Good afternoon folks.
At the time this Blog post goes public, we have had Warhammer 40,000 Apocalypse in our hands for a grand total of 16 days. Well, the latest edition at least... We first had Apocalypse as an expansion for 40k way back in the murky depths of 2007! Since the re-release, update or whatever you want to categorise this as, I have been fortunate enough to break out my miniatures and dice several times, with and against several different armies and opponents. As such, I am going to let you know what I think of it, not as an off the shelf review and precise explanation of what has changed, but how it feels and plays differently. At least, how our games have changed.
Before I start, let me qualify my position on Apocalypse games: I freaking love them! I love the less competitive nature, that huge groups of tanks can move across a battlefield in formation, that blobs of infantry can be removed in handfuls and yet one lone guy can still swing the battle for you, that you can be setting up at 9am and are still having fun throwing dice at 10pm and it is still too close to call. Even before 2007, I took part in some pretty huge games; one of which was a huge game where all the GW stores in the country were playing an interlinked game (supposedly) where only models with an armour value (and Tyranid Monstrous Creatures) were allowed, which involved well over a thousand tanks, skimmers and Dreadnoughts and what was then one of only 400 FW Warhound Titans in the world. I've also played games where I have used over 26,000 points of miniatures by myself, with one team mate using 10,000 points, against 8 people with their collections. That was a long day!
We were still feeling relatively sane at this point in the game... aka before the first turn.
So, what about new Apocalypse? I am sure you will be unsurprised to hear that I like it a lot. If you liked it before, you are going to like it now, especially as you don't have to come up with your own house rules to cover the differences between 4th and 6th Edition. But things have changed, and for the better in my view.
Strategic Assets have become more tailored. I was certainly a little worried when I found out that most were army specific, but so far it seems to have worked out well. I'm a little cynical about the Vortex Grenade being for Space Marines only. The cynic in me says that it is just another ploy to make GW's top selling line even more 'must have', but I can also see the fluff side of such a powerful weapon only being entrusted to the most skilled warriors the Imperium can muster. It does seem odd that Xenos races don't get some equivalent, but they do get plenty of other toys. As for the other assets, I don't think there are any that you will find you always take, unless you are always playing the same army against the same opponents. There are several that can be tricky to make useful, but I don't think there is anything that I've read that I would never take, but than again I am not particularly experienced with using xenos or Chaos armies (aside from Orks) so I may have missed some of the subtleties. Not to sound like a GW salesman, but the Assets cards are really handy for reminding you what you have and haven't used, along with being able to look up the rules without opening the book and finding the page. Sure it is easy enough just to photocopy the relevant page and cut them out, but I liked the high quality card stock. Feels like it will survive this editions worth of use and abuse, which paper copies wouldn't. Not with the number of big games I play.
Super Heavies Vehicles have come in line with Gargantuan Creatures now, in my opinion. Just like the Ork Dethrolla, they do damage on a Ram/Tankshock before you shoot a big hole in it's front armour with a piddly melta. The fact that all of their guns remain full operational until they die is also great news. Combined with the slight nerf to Destroyer Weapons, it isn't as overpowering as it might initially seem. With the exception of the first game I played with new Apocalypse, the side with the most/biggest Super Heavies hasn't automatically won. No, that honour goes to Formations. Aside from the fact that they are now free, rather than being a token number of points in addition to that of the models (sometimes to reflect additional special rules, mostly because you had to bring them on in the same place, despite this being a disadvantage more often than not), the vehicle formations being in specific deployments can be pretty powerful, bordering on the insanely good. High Command Formations, able to call on additional Strategic Assets during the game and order All Out Attacks, are incredible force multipliers (as they should be) and the Psychic Choirs are immensely powerful, though I can only really speak for the Librarius vortex power formation and the Chaos Sorcerer equivalent.
Don't get me wrong, I like that all the formations are free; too many times before I have seen someone turn up to a game with the right models but not knowing about a formation so not being able to use it because they couldn't fit it in to their list. It's just that unless you have your own, you will be quickly outmatched in my experience so far.
