Not a good idea...I mean, there are more...uh, cheerful and brighter universes to seek refuge in after all...
Anyway, let's charge into the charge phase, and I might as well cover the fight phase today as well, to catch up. Besides, the two are intricately linked, so it might be better to merge the posts. First we start off with the charge phase that Warhammer Community posted yesterday.
For the most part, charging works the same way. You still pick a target within 12" of your charging units, and roll 2D6. You still need to roll 2D6" equal or higher to get into combat, and the charged enemy unit can still fire overwatch. It's still snapfire, so yeah, overwatch still only hits on rolls of 6s.
But the good news is that we don't need to reach base contact like the current edition. When you roll 2D6" and your charging units make it within 1" of the targeted enemy unit, they get locked into combat. So it's 1" easier to get into combat in 8th Edition than in 7th Edition. Yay...I guess? Ugh, not a good thing for my poor Guardsmen.
You can't move within 1" of an enemy you didn't declare as the target of your charge. Here's an example. Let's say you want your Raptors, to charge my 2 squads of Guardsmen. You need to have at least 2 squads of Raptors or some other squad or unit to charge my 2nd squad of Guardsmen - then you can declare that they will charge both and your 2 squads of Raptors can move within 1" of each Guardsmen squad. However, if you only have 1 Raptor squad and you chose to charge 1 of my squads, you cannot place your Raptors within 1" of my 2nd squad of Guardsmen. Cool so far? Okay, here's the caveat of being able to charge both my squads of Guardsmen. If you declare you're going to charge both, then I have the luxury of having both squads fire overwatch at your Raptors, and then have both squads fire overwatch again at your 2nd charging squad. Because I can fire overwatch multiple times in the new edition. On the other hand, once my Guardsmen are locked in combat with the Raptors, they can't fire overwatch any longer.
So what happens once you get into combat? Well, let's take a look at Warhammer Community's post on the fight phase to see what happens next.
If you remember the new profiles, then you probably recall there's no more Initiative. Instead, whoever charges gets to strike first. So your Raptors would always hit first, even in subsquent turns of combat. My poor Guardsmen...sigh. On the other hand, if my Guardsmen had fixed their bayonets and desperately charged your Raptors, then my Guardsmen will always hit first.
When you strike, you gain a free 3" move toward the closest enemy. By doing so, if you move within 1" of another enemy, you can drag them into melee as well and prevent them from shooting next turn. Worst, they can't Overwatch. Ugh. So your Raptors can hit my first squad of Guardsmen, then when they swing, move 3" toward my 2nd squad of Guardsmen. If I was stupid enough to place them 4" away from my first squad, both squads will be dragged into melee with the Raptors, without the 2nd squad being able to overwatch, and they can't shoot next turn either. Sucks to be a Guardsman. At least we aren't Fire Warriors.
I have no freaking clue what Warhammer Community is talking about next when regarding how we take it in turns to activate combat across the board. Must be referring to how you can choose to move 3" toward the nearest enemy unit to drag everyone into a massive, free-for-all brawl. I don't know, that's my guess anyway.
It seems like we Guardsmen have a chance of triumphing over Khorne Berzerkers in melee combat now (okay, I'm deliberately misreading the post and deluding myself).
Oh and combat is easier now without needing that whole Weapon Skill table, which made things annoying. Now everyone has a fixed roll on which they hit on. I suppose Guardsmen will only hit on a 4+, which kind of sucks, but it's better than nothing. Well, at least we Guardsmen will have new rules for our close combat weapons. I don't think our bayonets will get anything, but power weapons, chainswords (for Commissars) and the like will at least gain special rules such as armor penetration or deal multiple wounds to the enemy model. Maybe even Instant Death. We shall see.
I have to say, the new melee combat system doesn't bode well for my poor Guardsmen. Maybe my Imperial Knights and Skitarii will benefit. We shall see. But Imperial Knights will probably still stomp and rip things apart with their Reaper chainsword, while my Skitarii assassins (Sicarian Ruststalkers and Sicarian Infiltrators) will have some nifty rules for their transonic or taser weapons. Yay. We shall see.
Don't run away! I know you're all scared from shooting, psychic powers and close combat, but we still need to talk about morale tomorrow!
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