Ferban

I mentioned this in the other thread, but the preview makes no mention of the magic "module." So is this the "module" you use with PtG and Matched Play and the Core rules have no magic system? Or is this the core system and there is some other "module" we'll be using for PtG and Matched Play?

Magic rules are up. Casting and unbinding are basically the same as 3.0. Prayers work a little differently. Instead of single chant roll, the model can do one per turn and accumulate chant points. Some prayers have bonus powers if chanted with a greater number of points. It's an interesting idea. And I like that a priest will have something to do in that first turn. Most of their prayers might be out of range, but at least they can still warm up the chanting engines. One disappointment, though. I was hoping we'd learn how spells function as a "module." I had assumed (perhaps wrongly) that there would be a basic spellcasting system for the core rules and then a "module" that would make changes to it. Almost like the way Andtor changes spellcasting by adding primal dice and whatnot. But the article didn't make any such distinction. So either this is the "module" and the core rules have no magic system. Or this is the core system and the "module" we'll be using for matched play and PtG is something else entirely. In which case, I'd want to know about that. I liked what I saw today, but I'm disappointed that the most pertinent question (to me) wasn't answered.

Yeah, I don't think it spares the "pinned" unit from receiving any attacks. They are going to get hit with basically everything. Same as before. I think the change is that the "pinned" unit can focus all its attacks on one enemy unit. Previously, you attack from two sides. And the "pinned" unit has to split attacks between the two adversaries because it can't pile. Splitting attacks that way generally makes the unit less effective. Now, the "pinned" unit can simply pile towards one side and get all (or nearly all) of its attacks in. So "pinning" a unit is far, far less effective. Maybe it'll be positive on balance, but it does seem to remove some significant tactical play.

New article up today on the combat phase. For the most part, it seems pretty similar to what we're used to. But a few call outs. Charge seems to roll the 2D6 as part of the "declare" so you'll roll first and then decide if you want to Forward to Victory. Good. That'll be far more useful. No more abilities are "start of combat" or "end of combat" phase. Instead, they are sort of all "start of combat" with the active player using all theirs first and then the opponent using theirs. On balance, I think this is positive. I cannot count the number of times I go to activate a unit and have forgotten some "start of phase" ability they were supposed to use. Now, you sort of get all that done first and then go to fighting. So less likely to be forgotten. Damage is allocated to the unit instead of to the model. Then when it gets high enough, you kill a model. It's a small change that I think will have very little impact on the game. But the small impact is positive. You won't have to worry about piling in and putting the guy with damage in the middle and risking a coherency break. Now, when they take damage, you can just kill a guy on the end. No coherency issue. Speaking of which, coherency is now half an inch. I think this is positive. It'll remove even more shenanigans and also prevent small bases from lining up next to each other. So everything over 6 models is going to have to fight in ranks. Really like this one. Retreating out of combat now requires you to take D3 mortals. Also good. Retreating should be a valid tactic. But it should also come with a cost. This is a game about fighting and killing. So a free retreat always felt a little gamey. Pile ins. This is a major change. Now when you pile in, you pick one enemy unit and that's the unit you need to get closer to (or, technically, no farther from). That's huge! No longer can you charge with two units and pin the enemy models. Now they can simply select one of your two units and easily pile away from the other without restriction. I'm not sure I like this one. I like the simplicity. But I think it comes at the cost of tactical decision-making. I thought everything in today's article was positive except for this one. I don't like that models can simply walk away during a pile-in. Especially when retreat causes damage. Piling away should too (or come with a similar drawback). But, as always, we don't have the full story just yet. So final judgment is reserved, but I think these changes are overall very positive but will still be familiar and easy to grasp for current players. And should be at the same level or even easier to teach new players.

Yeah I know. I'll keep painting mine in the Hammer style. I meant "internet wrong." Strongly in the minority of opinion. Thanks!

OK. I've seen the reaction to switching up the Hallowed Knights as the default color scheme instead of the Hammers of Sigmar. So I know that this is an unpopular opinion. But am I the only one that prefers the golden boys? The silver looks good too, don't get me wrong. But it feels sort of like ordinary knights in ordinary armor. Whereas the gold "sigmarite" armor felt otherworldly and rare - both evocative of the Stormcasts themselves. Plus, I never understood the hate for blue (capes) and gold (armor). Blue and gold isn't a totally unknown color pairing among sports teams. Anyway, I'm OK being wrong on this one. I'm just hoping that there's at least one other person out there who likes the Hammers paint scheme.

