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Chaos Daemons are Coming!

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Age of Sigmar chaos Blue Horrors of Tzeentch

A new Codex: Chaos Daemons is about to materialise in a Warhammer 40k 8th editing game near you!

Often thought of as the Other Chaos Army the Chaos Daemons are often seen as elite units with Chaos Space Marines on the gaming table. However the Daemon army is strong enough to stand by itself.

Pulling forces from the four gods of Chaos; Khorne, Nurgle, Slannesh, and Tzeentch, the chaos army came be fearsome and for the opponent, bewildering! As a player this is great! If you play vanilla Space Marines your opponent is sure to know everything about your army, their strengths, their weaknesses and every possible move you can make. If you are playing an army that is far from the norm you may find player that are familiar with that armies abilities, but for the most cases you will have the advantage.

Recent WH40k 8th edition codexes have come with loads of extra stratagems psychic powers and warlord traits. Their is no reason to think that this codex will be any less. In the Index: Chaos we also saw that Games Workshop made the Chaos Daemons a really playable army. I am really expecting this codex to expand on this and lift the Daemons to the same level as the other mainstream armies!

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Dark Angle Codex Released

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Warhammer 40000 Dark Angle Space Marine Deathwing Knight

The new Dark Angle Codex has been released just in time for Christmas!

Since the release of Warhammer 40000 8th Edition Games Workshop have been pumping out the Codex army rule books. Now it is the turn of one of my favourite armies, the Dark Angle Space Marines.

In the codex you get the usual fluff and backstories about the army.

“Codex: Dark Angels contains a wealth of background and rules – the definitive book for Dark Angels collectors. Within, you’ll find:

– The First Legion: the origins of the Dark Angels – one of the most famously secretive Chapters – their homeworld, and the dark stain on their history that motivates their crusade of vengeance;
– A guide to the Dark Angels’ Chapter organisation, with an explanation of their constant, obsessive hunt for the Fallen, along with their heraldries and Chapter markings;
– An overview of the Ravenwing and the Deathwing, specialist companies unique to the Dark Angels;
– Detailed colour schemes and heraldries of 8 successor Chapters: Angels of Redemption, Angels of Absolution, Angels of Vengeance, Blades of Vengeance, Consecrators, Disciples of Caliban, Angels of Defiance, and Guardians of the Covenant;
– In the Name of Absolution: a timeline of significant events and battles in the history of the Dark Angels;
– Background and details on each character and unit available to a Blood Angels [Dark Angel] army;
– A showcase of beautifully painted Citadel miniatures, with example armies featuring everything from individual images of models to battle scenes on terrain.”  – WarhammerDigital.Com

Here at WargameTactics.com we are far more interested in the gaming side of the hobby so:

“Everything you need to get a Dark Angels army primed for games of Warhammer 40,000 is in here:

– 76 datasheets containing rules for every Dark Angels unit and miniature;
– Army abilities reflecting the Dark Angels’ methods of war on the tabletop;
– Armoury of the Rock: wargear both ranged and close-combat for use by Dark Angels armies;
– Points values for all miniatures, weapons and wargear for use in Matched Play games;
– Angels of Death: rules for Battle-forged armies, including:
– 6 unique Warlord Traits available for any Dark Angels commander;
– 26 unique Stratagems;
– Relics of Caliban: a selection of 6 rare weapons and artefacts unique to Dark Angels armies;
– Interromancy Discipline: 6 psychic powers available to any Dark Angels model with the Psyker keyword;
– 6 unique Tactical Objectives.” – WarhammerDigital.Com

With the latest Dark Angle Codex the Dark Angles are getting access to all the classic Dark Angle units like the Deathwing and Ravenwing plus the new Gravis Armoured units that we saw in the Index: Imperium 1. On top of this we see that some of the nice generic Space Marine toys have been made available like the Stormraven Gunships and the Stalker & Hunter battle tanks.

There are a lot of good things found withing the pages of the Dark Angel Codex, and I am exited to see how the changes pan out and how effective the Dark Angles are against the other WH40k armies now that they are armed with their own codex.

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Incoming! New Imperial Guard Codex arrives this weekend

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Warhammer 40000 Imperial Guard Company Commander and Cammand Squad

Warhammer 40000 Imperial Guard Company Commander and Cammand SquadYes! A new Imperial Guard Codex is imminent, and it’s looking like it will be a cracker.

The Codex releases are coming out thick and fast for Warhammer 40k 8th edition from Games Workshop. In this Codex we are expecting new rules for the Imperial Guard regiments. It is expected that the different regiments of renown are getting special rules. This will add colour and diversity to the Guard army. Notes about the Catachan and Mordian armies have been added to the Community website’s already. Other regiments will have notes posted during the week.

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Missions and Mission Tactics for Warhammer 40000 8th Ed

Warhammer 40000 8th edition Dark Imperium Rookbook

In this section we will be looking at the different missions you can find for Warhammer 40000 and mission tactics that will help you win more games.

