6th of one, half a dozen of the other

Andy and I played our first game of 6th edition 40K on Saturday. We played 500 points on a 4x4 board and rolled up the D3+2 Objective mission. Now, I have to admit that this will probably be the worst "initial thoughts" piece that you read on 6th edition as due to Andy's incredibly poor dice rolls, it was a very one sided game and we didn't even get close to having any combat.

Shooting

Let's not kid ourselves, 40K was a shooting game in 5th edition and very little has changed for 6th in that regard. The change in the Toughness rules have made some units more survivable but with cover getting worse and new Rules like Focused Fire and Precision Shot make shooting even better.

Now, we found shooting in the new edition to be very straightforward. However, we didn't have any units containing models with different saving throws. The key now is going to be how you arrange your units to try and protect the important models. I set up my Long Fangs in a T-shape with the Pack Leader at the front so that he would take the first unsaved wound. However, what would I have done if I had been Outflanked?

Andy had an even harder choice as he had a five man Devastator unit containing a Sergeant, three Missile Launchers and a regular Bolter Marine. On my turn one, they were going to take fire from my Long Fangs on the right hand side of the board and a Living Lightning Rune Priest in the centre. There was no way to set up his unit so that he could protect the important squad members from incoming fire.

Bookkeeping

There seems to be a lot more of this in the new edition. From Hull Points to Mysterious Objectives to Warp Charge, it seems that every phase has something that you need to make a note of.

Go First and Win

In 5th edition there were some army builds that were considered to have a huge advantage if they went first, those that could put out a crippling alpha strike from which the opponent would struggle to recover. Now not only do we have the same issue in 6th edition but you also get a point for it. I go first, kill one of your units and get, what could be, in some missions, the winning Victory Point.

Next Steps

Play some more games. It was a real shame that we didn't manage to get any combat going apart from a charge against a Rhino. I have to admit that I don't hold out much hope for combat as I think that the changes to the Fearless rules make it a lot less killy than previously. However, that's based on conjecture rather than evidence. There are also a lot of other rules that we didn't actually get to try including Hammer of Wrath and Nightfight (didn't get it Turn 1)

However, I still think that my list should so alright in 6th with only a few changes. Three units of Long Fangs are still awesome as is the Rune Priest. Grey Hunters remain one of the best Troops in the game even if they can't assault out of their Rhino any more. However, the Scouts might have to go and I need some more units for the Club's Tale of Gamers

Elephant in the room

Or rather above the room. One of the other things we didn't use on saturday was fliers. Now from what I've read in the rulebook and what I've seen on the internet, these are clearly going to be huge in 6th edition. Now, I have no doubt at all that eventually Space Wolves will be given the option of Flakk Missiles. However, I can't see that happening until GW have sold loads of fliers and most Wolf players have either gone out and bought allies or fortifications. Cynical? Yes, but you have to admit that it's pretty good marketing. For now, I'm going to focus on shooting everything that isn't a flyer and hope that they don't have too much of an impact. This isn't really a strategy though and while it might be successful for the first few months of this new edition as people slowly acquire fliers, it's of little use in the long term...

How is everyone else finding the new edition? It seems like it's going to be slower to play but is that just because it's all still new?