Eighth Edition Compiled Notes and Rumors

From a great source locally, we have some detailed and real rumors!

Army Composition:

Must have >= 3 units (not including characters)

Lords <= 25%

Heroes <= 25%

The Lore that a wizard uses must be part of the army list. You may not change it each game.

Core >= 25%

Special <= 50%, and <= 3 of same type of unit

Rare <= 25%, and <= 2 of same type of unit

Terrain:

For the most part, GW seems to be encouraging a lot more terrain. Their suggestion is to place D6 + 4 randomly generated pieces of terrain. They describe a regular and … funky … new terrain types. For the most part, terrain does not impede movement any more. You can march through woods all you want. The rest of the terrain section is just too much to put here.

Flyers can now fly into and out of woods, but must take a “Dangerous Terrain” test when they do. (A roll of a 6 = a wound.)

There is not rule about the middle of the battlefield being clear. (not that I saw…) The pictured battlefields are very cluttered.

The turns still follow the same order they used to: move, magic, shoot, combat

Magic:

Like I said before, the Lore that a wizard uses must be part of the army list. You may not change it each game. Also, any given spell cannot be taken >1 in a game. An exception to this are “Signature Spells” – or the automatic spell that all the new lores have (as well as most of the existing army-specific lores) – i.e. the low-level spell that everyone should be able to know.

So, here is how spell selection works. You choose the order in which your wizards will go to select spells. You roll a D6 for each wizard level. If you roll a double, then you may CHOOSE the spell that replaces the duplicate. (This is huge, IMO.) When you are done, you can swap any of your spells for the signature spell.

Then your next wizard rolls, but only the untaken spells are still available. If all your wizards take the same lore, then it is likely that one or more of them will not be able to take any spells except the signature spell.

At the beginning of the magic phase, the player whose turn it is rolls 2D6 to determine the winds of magic for that phase. The sum of that roll is the PD; the highest die roll is the DD. Additionally, all spell casters roll a D6 and any 6’s add +1 to the applicable PD or DD pool.

You may use between 1-6 dice to cast a spell regardless of your wizard level. Your casting value is the sum of the dice roll and your casting wizard’s level. However, a dice roll totaling <= 2 (or was it 3?) is always a failed cast regardless of your wizard level. Double 1’s are no longer a miscast. If you FAIL to cast a spell, then that wizard is done for the magic phase. (So, it looks like spamming low level spells will be much harder.)

To dispel, you have to nominate a wizard that is going to dispel. If you don’t have any wizards, then your army can make the dispel. (I guess it can even if you do still have wizards; it’s your choice.) You choose the # of dice you want to use from your DD, roll them and add your wizard level. I don’t remember it saying that double 1’s is an auto fail, but it might be. Double 6’s will auto-dispel it even if your total roll isn’t high enough. (I think – notes are sketchy.)

If you roll double 6’s to cast, then it is cast with Irresistible Force AND it is a miscast. The miscast table is pretty nasty in terms of using templates centered on wizard’s head dealing str 10 auto hits on everyone underneath it. (Obviously there is some variance here, but I don’t remember any of them blowing your wizard’s head off or anything.)

Remains-in-Play spells no longer keep you from casting other spells.

Bound spells are no longer auto-cast. You still have to roll the ‘power level’ number on your cast. (this goes for warrior priest prayers, too.) If you IR/Miscast it, then the item gets destroyed or, if it’s not an item, you take a wound. (or something like that.)

New Lores

I really like the new lores, but did not take notes on all the spells. In addition to having 7 spells each: 1 signature spell, and then 6 normal spells, each lore has a unique benefit:

FIRE: if a unit is hit w/ a damage spell from this lore, then any future castings during that phase on that unit get a +3 to casting roll.

BEASTS: casting difficulty for each spell is -1 when targeting units of war beasts, monstrous beasts, monstrous cavalry, chariots, monsters, swarms, cavalry (I think, though it is not in my notes), and all units in the Beastmen army.

METAL: damage spells have wounding rolls = Armor Save, with no armor save allowed. Models without any armor cannot be harmed by these spells.

LIGHT: extra D6 hits vs Undead and Daemons for all damage spells in the lore

LIFE: successful casts auto heal 1 wound on any character within 12” of caster.

HEAVENS: vs anything with Flying rule, D6 str 4 hits, plus whatever other affects the spell does

SHADOW: after successful cast and its effects are resolved, wizard can swap places with friendly character (of same type: infantry, cavalry, etc.) within 18”

DEATH: for each unsaved wound, roll D6; 5’s and 6’s give you +1 PD

Shooting

No guessing ranges and no strict order of what has to shoot first. Partials (from templates) are all auto-hit.

If >= ½ of target unit cannot be seen, then it is considered to be in soft or hard cover -  based on what is obscuring the view.

The To-Wound chart has slightly changed. Now, 6’s always wound – even on a str 2 atk vs T7.

