OK, hate to be that guy, but I’m gonna be that guy. Here’s all the PROBLEMS I see (so far) with 8th:
1 – Keeping track of wounds. A Leman Russ MBT has 12 wounds. It is not uncommon to see three in a squadron. That’s 36 wounds you need to keep track of, to say nothing of any other vehicles/monstrous creatures/hell, even Terminators have two wounds each now. How are you going to keep track of that? Using dice is going to be ridiculous for the same reason using a dice now is a problem, even though a LR only has 3 wounds (hull points) currently. A separate sheet of paper? Excel spreadsheet? Will GW provide us an app? Will we be like those Warmahordes people who use dry erase markers, or perhaps bring our phones/tablets with us to keep track? Maybe I’m missing some rules, but this looks like it’s going to be a complete nightmare.
2 – Assault phase/order of battle. OK, so chargers will always strike first, that’s easy, and then whoever’s turn it is picks his first unit and it goes from there, alternating back and forth between players. This won’t be a problem when there are only one or two units involved in one or two assaults. I play Orks. I have seven units of them. I’ve had games where my seven units of Orks are involved in ongoing assaults with multiple tac/combat squads of marines. We are talking almost a dozen units in four or five different combats. Keeping track of this will be a pain; not as bad as wounds, but I can see the arguments now; “Those guys already attacked!” “No they didn’t!”
3 – Battleshock. From what I have read, morale now has its own phase and the end of the turn. You will need to keep a record of how many models die in each unit in each phase (not just assault), and then start making rolls. As we know, the tabletop is already littered with dice/terrain/active models/etc, so keeping the “dead” models on the tabletop to keep track of them is going to be a problem. Keeping them off to one side may not be an issue, but if you play in a crowded store where space is at a premium, it becomes an issue. Again, with only one or two units, this won’t be a big deal, but woe unto the Ork/Nid/IG player.
4 – Time. With all the above being true (unless I’ve misread a rule or there are other rules we don’t know of yet), this will make the game LONGER. We could call it Recordkeepinghammer. One of the biggest complaints I’ve heard from many folks is how long the game already is. I personally don’t mind a long game, but I know I’m in the minority.
5 – All dem dice, tho. Twin-linked now means more shots. Awesome! Not a big deal going from three to six dice for a twin-linked bolter, but now my Dakkajet goes from 12 to 24 dice. Yes, it eliminates a lot of re-rolls, but I’m assuming there will be special rules/powers that allow re-rolls anyway. MOAR DICE! MOAR ROLLING! Certainly not as bad as the above, but since I’m already bitching . . .
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be first in line to buy 8th when it comes out, as I’m still very excited about it, with my favorite thing being how excited ALL OF YOU are. Not so long ago, we had many folks in our local gaming group for both Fantasy and 40K, and it was never a problem to get a pick-up game at the FLGS. But with the death of Fantasy and the power creep of 40K, with lost more than ½ our homies. It will be nice to have a lot of folks to game with again! I’m just hoping all my fears above are unjustified, and we can MAKE 40K GREAT AGAIN. (Wow . . . sorry ‘bout that . . . )