8th Edition

[Draig]

Making my first O&G list in ages under 7th the other day, I realized I do miss extra Goblin heroes. They were a lot of fun. 20 might be excessive, but I'd like a few extra again, they do die like cattle. That and mimicing snotlings. That was so damn funny.

[fatolaf]

Would it be too extreme to let O&G have a few more hero slots in their next book?

[Mike]

Would it be too extreme to let O&G have a few more hero slots in their next book?

Thats coming in 9th Edition..... man some of the rumors i've heard on that front are awesome. 

[Undead Dan]

Not too extreme at all, no. I played in a little campaign with my gobbos a little while back and the organiser had made a few houserules, like letting all-goblin armies take big bosses as a 2-for-1 choice. So my army's character selection was:
Goblin Warboss
Night Goblin BSB on big Squig
Goblin Big Boss Wolfbomber
2 Level 2 Shamans
Not abusable at all, but let me use a fair few more toys to help keep up with the competition.

Mind you, I still doubt that any % restrictions will overrule the blather about army composition and slots in every army book out there.

[Nick]

man some of the rumors i've blatantly made up on that front (and all others)are awesome.

Corrected.

[Veldemere]

So percentages are likely to be a big talking point of the new edition, what else is going to raise such discussion?

[Wargame Website]

So percentages are likely to be a big talking point of the new edition, what else is going to raise such discussion?

Well the possibility of there being percentages looks like it will be...  Of course, if it turns out not to be in the new rules I expect there to be a lot of people saying "I told you so".

From what I've read on other sites I think movement is likely to generate a lot of discussion with the supposed simplified (War of the Rings) movement being brought in.

[Veldemere]

There are a lot of 'grey' areas in movement at the moment, but to do away with them would also be to remove some tactics, no one wants 40k!!

[maelzch]

I think that the LoTR/Warmaster style movement won't happen, as the game would then become too similar to WoTR.  Don't get me wrong, it's a great mechanic, it's just that the movement mechanic for fantasy has been pretty much unchanged since it expanded from a skirmish style game

Also, I think percantages over-complicates things and results in less gribbly expensive toys selling (lets not forget they're all about the profit!)

[maelzch]

Current 8th rumour summary from Warseer

More reliable rumours
Army construction is moving back to percentages.
Strength in Depth/ Stepping up
Crush attack for larger creatures
40mm models moving to 3 model-wide ranks.
Multiple objective driven scenarios in the rulebook
Power dice aren't generated by the number of spellcasters. The pool is decided by 2D6. Magic users add their magic level to the score rolled. All Wizards have a chance to generate more power dice.
Archers fire in two ranks (not just High Elves but all archers)




Other rumours (and description of above)

These are all listed in no particular order.

ARMY SELECTION

Army construction is moving back to percentages.
There have been not been strong rumours yet to support any specific % for all categories, however, 25% min core, 25% max special and 25% max rare seem to be undisputed.

Slot system may or may not be dropped

Categories for core/special/rare are remaining.
There have been no rumours yet of a system wide errata to specify which things are limited as a result.
MAGIC

NOTE: The magic rumours nobody seems to agree on, so rather than try and find what exactly the truth is I will just put here most of the theories
Power dice aren't generated by the number of spellcasters. The pool is decided by 2D6. Magic users add their magic level to the score rolled. All Wizards have a chance to generate more power dice. - Avian

Giving irresistible force a downside

If a wizard fails to cast (not counting dispels) twice in a row he miscasts

Making miscasts harder to have but much more devastating.

Dispel scroll only adding dispel dice (+2 dice to the dispel dice pool once per game). (edit - possibly speculation)

Something rumoured is carrying over power dice, but holding too many could lead to a 'magic backlash'.

All the book Lores will have more supportive spells than they have now, and will all be getting a major overhaul. Each lore to get a mega spell.
Dispel attempts to be made by specific wizards (presumable your casting level is beneficial for dispelling spells)
A higher chance of miscast with multiple casters.

If a wizard fail to cast a spell he can't cast other spells in the same phase.

