11th edition box

 So, we know most of what is in the 11th edition launch box now and it all looks pretty good. 

The marine models are all very nice models, even if some of them such as the Vanguard Vets are a little bit plain. I do really like the new speeder and it will be interesting to see it up against an old version to see how much bigger it is. Noticeable bigger would be my guess, as they wouldn't want you running your old ones now would they!

The core rule book looks a little thin to me. I guess that they will release a big rule book like they normally do. I'm on a bit of a mission at the moment, collecting some of the previous rule books, so far I have 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th and 10th. I will get 7th but finding a complete 3 book version with cover is difficult, but more on that at a later date. 

Also within the box are data cards for the various units plus the new missions cards, so everything you need to get going. The box is a good box overall, with lots of models and a nice variety of units. I have my name down for preorder at my FLGS, or toyshop as it actually is. Hopefully I've been early enough to get to the top of the list and get me a copy. 

Imperial Guard detachments

This post is going to be slightly out order. I had planned on posting about the new inquisitor model and then the Space Marine detachments, as I thought we were getting the Orks and Space Marine ones only, but they have dropped the Guard here as well. I assume them that we will get a similar set for all the armies over the next couple of weeks. 

There are a few things to say about these detachments but there is something I just got about all the detachments, that they are not detachment restricted. By this I mean, that if you choose the first detachment here, Absolutist Principles, it doesn't just effect the Commissars in that detachment but all the Commissars in the whole army. This makes me think more about the old way of army building from 8th and custom regimental doctrines. This does come with a minor concern, that there are going to be more powerful combinations than others and everyone will just default to the same detachment rules. The one benefit to this system over doctrines I guess, is the ability to increase the cost of the detachments if one proves more powerful than the others. 

The first detachment here is, Abhumam Auxiliaries, affects a humans and commissars, but it's the commissars that really matters. Giving commissars the Take Aim! order is huge and makes them actually worth while taking, in my view anyway. Being able to order Abhumans is useful but not as useful as take Aim!  

The enhancement is pretty good, but only really against precision shooting really. Most of the time you'll be in a squad and so able to hide, so if your commissars getting shot, then it's because it's a precision shot or your bodyguard squad is dead. 

The stratagem Low Profile, is actually quite good, as it sorts one of the biggest issues with Ratlings, the fact that they just get shot off the board, due to T2. Being able to shoot and not get shot will help them immensely. I think this will be best used, dropping them somewhere in you deployment or to the board edges, hugging some high ground and sniping characters and such. 

All in all, I think this detachment will be quite useful and will probably get some use. The next detachment, Designation Force, seems less useful to me. The main aim of the detachment revolves around extending the detection range of units, which while it sounds good, adding only 3 inches to the detection range doesn't sound very useful. Moving the range from 15 to 18 inches isn't that much, if it pushed it to 24 inches, that would be very useful. I understand them at they are trying to keep this from being to powerful but it still requires you to get close and if your 18 inches away, you might just as well be 15 inches away. 

The stratagem could also be useful but it strikes me as putting the sentinel outside of it's useful role. Of your infiltration up the table, your going to be to far forward to use Designated Targets as you'll be to far forward and probably out of line of sight from the units that will take advantage of the increased detection range. 

I like the stratagem they show as well, it gives the whole combined arms feel to an army and rewards screening your vehicles, far more that just avoiding combat. 

Overall, I think this is the weakest of the three detachments here, it's good but I just don't think the benefits are good enough, although true judgement will have to wait until we have all the rules. 

 The last detachment I want to mention is the Bridgehead Strike detachment aimed at Scions. Sounds familiar? Yep it's the same one we got in Grotmas a few years ago, but with a few tweaks it seems. Firstly the detachment rule has changed slightly. We retain the battle line and +1OC for a Scion warlord as was but the rest has changed. The other two rules have been smushed in to a single rule with the +1 to hit now only affects Scion units. Scions have lost the re-rolls for arriving\disembarking and the rest of the AM units have lost access to the +1 to hit. 

The enhancement shown has had its wording changed and simplified but is basically unchanged from the current one and is still a must take for a Scion squad in my mind, possibly even more so now you can just take a small force of Scions in a larger army. Dropping 15 Scions turn 1 (command squad plus a full 10 man unit) armed with plasma and volley guns, will be enough to ruin pretty much everyone's day. 

Especially if you throw this on them too! This again is a carry over from the current detachment and has always been useful. 

This last detachment gives us quite a few clues about how things are going to change for 11th I think. I haven't had a good look at the Marine, Orks, Tyranids or what every other army focus articles are out by the time this is published (probably a lot of them) but I haven't seen any existing detachments apart from this one, possibly as this was one of the Grotmas detachments and so is not pay walled by GW. Anyway, it shows that existing detachment are getting redone and not just moved over as is. It also shows that they will be restricting down the detachments, really focusing on singular elements, such as the Scions, removing any base AM units from the rules in this case. Lastly, I assume this means that lots of the stratagems and enhancements will be changing for the current detachments. For example in this detachment, one of the four enhancements and five of the six stratagems are not Scion specific, although a couple of the stratagems focus on deep strike which is basically only Scion units anyway. 

