The Next Step...

Warhammer 40,000 Sixth Edition is stuck on full auto as we are closing our third month on the table top and set to receive our first codex release of the new game. Now we have seen the Obviously Broken crowd come and go and the Naysayers are losing the fight faster than ever. Expert Hats are almost a rarity at this point, but some still insist that the game be fixed, tinkered, and modified at its core.

2nd Force Org Chart, Fortifications, The Eternal War Mission Set, Secondary Objectives, and Mysterious Terrain & Objectives are still under attack by some but they remain core vital concepts that cannot be ignored without severe consequence.

This really is the nitty gritty of the new 40k - The Eternal War Missions and The Secondary Objectives. A literal checklist of Feats you and your army must now be ready to regularly accomplish that may not have been attempted before. How daunting! Most if not all of these new core elements aren't all that new to all of us as almost all 5th edition 40k tournaments at all levels had already incorporated some aspect of these Victory Conditions and Mission Archetypes in some way. What is new and scary is that now these sometimes cruel elements are suppose to be a part of regular play. 

In addition to our "normal" tried and true Single Objectives, Multiple Objectives, and Killpoint archetypes  we now have three new core missions types to plan for on the tabletop:

Big Guns Never Tire brings us the concept of Additional Scoring Unit types.

The Scouring the concept of Weighted Objectives.

The Relic a Single non-contestable and moveable objective.

While this new Victory Format is easily described as Harsh - its the battlefield. These mission concepts alone can have sweeping impact to army design and listbuilding. Here we find more natural enemies of the Necron Flyer List just built into the basic game. These elements are not unbalanced they are just difficult and Obviously chosen and designed to be just that, very difficult, possibly entirely lopsided situations that you must be prepared for. Together and individually they offer and represent a vital portion of the game that should be played out, not thrown out.

Throwing them out only helps to create fakeness in the metagame. You wont be able to avoid them entirely anyways - as mentioned earlier: these mission concepts are not entirely alien and will find their way into your local tournaments and GTs in some form or another. Learn to Game The Mission!

Your Army will need to be Capable on the battlefield to be truly competitive at all levels of regular play now! That means being able to drop a checkmark into each box somehow. The Secondary Objectives are another vital part of the Victory Matrix that is being trashed as unbalanced. Your Army is unbalanced if these three measly bonus points make or break your game.

Just like The Eternal War Missions - Firstblood, Warlord, and Linebreaker can have sweeping impact to army building for Victory. Armies must now be able to both achieve these Feats regularly as well as deny them - and just like all other Victory Conditions in the game, if your Army is weak in these areas then you have to make up for it somehow, the very basics of murderous 40k tabletop Victory.

The game is not broken and unbalanced because your army doesnt perform as desired. With Forgeworld weaponry coming to the tabletop in almost any competitive event everywhere the options for listbuilding and victory are ever increasing. The checklist for 40k fitness  is right there in the new BrB for you to follow along as you build your force for Murder.

"Obviously Broken" and "unbalanced" are ridiculously ugly undefined things that should stop being thrown around as we grow up into this new age of grim darkness. There has always only been war - we all have big guns - Shoot them!