Malign Portents in Age of Sigmar 2.0

Here I try to provide a few solutions to use the Malign Portents rules.

Both for Matched Play, or as a Ruse card for Open and Narrative play.

The Malign Portents ruleset is quite interesting, if a bit cumbersome, but if used in small bits it can be very interesting.

Depending on the army, it could complement it in a really interesting way.

It became clear, during our games, that the Realm of Death rules, as presented in the Malign Portents book, added too much complexity on top of using the Portents rules themselves, and should be used in dedicated games (as a Twist only).

Therefore, I separated the Matched Play rules, with points, to use only Interpreters and Signs.

As an alternative, because the Prophecy Points rules introduce a "finite resource" mechanic that you need to make more decisions on (on top of your spells, Command Abilities and Allegiance Abilities) here is a simpler way to use them.

A Ruse card, to use in Narrative or Open Play, that grants one of your Heroes the ability to become an interpreter and choose a Guiding Malign Portent. Then, you get continuous Signs being revealed, one at a time, but they are automatically triggered as soon as the conditions are fulfilled!

No more prophecy point allocation decisions: you just know which Sign is coming, and try to get into position to fulfill its conditions as soon as you have enough Prophecy Points. Just like trying to fulfill a prophecy!!

Click here to download PDF for both Open War and Matched Play Malign Portents rules.

Hope it is helpful, and can bring back some use of these really interesting, cool and creepy rules.
And probably in a more streamlined manner.
If you try it, please leave some feedback!


Roll high and prosper!

Mordheim demo @ Devir Arena, Lisbon, Portugal

This time, I decided to bring some Mordheim to my own country. Plant the seed, to get people interested.
So I went for 2 weeks holidays back home, and called up the bigger local gaming store to see if they had place for us to play.

And boy, was I surprised: the place had SO much space and gaming tables, full of beautifully painted terrain. I was used to it in the gaming shops of the UK, but none of this really existed in Portugal while I was growing up. It was very niche (even amongst gamers).
Portuguese gamers, rejoice, and head to your local store for games! 😃 They got the space!

I ran a simplified version of Mordheim, where each player only controlled a Hero and two henchmen, all pre-generated with weapons and equipment.
Very fast-paced and simple to use, and thankfully I had many models available for players to pick among several types of warband.
It's all in the preparation, people!

We played a simple King-of-the-Hill scenario, with the players trying to take control of the portal in the center of the table.
We had a Dwarf Treasure Hunters warband, a Wood Elves warband, and a Cult of the Possessed warband playing.

It was a small affair (mostly because it was announced on such short notice!) but it gave me an idea of how much tabletop strategy and skirmish gaming is starting to take hold back home.
It is really growing.
This speaks a lot to a Games Master's ability to round up gaming groups of interested players, as it does require some groundwork and a network of gamer friends. You need to be patient and work on it, playing and talking with people and raising awareness for a year or so, before one can start launching new initiatives. And advertising is important! (see end of post)
This worked well in the Edinburgh gaming scene (having spent 3 years as a RPG GM and 2 years as a Mordheim organizer). But then again, the UK is more of a fertile ground for gamers (many have been playing for decades), and many gaming venues already existed, or opened in the last years.

 Age of Sigmar is apparently attracting new players in Portugal, if only because of their discounted starter boxes and ability to start playing with few models.
Which is exactly what GW *DID NOT* do for the longest time, where they could have supported low-model gaming modes, such as Mordheim, Warhammer Skirmish and warbands.

Now Age of Sigmar is really exploring all those ideas, and literally asking players to set up their own campaigns and house rules. I have to tip my hat off to the gentlemen (and madams) in charge of this shift in company policy. :)
See here and here what they have been fostering in the Community.

This is a great step forward in bringing the narrative side of the game to major events full of enthusiastic players. And a recognition for the role of Campaign Masters and organizers in tabletop strategy games, beyond the tournament setting.

We would like to thank Carlos Almeida, from Especulatorio magazine, for coming and trying out some Mordheim with us.

Especulatorio is a monthly portuguese e-magazine, which covers all major news, talks, local events and development within the geek gaming, movie and literature industry.
The group also organizes community gaming events, and fosters debate about gaming trends and the future of geek interests.

Mordheim advert - stick it on the wall of your gaming store!

Just replace the "Warhammer Narratives" logo on the bottom with your own gaming group's logo and rules link, and you are good to go!

Roll high and prosper!

