First Games of 8th Ed. 40k

I am one of many gamers who started playing 40k way-back-when before eventually moving onto other (usually historical) games.  The release of 8th edition and the ‘rebirth’ of GW has lured me back and some old and dusty models were finally placed on the tabletop over the Easter long weekend together with some that were brand new.

Chris, Matt and I played two 30 Power Level games with armies from the Indexes on a 3′ x 4′ table.  The first was Matt’s Tau vs. my Ynnari and the second was Chris’ Drukhari vs. my Astra Militarum.  I did not take any photos, but this blog is about my initial impressions of the latest edition rather than a battle report.

8th Edition certainly feels like an entirely new game, which is a good thing.  New game mechanics, such being able to withdraw from combat, mean that you can try new tactics.  Vehicles also appear to be more durable and the rules are simple enough for the game to move along at a good pace.

You are going to need a bigger dice tray …

The amount of dice rolled (and rerolled) can be quite large, even in a small game.  I am slightly worried that the game could devolve into a massive dice rolling contest (some of the YouTube videos come across this way) rather than being a tactical game; however, there is still so much to discover in the new rules – tactical objectives, stratagems, different game formats, etc.

Power-ups might spoil your day … 

I am definitely more interested in the narrative or ‘what-if’ aspects of a wargame.  Finding the perfect army list or the ultimate kill everything super combo does not really interest me; however, there are many opportunities to maximise the effectiveness of your models, such as rerolling hits or wounds etc. (see bigger dice tray above) or combining certain items, stratagems, etc.

I realise that finding ‘power-up’ combos can be an enjoyable part of the game since they encourage the cinematic moments that can make a game memorable.  The flip side of course is that you may be on the receiving end of a very unenjoyable game.

Ultimately, there will always be players who try to ‘break’ a game and 40k is probably not unique in this regard.  I am fortunate to have a group of fellow gamers who will push the game mechanics hard without resorting to gamesmanship.

This game is fun …

Notwithstanding my comments above, this game is a lot of fun.  Whilst it is daunting being on the receiving end of your opponent’s turn, it is still possible to fight back in your own.  This was evident in our games with victory clutched from the claws of defeat (or was that vice versa).  There were plenty of decision points to make the games interesting and challenging.

Overall, I am really happy to be back playing 40k and a narrative campaign is starting to form in my mind.  Our next games will be bigger and we plan to use the new Codexes.