The core of Warhammer 40000 is the game mission. This is what gives you the details of what you need to do to win a specific specific game. You can create missions yourself, and Games Workshop will publish missions in future army Codex and rule extensions, however the missions that you are likely to be playing most often are the ones published in the rule book. If you get familiar with the rule book missions then you will win more games!

In the 8th Edition rule book there are 5 different sections of missions starting at page 186. One thing you can not complain about is the lack of missions in this release! Each section of missions do get more complicated as you progress through the rules. If you are new to Warhammer 40k I recommend that you start with the ‘Only War’ missions on page 187 or the ‘War Without End’ missions on page 191.

Only War Mission Tactics

On page 187 you can find the Only War missions. At first look this page looks like there is just one mission, but on closer inspection there is a table where you roll to select one of three missions.

Each of the missions on this page use objective markers. You can use anything as an objective markers. Dice are popular, or coins work well. If you play WH40k regularly then creating terrain pieces numbered one to six looks better on the table.

The missions use objective markers, but do not mention how many to set up. I suggest that for small games up to 1000 points 4 markers work well, standard games of 1000 to 3000 points, 6 markets are recommended, and larger games need 8 markers, and the table space to place them!

 

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Psychic Tactics for WH40k 8th Ed

Soul Steal Spell

In Warhammer 40k there is no magic like you find in the Age of Sigma game. What you have instead psychic powers.

Psychic powers can only be manifested by special individuals called psykers (duh!). All psykers can manifest a psychic power called smite.

These note are written with the expectation that you have the Warhammer 40000 8th edition rule book, or you have regular access to one.

Chance of Manifesting Psychic Powers

To cast a psychic power you need to roll 2D6 and get a result equal or higher than the power level of the power. You need to pick the power before you roll, so you need to ballance the chance of success with the result you need. If two powers will give you the result you want, for example the death of a character, then use the power that will be easiest to invoke.

Smite

FireballAll psykers get the Smite psychic power, so you need to get familiar with it. Even if you have no psykers you are likely to be on the receiving end of it.

Smite has a psychic level of 5. This means that it is easy to cast. However the psyker needs to be within 18″ of the target, which is well within counter assault range. This short range means that your psykers will need some body guards.

With Smite you can only target the nearest visible enemy unit. If you are in 1″ of the enemy then this should be easy. If you are touching 2 or more units you can choose which of these units you want to smite.  If you are further away you may want to use the movement phase to get in position to Smite your preferred target.

If you get the Smite power off then it causes D3 mortal wounds to the target enemy unit and if you rolled 10+ then you get D6 mortal wounds. Mortal wounds carry over, so this can, and often does, remove several models from the target unit. The best target units are those with only a few wounds ( or only a few left) that have high save and invulnerable saves. Terminator Squads or Characters are my favourite targets.

Deny The Witch

The main use of psykers is to cause damage to your enemy or strengthen your army. However there is another very important role for your psykers, and that is to block successful psychic attacks from enemy psykers. This blocking action is called ‘deny the witch’.

Deny the witch rolls can be made 24″ away from the enemy psyker. Notice that this is further than the 18″ range of Smite. This means that you can keep your psyker a bit further back. Note though that other army specific psychic powers may have a longer range!

Army Specific Psychic Powers

Each army has, or will have their own Codex which include special psychic powers that are available for that army only. I will be covering these powers in the general tactics section for each army.

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Warhammer 40000 8th Edition nearly here!

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Warhammer 40000 8th edition Dark Imperium Rookbook

The much anticipated new 8th edition of Warhammer 40000 rules are about to be released. some have managed to get copies early and there are videos on YouTube showing the box set, main rules, and additional Index Books (army codexes).

At is stands, the new rules look to be everything that Games Workshop have promised. The basic rules are going to be free. This will help new players get in to the game with the fewest obstacles. For more advanced players there will be an advanced rule book and ‘index’ books with the unit by unit rules for existing models.

As I write the new box set ( which includes the advanced rules), the Advanced Rule Book and the Index books have been made available for pre-order. Following a moth or two of solid marketing I expect that early orders for these items will be strong and if you want to ensure that you get them on release day, or soon after ( if you are mail ordering), then I highly recommend that you place an advanced order. You can order the new box set and rule books through your local Games Workshop store, or through the Games Workshop website, however if you want to buy them with a discount I would recommend buying them through a reputable online Games workshop stockiest like Element Games.

As you may expect, I will be getting my hands on the rules as soon as possible and update these pages with new tactics for the new game!

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Wh40k Update News – Phychic Powers!

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Soul Steal Spell

Games Workshop have released details of the new Warhammer 40k psychic phase, and as expected they are looking a lot like Age of Sigmar psychic rules :

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2017/04/28/new-warhammer-40000-psychic-phase/

The similarities to Age of Sigmar magic are:

  • A set number of psychic castings per model
  • 2D6 to cast
  • Everyone knows one or two basic psychic powers, probably plus a signature psychic power.

