Learn About Charging & Fighting In Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition
May 2, 2017 by brennon
Games Workshop has gone into more detail about the way Charging works as well as the subsequent Fight Phase which will get into the blood and guts of Warhammer 40,000.
In the Charge Phase of the game, you will pick a unit that is twelve inches of an enemy and roll 2D6 to see if they make it into combat. The enemy unit will then get a chance to fire back with Overwatch, hitting on a six.
Importantly, however, you also only need to get within one inch of the enemy unit in order for the charge to be considered a success (more on that later). You cannot, however, come within one inch of an enemy you did not declare you were charging.
If you do want to charge multiple units then they will all get their Overwatch shots at you. Units also no longer are limited and as long as the unit being charged isn't engaged they can continue trying to keep the enemy at bay.
Fighting Dirty
This then leads into how the Fight Phase has changed in 8th Edition and here's where we begin to see shades of Age of Sigmar.
We all know that Chargers will get initiative when it comes to striking first in combat but past that we see a system which is similar to that from the Mortal Realms in that subsequent turns of combat are fought by alternative units picked by their commanders.
This means you aren't going to get utterly ruined by that unit of combat monsters and that unit of Grots might just land a hit to take one of them down before they get torn apart in a tide of gore.
Because of the method of engaging foes, you can also make the most of a three inch move to allow you to consolidate your soldiers closer to the foe.
"Units that activate gain a free three inch move towards the closest enemy. This can be used to get within one inch of other enemy units, if you’re cunning, dragging more foes into the melee and preventing them from shooting next turn, even if you didn’t charge them directly (giving them no chance to overwatch).
Enemy gun lines will need to be careful about how they position their supporting units, so as to avoid getting dragged into the fight too."
There are units out there that break this flow of combat allowing them to strike before their opponents even blink.
How are you liking the sound of this?
"...that unit of Grots might just land a hit to take one of them down before they get torn apart in a tide of gore"
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So units within 12″ of the enemy declare a charge and then move 2D6 inches towards the target. If they sop within 1″ then the charge is successful?
Sounds really unreliable!
Plus a free 3″ move toward the nearest enemy for the unit that activated the charge which can be used to get within that 1″.
If it works like AoS then you need to reach the 1″ minimum. The 3″ is essentially a pile in move at the beginning of combat.
On average that’s 7″, but rolling low is going to suck as you just know your opponent will charge you instead.
It’s also quite a distance to cover if you do get lucky with a 12.
know it is supposed to be fiction, but it the maximum charging distance feels wrong for infantry.
The only advantage of this rule is that it prevents people from staying just outside of charge range …
I also wonder if any weapons have a maximum range of 12″.
What about using grenades as you charge in ?
To quote Johnny Rotten, at the end of the Sex Pistols tour of America, “Ever had the feeling you’ve been cheated?”
Yeah, welcome to the “challenges” of late WHFB.
Why in the holy Emperor’s unknown name would they do the same errings all over again? They have been there already, and, by the most forgiving words of the Liber Excruciatus, have they been deep in this sinkhole of faithless unreliability. It’s almost af if they were refusing to repent and accept the benevolent cleansing lessons by the Redemption.
^^
@darnast I have always had a different view on random charges in wfb and 40k, different games and different results. In 40k I minded it less (in 6th) as it reduce the capacity to sandpaper off everything in 12 and be safe next round. In fantasy were movement was critical, what it did due to the random factor being between larger than all but the very fastest units was allow players to luck there way out of bad play. The concept of a random element prevented the battle line dance of 6th, but the implementation was sadly lacking.
These last two, are the bits that has made me question my cautious optimism. I am not ready to say they are an issue, and they certainly seem to have some potential benefits. The over watch rules seem to be probably the largest point of fallibility, in theory at least, despite comments that fight phase counters that I am really not seeing how it does. The group up 2-3 units so tight and intermingled so you have to charge all 3, and get shot by all three seems to be a failing, as does the infinite overwatch shots until you… Read more »
I don’t think you have to charge all three. You pick one to charge at and get within 1″. The squad you’ve charged get their Overwatch. Then in the Fight sub-phase you use your 3″ pile-in to drag the surrounding squads into combat. Since Overwatch happens in the Charge sub-phase those squads don’t get to fire on you.
But if you get within an inch of another squad you get overwatch from both, which where the issue I believe is a potential issue.
Only the unit you declare your charge against can fire overwatch. unless you declare you are charging multiple units then you get overwatch fire from both. the plus size is once they are locked in combat they can’t shoot anymore which would be a good strategy for Orks or Nids with large units.
You must declare though if you come within an inch. But discussing unreleased rules is a little churlish. We shall see, but these and the morale rules are at present my areas that could put me off the game.
Would be interesting to have a more realistic 40k version that doesnt insist on shoe horning melee alongside guns and missiles
Yeah these Sci-Fi’s with alien that want to eat you will never catch on ….
They can most certainly do that, im just saying it produces a bunch of very odd abstract rules just to make it work. That hungry alien btw, it uses the environment to get close.
Sorry a mix of sarcasm, and a reflection on what is a core part of 40k, it is not a clean and ‘realistic’ sci-fi.
As to using cover, well if you can charge from cover and get bonus from it then that would be a good rule.
