11th edition rules - missions

 So this is the last of the rules posts for 11th that I'm going to post. There have been more previews, leaks and reveals but I'm not going to go through them all. Missions is something I want to talk about as there have been a few changes that I think will be good but until we see the full list, it's kind of hard to really tell. 

The missions are now split up in to five categories, and you'll now pick one as your primary and your actual mission will vary depending upon what you opponent picks. 

I don't know yet whether there will be any restrictions on which mission type you can take depending upon armies but I suspect not. I also wonder if there will be faction specific mission decks as well, where you replace either the whole deck or maybe just a specific mission sets. 

So the new missions work by pairing up cards from certain missions sets, the set you've chosen and the set your opponent chose, such as the cards above and below. This will, in theory, change the primary mission every game, unless you and your opponent always choose the same missions! 

While I have only seen 3 missions I think there will be a good range of missions, and there will be something for everyone, although I suspect that out of the 5 missions in each mission pack, there will be at least one mission that won't suit and will be the one you dread coming up. 

Until we see the full range of missions, I'm still positive about this change. It gives you a little more control over the mission selection, which is always good. 

Armageddon battalion

 So, I've been spending money like it's going out of fashion! Along with putting my name down for the 11th edition launch box, I brought this as well!

It will be a while until I get them built! However, I'm looking forward to getting theses things built and on the table top. I will be looking to pick up at least one more Centaur, as I think two is really the minimum number you need to make it work properly. 

11th edition rules - terrain

 This time we're looking at terrain layouts. This isn't going to be some deep dive into the layouts and stuff, there are plenty of people out there who have done this already and they are probably far more qualified to talk about such things than I am, there are even terrain packs available for the new rules, despite the fact we haven't actually had them yet!

The new terrain layouts require more terrain, with 16 pieces Vs 12 for 10th, although by my calculations the total area of terrain has actually decreased. There have also  been some changes to the shape and size of the terrain as well, with the introduction of triangles and long, thin rectangles. 

The new terrain is as followes;

Four large rectangles – 7” x 11.5”

Two large right-angle triangles – 8” x 11.5”

Four medium rectangles – 6” x 4”

Two long lines – 10” x 2.5”

Four short lines – 6” x 2”

Which by my calculations covers an area of 608 square inches

The old terrain of;

6″x4″ – 4 count

12″x6″ – 6 count

10″x5″ – 2 count

Covered an area of 628 square inches (I think, I failed A-level maths spectacularly,  17\150 or 11%) 

So while the new layouts give more variety, and more line of sight blocking terrain, the actual area covered by terrain is less. 

The new boards also seem to offer more movement options for bigger vehicles but I'll let someone more experienced confirm that. 

I don't know if it's just the way the maps are displayed or what but I really like the two new maps we have seen. The central terrain piece looks good and the lay out is clear and easy to see. I do think that they are, as many people seem to be saying, leani g towards being assault favouring boards but we haven't seen all the boards yet, so that might just be these two boards. I suspect not, but we shall see. 

Talking of terrain, the new rules around units being hidden looks quite good. Being able to jump in to terrain and bed down, keeping your troops safe. This makes sense to me, not just for avoiding first turn alpha strikes but also for opening up more options for taking and Holding objectives and terrain. Had this been in 10th it would have changed a few of my games, with my troops trying to hide in terrain somewhere but being blasted by long ranged firepower, despite being deep in a terrain piece but unable to get out of line of sight. 

So far there rules previews that I've seen have all been good, I honestly can't think of a change that I don't like. Changes to terrain, assault and objectives have all been positive. I am still waiting to see what the full mission deck is going to be but from what we've seen so far, and I'll talk about that next post. 

11th edition rules - armies

 There have been a number of changes made for 11th and I'm not going to cover all of them, just the ones that I think are most interesting to me. So in that vain, I'm going to have a look at the changes to army composition. 

In 10th you picked a single detachment and built for that, but now it looks like you be able to pick multiple detachments to form your army, albeit all from the same faction, so still no guard and with marine allies. 

However, this does mean that we should be able to tailer our detachments to best suit our various forces. Detachments will be pointed, between 1 and 3 now, with the strongest being 3's and weaker or more specific ones being 1's. Now we don't know quite how this is going to work exactly but we know the basics. 

So, at 2000 points we'll have 3 points to spend and the standard rule of three still exists as well, but not just for each detachment but across the army. This means no fielding 9 units of something, with 3 in each detachment. If you field two in one detachment you can only field one in another. 

We also know we're getting a whole load of new detachments, which I guess will be a mix but mostly smaller, more specific detachments to fill out the one point detachments. But how will this affect the guard? Well based on the detachments we have, hopefully in a good way. We currently have nine detachments, that cover everything from Scions to super heavies and my guess is that a most will be 3 points detachments and some will be 2's but very few will be 1's

Based of basically nothing, mainly my own understand and also sites like Stat Check, these are my predictions;

3 points detachments;

Combined arms - because it effects basically every guard unit

Recon force - based off how well it's doing in the meta right now. Low player count but high win rate. 

Grizzeled company - again based of it's place in the meta. Lower win rate but greater player base. Also, it's an army wide detachment rule. 

2 point detachments;

Siege regiment - while not a powerful detachment, it has an army wide effect. 

Hammer of the emperor - partly due to the meta data, as it's one of the more played but also it affects a number of very good units.

Armoured infantry - a new detachments, so it's hard to guess but I think this will be pretty good and effects quite a few units across the army. 

Bridgehead strike force - despite the nerfs this received, i still think this will be pretty strong when combined with an artillery or supporting detachment. 

1 point detachments;

Steel hammer - it's new so not any data but it only really effects super heavies, so fairly limited application. 

Mechanised assault - this relies on units getting out of transports for any meaningful bonuses, so is fairly restricted, will be useful supporting something like Hammer of the Emperor though. 

So there are my random guesses, we'll see how correct I am when 11th comes out, I suspect not very accurate but some will be right by sheer luck though!

I am really excited by this change as I think it opens up a lot more options and possibilities, including the ability to make proper fluffy lists. I would love to be able to make a 3 detachment list with armour getting one bonus, infantry another and Scions dropping in with a third. Not likely but you never know, maybe Combined arms will be a 2 point detachments and Bridgehead a single point one!