Furious Firefights and Close Combat

Many people are starting to get the new rules today and Games Workshop is given us its fourth video in this series, called Furious Firefights and Close Combat.

Its interesting that these two features are in one video, because they have been a strong topic as to which if any of the two, will dominate 6th edition.

via Games Workshop in "Whats New Today"
In today's video we catch up with Phil Kelly and Simon Grant, who tell us more about two of the most important (and gory) phases in Warhammer 40,000 - the Shooting phase and the Assault phase.

There are many small changes to both phases - so many in fact, that you really will have to read the rulebook to find them all. Having watched Phil talking about the Snap Shot rule, I was curious to find out more and so took a quick peek at the rulebook to see what it was all about. Essentially, a Snap Shot represents a warrior taking an opportunistic shot in the heat of battle. The most common occurrence of a Snap Shot is firing a heavy weapon, such as a heavy bolter or a lascannon, on the move. While it may not be particularly accurate, it can certainly make your opponent think twice about advancing their units without cover. Often the threat of a nearby heavy weapon is just as deadly as the weapon itself.

The other major instance in which Snap Shots can be used is during the Assault phase as you can shoot at enemy units as they charge into combat. Again, the chances of hitting the enemy are slim, but a couple of lucky Snap Shots could really turn the tide of combat in your favour. Getting charged by eight Hormagaunts instead of ten may not seem like much of a difference, but every little helps.

On the topic of combat, Simon got very excited at the prospect of talking about his favourite part of the game - to Simon, close combat is the only honourable way to fight an enemy. One of the new rules focuses on challenges, where enemy heroes can take each other on in a titanic duel. This will certainly lead to some epic encounters as Daemon Princes take on Avatars of Khaine and Space Marine Captains fight Necron Overlords in brutal close combat. In some missions you will even gain bonus victory points for taking out enemy characters, so it's well worth hunting them down if you know it will help you achieve victory (while trying to avoid the same fate befalling your characters in return).

There are plenty more new rules for both the Shooting and Assault phases, but with only two days to go until the new book comes out, we didn't want to spoil all the surprises and we thought we'd let you read them for yourselves. Not long to go now!