Mordheim Roleplay part 4 - Personality and Social Exchanges

Finally, after more than a year, I finally got this out. It has been sitting on my hard drive half-finished for too long.
The Gods bless Yuletide and giving us peasants a break from work, so I can have more time to write rules :)

Previous Mordheim RPG posts:
Post: Intro and analysis
Post: Basic Rules
Post: summary of possible Careers and their special rules (work in progress)

Well met, folks, and I'm happy to show you this so you can hopefully put it to use.
This Part 2 or Mordheim Roleplay rules presents players and GMs the ability to turn the Leadership characteristic (a very one-dimensional representation of a character's mental ability) into a series of mental characteristics. The diverse combination of mental characteristics defines the personality of the character, and GMs will be able to use them as a vehicle for storytelling, and also as a roleplay challenge for players.

Mordheim Roleplay part 2 - Personality and Social Interactions (click to download)

In true Mordheim style, who wouldn't wish to see a party of adventurers trying to hold their Dwarf Slayer back from a fight with the Count's guards, and the player controlling the Slayer (who also DOESN'T want to fight the guards!) miserably fails its Self-Control test and all hell breaks loose.

There are seven Mental characteristics that make up a character's personality:
Generosity, Forgiveness, Humility, Self-Control, Free-Spirit, Logic, Willpower.

Personality tests are taken whenever a character would presumably do or say something against their personality. They are 2D6 characteristics tests against the Mental characteristic in question (much like a Leadership test). If the player fails the roll, they cannot help but act according to the character's personality.

Social Exchanges: The rules also show how engage in arguments with NPCs, where players use arguments in order to test the NPC's Mental characteristic most likely to give them a positive result. Depending on the arguments, the Mental characteristic they target and the NPC own Personality, the GM may allow bonuses or penalties. This encourages players to engage in roleplay and real argumentation, which itself feeds the game mechanics.

It should be noted that generating the Personality of a character is something that a players must be comfortable with: this system is meant as a guideline and a roleplay challenge, and no player should be stuck playing a character with a personality they don't enjoy.
I hope you enjoy it, and it can be of use after spending so long in the making.
I certainly cannot claim to have truly come up with this system myself, as it was heavily influenced by the Pendragon Roleplaying Game's Personality system. But to my mind I believe it is a good addition to Mordheim RPG, as it puts fate (once more) in the hands of the dice, much to of the dismay of the players, but also helps brings the characters to life. This has the added benefit of allowing beginners to the roleplay genre to take cues on how to act their character from the Mental characteristics it possesses.

NEXT: expanded Skill lists for different Careers (bussiness skills, social skills, exploration skills, etc).

Roll high and prosper!

Warhammer Warbands & 'Freeform Movement': playtesting

In this post I will tell about my attempts at bringing a type of Age-of-Sigmar-like Freeform Movement into Warhammer 8th Edition rules, in the context of the Warbands rules. 
It looks very promising and close to what I've been striving for.

Previously I have discussed and tested some rules for Freeform Movement (part1, part 2, part 3), which was inspired by the unit movement mechanics present in Age of Sigmar. Being very honest, this type of unit movement was not really an innovation of Age of Sigmar: this was mostly how Skirmishers moved in 6th and 7th Edition, which was scrapped in 8th edition in favour of quadrangular units of spread-out models. The innovation that Age of Sigmar brought to it, however, was one of the great cinematic mechanics or Warhammer 40K: Pile-in.

I attempted before to introduce these Freeform Movement rules in regular Warhammer 8thEd games, and I quickly managed to slow down the game: Pile In and Retreating from Combat was great but moving large units with a fully dynamic shape was a bit of a nightmare, regardless of how useful it was tactically (dissected here). So I decided to tackle this last problem twofold: narrow down the size of the units on the table, and reduce the freeform-type movement only to Skirmishers, Fast Cavalry and units in 'Loose Formation' (a rules variant that allows nonskirmishers greater movement flexibility at the cost of Combat Resolution bonuses).

How to do this? The perfect tool already existed: Warbands.
Warhammer Warbands games are smaller-scale Warhammer games (100-499 pts), following essentially all the same rules, but allows for minimum units sizes to go below the listed value in the armybook. This allows for a greater variety of unit types to be fielded while still keeping the game small and the table less cluttered with models.
And what do you know: we found that mixing normal ranked-up units and others with high movement flexibility led to a very very interesting and tactical game.

- New roles for your good ol' units: The terrain could be explored better and many average units now gained great tactical value, as they were better able to position themselves to counter-charge (or Pile-in), and explore new battle roles as harassers or very strong strike forces where before this could only be performed by Skirmishers or Fast Cavalry. A unit in the right place (even if not a powerful one) can make much more of a difference. In this way, one can maximize the value of small-sized units which previously had to be taken in very large numbers to be in any way effective, as strategic movement now becomes much more important.

