Monday, June 26, 2017

Many mini 8th ed battles


As many of you should know, 8th edition 40k came out last weekend. Since then I have been playing game after game. Exclusively at 19 power levels, my oldest wants to play his guard, which is a unit of Veterans and a Tank Commander. Needless to say, the wider scope may be missing. However, I have learned some things.


The first thing I learned is that close combat units are a must. Even for a shooting army. Being able to charge in with even a rhino to shut down the shooting from a Leman Russ, or any scary shooting, unit is very powerful. Even if you don't plan on assaulting to block shooting, a counter charge unit that can tie up the opponents chargers, and let your shooter get away to actually shoot is important.

Overwatch is very powerful. Even if your opponent is missing their own shooting phase, recharging every turn can really take its toll. Used to be, a unit would get one overwatch, even if the first unit failed its charge, then would be locked up, provided somebody made it in. But overwatching until somebody actually makes it in, and then repeating on the next turn, after your unit wanders off, can do stuffs, even on 6's.

The old strong weapons aren't as strong anymore. Yeah, a melta or a lascannon can cause hurt, but they are less likely to do it. Versus my main opponent's Leman Russ, a melta needs 4's. Within half range, still 4's. In over a half dozen turns at half range versus the stupid Russ, my melta gunner has only actually wounded once. 33% miss plus 50% fail to wound are making my day rough. In larger games, with more squads, this may be less of an issue, but in these super small games, it really shows.

Plasma is deadly. But only to me. Plasma used to, for me, sit in this nice middle ground of taking out low save infantry, tougher models, and still being able to smack armor if need be. Well, now anything with a marine save of 3+ or better still gets a save. Sure it is on 6's, but those always seem to show when the unit should die. Plus, you're wounding on 3's, not 2's, or dying. I haven't faced any heavier troops, but versus armor, unless I want to kill my own troops, you need 5's versus a decent tank. And the new Get's Hot is very unforgiving. With more points, I am looking to drop in some lords, which gives me rerolls, so that should help, but 1 and done.... I have had a lot of done. So much so that I have been taking the 5+ to hit over the 4+ on the Leman Russ, because the wrong model dies.

My escapades have also not just been limited to CSM. I have also been playing my Eldar jetbikes. Again, a small list, but I have enjoyed them. The shuriken weapons work alright. Mine are armed pre Craftworld book, so 2 catapults to 1 cannon, but I like the build. With split fire it also allows me to use this load out differently. I have also been running a Farseer, which is great for the psychic powers, they kept the really useful ones. The Eldar are very squishy, though. I know, who would have thought. They go down to a stiff breeze. Still fun though.

While there are a lot of things that have made me misstep, I am definitely enjoying the new edition. I look forward to getting in some bigger games. I have also been making a lot of progress on my Night Lords army, including getting a large portion of my tanks done, so that I can cast up the pieces and produce them for the whole army.

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