If you asked me to describe the changes to the rules of Warhammer 40,000 in the transition from 10th to 11th edition in three words, those words would be: MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!
11th edition isn’t a major overhaul of the game, but you’ll be seeing both more movement, but also more compact movement.
The two biggest changes are that units can move through friendly units, and rotating models at the end of their movement is now free. This means you won’t end up with traffic-jams where units block the way forward for their own allies. It also means you won’t see people make shorter moves in order to rotate their models.
But there’s more, much more. Units in a transport that’s surrounded can now disembark straight into combat; no more holding the doors closed on a Land Raider to keep the passengers trapped inside. And they’ve added a few quality-of-life changes to make movement less painful for the players. For instance, jump-pack troops no longer need to measure up, across, and then down to clear obstacles; they just subtract 2” from their movement. Easy-peasy.
It’s also a lot easier to measure whether a model is in unit coherency; instead of measuring between every model, you now just need to make certain that all the models are within 9 inches of all the other models in the unit, which is why you’ll likely see the return of templates even if no weapons use them still.
Another new rule that will keep your squads possibly more bunched up allows infantry, beast, and swarm units in cover who don’t shoot to be hiding, and therefore unseen unless they get within 15 inches of an enemy unit. This will make getting your melee units across the board a lot easier.
Speaking of terrain, it’s become a lot more important as well. Shooting at a unit that has cover from terrain now subtracts -1 to your Ballistic Skill, which means units with high Armor Penetration weapons care about cover now. As a fun added wrinkle, units elevated by the terrain they are on enjoy a +1 to their BS. I think you’ll be seeing a lot more units making the effort to climb atop buildings and rubble.
But my favorite change is the banishment of objective markers and the invisible circles that dictated whether or not an objective was contested. Instead, your objectives will be actual pieces of terrain on the table. This will make your battles feel a lot more cinematic and narrative, as you strive to clear out a building or sanctify a shrine. (Those of you who have studied the Battle of Waterloo are almost certainly thinking of a certain farmhouse that became pivotal in that fight.)
Dig into all the details on the 11th edition rules here.
This is an exciting time for 40k fans, and an excellent time for the curious to take a serious look at the game. With the new edition comes a new boxed set of space marines vs. orks; if you want to get your hands on that box, talk to the quartermaster officers at your local Dragons Lair Comics & Fantasy® today to make certain you get yours.
