Just to be
clear: as I queue this post these images are still “leaks” and
thus rumours. They look legit but we've all been bitten before. That
said, let's talk crunch!
Now, I hate
the standard force organisation chart with a fiery passion. It
doesn't work for me. I know what its meant
to do. Its to provide balance by restricting every player to the same
basic menu of unit types which isn't a bad design philosophy but it
can be a little limiting that, say, no matter the context or
importance of a mission your army isn't going to commit more than
three units of elite troops to it under any circumstances.
This
isn't to say the standard force org is going away but it is getting
more versatile. For one thing, the “standard” version lives in a
tiered system...
So,
different sizes of chart for different sizes of game, I can get down
with that. I also like that you get more Elites with six slots in the
normal-sized game Battalion Detachment, a move that reminds me of
Fantasy going to maximum 50% Special choices. I imagine that some of
the more powerful Troops choices will find themselves bumped up to
Elite status to compensate but I can appreciate the opportunities for
army theming this represents. We also get an extra HQ slot (two of
the three being compulsory), which is no bad thing since most armies
now have so many HQ options that just two and only two was starting
to feel very restricting.
Flyers
are now part of the standard force organisation as their own discrete
entity, which is nice.
The
flipside of this trend seems to be raising the compulsory Troops
choices from two to three which might seem unfair except for the fact
that there are now force orgs that don't require troops at all.
So,
basically, one themed chart for each of the other choices: Vanguard
for compulsory Elites, Spearhead for compulsory Heavy Support and
Outrider for compulsory Fast Attack. Each has Troops at 0-3 and the
other choices at 0-2. These measures and dropping the HQ slots down
to two again gives these charts a significant downside to the
Battalion. These are charts for a more strict theming than the
three-tiered standard and I like that. My mind is already brimming
with ideas for a Flesh Tearers Outrider Detachment (all the Assault
Marines...).
And
then there's a page of various housekeeping exercises: flyer,
fortification and super-heavy detachments that presumably slot along
the side of a main army plus an HQ themed chart which seems designed
for campaign theming and the like when you want the big boss man /
woman / alien / robot / daemon present for a special game with his
own cadre of hangers on and a big thing.
All
in all, yet more reason to look forward to a very versatile edition
of the rules, me thinks.
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