Les gros ! (et le chaos)

New Warhammer 40,000: Large Models

Today we take a look at the biggest models in the game, and how they’re going to work in the new edition.

There are a few big changes here, though we covered some of them a little when we looked at profiles. Like the three units we’ve seen already, every model will be using the same profile system, so everything will have Wounds, Toughness, Strength, etc… This includes all vehicles.

We’ve also gotten rid of specific rules for Gargantuan Creatures and Super-heavy vehicles. Instead, these units will have a suitably impressive statline, but still play by the same rules as everyone else. This also means that those units that previously sat just shy of Super-heavy status, and missed out on bunch of special rules because of it, will now be appropriately killy and durable.

You’ll soon see that some of Warhammer 40,000’s biggest hitters have A LOT of Wounds, high Toughness and a good save. The biggest Tyranid monsters now have over a dozen wounds, where Imperial Knights have over 20!

This makes them almost infinitely survivable against small arms fire, but means that high-power weapons that can take chunks of wounds off at a time (lascannons, powerfists, battle cannons, etc) can take them down relatively quickly when brought to bear in force. Gone are the days of a lucky first-turn meltagun blowing up your Land Raider. (A squad of them will still ruin its day though…)

There are almost no weapons in the game now that can instantly kill these big guys, so there will be no shortcuts to dealing with them – you have to get your hands dirty and take those Wounds off.

This can make big models very powerful, but there is a counter mechanic in the rules. As these large, powerful models take damage, their combat effectiveness starts to degrade. The best way to show you this is with an example.

Here we have a Mork(or possibly Gork)anaut (as requested by Stacy from our Warhammer 40,000 Facebook page):

Whoa, so – with 18 Wounds at Toughness 8, this guy is a tough cookie to crack – able to wade through bolter fire untroubled and requiring a lot of heavy weapons shots to take down.

You can see, though, as it gets to the point of only having half its Wounds left, this walker starts to get less effective – it will move slower and its attacks will get more clumsy as servos are fused, and sensor arrays fail to register.

At 4 Wounds left, it’s all but crippled, though its shooting output will be undiminished – so it starts as a combat wrecking ball at the beginning of the battle, crashing through enemy lines, and ends up as more of a semi-mobile shooting fortress at the end of its life.

Different vehicles will be reduced in effectiveness in different ways too – some will get worse at shooting, some will slow down, and some some will become less effective in melee.

So, the big stuff sounds pretty scary!

We’ll be back tomorrow with some good news for the little guys, when we look at how infantry work, and how combined firepower can be used to topple even the mightiest foes.

Today, we start a new article series where he (and a few others) will talk about how the new edition is going to affect specific factions, and what units they think we’ll be seeing more of. We start off with Chaos Space Marines – take it away Frankie…

Hello Warhammer Community readers! Frankie here from the SoCal Open Gaming Convention to talk to you about the (alleged!) bad guys of the 41st Millennium and some of what to expect from them in the new Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Space Marines. Okay so maybe they’re actually pretty bad, especially after Abaddon’s success in destroying Cadia, but we all know the False Emperor is the real bad guy here….

I myself have always enjoyed playing Chaos; the models are incredible and their back story is the best. The interactions between the Chaos Lords is amazing as well, as most of them don’t respect (or even like) each other but will join up to win battles and earn glory for Chaos. My favorite thing about Chaos is the Daemon Engines that they have in their armies. Flying mechanical space dragons breathing warpfire that burns your soul? Sign me up!

Chaos armies usually lean towards close combat, which is not what you normally see from a lot of armies in Warhammer 40,000 currently. Chaos has a solid control of the psychic phase as well, with the nasty Sorcerer Cabal that has been rampaging across the tables around the world – very fitting for an army that largely calls the warp home.

The troops you usually see on the field are the bravest humans in the galaxy, the Chaos Cultists! The Cultist Champion will challenge any foe that is willing to accept no matter how powerful they are. He usually doesn’t do anything that would impress the Chaos Gods, but at least he is willing to try!

Now for the moment everyone has been waiting for: how does Chaos play in the new edition? It has been a long time since we’ve seen Chaos armies with a lot of power armour on the tables, but no more! In the new edition, you will be seeing a great many Chaos armies, and a lot of them will have power armour in abundance! Yes, you read that right, you will want to have Chaos Space Marines in Chaos Space Marine armies!

Make sure to dust off your Havocs and gear them up for business as they are going to be helping the galaxy burn, baby! The changes to Heavy weapons have made these guys a great choice to help defeat the deluded lapdogs of the Emperor.

I cannot remember the last time I saw Havocs on the table, and it is a very welcome sight! Make sure to have a fully stocked arsenal as those lascannons, autocannon, missile launchers and even – you better believe it – heavy bolters, as they are going to be doing plenty of work in this new version of Warhammer 40,000!

They will provide excellent cover fire for your Chaos Terminators which will now strike fear into the hearts of your opponent as they bring devastation to the battlefield where they are least expected.

Abbadon has always been a bit of a disappointment to me. I have tried to play him in countless armies, but he often just ended up poking himself in the eye with Drach’nyen and not accomplishing a whole lot. Well how about we change that around and allow Abbadon to kick some serious Imperial tail?

Your wish is Games Workshop’s command, and now Abbadon has the rules to stomp face all along the Crimson Path (no surprise here, but he’s claiming credit for the Great Rift). Cadia was just the first step! He is a force to reckon with and inspires his Legion, allowing them to dominate the battlefield with an incredible ability which I will not spoil for you here. He is also a monster in combat, as his back-story would suggest, tearing people apart with the Talon of Horus and Drach’nyen. Imperium, be prepared for the Black Legion to cast an ominous shadow across the galaxy once again.

As stated above, your Daemon Engines will be rightly feared as well. With the changes to rules we’ve seen in vehicles, these furious engines of destruction no longer need to worry about being destroyed by a single lascannon shot as they prowl the battlefields.

Lastly, I want to talk about some of the most savage close combat fighters in the galaxy: the Khorne Berzerkers.

These guys are supposed to be feared for their brutality and combat prowess. Well, guess what? They will be – start fearing them now. Khorne will be pleased with this newest iteration of Berzerkers… very pleased! One of the key things that makes these blood-hungry units so good is the change to charging, as now they all get to swing first in a turn in which they charged. No more getting wiped out before they have the chance to hit anything.

What about chainaxes, you ask? You will want to arm all of your “Blood for the Blood God” warriors with these bad boys. Wait…Blood for the Blood God…what does that do? I guess you will have to wait and find out when these warriors hit the tabletops, but trust me, blood and skulls will be reaped!

That is truly just the tip of the iceberg, too. So many units that have languished on the shelves are going to rise up from the ashes to wreak havoc on the tabletops and provide hours of fun.

Well, I hope all you Chaos players are as excited as I am about this new edition. Make sure to get all those unfinished Chaos models ready for battle so you can hit the tables and planets in style!