Yup. You got it. Today, Warhammer Community has posted on datasheets! Check their post out for more details.
Awesome. To break it down, each datasheet will have all the information on the unit you want to field, so you don't have to flip through thick and clunky codex (apparently). Their special rules are there, as well as the profiles for the weapons they use, particularly the most common weapons they wield. Sweet.
Okay, to start off, we begin with unit type. On the top left you can see the Troops icon. So this represents the battlefield role of the unit. Yay.
Then we have Power Level (Power Rating?) next to the icon. I have no idea what the heck that is either, but apparently Warhammer Community promises to look at it tomorrow. It seems to replace the points system, but I can't be sure.
And then a picture of Ahriman because...why the hell not?
Below we have the usual stats. You know the drill. Movement speed, Ballistic Skill, Weapon Skill, Strength, Toughness, Wounds, Attacks, etc. Nothing new, let's move on.
Then we have wargear options. Yay. This will make it easier for us to refer to whenever a specific unit shoots rather than flip here and there for the weapon profiles and to check which unit has what weapons. Sweet.
After that we have Abilities. It seems that Abilities specific to the unit will be written out in full, and universal special rules are gone. Instead, we might have army-wide or faction-wide specific rules such as Death to the False Emperor that will be written clearly somewhere in the handbook, and it's applicable to all the units in that Faction/Army.
Random image of Scarab Occult Termiantors because...why the hell not.
If your unit has a Psyker, they'll add the Psyker rule there. Apparently.
Finally we have Faction keywords. Apparently you can apply this to Battle-forged armies. These may grant in-game effects and certain units will gain benefits from specific Characters, and they can travel in specific Transports. There was some clamor on Bell of Lost Souls the other day where some guy whined about Independent Characters being unable to hop into Dedicated Transports of other units. Well, this clears things up. If they share a Faction keyword, then they can probably take the same Transport as another unit that purchased as a Dedicated Transport. I think.
Then you have keywords. More general keywords such as Infantry, and I believe Vehicles or Monstrous Creatures. These more general keywords apparently apply to battlefield wide stuff like cover and whatnot. And Psykers will be battlefield-wide Psykers with psychic abilities as opposed to Faction-specific Psykers.
If that makes sense.
Anyway, we'll find out about this Power Rating or Power Level thing tomorrow, so stay tuned! For the Emperor!
Oh, and since I'm still in the process of convincing the Thousand Sons to return to the side of the Imperium, let's just say their Death to the False Emperor is not referring to the Real Emperor but to the False Four-armed Emperor of the Genestealer Cult. ;)
The Power Rating is in addition to Points costs.
ReplyDeleteThe idea is for very competitive play - tournaments and such - you use points costs, which will function the way they always have: you pay for every upgrade.
However for simpler play, or primarily narrative games/campaigns you can use Power Ratings instead. These are essentially just a different style of points, but by using them you don't have to worry about paying for upgrades - you just take the models you want. Thats why the Power Rating goes up when you take more models but not when you take a Warpflamer.
Power Ratings won't be as finely balanced, but they give you a rough framework to balance out your armies without having to nickle-and-dime over every upgrade.
I see myself mostly using standard points values (what they call "Matched Play"), but I can see Power Ratings being great for easily putting together Apocalypse sized games. Just set a Power Rating cap and grab whatever models you have, upgardes be damned, haha.
Oh, that makes a lot of sense! Thanks! I kind of understand what they're going for now with the Points costs and Power Rating now. I'm really looking forward to it. Yeah, it'll be a lot easier to play if I don't have to worry about upgrade costs, etc.
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