Warhammer 40k 10th edition vehicles and monsters will be much more survivable than their 9th edition counterparts, according to Games Workshop. A preview article, published on the Warhammer Community website on Thursday, reveals new and improved statlines for several vehicles in the next edition of the sci-fi wargame.
“Almost every vehicle has received a bump in Toughness”, according to the preview article, which adds that “Toughness nine used to be the highest you’d ever see in a game, in the new edition you can find units like the Ork Stompa with Toughness as high as 14!”
Only Warlord class Warhammer Titans had T9 in 9th edition 40k – notwithstanding an Imperial Knight or Chaos Daemons character pumped up by a combination of Relics and Warlord Traits we’ve overlooked – but the preview reveals that even a lightly armoured Space Marine Rhino or Storm Speeder will have T9 in Warhammer 40k 10th edition. The larger Gladiator Valiant grav-tank has T10 and the heavy Repulsor transport has T12.
10th edition 40k will also reduce the prevalence of degrading statlines. In 9th edition 40k, any vehicle or monster with 10 or more starting wounds would suffer from worsened characteristics as it suffered damage, though some Warhammer 40k factions had stratagems that let them ignore these ill effects. The WarCom article says that “most of those now simply suffer a penalty to their hit rolls when reduced to one-third of their starting wounds”, adding that “many vehicles don’t degrade at all”.
The article also shows the new Objective Control (OC) stats for the different vehicles. This is a new model stat for 10th edition that determines how effectively a model can claim an objective. The Rhino has an OC of 2, the Stormspeeder and Gladiator OC3, and the Repulsor OC5.
The Rhino’s dataslate also reveals it has improved melee capabilities. The WS of the Rhino’s tread attacks is now 4+, rather than 6+ in 9th edition. The upgraded statline suggests that ramming attacks from run of the mill vehicles will be a little more worrying: and dedicated melee vehicles may be even nastier.
The article also adds to the Universal Special Rules we know about for 10th edition; the Rhino’s one in six chance to explode and deal d3 mortal wounds to nearby units when it’s destroyed is called ‘Deadly Demise D3’, while the ability for embarked models to fire from the vehicle’s top-hatch is called Firing Deck 2.
The WarCom article states that Firing Deck 2 means that two units can fire from the Rhino; traditionally, only two models have been able to shoot out of a Rhino’s top-hatch. Either that’s a big change to how easy it is to shoot out of the top of a Rhino, or a typo in the WarCom article.