8th Ed. "Battlescrolls" release all through December.

What a scam. For 10% of the cost of a full electronic codex/army-book, you get info for 1 unit/model and a bunch of fluff.

GW sucks. Effing money-grubbing Btards! This looks like one more straw that will soon break the camels back. Two people in my LGG have refused to buy the latest codex for their 40k stuff and declared they are switching to warmachine/hordes for their focus. At least I play that too.

 

Except now you have to have an electronic device to see/use it. White dwarf stuff at tourney's had to be specifically allowed. Look, its not me I'm concerned about. Its that the number of people fleeing this game system has been pretty steady for the last few years. Mostly due to the ever changing, ever more expensive, string of poorly written rules and army books/codices. I already own an iPad, but it will be totally useless for GW games if I have no opponents.

If I were GW, Id make these Codex/AB add-ons FREE to the original purchasers of each army book/rule-set. I already have to buy other factions just to keep track of my opponents capabilities, now I have to look for scrolls and dataslates too?

BTW, My name aint Khornefed for nothing. RAGE!!!!

 

=> Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.




Rage aside, Khornefed is right. It's going to really create confusion for pick up games. It's one thing to keep track of the main rules, your armybook, and the rules in other army books. To have to wonder about that strange new formation that your friend is bringing (or 2 or 3) and question its veracity, is a headache. Not to mention, you now have the possibility of two identical units in an army having different rules. "Oh, yeah, THAT was the unit from the formation, not that OTHER one...I forgot." Ugh.

Plus, with the ability to make armies entirely from battlescrolls, I'd wager you'll see all sorts of rules interaction problems and even some possible intentional shenanigans from some players.

This is a nightmare.

 

I don't believe that I for once is the positive one!

I see your doubts and I see it more than properly justified, but I am willing to give it a chance as I actually find this very refreshing.

I love the idea of having some extra customizing options, and if you dont like it: fair enough, just dont and make sure your opponents dont either. As this is what I call an "expansion", I take it that you always have to agree if you can use it or not.

I imagine that instead of saying "do we allow special characters?" you know have ask "do we allow special characters or battlescrolls?"

I just know that when those Sacred spawning formations hit the deck im gonna buy em....glue em into my army book, cleverly disguise them as original content and then take em for a spin with a awkward grin on my face...

 

A few things -

1) It's not an expansion, as far as I can tell. It's Warhammer. These are not "permission only." Of course you can agree to disallow them, but for the same reason you can agree to disallow the use of all template weapons in your games (for example). Players are always free to suggest rules changes, but as far as I can tell, these things are 100% legit.

2) How does a customer even know what these are, how to use them, or what each one contains (in terms of rules) before buying them? These are not books you can review prior to purchase. You have to just hope that a particular $4.00 purchase can be used in your army at all! It's madness.

 

=> That's just it though. You should not have to discuss what is and is not allowed when referring to the standard, official rules. Dogs of War was an actual Army Book. No permission was ever needed. Same with these (as far as I can tell). They are just as much a part of the game as Terradons, Slann upgrades, or march moves, and we don't take the time before a game to ask our opponents for permission to use any of those rules. This is no different.


I do think you may be on to something with the 9th edition reference (which I did not quote). It would not shock me at all to see a radical re-structuring of how armies are chosen in 9th. One very basic core army list book and then these Battlescroll formations. You would not even need full individual army books that way. I dunno, we'll see.

This could all just be a way to test what it coming in 9th and turn a little profit along the way. (nothing wrong with profit)

 

I also had a feeling that the "one big army book where everyone can choose their army freely" rumour came from this. Its misinterpreted, but it fits without stretching it.

+

unless I have misunderstood something each formation / battlescroll has army requirements.

Be'lakor = DoC and WoC only
Restless dead formation = Vampire counts only

if this stays true, wouldn't army books still be needed?

 

For sure. I think the point is that this shows GWs commitment to moving to digital rulebooks so that they can make updates without having to do a full release. "Living manuals" is definitely better for the hobby, imho, and also shows that GW can adapt to the age of the Internet (something that they've been pretty reticent to even try).

 

I don't own the iBook, but as far as I understood it, the Restless Dead Formation was available to all armies and are subject to the allies rules in the Warhammer Rulebook.

To me "Battlescroll" seems like a poor way to word the group joining your army. Wouldn't "Warband" be much more fitting?
(I know that term was previously used in Warhammer Fantasy to refer to a set of rules intended for small battle games)

 

I see!
And it dosnt need to be on the same side.
We can use these dead as part of a "Desperate alliance" ...just remember to keep your engines and kroaks on the other end of the table, as desperate allies are considered "enemy units" when dealing with spells.

I seriously hope there will be either a useful khemrian formation, as I always liked the idea of a Kroak-model used as a shadow/death slann having some sort of necrotic force with him...

and one thing is for sure: if there comes any Formation containing a big flying beasty like a Phoenix (still wishing, its christmas gentlemen) im most certainly going to make my own Couatl conversion and go "count as" all the way.

 

which is an entirely new option in these scrolls:

Count as Conversions

 

Now that I have been enlightened to the new (to me atleast) digital options, anything that allows me to leverage my ever growing collection of monsters is fine by me!

 

LEAK - SPOILER ALERT

If any of you by some coincidence dont want to see what hides in the releases from now to the 14th dec dont open this link.

http://s85.photobucket.com/user/pen...ot_2013-12-05-21-07-24_1_zps5ubrxslo.jpg.html

 

Way too many 40K releases.

 

and it gets worse.....

here is the FULL SPOILER! and it aint PRETTY


im so disappointed

http://www.warseer.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=182928&d=1386427695