I was first thinking of making battle reports for my first two games with 6th Edition, but since then I've decided against the idea just due to the fact that I would guarantee Sterling and I were doing so many things wrong during these two late night games. Instead, I'm going to go over small highlights and my thoughts on new aspects of the game and how they will effect everyone. For our two games, Sterling and I played a 500pt IG vs Necron and a 750pt IG vs Necron games on a 4x4 (our only option currently) table which took us into the wee hours of the morning since neither of us had played 6th Edition before. Overall I think I enjoy the game more with this new edition as situations are more visually stimulating than they were before, but I do have a few qualms. More after the jump.
First and foremost, the new missions are awesome. We ended up playing The Relic and Big Guns Never Tire in our two games, and if these are any reflection of what entertainment the other four missions hold, I can't wait.
Since I'm starting with something I enjoyed, I'll continue in this fashion. Warlord traits are the bee's knees, people. Yes, a random roll always blows, but most armies can stay away from the Strategic table and be happy with something more often than not. I'll tell you one thing, an Overlord and his groupies sitting on a point with the Immovable Object trait (armour save + FNP + Resurrection Protocols), even without a Rez Orb is some stupid survivability.
Another thing of note is melee against vehicles is beastly, now. Specifically with Canoptek Wraiths. Yeah, Rending is arguably worse now, but against a back armour value of 10 (which most vehicles have), it's not going to end well for your opponent.
And speaking of melee, close combat vs infantry just got a lot more entertaining. Wound allocation got significantly more confusing, but I think it's just growing pains at this point. Everything in the game, especially wound allocation makes a lot more sense now and there's less guessing involved because of it. On the subject of Wraiths, Fearless is a lot better, which I appreciate and being able to snap-fire Heavy Weaponry on...well, anything makes the Transdementional Beamer more viable (though it's still kind of a waste at 15pts.)
I really like Flyers. Not enough to go out and buy up some Doom Scythes, but I will note that an all/almost-all Flyers list would be impossible to defeat for some armies. As a Necron player, I can being 8-9 flyers in a 2000pt game and this seems extremely broken against certain armies. While I do feel this is too much power currently, I'm thinking as time goes on we'll see Skyfire spread far and wide as time goes on. Battlements are just the beginning.
And speaking of Skyfire, I think outside of the scenarios where armies do pack as many fliers as they can in in a list, the Flyer type isn't too much considering multiple missions have the opportunity to provide Skyfire for a unit and Fortifications are available to everyone. Even without Skyfire, dedicating some extra shots to a Flyer will take them out eventually (barring you don't have 8-9 of them on the board.) Also note that vehicles can't capture/contest points anymore, so that's also a plus for this situation.
Now let's move into the bad. Vehicles. Dear jeebus vehicles took a kick to the teeth. Hull points are an amazing idea; obviously I'm a fan since the fandex I wrote for the AdMech is very involved in the same kind of concept. However, while the concept is good, in practice vehicles are far too weak. I'm thinking the days of the Chimera and Rhino are gone. It's far too simple to glance 12 Armour or less three times; I just don't get what they were thinking. The new damage table is also pretty sweet, but again, Hull Points make it not so neato.
Now that I think of it, Hull Points are really my only complaint. While GW wanted more variety by making vehicles less killable, I think they implemented this incorrectly. The way it works now, variety is dead; everyone will bring AV14/13 and leave the AV12 and less at home. Vehicles are just...so weak (except Flyers that is.) It's really painful to watch and I fear what this means for all of the IG players out there.
To wrap things up, this new edition is a step in the right direction. I for one think this edition is better than the last. The thematics of the battle are so much more visually stimulating and at the same time helps the rules make more sense than in previous editions. There is more dice rolling involved, but it's not so much more that it slows the game down by any significant measure. All in all, a great couple of games and I'm already itching for my next.
Until next time.
I haven't played any 6th edition games yet, but vehicles, to me, might be slightly better. Usually, my vehicles were one shotted or stunned locked on the first or second turn. Now, that glance doesn't roll on the chart and vehicles are a little more difficult to one shot they might get through the early game.
ReplyDeleteI do think that vehicles will be harder pressed to make it through the long game, though, as glances add up.
I agree with ISL. I feel that the structure points will benefit vehicles in the long run not being completely hosed/incapacitated by a lucky glance. Also, if I don't miss my guess, you were running your Necron blobapalooza which was rattling our tanks around in 5th like a hamster ball in a cement mixer so the results may be a bit off.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing to consider now is that cover is only 25% of the vehicle instead of the 50%. While this has raised the save to 5+ its still going to be a little easier to hide behind buildings and whatnot. So I think the old staples will still have their use we'll just have to adapt to get the best out of them.