After armor saves, a model has to choose whether or not it will take a Ward OR a Regen save; not both.

There was no mention about war machines negating armor saves.

War machines are considered as a unit, not as a machine w/ a crew. The war machine is al l matters in terms of LOS or anything else. There should be enough crew to represent the remaining wounds on the war machine. Whenever a wound is scored on the unit, remove a crew member. In close combat, up to 6 enemy models (or 2 cav models or 1 monster) fight against the crew on their stats. Shooting against them uses machine’s stats.  Once crew are all dead, remove the machine – and vice versa. If a crew member is blocking LOS of someone or is in the way of another charge, simply move the crew member. The machine is all that really matters in that case.

War machines never flee or pursue. If they fail a panic test due to enemy destroyed w/in 6”, etc., then they can’t shoot next turn. They never run away.

When charged, do not align the charging unit to machine or anything else. As soon as chargers touch the machine, simply stop them there and fight.

LOS for the machine is the nozzle or crossbeam, nothing else.

Cannons do D6 wounds now. However, they now work kinda like a bolt thrower; i.e. if they hit 3 models but fail to kill the first one, the cannonball does not continue onward to the next model.

Grapeshot is a str 5 shot. The artillery die determines # of shots.

Stone thrower is now str 3(9). D6 wounds ONLY on higher strength hit. Has a special ranged attack option where you can place template someplace even where you cannot see it. In this special case, even the direct hit roll still scatters in direction of small arrow a distance of the artillery die roll minus the crew’s BS.

Combat, Movement and Miscellaneous

All units must remain 1” apart unless charging – EVEN your own units

Charges:

Charge distance is base movement plus 2D6. Fast movers can roll 3D6 and choose 2 highest rolls. You can measure before declaring charge. To see if you reach the unit, measure the shortest distance from your unit to the other unit. If that’s within range, then you can ignore wheeling costs and all other measuring from that point on. You still have to wheel enough to maximize models, but you cannot fail the charge if you were originally within range.

Declare one charge, opponent declares reaction, then declare another charge, etc.

If I have 3 units wanting to charge the same unit, the defending unit could declare a hold against the first charge, a S&S against the second one, and then after shooting, still decide to flee from the third charge.

Flee move is 2D6 for infantry; if fast moving, then roll 3D6 and choose 2 highest rolls

S&S only an option if charger is more than their base movement distance away (which is really the same as it used to be, only worded differently.)

If you declare a charge and the unit flees, you can choose to take a ldrshp test to see if you can charge another unit. If you fail the test, you have to attempt to charge the original unit. You can only redirect once per turn.

Failed charges use highest die roll for distance.

If you catch a fleeing unit, you move ONLY up to that unit, align with it, and then remove the fleeing unit as destroyed. You do not move your full distance like you used to. At that point, if you pass a ldrshp test, you can perform a free reform.

You can rally fleeing troops that are under 25% of their starting unit strength on double 1’s.

If you fail to rally, you continue fleeing in the same direction you were already fleeing. You are NOT destroyed by fleeing into ANYTHING. However, if you flee through enemy troops or through impassable terrain, each model rolls a D6 and will die on a roll of 6. (called a difficult terrain test) Cavalry and similar models have to take this test for all terrain besides open land and hills. After this test, your unit just pops out on the other side of the enemy unit or impassable terrain (as if they scattered around it).

For movement, there are no longer any “turns.” You still wheel like you used to. You can move EITHER sideways or backward ½ your regular movement distance. The only way I can think of for you to turn around is to reform. However, if you have a musician, you can take a leadership test during your movement phase. If passed, that unit can perform a free reform, and then move as normal (except cannot march). After such a reform you can still shoot (unless you have a move or shoot weapon).

March blocking still exists, but can be negated by a leadership test.

Fear and Terror got seriously nerfed in that there is not any auto-break or auto-flee when charged by outnumbering enemy. However, you do have to take a fear test every combat phase. If failed, your WS goes to 1. If charged by terror causer, you will still flee (but only if ‘flee’ is a valid option.)

All models fight in at least 2 ranks. The 2^nd rank gets only 1 attack each (cavalry can only have knights get this attack, not their mounts). This ‘supporting attack’ is only to the front, not sides or rear. If unit is 10 wide (“horde rule”) then they get an extra rank of attacks.

It is MUCH more difficult to negate rank bonuses now. Instead of US5, you have to have 2 full ranks.

There is now a rule called “Steadfast.” If a losing unit has more ranks than the enemy (EVEN IF ranks were negated for CR purposes), then the unit is stubborn on whatever leadership it has access to.

Combat Resolution:

+ ??? for Wounds Caused

+1 for Charging

+1-3 for Ranks (5 wide is still a rule) Ranks are counted AFTER fighting, not before.

