Games Workshop just gave us a nice rundown on how the Morale phase is going to work in the new 8th edition of Warhammer 40k.
Warhammer Community just revealed the new Morale phase, let’s see what they had to say.
Morale has always been a part of Warhammer 40,000. In the past edition though, it did often seem that in a lot of games it could be largely ignored – so many units were immune to its various effects. Where it did apply though, you had to take a lot of tests – it was conceivable that a unit might have to take over half a dozen Leadership tests in a turn, which had the effect of bogging down the game.
The new Morale phase is simple, and only happens once per player turn, at the end of all your other phases. It will apply to almost every unit, and represents warriors fleeting the battlefield, dying from the psychic feedback shockwaves of their kin, or retreating with injured or fallen brethren. There will be very few units indeed that will not feel its effects.
The mechanics are simple – any units that suffered casualties in a turn must take a Morale test at the end of it. You just roll a dice, add the number of models from the unit that have been slain, and if the number is bigger than the unit’s Leadership, that many models are lost.
That’s it! No units falling back, no regroup tests – all that is gone.
There are a few things that can help you out in this phase. A Chaos Dark Apostle, for example, allows all nearby units from the same Legion to use his Leadership. Or, you can use some units to make your opponent’s tests more difficult – the Hemlock Wraithfighter, as an example, decreases the Leadership of enemy units by 1 if they are within 12″ (which equates to one additional lost model on every failed test).
Well it seems this is yet another phase they are pulling heavily from Age of Sigmar on. The morale tests are going to be pretty straight forward and simple now. Roll a D6 and add the number of models you lost in that unit, if the total is less than your leadership then you’re golden, but for every number over you will lose that many additional models from the unit.
Obviously there are no morale tests for single model units, because well, when one dies there’s none left to take a morale test on. Falling back and regrouping are now a thing of the past, so you can forget about those. There are however going to be some new units and other things that will help raise your leadership value while others will help lower your opponents.
Check back with us tomorrow when they reveal some background information and lore in the new Warhammer 40k, and then on Friday they’ll be going over Battle-forged armies.
What do you think about the new Morale phase? Is 40k becoming Age of Sigmar? If so, is it necessarily a bad thing? Let us know your thoughts on it all in the comments below.
Time for the rise of the Harlequins or Dark Eldar with their fear mechanics?