- Chained combats and combined arms strategies: because the Pile-In rule allows units within 3" of an enemy to immediately get engaged in combat, this makes combined arms defensive formations very interesting (if you charge a unit you must fight the surrounding ones). Therefore, engaging in combat and managing unit coordination becomes far more interesting than it ever was, with many more possible combinations. It also makes for massive cluster combats to get triggered very quickly, with all units entangled in the middle, and possibly leading to quicker combats and games (which I think we all are fond of).

Coordinated unit formations can advance and concentrate on enemies using Pile In, enhancing creativity in defensive strategies.

- Baiting and Retreating even better: Given that units can elect to retreat from close combat, this allows for better control of which units are commited to which fights, and allows very interesting shenanigans in controlling the battlefield. Of course, ordering a retreat is not without its risks, as the units must immediately test to Rally to see if they reorder their line or keep running. 

- Harassers become more true to form: Even better, units that before would anyway serve in harasser roles (because there was never any point to ranking them) but did NOT have the Skirmisher or Fast Cavalry rule can now benefit from the same movement flexibility. They only miss out on using Unit Standards, and the -1 to be Hit with rannged weapons (Skirmishers) or the Vanguard rule (Fast Cavalry). We are talking about things like Chaos Warhounds and Dire Wolves, who simply 'feel' like they should have been skirmishers.

Dire Wolves adopt Loose Formation to cut around terrain more easily.

- Small Elite shock troops for guerilla fighting: thanks to the Warbands rules, units composed of elite or expensive models could be now taken in small sizes (therefore more affordable), and when maneuvered correctly, say as an opportunist flanker, became very very usable assets when before they had to be taken in large numbers to have a decent cost-benefit out of them. Even better, they can be used as strike forces against enemy Commanders or wizards, as their small unit size can allow them to squeeze past bigger units and not expose themselves to a charge, and use the terrain to block any pursuit by larger units.

- Large lumbering but very steady units: Conversely, keeping one or two larger units of ranked troops added a large punch (due to the large number of Combat Resolution bonuses they can use) and provided a strong army center as they would almost always benefit from Steadfast. Even (or especially) cheap Core troops are really effective at this, as larger units can be fielded for less points. The contrast in maneuvering speed between them and 'Loose Formation' units also made the game look more realistic, as the large ranked unit slowly swivels around to face its threat, while small contigents of models jump around the battlefield, taking cover and trying to reach the enemy's backline.

Cheap core troops are very useful in large numbers against even powerful models, thanks to their ability to remain Steadfast and concentrate Combat Resolution bonuses from ranks and Standards.

 - Shooting becomes more important: with more small units to shot at, some of which possibly containing higher-points models, the chance of eliminating entire units quickly with ranged shooting becomes much more appetizing and feasible. With the added ability to explore complex battlefields, units can achieve better positioning to shoot and even embark on forward strikes to eliminate warmachines, but also have to account for...

- Better cover: with added movement flexibility and ability to explore terrain better comes the chance to set up more complex batttlefields, which provide more tactical choices for moving through cover (and avoid enemy fire) and blocking your opponent's charges.

Explore all the nooks and crannies of the battlefield by moving with Loose Formation.

- Adaptable to Warhammer Army games: Needless to say, these rules are also very easily applied to small-scale Warhammer games (500-1000 points), only forfeiting the Warbands-only rule to take ultra-small units (3-8 models, depending on listed minimum size). And because unit positioning is more elevant now, the games becomes more balanced at that scale than they used to, because more units on the table can control more of the board than before (due to their higher freedom of movement). It also used to be the case that certain units, if taken in lower points games, would have an overpowering effect on the whole game; or vice versa, in that certain armies could really only become effective at higher points levels because their units were not well-rounded enough (so they had to take many different types to deal with every threat) or because they needed certain costly synergies to make the army work. With added movement flexibility, the underdogs now have more strategic options to chose from, and therefore this is something that should appeal to the more tactical-minded players too 

- Flexible Squeezing: this is something I proposed in a previous post, as a compromise to getting rid of my rules for full flexible movement for large units, and still allowing them some ease of movement around terrain. This rule was inspired by the Kings of War ruleset, where units ignore impassable or blocking terrain while turning or pivoting, as long as they finish the movement at least 1" away from it. A great and simple idea, that can make wonders when fiddling around with large units around nasty special-effects terrain or just simply blocking terrain.