I also realise that a post that came out last week is now wrong. I had a look at the various current detachments and gave my thoughts on what the points cost per detachment was going to be and I think they will be mostly wrong! I had thought this detachment was going to be a two point detachment and if it had stayed the same it probably would have but with the changes it's dropped to a one point detachment. 

It will be interesting to see what the full changes to all the detachments and their stratagems and enhancements, but so far I'm looking forward to 11th, far more than I was for 10th. 

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!

New guard - rules

 Following on from the previous posts, here are the rules and points for the new units.

We'll start with the main man, Commissar Yarrick. Now we've seen the rules before and I did run through them but I've had a little think and I have watched a few videos about the rules and while I still think that the Counter strategist ability is going to be difficult to pull off properly, players with the skills and ability to use it properly will find this very powerful. I think that Decisive command will still be my go to ability. 

I also think that at 150 points, your going to need to make the most of this unit, either sings the orders trick or counter strategist every turn and probably having him sit near a super heavy to give out the order to you Baneblade. I still would like this model but I really don't think he will find his way to the table very often, only when my Hellhammer get fielded as well. 

Commissar Graves is another matter entirely. On foot she is 65 points and 110 points mounted. On foot i don't think she is very good. I don't think she really has anything over the regular commissar at half the price. Yes she can give fall back and shoot or charge but so do other characters, mainly the Cadians Castellan, and out of the units that she can join, only a few of them will benefit from falling back and shooting. I would just bring a regular commissar rather than Graves on foot. 

In her vehicle she is a different prospect. The extra range on the Brutal Discipline is useful, and means you can cover a large area of the board. Being able to issue orders to units disembarking is also very useful. You'll have to keep her close to transports, but that shouldn't be an issue with a 12 inch move and T8 and 12 wounds with a 4 plus invulnerable save. Granted she isn't invincible but she will be very resilient. 

She also has some punch with the Gatling cannon and stubber. You won't be taking down whole squads of marines but you can pick of a few stragglers. I think we will see Graves in transport more than on foot, as she offers more for not many more points. 

Next we have the two new guard vehicles and here things get a bit strange for me. The Hippogryph is a fast light vehicle with a similar profile to the Taurox Prime except less wounds. It still strikes me as basically a Prime without transport but it's role will be very different. It's going to fall more inline with the Armoured Sentinel, as a mobile gun platform and given that all the guns have assault, it's going to be getting around the place, even more so with the Convoy Escort Vehicle rule. 

This thing is going to be moving between 14 and 24 inches a turn (19 on average), significantly further than the Armoured Sentinel or Prime. At 70 points, it's also on par with the Armoured Sentinel but cheaper than the Prime, although without the transport, so it's pretty comparable. As I mentioned in previously, I can see this being used mostly with the Vigilator cannon or Gatling cannon rather than the lascannon or melta. This is because the lascannon is only a single shot and the melta is short ranged and single shots are unreliable and short range just invites a counter charge, which it is unlikely to survive. Move fast, strike and retreat is going to be the way to use this I think. Standing and fighting is Leman Russ territory. 

The Centaur RSV is also a little odd but I do see it's use. I thought that this would be a cheap and fast transport, a throw away vehicle but it's not. It's 85 points, the same as a chimera and 10 more than the Taurox (standard, not prime). There are some differences between the vehicles, with a cascading toughness (Chimera - 9, Taurox - 8, RSV - 7) but they are all similar wounds wise (Chimera - 11, Taurox and RSV - 10). 

The main difference between them though is the role they will play. None will be cheap disposable units but each has a distinct role. The Chimera being the slow but powerful transport, able to take some punishment and dish it out as well. The Taurox is the fast one, being able to advance and disembark, meaning you can get your troops up the field and in place quickly. The Centaur RSV is the mobile fire base with it's firing deck 12. Maybe load up with Kasrkin and their special weapons, or some heavy weapons squads for 6 lascannon or missile shots. I would suggest Krieg heavy weapons squads and their flamers but you can only get one unit in due to the fire coordinator. If you could get rid of a couple of fire coordinators, 6 krieg heavy flamers in the back of one of these things would be very nasty indeed! 

The Centaur RSV is about loading up and parking on an objective or fire position and dominating it with whatever is in the back. This is about creating a mobile fire base rather than as a pure transport like the Chimera or Taurox, both of which are about getting guys where they need to go and dumping them out. This is about getting them where they need to go and keeping them save inside. It's not what I would have liked, I would have liked something along the lines of the old Centaur light carrier, small, fast, 6 man transport for running small teams of Krieg Engineers, Scions or Command Squads, but I will take the new version nonetheless.