I am really enjoying that Warlords and the Warmaster are more than just HQ characters. Even more so than their Warlord Traits in regular 40k, their Finest Hours can really alter the way a battle is going, if you are lucky. I haven't seen as much come out of Divine Intervention, but I like the idea that when you are struggling the game can be brought back towards balance. The biggest downside is that they often require quite a bit of book keeping, especially when you have several players per side.
Speaking of which, the new book makes a much bigger deal about having Games Masters than the last book did. You may think you are an experienced player, you and your friends may all want to play and not worry about it... I can certainly understand that, but I would honestly say that having a GM in the new rules is very useful, particularly if you have more than a couple of players per side. As I said, there can be quite a bit of book keeping some times. There is also far more to remember in a bigger game, and more often you will find your attention is required from several of your opponents at once. If a GM can oversee to Hit and to Wound rolls, maybe even take saving throws it can really help speed the game along and stop the others getting bored or stressed out.
Finally I would like to mention timed breaks. Most of the games we have played so far have been more based on having a couple of turns, then a break, then a couple more turns etc. I would not advise that. It may seem logical to have a third of the games turns each break, but with Strategic Victory Points being scored at the breaks, reserves possibly not turning up til after them and several Assets requiring SVPs to be spent to be used, don't force your players to wait it out. It can be particularly harsh on the side who didn't get first turn, losing a lot of their models before getting to do anything at all. It sounds like that shouldn't be an issue, after all there is a chance that can happen in regular games of 40k, but with the sheer destructive power of Apocalypse games and the length of time turns can take you end up with some players just moping around for ages unable to do anything. That isn't fun for anyone. You are also less likely to run the risk of getting to your first break and realising you only have time left to pack away with some people having not had time to really take part in the game.
So what experiences have you all had with Apocalypse? Has your all conquering army come unstuck with the loss of Flank March? Have you found units that couldn't hurt a fly before and don't really fit in to the lists for your regular games suddenly taking on Legions of Marines unhindered? I will probably come back to this topic at another time. For now, I need to go out and buy another bucket of dice... My Orks need to roll so, so many!
Matt
At the time this Blog post goes public, we have had Warhammer 40,000 Apocalypse in our hands for a grand total of 16 days. Well, the latest edition at least... We first had Apocalypse as an expansion for 40k way back in the murky depths of 2007! Since the re-release, update or whatever you want to categorise this as, I have been fortunate enough to break out my miniatures and dice several times, with and against several different armies and opponents. As such, I am going to let you know what I think of it, not as an off the shelf review and precise explanation of what has changed, but how it feels and plays differently. At least, how our games have changed.
Before I start, let me qualify my position on Apocalypse games: I freaking love them! I love the less competitive nature, that huge groups of tanks can move across a battlefield in formation, that blobs of infantry can be removed in handfuls and yet one lone guy can still swing the battle for you, that you can be setting up at 9am and are still having fun throwing dice at 10pm and it is still too close to call. Even before 2007, I took part in some pretty huge games; one of which was a huge game where all the GW stores in the country were playing an interlinked game (supposedly) where only models with an armour value (and Tyranid Monstrous Creatures) were allowed, which involved well over a thousand tanks, skimmers and Dreadnoughts and what was then one of only 400 FW Warhound Titans in the world. I've also played games where I have used over 26,000 points of miniatures by myself, with one team mate using 10,000 points, against 8 people with their collections. That was a long day!
We were still feeling relatively sane at this point in the game... aka before the first turn.
So, what about new Apocalypse? I am sure you will be unsurprised to hear that I like it a lot. If you liked it before, you are going to like it now, especially as you don't have to come up with your own house rules to cover the differences between 4th and 6th Edition. But things have changed, and for the better in my view.