So there you have it. These 4 rules, especially in the context of the Warbands rules, work wonders.
- Pile-In
- Loose Formation
- Retreat from Combat
- Flexible Squeezing (see above)

Try them out (together or just one or two) and see how you like them. I would suggest ~300 points in a Warbands game (not too much, not too little).

Phew! Done. Now to put this together into a proper rules document I can upload...

Roll high and prosper!

Freeform Movement for 8th Edition: further playtesting

Here is the latest testing and tinkering with the Freeform Movement rules. Some things work well, others not so much...and I'll give my opinions on how to best make it smoother.

It's time to come back to this, as I've played some more games testing these experimental rules (when I've not been playing Mordheim).

Highlights:

The Pile In move is great!

 Above you can see examples of how the Pile In move, which is performed on each model's turn in initiative, before attacking, can be used to maneuver a unit around the enemy, and ultimately surround it.
We noticed that it blended in very well with all existing rules, without interfering with anything else. And because it is optional, a player can forego using it to surround the enemy, and instead simply perform a mild reform of the unit's ranks.
Because Piling In with all models ultimately leads to reduction of ranks, there is a strategic decision to be made in terms of how to advance your models: more ranks for increased ranks bonus, or the chance of extra attacks and possibly make the unit slowly shift into flanking position.

Flexible Unit Shape is... clunky and time-consuming.

This rule made it so that models in the same unit could move independently from one another, but must still maintain unit cohesion and facing.
The major benefit of this experimental rule was that it allowed units to better "squeeze" through scenery and terrain, and made it more realistic. Models away from the front rank could still be brought to bear against an enemy unit when engaged, because of Pile In.
But in practice, using this type of movement was time-consuming, and complicated a few rules interactions. We felt that, while it looked good, and it worked well for small units, doing this with large units made it too complex and clunky for a game of this size.

Interestingly, reaching that conclusion meant that for smaller units, or smaller games, this type of movement would fit well. This immediately reminded me that the "Loose Formation" rule can be used for smaller units (up to 10 models, or 3 models for Monstrous units). Furthermore, using this rule for most units in games of Warhammer Warbands (where almost every unit is small) can make full use of flexible unit shape.


Flexible Movement looks... odd for large units.
The experimental rules for freeform movement allow models in a unit to move independently from each other, and also allow a 180degree range of movement, thus allowing even large units to move and turn sideways without hindrance (even when marching).
However, we found this too strange-looking, as large units seemed to "slide" sideways without penalty (which seems weird, in addition to reducing the penalties involved with movement).

Conclusions:

What this leaves us is one part of the rules (Pile In) working perfectly, and the other one (flexible unit shape & movement) not very much. Thankfully, the two sets of rules are independent, so Pile In can stay untouched. Now, what to do with the movement?

The biggest problem with current movement rules in 8th edition is how unforgiving they are when it comes to moving through tight spaces. Kings of War has dealt with this problem by allowing units to disregard friendly units and terrain while turning or pivoting: allowing for unit corners to pass through them. as long as they are clear of obstacles when they finish moving. Let's call this Flexible Squeezing for now (not very catchy, I know).
Maybe a resolution as simple as that would solve most movement issues in 8th edition... playtesting awaits. But there is more.

As mentioned before, for units of infantry up to 10 models, 5 models if cavalry or 3 if Monstrous, the Loose Formation can be adopted, which allows for skirmisher-like movement (a la 7th edition).
This rule first appeared in an "official manner" in the General's Compendium, allowing for units to maneuver through dense forest. Such models benefit from movement flexibility and do not gain rank bonuses, but unlike proper Skirmishers they do not benefit from the -1 To be Hit by ranged attacks, do not benefit from Standards for Combat Resolution and do not count as Skirmishers for moving through terrain.


Perhaps simply adding Flexible Pivoting and Loose Formation to existing 8th edition rules allows for sufficient movement dynamics, bringing the MSU (Multiple Small Units) style of play to once again feature in Warhammer tactics. However, in order for this to be most effective, and to balance out the huge value that large ranked units present in the game, I recommend adopting the following house rules as well:
- all rank bonuses involved in a combat count (not just the highest)
- a unit has its ranks Disrupted and loses Steadfast if it's charged in the flank or rear by a unit of at least one full rank

Mordheim Roleplay part 2: a long awaited dice-rolling party

For those of you who read many months ago that I was "working" on a Roleplay adaptation of Mordheim, and then proceeded to show no progress or news on it for months on end, no one could blame you for thinking this was just wishful thinking of yet another enthusiastic but unproductive gamer fanboy/I-think-I-can-write-rules person.

