There are two new Rules of One for matched play games. Firstly, the roll for priority at the beginning of each battle round cannot be modified or re-rolled – if you’re fishing for a double turn, you’re going to have to rely on good old fashioned luck to get it. Secondly, no artefact of power can be taken more than once in the same army and so if you’re using multiple artefacts, you’ll now have to be creative and branch out. With tonnes of new allegiance-specific artefacts available, this shouldn’t be too hard.
Some of the existing Rules of One have had a few adjustments as well. For example, as well as a roll of 1 always failing to hit or wound, a roll of a 6 will now always succeed. This means that no matter how huge, scary and tough your opponent may be, you’ve always got at least a slim chance to hurt them.*
Another exciting new change is Massive Regiments. Several units are now discounted in points when taken at their maximum strength, making large units much more appealing choices. A full-sized regiment of Clanrats, for example, is 40 points cheaper than before, allowing you to take full advantage of Strength in Numbers. Fill out your Battleline slots in a 200 point Verminous army like this and you’ll have saved enough points for an allied Deathrunner.
There are loads more ‘Battleline-if’** units for matched play armies, allowing for some unusual new lists. We’ll be looking more closely at these in our Grand Alliance previews, but there are some that really stand out. For example, the bloodthirsty Daughters of Khaine can now fill out their Battleline slots with Doomfire Warlocksand/or Sisters of Slaughter.
Once change that’ll affect every matched play gamer is the new Battleplans. There are six new Pitched Battles designed to test the tactical skills of players in a variety of situations. Some of these are refreshed versions of classic missions – Knife to the Heart, for instance, is similar to Take and Hold but features new objective placement and deployment. Others, like Duality of Death are radically different and force players to make new considerations when writing their competitive army lists. In this scenario, for example, you’ll need your Heroes and Behemoths to capture objectives, forcing you to risk your most valuable units to win the game. The Warhammer Age of Sigmar competitive scene is stronger than ever, and these new Battleplans promise to reward not just strong list-building but careful and considered play.
Finally, the General’s Handbook 2017 has a few tweaks to matched play to help balance out games. Many units have had their points updated. The costs of some units have been reduced to ensure they are just as appealing as other choices, while the costs of others have been increased to make sure they are not overrepresented.