Strategic Assets have become more tailored. I was certainly a little worried when I found out that most were army specific, but so far it seems to have worked out well. I'm a little cynical about the Vortex Grenade being for Space Marines only. The cynic in me says that it is just another ploy to make GW's top selling line even more 'must have', but I can also see the fluff side of such a powerful weapon only being entrusted to the most skilled warriors the Imperium can muster. It does seem odd that Xenos races don't get some equivalent, but they do get plenty of other toys. As for the other assets, I don't think there are any that you will find you always take, unless you are always playing the same army against the same opponents. There are several that can be tricky to make useful, but I don't think there is anything that I've read that I would never take, but than again I am not particularly experienced with using xenos or Chaos armies (aside from Orks) so I may have missed some of the subtleties. Not to sound like a GW salesman, but the Assets cards are really handy for reminding you what you have and haven't used, along with being able to look up the rules without opening the book and finding the page. Sure it is easy enough just to photocopy the relevant page and cut them out, but I liked the high quality card stock. Feels like it will survive this editions worth of use and abuse, which paper copies wouldn't. Not with the number of big games I play.
Super Heavies Vehicles have come in line with Gargantuan Creatures now, in my opinion. Just like the Ork Dethrolla, they do damage on a Ram/Tankshock before you shoot a big hole in it's front armour with a piddly melta. The fact that all of their guns remain full operational until they die is also great news. Combined with the slight nerf to Destroyer Weapons, it isn't as overpowering as it might initially seem. With the exception of the first game I played with new Apocalypse, the side with the most/biggest Super Heavies hasn't automatically won. No, that honour goes to Formations. Aside from the fact that they are now free, rather than being a token number of points in addition to that of the models (sometimes to reflect additional special rules, mostly because you had to bring them on in the same place, despite this being a disadvantage more often than not), the vehicle formations being in specific deployments can be pretty powerful, bordering on the insanely good. High Command Formations, able to call on additional Strategic Assets during the game and order All Out Attacks, are incredible force multipliers (as they should be) and the Psychic Choirs are immensely powerful, though I can only really speak for the Librarius vortex power formation and the Chaos Sorcerer equivalent.
Don't get me wrong, I like that all the formations are free; too many times before I have seen someone turn up to a game with the right models but not knowing about a formation so not being able to use it because they couldn't fit it in to their list. It's just that unless you have your own, you will be quickly outmatched in my experience so far.
I am really enjoying that Warlords and the Warmaster are more than just HQ characters. Even more so than their Warlord Traits in regular 40k, their Finest Hours can really alter the way a battle is going, if you are lucky. I haven't seen as much come out of Divine Intervention, but I like the idea that when you are struggling the game can be brought back towards balance. The biggest downside is that they often require quite a bit of book keeping, especially when you have several players per side.
Speaking of which, the new book makes a much bigger deal about having Games Masters than the last book did. You may think you are an experienced player, you and your friends may all want to play and not worry about it... I can certainly understand that, but I would honestly say that having a GM in the new rules is very useful, particularly if you have more than a couple of players per side. As I said, there can be quite a bit of book keeping some times. There is also far more to remember in a bigger game, and more often you will find your attention is required from several of your opponents at once. If a GM can oversee to Hit and to Wound rolls, maybe even take saving throws it can really help speed the game along and stop the others getting bored or stressed out.
Finally I would like to mention timed breaks. Most of the games we have played so far have been more based on having a couple of turns, then a break, then a couple more turns etc. I would not advise that. It may seem logical to have a third of the games turns each break, but with Strategic Victory Points being scored at the breaks, reserves possibly not turning up til after them and several Assets requiring SVPs to be spent to be used, don't force your players to wait it out. It can be particularly harsh on the side who didn't get first turn, losing a lot of their models before getting to do anything at all. It sounds like that shouldn't be an issue, after all there is a chance that can happen in regular games of 40k, but with the sheer destructive power of Apocalypse games and the length of time turns can take you end up with some players just moping around for ages unable to do anything. That isn't fun for anyone. You are also less likely to run the risk of getting to your first break and realising you only have time left to pack away with some people having not had time to really take part in the game.
So what experiences have you all had with Apocalypse? Has your all conquering army come unstuck with the loss of Flank March? Have you found units that couldn't hurt a fly before and don't really fit in to the lists for your regular games suddenly taking on Legions of Marines unhindered? I will probably come back to this topic at another time. For now, I need to go out and buy another bucket of dice... My Orks need to roll so, so many!
Matt
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