8th Edition – So far so good
/Warhammer 40,000 – With the games I've played so far in the new edition of Warhammer 40,000 I'm really happy with how things have worked out so far. There's still a bit of lag mostly due to looking for things that were in previous editions. Getting you're head around the whole, "Does it say anything about that on the 8 pages of rules, or on the unit's data slate? No, then it's not a thing" can cause some minor disputes about things that aren't really a thing.
Here's some of my experiences so far:
4 player carnage game — 1,000 points per player, Tyranids, Imperial Guard, Sisters of Battle, and Space Marines. The game was our first and playing Carnage is a poor choice. 40K is better as a two sided game. Not to mention having units almost on top of you during setup meant close combat was a major issue. I don't suggest playing Carnage, and if you do plan to make a day of it on a bigger than normal table.
3 player team game — 3,000 points per side, Tyranids and Imperial Guard vs. Space Marines and Imperial Knights. An interesting game the Vortex Missle Silo and Baneblade made a showing against three Imperial Knights and some Space Marines. We had quite a few rules hiccups during this game and got stuck on old rules for Fortifications. To be clear they're just vehicles that don't move. Battlements and the rest aren't a thing. Also when your opponent rolls a boatload of 6's for overwatch, damage and wounds Knights tend to disappear.
1 v 1 — 1,500 points. Genestealer Cult vs. Imperial Guard. This game saw more bodies for the guard player and a few less tanks (it still looked like a parking lot across the board ...) I ran essentially the same Genestealer Cult list I built at the end of 7th edition. A few units of 'stealers, some acolytes, neopytes, chimeras, rock grinders and a sentinel. Doing matched player I could only ambush with half of my force which isn't too bad. The chart makes so much more sense now that you can assault when you come in from reserve. I was able to get 4 units in combat on turn one. It didn't win me the game and I did essentially get tabled, but I learned a few things and am looking forward to trying some different tactics.
1 v 1 — 1,500 points. Genestealer Cult vs. Dark Eldar. I ran a variation of my standard list but dropped the Neopytes and Chimeras to get more small units of Acolytes and larger blobs of Genestealers. My opponent brought a variety of units to the table including Wyches, Cabalite Warriors in Raiders, several Venoms and two large flocks of Razor Wings. I was able to get off a first turn charge with the 20 man unit of Genestealers which promptly ate two units of Wyches but couldn't reach the characters hiding behind, who with the razorwings were able to tie up the Genestealers for a large portion of the game. Lots of stuff died and the elation on my opponents face that his army was playable again was infectious. Razorwings are no joke, my oppoent converted some of the Zombiecide Murder of Crows models to be his flock as they are affordable as opposed to the Finecast beasts Gamesworkshop has available. If they could make a good plastic beastmaster kit they'd sell a ton of them because the beasts have a role in the army again.
