A new 9th Edition 40k QnA was held on Twitch and thanks to the goodness of Goonhammer we have a transcript of what was said, especially for those of us that missed it.
Don't forget to visit Goonhammer as well were they will be doing some analysis of the QnA a little later. https://www.goonhammer.com/
via Goonhammer
https://docs.google.com/document/d/
Transcript Courtesy of Goonhammer.com. We will have a follow up analysis on our site soon. Thanks for reading!
Q1: What can fans of horde armies look forward to in this edition?
Pete - Lots of things to help assault and horde armies. Terrain will be more meaningful. Terrain will block LOS "a lot more". No longer able to shoot through three windows and a postbox and clip the wing of a Carnifex. Scenery will have different rules that you can ascribe to at the beginning of the battle. Clearly label and established. Different types of terrain and cover. Obscured; blocks LOS that passes through the base. Clarification on how much terrain should be on the board; game is balanced around a set amount. Examples provided in core books to provide intent and baseline goal.
Stu - Changes to Overwatch and Falling Back. New core Stratagems to give melee armies a boost and make it worth going across the board.
Q2: Will the core turn mechanics be changing?
Stu - Short answer is no. Still the game "you know and love". 9th is "heavily based" on 8th.
Pete - "We think we've got a great game system with 8th Edition." Lots of ways to add to it. No intent to "set fire" to it all, not necessary. Goal is to make 8th experience even better.
Q3: Can you tell us a bit more about how Strategic Reserves will work in practice?
Stu - Spend CP to put things into Reserve. Wanted to build upon the idea that as a Commander your CP is used on the kind of things a General would do in addition to what a unit would do. CP will be an asset that can be used. As the game progresses the units can come in from Reserve, including flanking in later turns. Strictly enable players to maneuver "off the table" and move and flank. Boost to melee and mid-range shooting. More thoughtful decisions.
Q4: Can you talk a little bit more about how terrain will work?
Pete - Terrain is not just there to block LOS. It's there to be more fun and provide more ways to interact with it. Terrain will have a "really fun impact" with the battlefield becoming a "third player" in essence. Trynig to do it in a way that doesn't just layer on extra complexity and rules. Clean and simple to understand. Maximum impact on the game. Most obvious example is giving terrain the "Obscuring" tag that blocks LOS regardless of whether you can see through it. Different degree of cover, can you go up it, can you go through it, etc.
Stu - Make things different. Ruins different from buildings, different from bunkers, different from swamps, etc. Gameplay and narrative differences. If you've built a jungle theme board then it will feel different than an ice world. More tools to be able to interact with the terrain in a different way. Example frustration; Carnifex can't reach models on second level. That has been fixed. Removing "slightly weird, slightly gamey" considerations. Improved the kind of gameplay experience and also improved immersion so that "models are where they are" without being too abstract.
Q5: What does the new edition do to help Tyranids?
Pete - Anything that Tanks can do, Monsters can do just as well "if not better". Monsters will be fighting you in the fighting phase and shoot in the shooting phase.
Q6: How will missions and scoring be changing?
Pete - What we are trying to achieve with this edition was go back to the "three ways to play"... and then he muted his mic. What's good for matched play isn't necessarily great for narrative play. For competitive play intent is to be more balanced and make sure the players have the most agency. Narrative play intent is to be more immersive and story driven. Open play was to be as simple as possible. Hope is that missions will be available to improve all three ways to play. Input provided by Mike Brandt for competitive play.
Stu - Mission is the fourth player.
Q7: Are random amounts of shots of weapons still a thing?
Stu - Yes. Blast helps even out some of the randomness for big explosive weapons, but there will still be random shots.
Q8: Can all the Chapters use all the new toys?
Pete - Yes. You can paint the new Marines in whatever color you like. Available to ALL the different Chapters of Space Marines.
Stu - Including Deathwatch.
Q9: What about Deathwatch?
Pete - Yes. Some plans in their head around Deathwatch. Listening to the community. "Pretty soon" after the release of 9th edition the "fruits of their labors" will be revealed.
Q10: Are my old Space Marines still okay to use?
Stu - Yes.
Q11: What other major players may return this edition?
Pete - Really big and exciting ones.
Stu - Don't peek under the Christmas tree until Christmas.
Q12: What can we expect for FW content like the Death Korps?
Pete - 40K rules team are now writing the rules for all models of 40K, regardless of material. All part of the same ecosystem. New books will come out that will deal with the FW range. Excited to be looking at the Death Korps and put them in line with the rest of the Astra Militarum. Finished working on it ages ago.
Q13: Will the Vigilus books be usable in 9th?
Stu - Yes.
Q14: Where can I get rules for the new units?
Stu - Boxed sets and eventually codexes. Already working on new codexes for 9th.
Q15: "Can I always hit on sixes please?"
Stu - Yes. Everybody will always hit on sixes.
Q16: Will the new codexes include Crusade elements?
Pete - Yes. Crusade will really come into its own as each Codex comes out. Rulebook provides nuts and bolts of the Crusade system, but if you really want to get struck into the narrative system you'll want to wait until the new books come out. Crusades written around core fluff; Dark Angels look for Fallen, Blood Angels deal with Black Rage, 1KSons looking for artifacts. Things like Captains turning into Dreadnoughts, etc.
