40K BREAKING: GW Talks Psychic Phase
Games Workshop is back with more teaser info and this time the tackle the much maligned Psychic Phase!
The team from the Warhammer Community site has been teasing tidbits all week long. Today, that focus is on the “love it or hate it” psychic phase! This one is going to be interesting…
“Each time you pick a psyker, you can cast as many spells as their datasheet states (which would previously be the same as their Mastery Level) and there’s a simpler, two-dice mechanic for casting, you just need to beat the warp charge value. The more potent the power, the harder it will be to cast.
Enemy psykers will then have a chance to block these powers if they are within 24″, and again, the mastery of the psyker will dictate how often they can block a power each turn.
Every faction will have its own psychic lore with a range of thematic powers. In addition, every psyker knows the Smite power:”
Want more? Read the entire article from Games Workshop HERE
While that’s a fairly quick rundown, there are quite a few changes key changes to call out:
- The Old “Warp Charges” are gone – the system has moved to a simple “two-dice mechanic” and you just need to beat the warp charge value.
- Enemy Psykers will have a chance to stop a power if they are within 24″ – this is dependent on their mastery level.
- The number of powers you can block also depends on the defending psyker’s mastery level.
- Perils of the Warp is still around!
- And did you catch the bit about Mortal Wounds? Yeah – those are in the game now and apparently they bypass all armor and even INVULNERABLE saves!
Looking at this system, it does seem to speed up the game quite a bit which I’m all for. I do like that “lesser psykers” will no longer be able to act as batteries for the more powerful psykers in the army. GW does think that this system will scale better at all size games, and I can see their point. However, I still think that a psyker dominate force will run rampant over an army that isn’t equipped to deal with them.
But that’s kind of the point, right? Just like an army that goes shooting heavy or close-combat focused, they are gearing up to “win” in one specific phase. With this new setup, it certainly feels like the psyker-heavy force will have to alter their tactics; instead of one mega caster expect to see their “heavy hitter” backed-up by a bunch of lesser ones. Only this time it one be the “mega powers” that get you, it will be a death by a thousand sons cuts.
The Smite example power is all we have to go on right now. The power itself is actually pretty solid! I like the way they incorporated the “success” value into the cast. Roll over a 5 and the power goes off but if you roll really well then the power is even more effective. I’ve seen this type of thing in other games and it’s a way to add some extra drama to the dice roll without adding a bunch of extra time to the game.
I’m now REALLY curious about the other powers in the game. Will Invisibility be back? What about summoning? That’s a really scary thought actually…Summoning a bunch of daemons who just toss out Smite every turn. “It’s basically a shooting attack though” I hear you say – only those are Mortal Wounds and you don’t roll to hit or wound. Which reminds me, I think I need to stock up on Zoanthropes for my ‘Nids. Forget Warp Lance, one of my least favorite powers – I’ll take this new Smite over that any day!
So what do you think? Are you excited about the changes or are you afraid of the Psykers?
