WFB 9th Edition Rumor Roundup

[Mr Mystery]

All about the wider picture, which we don't have yet.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

minimal rules would be a good thing for me as I have an extremely poor memory (this is no understatement) and have never been able to memorise all the stats and special rules these sort of games have which is why I've gotten into the gaming side - so for me it actually seems encouraging.

[odinsgrandson]

Four Pages of rules is interesting- and it represents a significant departure from the current business model they're using for 40k (with all those hard-bound $50 rule books).

Economizing space for a four-page book isn't necessary if you're going to make the rules available as a free PDF- but it is a big deal if you're including them in every box of minis. That makes me wonder if we'll be seeing something closer to Confrontation's business model, rather than Warmachine's.


There's a secret to doing four pages of rules:

1- Keep your core mechanics for movement and combat simple. GW has always done this, they just need to be a little less long winded about the way they phrase it.

2- Make cards that go with the units that have their stats on them, and that fully explain all of their special rules. That way you don't have to make the game too simple to have a super short rule book.

3- Avoid loads of tables- they tend to take up a whole page for not a lot of rules content.

4- Streamline anything that can fall under the same general rules into the same category, and simply make special rules on the cards differentiate them. So if we can have the same section dedicated to ranged and magic, we will.

[Erik Setzer]

I'm not sure even Execution Force had that small a set of rules. You can eliminate tables and all, but you're still having to go extremely barebones, which is something of a system shock considering none of GW's rules sets to date could be stuffed into four pages (likely even including every board game). And it would have to be very abstract. One of the things that made me iffy on Kings of War was how abstract it sounded.

It might be more complex, with the rules being with the units, but then the "four-page rulebook" thing is a misleading marketing point (and not really a great marketing point).

I don't know... 20 pages of rules, cool. That's a simple game, with room for variation, all that, smaller even than a WD magazine, probably something where a good-sized game would take less than 2 hours.

Four pages, though? Just feels too much like a cheap quickie game, and we know it's not going to be cheap.

[eldargal]

Confirms that the new armies are new armies not new looks for old armies too.

[grimmas]

I think Odinsgrandson has with how 4 pages of rules could work quite happily, detailed unit cards/entiries could contain a lot of unit specific rules. We could be looking at very simplistic basic mechanics that are elaborated on through the units themselves.

It's all very interesting.

[Path Walker]

4 pages of rules is plenty, many systems can fit their rules into such a space, people love simple games with depth, look at X Wing, the rules for that could easily fit into 4 full size pages if you removed a lot of the bumph, again, it puts the exceptions onto the unit cards.

We're seeing a new type of game here, look at the boxes we've had lately, Stormfiends are obviously designed for this system, same with Blightkings and Wrathmongers (all of those units are round based in WHW by the way)

[40kGamer]

I am actually quite excited for super streamlined rules. My biggest complaint with 40k atm is the sprawling over complicated rules. And I think GW needs to go after new blood with this release. It makes no sense to keep doing the same thing over and over if it no longer works. It really doesn't matter if 8th is the last edition of WFB proper. You only have to look at the Specialist Games. They haven't been supported by GW for years but have extensive online living rulebooks, new factions and tons of community support.

[Paintingplasticcrack]

I am actually quite excited for super streamlined rules. My biggest complaint with 40k atm is the sprawling over complicated rules. And I think GW needs to go after new blood with this release. It makes no sense to keep doing the same thing over and over if it no longer works. It really doesn't matter if 8th is the last edition of WFB proper. You only have to look at the Specialist Games. They haven't been supported by GW for years but have extensive online living rulebooks, new factions and tons of community support.

this would be my main complaint with 40k, having not played since the introduction of 7th 40k is looking far too complicated from a non players perspective. If this new WFB is as streamlined as suggested that sounds great. Especially for attracting a younger audience. Maybe GWs new gateway game.

[40kGamer]

this would be my main complaint with 40k, having not played since the introduction of 7th 40k is looking far too complicated from a non players perspective. If this new WFB is as streamlined as suggested that sounds great. Especially for attracting a younger audience. Maybe GWs new gateway game.

Yes sir. Hard time to be a casual player as you just can't keep up with the rules/releases.

- - - Updated - - -

From the Frontpage

“Don’t worry. Warhammer Fantasy miniatures stay relevant. Old miniatures can still be used, however how you will play them has changed.””On the 4th of July all the new rules will be available digitally on the GW website for FREE – It will explain to you how the new game works””The new rules for each miniature will also be in the newly rebranded boxes.
Square bases and movement trays are gone.””The new and rebranded products will now come with oval and round bases. However don’t worry, as you can play the game with any base shape”

RIP Square Bases. I never thought they would actually do this but it really looks like the old ranked/units on square bases are gone. Holy crap.