What we don’t know is if there will be a psychic phase, or if the psychic phase will be rolled in to  a command phase like Age of Sigmar. Personally I think that the Age of Sigmar combined command and psychic phase is working very well and I hope that this has been brought over to the new WH40k!

Smite is Right!

Smite is the power that all the psykers will know, and it does look like Arcane Bolt with 18″ range and an extra kick if you roll 10+. It is probable that 18″ will be the standard distance for psychic powers and dispels / deny the witch. If 18″ is the standard distance then it will be awfully close. Standard weapons range is 24″ and I don’t see that changing. Also 18″ is on the edge of assault range. I suspect a 24″ range on psychic powers would work better.

There is mention of perils of the warp, but no mention of how you peril. I am thinking of a double 1 roll, but we will have to wait and see!

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WH40k Update Official News Released

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Warhammer 40k Dark Vengeance Box set

We all know that it is time for Warhammer 40000 to be updated. It has been 3 years since the 7th edition came out and that was a fix release from the 6th edition that came out a year earlier!

Don’t get me wrong, the 7th edition of 40k has been very popular. The addition of objectives forced gun-line armies out from their barricades and give assault based armies an even chance. The move away from Standard formation armies to factions and themed armies has added co;our to the game too.

However to keep the game fresh the rules need to change and grow from time to time, and basically the time is right!

Here is the latest post on the changes due in the next version:

Warhammer 40,000 News from AdeptiCon

From the post I suspect / expect that Games Workshop will be taking some of the best bits of Age of Sigmar and bringing them back in to Warhammer 40,000.

The first on the list was the recognition that the Generals Handbook and the ‘3 ways to play’ have been a great success in Age of Sigmar. I do have to echo this recognition too. The simple free play version of Age of Sigmar makes it very easy for new players or occasional players who have a handful of nice looking models to get in to gaming with little effort and no extra cash expenditure. This has had the effect of drawing new players in to the game. Some of these new gamers will stick with the game and become more competition later. Warhammer 40000 has had less difficulty drawing new players, however a lower entry point will be a bonus to adding new blood to the game.

Another success from Age of Sigmar that seems to be coming to 40k is the war scroll idea, where all the points and rules for a unit can be found on one page (weapon special abilities, movement rates, etc). This is not massively new to 40k, the newest codexes have been redesigned so that upgrade points costs are on the fact sheets instead of having to search two section at the same time while building your army lists (upgrade options in one section, points costs for the upgrades elsewhere). From the GW post it looks like any unit special rules will be joining them on the unit fact sheet. This should slim down or remove the Special Rules section of the rule book, and thereby halving the rulebook size!

Moral check changes where mentioned in the Games Workshop post too. These proposed rules look exactly like the Age of Sigmar Moral tests. I didn’t think that there was anything up with the current Moral tests, but one system that covers both games will make it easier if you are swapping from one genre to the other!

All told, I suspect that the new rules are being heavily play tested in GW towers, and any rumoured changes still have time to change again, however this is one player who is waiting for the new release with expectation!

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Age of Sigmar Rulebook Commeth

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Age of Sigmar General’s Handbook Pre-Release Overview

Age of Sigmar Generals Hsndbook from Games Workshop.

Age of Sigmar Generals Handbook from Games Workshop.

So Age of Sigmar has been out for about a year now and here comes the rule book and the first army book.

The Age of Sigmar rule book is to be called “The Generals Handbook”, and advanced copies can be sewn at your local Games Workshop shop. They are available for pre-order in shops and mail order suppliers like Wayland Games. The Black Library also has a ‘sample’ e-book that you can download. The sample is mainly the introduction that explains what Games Workshop are trying to achieve.

Just a note about the sample download. It comes as a eBook EPL v3 file. On most of the ebook readers that I tried on my Android device the background images for the page texture was displayed separately from the text, even on eReaders that say they read v3 files. However, after some searching I found that the ‘Kobo’ eReader did render the pages properly. You need to click on the menu item and import the documents on the device. It is worth the effort though. Once you have the sample properly rendered it does look as  good as the printed publications Games Workshop release. I suspect that the final downloaded General’s Hanbdook will need the same treatment.

> Also buy: Discount General’s Handbook from Wayland Games

So What’s going to be in the General’s Handbook?

The key addition to the game is the touted ‘3 ways to play’. These 3 ways are casual pointless ‘Open Play’ games that are the basis for the current rules; point based ‘Matched Play’ games and there tables of units and points at the rear of the handbook; and story-line ‘Narrative’ based games where you re-create battles from history or from the Age of Sigmar books ( or any other source of inspiration) . The story-line section also covers map based games where a series battles are conducted over territories, with different territories give benefits like magic items or more forces.  

> Also buy: Discount General’s Handbook from Wayland Games

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