Yeah i know 🙂 it still doesnt change the fact you get strange rules that really makes no sense … must be the warp spilling into reality. That would definatly be a good rule, 2nd edition had modifiers for shooting stuff coming out of cover. I still think it would be interestkng to have the melee toned down and see where the rules would go .. after all, the game has some kick ass models and lore.
Well this is looking more and more interesting.
I am liking the idea of alternate activation of non charging units, at least it gives you a chance to be involved when it isn’t your turn.
Wait – they went and gave EVERY unit an individual Movement allowance, and then turn up with randomised charge ranges? Bikes, Terminators, Assault Troops, all with the same random chance to suck? Why not INF = 6″ CAV = 12″ etc. or just charging Movement allowance again?
It’s not like we won’t have to familiarise with these Movement stats, so why not use them? Another bit borrowed from AOS is lack of joined up thinking obviously.
Lunatics.
My biggest complaints with the new edition so far. An unlucky role means mu squad might “charge” a third of the distance they can walk. It should be ‘basic movement’ + D6″. Still an element of randomness but at least the mobility of the unit plays a part.
Precisely – why give units Movement values at all when charging (a huge part of movement) throws it out the window first chance it gets? I liked the old DT test of 1=No movement, 2-5= Half Movement, 6=Normal Movement – uses the Movement value and gives certain randomness – whilst being hella easy to remember. I’m sure you could use similar – Movement + that test = Charge range. With the completely random 2D6 method, individual models may be charging anywhere between 2″ and 15″ – strategy and tactics be damned, if my troops advanced so inconsistently upon my orders,… Read more »
We don’t know all the special rules yet; maybe bikes and cav will get a bonus D6″ or roll 3D6, pick the highest two.
They almost certainly will, much like AoS cavalry.
Can’t wait for this to release. now that I know some of the biggest 40k podcasts and 40k tournament organizers have been behind the play testing for over a year. I trust they have made some great choices and they are excited for this new version.
How does that charge mechanic get past playtesting, if you get snake eyes then you move a pitiful 2 less than a normal move allowance than a terminator with slowest move speed I saw. Totally terrible, especially as charging means that unit can’t shoot. So many better ways to do that, like keeping minimum move +3 with a d6 max of double move speed in distance, termie rush I’m looking at you, and maybe units with fleet of foot get re-roll on the d6. Or even move + 2d6 pick best one fleet of foot getting re-roll. It also means… Read more »
Looking at the current rules teased by GW I think the Movement phase is will be where you will be lining up your charges as running has now been rolled into the movement phase not shooting.
So say you were lucky with your rolls on a normal space marine with a 6″ move it could go something like this.
Advance (6″ + D6) followed by a charge phase (2D6) so if you rolled perfectly you could move up to 24″ in the movement followed by the charge phase.
This is just a total guess.
The random charge move works really well in AoS, no reason why it won’t in 40K either. Instead of just thinking that you could charge less than a normal move, don’t, it’s really an extra extension of the base move, not something independent. In AoS the very fast troops do get a speed bonus in someway, such as rolling 3 dice and take highest 3 or characters that give a boost to nearby units.
@hithero Totally agree with you on AoS. People had the same concerns when they saw the 2D6 charge rolls when AoS first dropped but stuff moves so much faster it didn’t end up being a problem.
Honestly the more i see of this the more and more its reminding me of the good bits of second edition, going to wait to see how it plays but personally i think all of this is a good step in the right direction.
Overwatch is a spastic storm trooper attack in 8th, it wasnt in 2nd
A step in the right direction on the 8th attempt? How many will it need? Rather they stepped away from the right direction in the first place. The factor of the matter is the system, nuances of editions aside is largely unchanged from Rogue Trader. At heart its a straight forward platoon level skirmish game, trying to shoe horn it for anything bigger doesn’t effectively work and leads to the detractors of crap system, all about pushing model shouts, blah, blah. These days imo there are better platoon level skirmish games, but that’s the steps it needs to walk to.… Read more »
I’m still waiting for the drop pod rules. They looked really interesting.
Personally I don’t get all this flak for 2d6 charge ranges. That is the system that GW have been using in 40k for quite some time so why change it? So far I am more excited then Terrified by the changes to 40k. Everything be to my liking? Most likely not but as long as I can still have fun playing games with my friends that I have made over GW games. And not feel stabbed in the back leaving me with a army case full of paper weights. I will be happy.
It still feels like a backward and ancient system compared to others that have evolved today
@hatamoto its a kind of yes and no, I both agree and disagree with you. IMO it’s all about what an individual gamer finds fun. The simplicity of IGOUGO is actually appealing for many gamers and certainly as a gateway gaming system that many players will stick with that concept. Why because simple can be fun, that’s ultimately what streamlining is all about. Whereas that may seem ancient with all the disparaging comments anyone can make. In another breath someone will call it a classic approach with tones of reverence and love. That sort of gaming system can work very… Read more »
IGOUGO can absolutely work, but it becomes stale without any rules for the passive player to react. Enter “overwatch” which now somehow assumes its difficult to hit a target running straight for you. Also overwatch to me means the shooter is in a ready stance to fire at anything getting close, not a flimsy snap fire mode. They wanted some 2nd edition familiarity but needed to balance it against melee and voila, we have one of those strange rules. Go to ground allows for out of sequence reacting, but it ends there. Command points can allegedly allow for some disruption… Read more »