7/4/12: Granesh’s Thoughts on 6th Edition: SLW turns Two!

Hey guys,

So I figured I’d follow the grain here and do a post on my initial thoughts on Warhammer 40k 6th Edition. I got my first game in last Saturday against my buddy Nate, and it was a hard fought game to the end.
He was running Tyranids with a Tyranid Prime, a bunch of Warriors, maxed out Hive Guard, Hormagants, and a Carnifex for some hitting power. I was running a list nearly identical to my usual CSM list for 5th, but I’ll break it down:

• Daemon Prince with Mark of Nurgle, Wings, and a Pyromancy Spell (ended up being Fiery Form)
• Chaos Sorcerer with Mark of Tzeentch with Pyromancy (spontaneous combustion) and Telekinesis (Vortex of Doom)
• Khorne Berserkers X8 with 2 Plasma Pistols, Personal Icon, and Champion with Fist/Plasma Pistol in a Rhino with Extra Armour/Combi-Melta.
• Alpha Legionnaires X10 with 2 Meltaguns, Chaos Glory, and Champion with Power Fist/Combi-Melta.
• 5 Summoned Lesser Daemons

Deployment really doesn’t change, though the missions are a nice touch. Having Primary and Secondary objectives help add points and really keep certain builds from hurting too badly.
Just from the picture above, I can breakdown a couple of things:

• Random Charge Distances Hurt: This affected my buddy more than anything, but while the opportunity for a 10” charge is nice, you can still roll those snake eyes and miss a crucial charge. My Daemon Prince charged everytime he needed to without problem, but my friend’s Warriors died to Overwatch and missed their charge.

• Overwatch and Snap Fire are still nasty: BS 1 doesn’t matter when you’re rapid firing Bolters into a charging enemy. I prevented combat with Hormagants by Overwatching into their assault and cooked them off. Charging is a dangerous endeavour now, especially if the enemy has a lot of shots.

• Squishy Transports are Squishy: Necrons are laughing at vehicles, but it only takes 3 glancing hits to take out a Transport, and 4 to drop the mighty Land Raider. None of my Rhinos lasted past turn 3. The drop to 5+ obscured hurts too, but is definitely a necessary drop. I expect to see more Techmarines and Techpriests, as their repair ability allows them to restore Hull Points.

• Mysterious Objectives are…interesting: Easily bypassable for tournaments, they add an extra level of worry and strategy to the games. We had one that would blow up occasionally, while my Berserkers controlled an array that granted rerolls of 1 to shoot, which benefited a unit with three Plasma Pistols. The worst, though, was my buddy controlled one that only let him shoot via Skyfire. That would hurt something crucial like Marines with a Missile Launcher or Vets with a Lascannon. Hopefully, we’ll see more flyers in the near future.

• New Psychic Powers Help Older Codices: As I stated, I took three new powers out of the main rulebook, rather than the codex. I’ve never been a Lash of Submission Chaos guy, and after the change of Warptime, I quit running powers. Until now. My Daemon Prince was hitting at S8, Soul Blaze, and had a 4++ Invulnerable Save. Granted I got lucky rolling against Shadow in the Warp, but he was a beast, and I managed to kill a Carnifex in one round of Combat. My sorcerer got mean too, and I rolled up Spontaneous Combustion and Vortex of Doom, and proceeded to mess up both a squad of Hormagants and Tyranid Warriors. Eldar, Dark Angels, Chaos, and even new books get a really nice bonus from the generic powers.

• Challenges are Mean: My regular Champion got crushed by a Bonesword Prime because we wanted to see how the Challenges worked. Next turn, I (unfluffilly mind you) had my Skull Champion back off and let the rest of the unit crush the Prime. Keep an eye out for Independent Characters and, hell, even Sergeants, as they can crush vital parts of your units. That said, I’m thinking Abaddon is going to become a staple in my list to Character Hunt.

Alrighty, there’s my general thoughts so far on the game. There’s a couple of stuff we messed up (randomize Spontaneous Combustion if the roll is over 5, etc.) but overall the game plays a lot like 5th and is a total blast. Hopefully I’ll get some more games in on Saturday and get some more ideas on how the game truly runs.
Finished Magilla’s next Malifaux crew as well, will have pictures up either tonight or tomorrow!
Granesh

EDIT: Holy Frijoles! I almost forgot! Smells Like Wargaming is now Two years old! I'd like to thank my clients, followers, friends, family, and well-wishers for supporting me on this endeavour since 2010. Smells Like Wargaming has no signs of slowing down, and that's all due to my fan base. Thank you all for supporting me this far! Here's to another two years or more!

Branden
Smells Like Wargaming