Warhammer 40k Apocalypse has long provided the means for massive clashes between absurdly large armies in the far future. However, with the imminent arrival of the Eye of Terror expansion, Games Workshop is revisiting the ruleset in a brand new tome. We’ve been offered a look at some of the new rules in a fresh Warhammer Community post, which includes a rundown of several changes that, while promising, may not go far enough.
The biggest and most welcome change offered in the new rules comes from a new optional rule called Giving Their All.
As you might imagine, a clash of absurdly large Warhammer 40k armies is replete with entire regiments and vehicle squadrons. These games can take entire days, even weekends, due to the sheer volume of units on the field. What this means is that whoever is lucky enough to get the first turn has the power to level a statistically significant part of the foe’s army.
In the past, going first gave you a massive advantage, but Giving Their All aims to fix this. Simply put: if a unit would be destroyed during the first turn of the game, it instead gets to count as having one wound remaining until the end of the battle round. This means it still gets a chance to fire back and have an impact on the game.
Each Warhammer 40k faction will benefit from this rule, as it will allow heavier units to stick around and make a difference even after that first salvo.
Ready Reinforcements, another optional rule, makes Apocalypse games more fluid by allowing units that would arrive during the Reinforcement step of the movement phase to arrive at any point during the phase. This means you don’t have to wait around for your buddy to move their horde of 120 Cadians before getting your Deep Strikes in place.
While these rules are welcome, Warhammer 40k as a whole, and Apocalypse too, still suffer from long, drawn-out periods where you’re stuck waiting for your opponent to make their turn. As such, waiting for your turn often feels swingy and punishing. This is, in part, why updates like Giving Their All are necessary.
Much of this could be solved by taking a leaf out of Warhammer 40k Kill Team’s book and using alternate activations. I hope, for the sake of weary generals everywhere, that Games Workshop pushes further with its positive changes to Apocalypse and considers implementing dynamic turn orders.
As the lines of battle draw, find allies and enemies on the Wargamer Discord.