Episode 116: New 40K: Introduction

In this episode, we introduce the brand new edition of Warhammer 40K. We talk about updates to the formatting, the growth of the rule set, and the basic rules that finally define things such as  within and wholly within. Be sure to check out all our mini episodes so you know all the changes with this edition.

Introduction

Eighth edition was a radically simplified rule set with 13 pages of rules. The goal was to strip away the complexity of 40K and to take a page from Age of Sigmar and keep it light and easy to learn.

But.. after 3 years of FAQ and Chapter Approved, they clearly have realized that the book needs more definition.

The new edition is 37 pages with a LOT more detail added. The basic mechanics are the same, but they have added more definitions and more specifics to ensure that the rules are much clear than before.

Overall Format

It sometimes feels like it was written by a lawyer; some rules are very wordy, but they have bullet points at the end of each rules section which helps a LOT to make this more readable and easy to scan to find the answer you needed to find.

It feels like they clearly took many of the questions that came up during eighth and tried to address them in the rules.

The last edition weirdly had very important rules in the side margins; that is not the layout with this edition, the rules are all included in the main body of text.

There is finally a Glossary of rules terms, as well as a list of blast weapons and aircraft.

Beyond the 37 pages of basic rules, there are terrain rules, mission rules and missions for Open Play and Matched play, a section on building battle-forged armies, stratagems and command points, and a brand new much improved Crusade format for narrative play. Look for an entire mini episode on that.

Basic Rules

The edition starts out defining many of the things it has taken for granted in the past.

• Armies, dataslates, keywords and units.
• Coherency
• Engagement Range
• Measuring distances and within and wholly within for units AND models
• Dice! D6, D3, and modifiers
• Re-rolls and unmodified dice
• Roll-offs
• Modifying Characteristics
• Datasheets and definitions of each section

We are off to a good start once you read this first section!

This is a better formatted book and they took some time to address things that seemed to be “common sense” in past editions.

Their intent seems to be to eliminate as much confusion and arguments as possible and to make this easier to read at the same time.

No specific “matched play” rules; everyone is on the same ruleset, the only difference is the missions.

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