Eradicators. 9th edition of 40k has been dominated by the guys above and they define the style of lists, games and expectations of a unit.
Except, I’ve never seen them or used them in the third of a year I’ve been playing. Nor has anyone I know.
All this is a horrible set up to talk about fears and learning this current version of 40k.
9th or is it 8.5?
There’s a big enough crossover between editions that those with a good handle of how 8th ticked can get a leg up 9th. That said if 8th didn’t get the run through of others it can seem a bit full on as its not like 7th used to be, which was very like 6th, mostly 5th, recognisable as 4th and based on 3rd (22 years old).
Learning 40k is tough. Theres a lot of variables that you have to know about and a large chunk have nothing to do with the collection you have. Back in days gone by there was less forces to worry about too with a smaller number of units and the pace of the game was more sedate, couple of turns might pass and no units would fall. Not so much now.
It’s also not just the guns. The speed at which units zip around and potentially charge in, removing all the lovely firepower has scared more than one player in to hesitation of dipping their toe in to the world of ‘New 40k’. This is even before the random shrinking of board sizes for 9th occurred.
Is this just an old man rant or are we getting somewhere?
The title was talking about casual players, but one of the things with casual players is that they tend to have existed over a while and much knowledge has settled in that may or may not still be true, but it feels hard earned over time, nonetheless. Also for many, the abundance of time that existed previously is in smaller supply and it likely that at least one person in your group has picked up stuff faster and is talking in some code that you have no idea about really but it sounds both enticing and confusing…
Lets call it the Enchilda of 40k.
The final marble to run down this course is…the internet.
The amount of information in written, visual or audio format that is accesible now is amazing or overwhelming, depending on your outlook. I’m writing this article knowing i can search for stuff to reference and add in all while resting comfortably with a blanket. Its all very easy, but equally it is a big whirlpool that could suck my little casual gaming boat down and crush it before I reach land and can roll dice. So be warned about stuff from the internet. Not everything is scary Eradicators, some stuff, like this, might hold true.
Step One
Get distracted by a picture of a smiling robot….
Then, play a game. Most of the people I know who are the casual crowd have a good sized army with lots of things they want to try out. So use it. Ask your opponent to leave that favourite unit alone if you want for a couple of turns. Will it kill more stuff, probably, but thats what will get you to learn about it, see if it lives up to the idea in the head and make you want to do more. In return you wont kill their unit if choice till its time. Its all just an excuse to hang out and roll dice so playing special forcefields that make a unit perform differently but allow you to enjoy the gaming experience surely is a good thing for both?
Going beyond this sacrilegious breaking of a game there’s a few bits that I feel are good stepping stones to use while learning 9th.
Detachment abilities and HQ auras
Aura’s are a big thing in 40k now, this is unavoidable and key to building off of. So take one unit and a character with an aura and make sure they always stay in range. The image above, the shooting from both units would get rerolls of 1 to wound, if its against marines then that means a third of your failed rolls get another chance to be betrayed by chance cubes. But you roll more dice so thats ok. In combat the Aggressors could reroll those annoying 1’s your bound to get and kill stuff properly.
Plus, along with auras, picking up the detachment rules is big so make sure you’re keyed in to them and what you have to do to use them. Space Wolves get a boost to the assualt doctrine so you know thay your army is better up close, but also that the benefit has to wait till turn 3 so until then you have yet to reach your strongest part and vengeance can be had at that point onwards.
I’ve meandered a lot here, apologies, so i will get more in a sequel post, when my brain is a bit fresher.
Essentially, dont lose hope, don’t feel that its always going to be a game where you are lost and dont feel you cant bend the sequence in order to learn stuff. We all did when we started and your starting again now, so make it fun. Its what casual players want.