Warhammer 40k 10th Edition Mission System Changes Reward Bold Plays on the Battlefield
| Tags: General
| Author Bence Loksa
As the whole game changes, Games Workshop will make some adjustments to the Mission System of the table top wargame – and there are some very exciting additions coming in June.
We have seen some new rules and updated datasheets for a number of factions, including the Necrons, the Space Marines, the Tyranids and the Chaos Space Marines, so we know how we can make our victories easier using the right units, Army Rules and Stratagems on the Battlefield. Recently Games Workshop finally showed us not just how to help ourselves, but how to actually achieve a win on the table top.
The new Warhammer 40k 10th Edition Mission System revealed by GW
In the showcase of the Leviathan Set, we already got a glimpse of the new card decks included in the box which lets players generate their Deployment, Missions, Gambits and other aspects of a battle. With the new Missions and Objectives, Games Workshop is looking to shake things up, as while they think that 9th Edition was almost perfect in this department, the missions got a bit stale after a while: every army had their optimal combo, and there was little point in taking anything else. The Objectives were also fixed, along with the markers for each map, which limited variance. The secondaries are the most unbalanced part of the current system, as heavy scoring armies, such as Orks or Chaos Daemons could easily win by playing passively, while faction such as the Leagues of Votann had a hard time in this regard.
Tempest of War helped a little, but Games Workshop felt it wasn’t enough – so they combined the GT and the Tempest ways into one, epic version:
The deck in the Leviathan Box Set, which will also be sold separately and available online will have 9 Primary Missions, some of which we know and love, and some of which will be completely new. At the start of the next Edition, there will be 5 Deployment maps and 12 Mission Rules available, which will be expanded upon later. The maximum points achievable from a Primary mission has been increased as well from 45 to 50, making it the biggest source of Victory Points.
GW had a different approach to secondary missions: both players will have an identical deck of 16 Secondary cards, which can be played as either Tactical or Fixed Missions. Tactical Missions resemble Tempest of War, meaning that you’ll draw two Secondaries at a time, and when you complete them, you draw new cards in their place, effectively going through your entire deck in a match.
Fixed Missions are the successor of the Grand Tournament system: 7 of the 16 cards can be used like this, out of which the player chooses 2 and stick with them for the entire game. The maximum achievable 45 points have also been lowered to 40, meaning that you can get 20-20 points with Fixed Missions, while Tactical Missions will have a bit more flexibility in reaching the magic number of 40. Tactical Missions will be replaced in the Command Phase, not immediately after they’ve been completed – but if you really need to swap one out, you definitely can with the help of the New Orders Core Stratagem, which let’s you redraw a card at the end of your Command Phase once per games. However, if you can wait a bit, at the end of your turn you can discard any unwanted Secondaries, and in exchange you even get a Command point! This means that you can only score one of your secondaries, but you can rotate your cards to try and farm the most points.
You will select which method you want to use after generating your Primary Mission, Deployment Zones and Mission Rule, and GW have assured everyone that they designed the cards in a way that both playstyles are viable – but some armies may prefer one over the other in most instances.
Gambits are a new, interesting mechanic in the Warhammer 40k 10th Edition Mission System
But what happens if your opponents Fixed Missions are completed too quickly for your comfort, or they draw extremely well with their Tactical Missions? That’s when a completely new aspect of the Mission System, Gambits come into the picture. Players have an identical Gambit deck in each match, which contain objectives that are very hard to achieve, but reward huge amounts of VP – which you score instead of your Primary Mission.
You can start your Gambit after the 3rd Battle Round have ended but the 4th haven’t started yet: you generate a Gambit by shuffling your Gambit deck, discarding one card except the Proceed as Planned card (which let’s you fool your opponents that you want to take a Gambit, but proceed as planned with your Primary Mission), choose a Gambit from the remaining cards, and reveal it to their opponent.
As Games Workshop described, Gambits are supposed to be last resorts in a match that looks lost, as if they are completed, they should put the player taking a risk in a winning position. You get 30 VP by completing a Gambit, and you also receive any Primary Mission points gathered up until the end of Battle Round 3 – but the combination of these points can’t exceed 50 VP, which is the same as the cap for the Primary Missions.
The randomness of Gambits is also a key factor, as you have to discard one at random, meaning if you bank on one to win and don’t draw it, you could be in serious trouble. This adds an extra layer of intensity to the matches, but GW assured us that this will be also balanced, just like the Tactical and Fixed Missions.
GT Packs of the Warhammer 40k 10th Edition Mission System
Of course, the drop of 10th Edition will also bring about new GT packs, which will be digitally distributed and updated, containing suggested combinations of Deployments, Primaries and Mission Rules to create the most balanced environment possible for competitions. These will include some tips to organisers as well, so that the tournament scene can thrive from day 1 of the Warhammer 40k 10th Edition.
Overall, the new Warhammer 40k 10th Edition Mission System seems extremely fun and balanced. We have to wait for all the cards revealed, but so far, Games Workshop outdid themselves in this department, and the Faction Focus articles are also revealing some cool details about the new Edition. The 10th Edition looks like it could be one of the best yet, so I for one can’t wait for June – but you can read ESTNN’s other Warhammer 40k articles in the meantime!