8th Ed Fantasy

So not too long ago Games Workshop rolled out their newest edition of warhammer fantasy. Since I haven't played Fantasy for over a year, and It is pretty much my least favorite game I ignored it. I let the edition change slip by and I carried on. But about a week ago I started hearing about all the new rules for the game and it started to intrigue me. See Fantasy was my first nerd game other than Magic. It was the game that got me into gaming. So it will always hold a special place in my heart. So I started poking around the GW store in Fair Oakes asking questions about the changes and learning the new ins and outs.

It took about a week of pondering but eventually I broke down, chose Ogre Kingdoms, and ordered a set of Bulls off Ebay for about 50% retail. I then hit the Store and picked up the Book and the batalion box. A guy at the store sold me a Tyant and Butcher for 50% retail, and Im in business. Im 1 model away from a 1500 point army already, and its been less than a week. Some Painted Ogre Bulls will get posted up soon I hope. But in all my excitement I've even got Rockett and to a lesser extent Ellen and Alex West (he might actually get back into Chaos), interested in trying 8th ed fantasy out.

So here are some changes that I like:

Magic is considerablly weaker, the spells are still powerful but the defense is easier and the casting abilites more limited. Instead of taking mage after mage to stack up on power dice you roll 2D6 and can use those to cast spells, you also roll a D6 for each mage, each 6 gives you 1 more die. Your opponent gets the higher of your 2d6 in dispell dice. Very easy to do, no more I took 4 mages you took 0 so my magic phase will destroy your army, etc. To help aleviate the weakened magic, you get to add your Wizards casting level to any spell he casts. Its a nice boost.

Supporting Attacks are also a new add, your second rank can throw in an attack. Its a nice way to help represent the swirling Melee that should be occuring. Monsters, such as ogres, get to add in 3 attacks, which actually helps make them playable =).

Only 25% of your army can be used for your lord. This is huge since it means Archaeon, Thorgrim, Teclis, and all those other douche bags won't be hitting the table against me any time soon. Im a huge fan of this rule.

New Charge Ranges, this is throwing me way off. But I really like the idea, I just need to get used to it. Charging is now roll 2d6 and add my Move value. Horsemen roll 3D6 and drop the lowest. It makes charges go a lot further for some armies, like dwarves, but also adds in some odd randomness. I dislike the randomness part of it, but I like the longer charges. Dwarves could not beat Lizards because Skinks have shooting and can walk faster than dwarves can run. It was literally impossible without a lot of luck. So I need to get used to it, but I think in the end I will really like that change.

The last one I am on the Fence about. When a Unit as more ranks than another Unit its fighting It gets Stubborn, meaning no matter how badly I beat them in combat they get to try to stand on their base leadership. Its been a pain for Ogres, sure I get boat load more attacks, but I almost never get to run down my opponents after a single combat, because they test on base leadership. It sticks me in combat longer than I'd like, but I think its a decent rule, too many games are lost by a single bad leadership check, so I'm glad to see them addressing that.


Overal I've enjoyed my 2-3 1k point games of Fantasy. Im taking it slow, I have a few more models to buy, I think im gonna use a little plastic dinosaur for my Rhinox Rider until the plastic kit comes out.. should be great. Next buy Ogre Ninja!