Q17: How will you begin a Crusade army?
Pete - Recommended way is to start a Combat Patrol (500 points, 25 PL). Force grows in an escalation league. Spend Requisition Points on building army. Lots of ways to capture epic stories and FORGE YOUR OWN NARRATIVE.
Stu - Touching on different sizes, they've written bespoke missions that are designed for different scales and board sizes. Won't need to play a 2K mission with a Combat Patrol.
Q18: The last time there was an edition, the core rules were across 8 pages. Is that still the case?
Pete - Rules are a little bit longer than 8 pages. Lots of examples and explanations as much as adding more rules. Clarification while still trying to be concise. "Still pretty tight".
Stu - Rules appendix will be provided in the book, attempting to answer as many edge cases and odd interactions as possible. 95% of the game will use the core rules section, but if something happens it will be in the back.
Q19: What have you done to address the dominance of Eldar flyers in the game?
Stu - Modifiers are now capped. NEVER better than +1 or -1. Have really thought a lot about how Flyers will work in the game; no more crashing if they leave the board. Different interactions than infantry. Removing "gamey" things like using base to block movement, etc. Planes are a lot more fun to use if you're either the owner or the target.
Q20: Have there been any changes to how the Morale phase will work?
Stu - The Morale phase has been updated and improved. Introduced combat attrition. More things that interact with morale than in the past. No longer binary. Cool things like Night Lords and Reivers can do more scary things.
Q21: Will more units be added to Legends?
Pete - Over time almost certainly. Very gradual. Made quite a major shift into Legends with Index books, but no plan on major changes to armies. Eventually may see "a model or a unit" move to Legends.
Q22: How will Command Points work and be assigned to armies?
Stu - We really like CP and how they're used. Things like CP re-roll are an interesting mechanic that gives a lot of flavor. One issue over the course of 8th is that some armies had easy access to CP and others don't, so we're leveling the playing field. Command Points are now linked to the game size. Start with the same number of Command Points.
4 Army Sizes: Combat Patrol, Onslaught, Strike Force, Incursion
Q23: Are PL are still a thing?
Pete - Absolutely. One thing we learned was that never adjusting it was not okay. In the future PL will be adjusted when it's needed. Very different approach from regular matched play updates.
Stu - Both points and PL are measures of how effective a unit is. PL is intended to be quick and easy, requires certain mindset. Points is about balance and fairness.
Q24: Could a Crusade be used to run a large gaming event?
Pete - Absolutely it can. Different ways of creating starting points and size of games. Equally will work with 50 players in the gaming group over the course of a weekend or 6 over the course of six months. Or you can do it yourself and play with random opponents. It's your army's Crusade, it's your narrative. Doesn't require you to have committed people who have to play each each; ultimate flexibility.
Stu - Even in defeat you still can get stuff like Requisition Points, put somebody in a Dreadnought, etc.
Q25: Mortal wounds will work in the same way it does now?
Stu - Yes.
Q26: Will soup be viable?
Stu - Yes. What you're doing is if you want to take some cool stuff from Codex 1 and Codex 2 you have to pay CP to requisition assets. So one player might be spending CP to add an Imperial Knight, another will pay to outflank units. Lots more decisions to make, provides a benefit towards staying in one force. You can do whatever you want, but there's a price.
Q27: Will future codexes need older books to function?
Stu - The plan is to take the "best of" PA content and incorporate a future codex. Every Stratagem and Relic may not necessarily make the cut.
Q28: Will CP be linked to game size?
Pete - Yes. Also mentioned something about CP generation.
Q29: Will Crusades provide in game benefits?
Stu - Yes. Core rules as well as mission benefits. For example, assassinate a guy and you can get a bonus to be better assassins. Once a unit are veterans they will stay veterans. Balance mechanic is built in.
Q30: Will players still need to include Troops?
Pete - You will need to "in the same way you do now", just lots more flexibility.
Stu - Depends on what detachments you use. You don't "have" to include Troops. Detachments don't generate CP anymore.
Q31: How will changes to CP affect army composition?
Pete - You will choose the army you want to take instead of the army you have to take.
Stu - Loads more freedom to build the army you want to. No more CP batteries. You want models and units that do cool things, not units you are required to take. People who want a particular faction will have a more level playing field.
Q32: What defines a Blast weapon, and what defines a horde?
Stu - Appendix at the back of the book will define them. Benefit for shooting "bigger units".
Q33: Are Astartes Intercessor chainswords better than other chainswords?
Stu - All Astartes chainswords are better than regular chainswords. They're bigger. Has more AP than a Guardsman being flung around. Different stat line.
Q34: What's your favorite thing about the new edition, what do you think it will change the game?
Stu - Two things. First is terrain; a really nice modeled battlefield makes 40K an amazing game and he's excited for the impact it will have on the game. Second is the Crusade content. Those with a slightly more narrative (but lazy) approach to gaming will have a method and a toolbox to tell stories over time.
Pete - Excited about being on the bleeding edge of competitive mission design and seeing what the competitive community makes of it. Excited about making the Army you want to make instead of the Army you have to make. More unlocked elements since you're not forced into a particular mold. "Terrain affects everything" and having great terrain rules will be a major impact. Crusade rules are also exciting.