Pages

What the FAQ?!

Friday, July 13, 2012

Ok, so I know I've whined about this twice already and I should really move on, but I do have some, at least somewhat, legitimate questions about the DE FAQ. I promise, this will be the last time I complain about the things that are crystal clear rules-wise that I'm just unhappy about (like Webways, assaulting from reserve/outflank/infiltrate; Flyers losing Aerial Assault even though they kept it on the already auto-include Heavy Support choice in the book; power weapons, etc). I guess I just feel like the FAQ could have been so much more helpful. We didn't need all the rewording changes for "beginning of each combat" to "beginning of each fight sub-phase"blah blah... I don't think that was confusing to anyone, and they could have spent that effort on addressing real questions and clarifications. Here's a few that I've tossed around or have seen others bring up:

- Does Lady Malys' Crystal Heart rule make her and her unit immune to all psychic effects, including being attacked by enemies which have been buffed by a psychic ability (either in close combat, or a Guided shooting attack, etc.)

- Murderous Assault... If the Klaivex is granted 'Preferred Enemy' against a nominated enemy Independent Character, doesn't that mean the entire squad gets it when striking the marked IC? The FAQ even talks about this rule, only it rewrites the most pointless sentence of the rule and ignores the truly confusing aspect; does everyone get it now that preferred enemy is triggered by a single model in the unit having it or is it an exception to the rule, since you know, those Incubi are getting a little OP in 6th edition ;-)

- Do Warriors shooting overwatch while embarked on a Raider equipped with Splinter Racks get to re-roll misses? (I'm thinking they do)

- Are there any restrictions as to which models can start the game embarked on the Dais of Destruction (outside of the normal ones like Grots taking up 2 spots). For example, can Vect join 9 Harlequins and have them start embarked on the Dais?

- Remember when the codex first came out and there was a lot of discussion around the minimum required composition of an Archon's Court? Yes, I know the book lists each type as 1-x and therefore you need to take at least one of each (some army books have 0-x, like Necron courts, making those selections optional). The example given under the 'Multiple Toughness Values' on pg. 25 of the new rule book just reminded me of all of that and how cool it would be if we could just load up on Sslyths and Ur-Ghuls. I'm sure this example was just for arguments sake and not actually suggesting that it is legal to only select 2 of the 4 Court types, I just found it interesting they went with that particular example.

Any other pressing rules questions or scenarios you'd like GW to address in the next version of the DE FAQ for 6th edition? How about any wishlisting, like if they explicitly said Dark Eldar are considered 'Eldar' when Allied together and therefore can benefit from Codex:Eldar psychic powers... wouldn't that be fun!

Early Thoughts on 6th Edition

Sunday, July 8, 2012


I've had another week with the new 6th edition book and some more time to read through my codexes and their updated FAQ's. I also managed to slip in my first game under the new ruleset this past weekend. Even though we had to cut the game a little short, based on the turns we played I'm pretty excited about the overall state of the game for 6th edition. While a lot of the 'core mechanics' have stayed the same, the changes and new additions have certainly breathed new life into the game. It's exciting to see what Warlord traits you and your opponent roll up, as well as psychic powers if you decide to roll for the new BRB powers.

I was feeling pretty sour about what happened to my untested Dark Eldar Webway army when the FAQ came out, however where GW closes a door they also open a window, or several. I gave my first serious read through the Craftworld Eldar codex this week, as they are the only Battle Brother Ally of the Dark Eldar. It was pretty fun! I was pleasantly surprised to find such fun and powerful abilities; it left me wondering why they received so much hate during 5th edition. At any rate, Eldar can certainly fill the psychic void of my DE and add some very adequate troops while they're at it. I'm leaning Pathfinders at the moment, but the other aspect warriors also deserve some consideration.

But for my first game I thought I should go with something that didn't rely too heavily on some of the more radical changes, like flyers, psychic powers, fortifications, etc. Plus we were only playing 1000pts, so I wanted to field something that would allow me to focus on the core rules. It was a job well suited for my Necrons.


Necrons fared well transitioning from 5th to 6th. They were strong at the end of 5th and I expect them to be even stronger in 6th. Even the lowliest warrior can strip hull points from the heaviest of tanks. Scarabs are still a hot knife through armor's butter and our ridiculously cheap monstrous creatures have even more tricks in the way of Fear, Hammer of Wrath and Smash hits.



Character challenges when Mindshackle Scarabs are involved should be very interesting for the robots. Necrons on the whole aren't known for their close combat prowess, but watch out for the one on one duels.

One of the biggest changes that is most apparent during the game is wound allocation. The closest models to the firing unit have to take the wounds, making deployment and subsequent movement even more tactically crucial in 6th edition.


That's pretty much it for now. I hope to get more games in soon and to try out some fun things like my new Storm Talon and some psykers. I definitely need to try out more of the missions as well. It's been fun re-writing the lists for my main armies and I'm definitely looking forward to figuring out what new combos work best against the ever changing meta. I'm also curious to see how tournaments react to the new rules and what they intend to do to balance a competitive event.