Today's topic covers battle traits and battle formations. Battle traits are more or less as we would expect them to be. Rules that give a particular faction special abilities. And they show off one that requires a command point. I'm not sure I'm super in love with additional command point abilities for each army, but if they are limited to one per army, maybe it will be easy enough to share the one with your opponent before each game. The battle formations (new subfactions) seem like a miss for me. I was excited that they would no longer be tied to lore or color schemes and would instead be based on how you want to play. But the ones they showed off aren't like that at all. They are tied to Stormcast chambers. They show off one for Warriors and one for Extremis. Both seem fairly bland. For me, that's really the first rules reveal that hasn't seemed like a dramatic improvement. If anything, it's a slight downgrade as it seems to have the same problem of focusing the player down one path (all Bladegheists get mortals!) while losing the fluff that at least gave you a narrative hook to play that style. Oh well, they can't all be bangers.

Command points are up today. It looks like you get 4 per battle round with the one behind in points getting an extra. But that's it. no ability to get more. And no need to have a unit champion or hero nearby. Its sad to lose that fluff, but it rarely mattered in game anyway. So I think it's cleaner to just do away with that rule. The command abilities are very reminiscent of 3.0. Although I really like the ability to charge in your opponent's charge phase. Not only will some armies absolutely love that, but I think it's powerful for nearly anyway. If someone makes a long bomb charge and barely toes in, they are often not yet grouped up on the target. Maybe one or two guys are there, and they plan to pile in the rest during combat. But if I can counter charge and hit those guys in the back with another unit, that will likely split their force and render the unit less effective. Like it! Also, the ability to cast or pray in the opponent's turn is pretty neat. And I'm in favor of the change to Rally. It looks like it'll be a good way to heal a unit or rez a few chaff. But you won't have large models returning or 10 wounds of fighters. Probably for the best. One hesitation is that Forward to Victory now apparently requires you to spend the command before rolling the charge. That's lame. I could see that command easily being the weakest of the bunch and rarely used. Overall, though, a lot of good stuff here. If command points stay constrained (e.g. battletomes don't start introducing abilities to get more or have tons of army specific commands), I could see this being a really good system.

I think they can theoretically take off their armor at any time. They aren't bolted in there or anything. That said, most stormcast aren't making a return trip to Azyr without being killed. And that's where the Thunderstrike armor is being made. So, from a practical perspective, I think most stormcast probably get their new armor after being reforged.

Today's article was light on rules but did show off the new warscrolls. While I like the updated formatting, there isn't a lot of change here. To hit, to wound, and rend are all present. As is save. The only major difference is "Bravery" has been replaced by "Control." And "control" is how many points they count as when contesting objectives. It'll be interesting to see how (or if?) they include Morale in the game. Maybe you'll need to make tests once half your unit is killed or half your army (as in MESBG).

I think the article said it was one "per round." So that could be a pretty major incentive. Especially if command points are rarer than in the current system. That said, we don't yet know the value of a command point in the new system, so we'll have to wait and see before we can evaluate that.

New update on Army Composition today. It certainly seems like a good idea and addresses one major problem. Battle Regiment. It was so much more powerful than most of the other battalions that it was far and away the one to take. You'd sometimes see a sporadic Warlord or one of the GHBs. But it was like 90% Battle Reg. Glad that this system is doing drops by regiments (effectively one drop per hero) which should allow for a more interesting decision. Units being tied to leaders is ... fine. I don't like or dislike it. I'll be interested to see whether there are further restrictions. Like a hero can only issue commands to their regiment. That might not be as good. I do like the elimination of reinforcement points. I didn't run up against that limit very often, but it was annoying when I did. One possible area of concern, though, is the loss of a "battleline" tax. For experienced players, I don't think it'll be any issue. But with new players, they might gravitate toward monsters or heavy hitters. Those can be great, but you generally need something to just stand on an objective or screen out a potential deepstrike. The removal of the battleline requirement could be detrimental to those learning the game. But maybe there will be some heavy suggestions for new players in the core book. Overall, this seems like it will be both freeing (you don't have to worry about Behemoth limits or battleline requirements) but also potentially constricting (if heroes only buff their own regiments). So we may have something here that is easy to learn but can provide a lot of nuance and strategy in the list-building phase. Still need to know more about it, but I'm liking this change so far.

Today's article didn't provide much new info. The double turn is staying (which I'm in favor of). They do say that if you take the double, you can't score a battle tactic. That seems pretty punishing under the current system, but I think we'll need to learn more about battle tactics before we can evaluate how much of a disincentive that is in 4.0.

I think that's a legit concern. And probably at its worst when you're layering on whatever GHB changes there are. But I think PtG games and even standard Matched Play games are probably going to greatly benefit from the modular system. Time will tell.

This may be total hopium, but I'm strongly encouraged by the PtG system that looks to use all rules except battle tactics. While I love matched play, it does feel sorta samey. Your motivation is always just to stand in circles better than the other player (and hit the same BTs your army was built to hit every game). But PtG battelplans have been really good. Storming castles, disrupting rituals, defacing monuments, running from or pursuing the other army, and so on. Those narrative battles really cleanse the pallet and have some of the funnest moments. I really hope they lean into that.