Warhammer 40K: 11th Edition New Terrain Rules – What to Expect
Goatboy here to chat about the new 40K 11th edition terrain rules and the changes they will probably mean for the game.
11th Edition is going to be an interesting time with a whole slew of updates that forces the competitive scene of 40K to rethink some of their army choices. I am very excited about the GW teased terrain changes and while I have some questions I hope will get them answered in the coming weeks but let’s talk about the 3 things I think will be important in the first few months of our updated game.
Infantry Is King Again!
I think the biggest shift is a push towards a lot of infantry based armies. The bit about cover only effecting infantry will be a huge change for the game as the mixture of getting -1 to hit and the Hidden rule will be an important factor in how armies work and hold objectives in this new age of terrain being the place battles are fought over. All the bits and pieces of the missions show that fighting for, holding onto, and even trapping these terrain pieces will be how an army wins the game. While a giant tank can do this having a ton of bodies that can block out the areas, force engagement, and still not care about going through walls is going to bore a huge thing.
AP -1 Weapons Matter Now
The next thing is that AP-1 weapons are just going to be huge. Just being able to shift an enemies armor no matter will be very powerful and a lot of armies are currently designed around a massive amount of AP-1 hits. If you look at armies like Dark Eldar and things like their Venoms you can see how they can just pour out a ton of damage into almost any infantry unit. It has me thinking about Heavy Bolters, Autocannons, and even the lowly Primaris Bolters being something to think about. There are also a few other fun rules that grant extra AP as well when shooting at an enemy that is on an objective which now happens to be a building instead of a circle mousepad. I also think any of these armies with wide spread ignores modifiers or ignores cover is going to be a crazy threat to deal with. Those Havoks for Chaos Space Marine that ignore all modifiers and can throw out a ton of Autocannon fire can all of a sudden just wreck Elite units hiding in cover. It is going to be an interesting time as players discover their high shot profiles that all of a sudden get a breath of fresh air and not have to worry about doing nothing to an enemy in some piece of area terrain.
Sticky Objectives Please!
The final thing I think we all need to really make sure we have is the option to have sticky objectives. The placement of terrain will force a lot of players to rethink how their army moves around the table. If you have the ability to lock down a decent piece of the table top you can easily use the rest of the army to do the things you need on the other options. I know Sticky was powerful before but locking a giant ruined building will be huge for armies that and do it. Does this mean a return of Battleline units mattering? Will this make things like the Death Guard Detachment Virulent Vectorium that gives all their units Sticky Objective a big step above the others? Who knows it just feels like a rule we should really think about and utilize in the game especially since objectives and doing things to them is important. Also if you sticky something and your opponent needs to kill something on an objective but you are not there – well that makes them not able to do their mission for the game? That seems pretty powerful ability to control your score and maybe control their score as well.
Get Ready!
The launch of 11th Edition is going to be a crazy time as players figure out the best methods for them to play the game. I can’t wait to see all the missions and figure out what kind of aggressive nonsense I want to play with. I usually do well initially with a new game especially as my punch first and figure out how to win later approach does well when a game is fresh and new.
~What do you think about the new 40K 11th Edition Terrain Rules so far?
