 3 x Troops), a Vanguard Detachment ( 1+ Command Point and Minimum 1x HQ and Minimum 3 Elite units) oh and finish it off with Spearhead detachment (+1 Command Point and a Minimum 1 HQ and minimum 3 x heavy support) I start the game with eight command points!

If I just go for the classic Brigade Detachment (minimum 3x HQ, min. 6 x troops, min.3 elites, min. 3 fast attack, min. 3 heavy support) I get nine extra command points to spend along with the three I start the game with for a total of twelve. That is a lot of re-rolls and/or stratagems I can do to your three knight titans. You only have half as many and most likely will be using them up fast to counter all the stratagems I am tossing your way.

You can also take away command points by taking additional one off units (Auxiliary Support Detachments). So if you just must have that Baneblade but don't want to have to get it through having to pay for an HQ as well, you can. But it will deduct one from your command point pool. Most of the detachments also allow other unit type choices but the minimum are what is required to get the benefits.

Oh wait…then GW goes and incorporates the old City Fight and other supplements into the back of the book, adding…you guessed it, EVEN MORE SCENARIOS!

Suddenly I think my $60 USD might have been money well spent for the potential entertainment value and ideas for some fun non-tourney games.

Even though the basic rules are about 8-10 pages total, there is a wealth of extra content to really make your games come alive.

One of the things I like most about 8th edition is that it's pretty clear that the game designers like the Power Level mode of play best. All of the supplemental rules and scenarios make reference to Power Level rather than points cost. It's a nice way to subtly reinforce this mode of play.

We use Power Levels for the ease of throwing together lists and trying out new options but it's worth noting that (a) we don't play tournaments, and (b) we're a pretty friendly group with pretty low levels of dickishness overall, so it works well for us. Not saying that it would work that way for everyone so I appreciate them including the old-style points but for us PL is perfect :)

I play in tournaments, but I actually love playing with Power Level. They key is to play WYSIWYG, to prevent min-maxing. If you are playing "That Guy" and let him max out all of his weapon selections etc, then it could be a problem. (Though I haven't seen it). Playing WYSIWYG means they would have to own models with sub-optimal matched play points costs and therefore the power gamers wont have them, mostly.

I have a question.

Are the Power Levels the new point system or is there a point system in addition to the Power level ratings?

Thanks

The point system is a separate system. The power level system is more of a rough guide to get games somewhat balanced. The point system takes individual weapons, ect into account.

What Centurio said. Power Levels are a quick'n'dirty way to build a mostly balanced list, but they also include a full points system akin to prior editions if you want to really account for everything.

Thanks

Nice write-up kallman. One thing I noticed while looking over the scenarios is that many of them are virtually identical. I was reading through them and with each one I thought: 'Wait, didn't I just read this?' I'd go back and have to look real close to find any difference at all between them, and the differences were minor.