+1 Unit Standard

+1-2 for Flank (can only get +1 for each flank regardless of multiple units in that flank)

+2 for Rear Flank

+1 for Charging from High Ground (>= 50% of unit on hill before charge begins)

+1 BSB

+1-5 for Overkill in a challenge

If you win or draw a combat, but are still locked in combat, you can reform – as long as it doesn’t remove models from combat – and unless you are fighting on >1 side. If you lose combat, you can reform if you pass your modified ldrshp. (I’m unsure about whether this is basically an additional break test.) If you restrain from pursuing a broken enemy, you may reform. If you kill everyone in combat, you may reform.

If you pursue into a new enemy, you MUST charge them and opponent MUST hold. If you catch a fleeing unit, you align to them, remove them, and then may reform.

Each unit in combat must declare which enemy unit they are pursuing. Fleeing units run away from largest unit strength. If you overrun a unit that you did not declare a pursuit against, you don’t kill them but stop 1” away.

In a multi-unit combat, if a unit kills everyone in the unit they were facing and are therefore no longer in combat, they wounds they caused count towards combat res, but not their standards, ranks, ets.

ASF = re-roll misses to hit if Initiative >= opponent’s initiative. If both have ASF, then no re-rolls. GW (always strike last) negates ASF – so both effects are ignored.

Breath weapons can only be used once per game, but can be used as either a range attack or a close combat attack. If range, then nothing changes except that all partials are auto-hit. If close combat, then the enemy unit takes 2D6 auto hits on the breath’s strength – and wounds do count toward combat res.

If a unit has flaming attacks, then that means they automatically have their ranged and combat attacks as flaming. If shooting into or assaulting buildings, flaming arrows get to re-roll failed to-wound rolls.

Frenzied units do not have to charge if they can pass a ldrshp test. They cannot benefit from Hand weapon + shield benefit.

Hatred – no longer have to pursue

Generals, BSBs, etc. on Large Targets (or who are large targets) have a 18” sphere of influence rather than just 12”.

Magic Resistance now bestows a ward save modifier(against magic attacks) rather than more power dice.

If a random movement unit (squig hoppers) move into you (for an impromptu charge), you may not flee or S&S, but must hold.

If a model or unit gets wounded by flaming attacks, not only does regen not work – but they lose regen for the remainder of that phase. (So, flaming arrows followed by a trebuchet could be deadly.)

Models on bigger bases get an extra ‘stomp’ attack after all other attacks and only against infantry, war beasts and swarms. Stomp attacks are auto-hit on regular strength of the model.

Stubborn units can use their stubborn ability on any available leadership.

Skirmishers got nerfed some. They now must be ½ inch away from each other, but otherwise rank up like normal units. They have front, flank, rear. No more 360. They get free reforms like fast cav and can march and shoot. A big benefit, though, is that WHEN IN WOODS, they are always steadfast. (Normal troops cannot gain steadfast ability when in woods.)

Scouts do not have to be out of sight when they deploy, just 12” away and cannot charge first turn.

Fast cav (and possibly some other units) have VANGUARD rule: they get a free 12” movement before turn 1, must stay 12” away from enemies, and may not charge turn 1 IF they go first.

Monstrous Infantry get supporting attacks = to their total attacks (not just limited to 1 like normal infantry.) Ranked ogres and minotaurs just got nasty.

Cavalry and monsters can now assault buildings, but may not garrison them.

Hand weapon + shield combo (“parry”) no longer gives +1 AS. Instead, it gives them a 6+ ward save (but not against impact hits, stomp attacks, or anything not close combat). However, if your troops have halberds, spears, etc., YOU MAY NOT CHOOSE TO USE HW, but must use your special weapon.

Everyone can shoot in 2 ranks, but anyone with a bow (short, regular, long), can also fire in volleys – which means that half the models in ranks 3 and above can shoot (rounded up). So, a unit of 20 in a 5x4 can shoot 16 shots.

In combat, wounds put on R&F troops will kill the command group only after all R&F troops are dead and in strict order: musician, then standard bearer, and then champion. (Of course, you can always kill the champion earlier by allocating attacks to him.)

Characters

Can benefit from “Look Out, Sir” rule even when not in a unit IF they are within 3” of a unit – and then the roll is a 4+ rather than the normal 2+.

May not join war machines, monster units, flyers, or chariot units

Characters on monster, chariot, etc. may not join “other units”

If a character joins a unit, the unit may not move afterward that phase. So, move unit first, then move character into it.

If character’s base does not fit cleanly into the unit, then you do not actually put it in the unit, but keep it to the unit’s side. (i.e. character on horse would fit into Chaos Warriors unit like normal, but would have to be kept to side of Chaos Marauders.) He still benefits from being in the unit, but does not contribute to rank bonuses, etc.  Also, a character can ALWAYS move into combat if his unit is charged – even if the opposite flank was charged – BUT NOT if he is standing to the side of the unit because his model doesn’t fit right. (The book calls it a footprint.)