COMBAT

NOTE: Trying to nail down what the truth is here is very hard. Once it is explained properly by someone who knows categorically what it is I will update this

Some of this is only my understanding of what has been discussed.

Edit:

There are basically 2 big new rules here; what I have named 'Stepping up', and a 'Horde' rule. - Harry.

What is 100% clear is that models in the second rank will have some role to play in most combats.

Stepping up. – Harry/ Avian

Basically how this works is that the second rank get to fight only if the guy in front is killed. But they only get a single attack regardless of what their profile attacks are, or what weapons they are carrying* . It is not clear yet whether they get to use special rules in addition to this or not at all (frenzy, hatred and killing blow etc). Only once there are insufficient models left to replace those that are killed in the attacking rank will the overall attacks of the unit drop.

*It has yet to be clarified exactly how models with spears get to use them.

No word on the impact for High Elves.

Cavalry still only fight in 1 rank.

Example:

You have a unit of 20 guys, 5x4, 5 of which are in base contact with the enemy and 15 are not. The enemy strikes first and kills 6 of your guys. As you now have 14 models you have sufficient numbers to step up and replace casualties.

Because the front 2 ranks consists of 10 models overall, 6 of which are now dead, you still get to fight back with 4 models. In the next round of combat, the ranks are reset, so 5 models are in base contact, 5 in the second rank (capable of 'stepping up') and 4 in the third (remember, you still have 14 models). This time the enemy kills a further 8 models, leaving you with 2 models that get to fight back and a unit of 6.

This is the same regardless of which side they are attacked on.

Horde
Fight in 3 ranks if 10+ wide (4 with spears). - Avian.
OR
Some benefit to fighting in large units, may automatically become stubborn beyond a certain unit size. – Harry


One Save to ruin them all!
Models will only ever get one save (be it ward, mundane or magical armour). No word yet on whether regeneration is included. From Alessio himself!

40mm models
40mm models moving to 3 model-wide ranks. Ogre sized models are officially being put into their own size category (finally).

Crush them!
Additional stomp/crush attacks for big infantry (ogres, trolls, etc) to represent them trampling lesser races underfoot. Bigger bonus for large creatures like giants.

Fewer armour save modifiers

Chariots
S7 autokill is gone. (edit: possible speculation)

MOVEMENT

Measure the distance for the furthest moving model, and perform whatever manoeuvres you wish within that lax limitation. Command models will have some role to play in giving free manoeuvre as you move (Musician bonus similar to Ancient Battles?).

Charging.
An added 'bonus' of getting an 'extra' +D6 or +D3 inches of movement to your move range (presumably the D6 or D3 decided by the category of warrior; infantry/cavalry/ogre sized).

Heavy cavalry no longer able to march
- Heavy cavalry, defined as any cavalry with a 2+ or better save, cannot march. They can double their move when charging as normal, but they are not allowed to make a March move.
- "Medium and Fast cavalry remain the same".

SHOOTING

As it happens to be the same rumour; fewer armour save modifiers.
Archers fire in two ranks (not just High Elves but all archers). - Harry

PSYCHOLOGY

Fear and Terror
When in combat, units or monsters with these rules gain 1 or 2 or 3 points of Static Combat modifier. This is added to the number of wounds caused by the Fear/Terror model/unit, as well as ranks, banners, etc. These bonuses may be cumulative between fear/terror causing things attacking a unit.

Autobreaking from fear or terror is gone.

OTHER RULEBOOK CONTENTS

Multiple objective driven scenarios in the rulebook (no kill points). See GW grand tournament and doubles scenarios.

15 or so missions in the new rulebook. 9 or 10 of the missions required Core units to capture objectives. Units must have banners to capture objectives. Several missions had multiple objectives

Victory Conditions
Interestingly something I picked up from a post was that 'victory conditions' have been referred to in the last 3 books, not victory points.

Terrain
Difficult terrain may be merged with very difficult and encompass more things (presumably more than just affecting movement).

Discredited rumours
Fight-until-someone-breaks
Lapping around
Weapons using the flame template or large or small blast templates automatically hit any model in contact rather than cause partial hits.