11th Edition is here with new assault rules, and a 2″ engagement buff that’s bringing melee back. Here’s a look at the big winners overall.
Another Long War Two-Fer is here: Keep those hobby muscles strong with this week’s webcast and the latest exciting podcast of table-top wargaming awesomeness, mostly centered around Warhammer 40k.
The Long War: Episode 509
Article Table of Contents:
Show Summary:
This week, the crew covers a new rules change and its implications with a special guest! Here are the key takeaways, section by section:
- 00:03 – 02:15 The crew opens with the usual chaos, jokes about AI disclaimers, allergies, and using AI to summarize group chats before teasing a bigger 11th edition discussion later in the episode.
- 02:15 – 08:21 They do a “would you rather” segment about speaking only in pickup lines versus having no verbal filter. Most of the cast lands on no filter, mostly because turning every conversation into a pickup line sounds way worse.
- 08:21 – 10:26 Hobby desk updates: Kenny plugs his birthday and “retirement” stream, then mentions he’s selling his Chaos/Edge Lords army as a full collection and taking offers in the $5,000+ range.
- 10:26 – 12:32 Marker hobby talk takes over for a minute, with a spotlight on AK Quick Markers, which are basically brush-tip markers loaded with speed-paint style colors for easier, less messy miniature painting.
- 13:17 – 15:02 News kicks off with Artel W’s new MyMiniFactory tribe, which the crew seems genuinely into, especially for the orc range and monthly model support.
- 14:47 – 18:22 They get into 11th edition rumor season, talking about likely codex rollout patterns after launch, possible factions in line for attention, and frustration that Games Workshop’s Rumor Engine seems to have quietly disappeared without explanation.
- 18:22 – 21:46 More community news: LVO tickets are about to go on sale, the new Armageddon releases get a quick pricing breakdown, and they highlight Mini Swap’s eBay sync feature, which lets sellers mirror listings across platforms.
- 22:13 – 24:42 Wyatt throws out a prediction that new Ork Warbikers could be coming in the 11th edition launch window, tying it to the current Speed Freeks push and Wazdakka’s rules support.
- 25:10 – 39:30 Guest Alex Spathopoulos joins to break down why he thinks 11th edition is a big win for melee players. The biggest headline is the new charge system, where you roll first and then choose valid targets within that rolled distance, which removes a lot of the old all-or-nothing risk and weird charge manipulation.
- 39:30 – 56:32 Alex goes deeper on why the new 2-inch engagement range and revised pile-in rules could clean up a ton of bad-feeling fight phase interactions. He argues it reduces awkward “gamey” movement tricks, still allows cascading combat through the new overrun mechanic, and overall makes melee armies, especially fast melee armies, look much stronger going into 11th, even if slower armies may still struggle.
- 56:32 – 57:48 Final takeaway from Alex: with the new layouts, hidden mechanics, and fight phase cleanup, 11th looks better for melee overall, but the full verdict still depends on missions, detachments, and the rest of the unrevealed rules.
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