Games Workshop just gave us our first preview of what we can expect to see for 8th edition weapon stats. You’re not going to want to miss this!
Warhammer Community just dropped the new weapon profiles for 3 commonly used guns: the boltgun, flamer and lascannon. But before we get to that they also put out a new video for our enjoyment. Take a look at The Shadow of Chaos:
UPDATE: Looks like this video has been removed, but that’s ok, we have screenshots to hold you over, and a little surprise that was spotted:
Hmmmmm those are interesting looking Plague Drones there….
And now for what we’ve all been waiting for, the weapon stats. Let’s see what Warhammer Community had to say about them.
Damage is a big change. This stats effectively lets a single hit deliver multiple wounds to one model. So, as we can see, the bolter does a single would per hit, and so is optimised for shooting models that have a single wound themselves, whereas the lascannon, one of the most powerful man-portable weapons in the game, kicks out D6 damage, allowing it to blast chunks off large vehicles and monsters and kill light vehicles and characters in a single hit. Against something like Guardsmen or Orks though, this formidable damage output will be wasted.
The AP system is changing too. Rather than a binary yes/no on saves, the new Warhammer 40,000 uses modifiers – the lascannon will punch easily through power armour, while the bolter and flamer are, again, best deployed against less durable, more numerous targets.
Lastly, you can see that the flamer no longer uses a template. However, when in range, it causes D6 hits that do not have to roll to hit, and this applies even against units of a single model – this can be devastating, especially when used in large numbers <cough-Burna-Boyz-cough>, trust us when we say we may be entering the age of the flamer as the go-to special weapon of infantry squads the galaxy over – let the galaxy burn!
The rules team behind the new game have taken the opportunity to rebalance a lot of the weapons in the game, and with the new armour modifier system and removal of the cap of 10 on Strength values, we’ve made sure that every weapon has its use on the battlefields of the 41st Millennium. D weapons, for example, are gone, and instead there is a scalable Strength and damage that matches the effectiveness you’d expect from every weapon.
This is going to be an adjustment for a lot of people! Games Workshop has really simplified the weapons, automatic D6 hits with a flamer, can’t get anymore straight forward than that. That’s an automatic D6 hits, even on single units!!!
Are you rethinking how many flamers you’re going to be bringing? But look at the AP on the lascannon, -3 “rend” and does D6 damage. This means if the defending unit has a 3+ save it just became a 6+, still a devastating weapon to say the least.
What are your thoughts on the new weapon profiles? Is easier necessarily better? Do you like the new concept behind the flamer instead of templates? This is sure to get people talking, and we’d like to hear what you have to say, please leave it in the comments below.
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About the Author: James Rodriguez