Well, you are both right and wrong. Perfectionism holds me back from releasing things I've got written down for months, then I leave then still for ages before going back.
The Social Interaction rules for Mordheim Roleplay have been drafted since December 2014, but I haven't finished polishing everything, and other Warhammer/Mordheim projects have shifted my attention from it.
However, I've kept building on it, and realized that before I released the Social Interaction ruleset I actually needed to "convert" how Mordheim plays normally (single tabletop events spaced by post-game phases, strict warband restrictions) to an "adventuring party" system that can harbor a free-flowing story (includding exploration, stealth, searching, etc).
And this document itself sat on my hard drive for some 2-3 months before I finally formatted it and sent it out now.

So I am putting out this first part of the rules, which should get anyone going in running simple Roleplay sessions using the Mordheim system. I know I will. Mind you, everything is still experimental.

Mordheim Roleplay (click here for PDF) 
This will be a live version, which will be continuously updated with time.

I will now be polishing the Social Interaction rules and expanding on skill options that can feed into the Roleplay experience.
Note: at the time of writing, no Social Interaction rules are included, except those for simple Interrogation and Torture (adapted straight from the great 'Traces to Emprise' scenario from Border Town Burning). 
Eventually, The Social Interaction Ruleset will be an add-on, which will replace the Leadership characteristic with a set of Personality characteristics, which hopefully will inject some hilarity and narrative into roleplay sessions.

'Freeform Movement' for 8th Ed (experimental rules)

About time I posted some content of actual use. I apologize for taking so long: there is a life on the other side of the screen, with obligations and responsibilities, and "things-needing-taken-care-of" in general.
As promised, here it is.

This is my rules variation for Movement in 8th Edition Warhammer Fantasy:
Freeform Movement in 8th Ed [experimental] (download)

It attempts to do away with the clunkyness typical of movement in 8th edition (with its emphasis on large units), and emulate some of the great rules design presented in AoS. In doing so, I hope to make it look more natural and intuitive, and thus enhance narrative immersion.

The rules are meant to substitute some of the movement rules presented (it is indicated when this occurs), but otherwise blend seamlessly with the rest of 8th Edition rules, to ensure minimum disruption.

Features

• Units have no set shape: models can distribute themselves in any way as long as their bases touch (unit coherency).
• Units can move anywhere towards their sides or front (a semicircle).
• Models in a unit must always be facing the same direction; after they move, their facing can be up to 90° to the left or right of their initial facing.
• Single model units can pivot on the spot when moving, and have a charge arc of 180° (instead of only a 90° wide front arc). The exception to these are single model chariots.
• When charging, if any model in a unit (even in the back ranks) has an enemy in its front arc, the unit can charge it.
• When charging, any and all models in a unit can move their entire charge distance, by the most direct route towards the target (this may disrupt their ranks, at the player's discretion). Closing the door and redirecting large units are things of the past.
• In Close Combat, models can perform a Pile In move when their initiative step comes up and before attacking: 3" towards the closest enemy model.
•  A unit can retreat from combat in the Compulsory Moves phase, and automatically try to rally

In our playtest games, the units moved much more naturally, were able to explore the nooks and crannies of the scenery, and it seemed to mesh so well together with the rest of the rules...

Hopefully I've ironed out the vast majority of the bugs, but feel free to try it and if possible give me feedback.

Enjoy!

PS: as a lead-in to my next post, I have to say that playing with these rules, and comparing it to Age of Sigmar, it made me ask a very strange question: is the Warhammer 8th Ed ruleset actually well-suited for a large mass-ranked battle game, or perhaps it performs better at a slightly lower level?

AoS-like movement in 8thEd: some playtesting

 As hinted a few posts back, I have been working on a way to sneak some Age of Sigmar innovations into our cherished 8th Edition Warhammer.

Here are some shots of our testing of a 'Freeform Movement' experimental ruleset. Much of it worked well and flowed natural, some things didn't, and as such we got rid of them. I'm polishing this until it works well.
The final form of the rules is taking shape, I'm just ironing out the nastiest exceptions and loopholes people might find in there.
Here are a few teasers and examples:

Freeform unit shape

Models must always remain in base contact and with the same facing, but otherwise can be distributed in any shape to form a unit. Models must always remain at least 3" away from any enemy units (you'll see why below).
This allowed for greater mobility and great cinematic exploration of all the nooks and crannies in the scenery, just like in Age of Sigmar.

Dire Wolves sneak through the
gravestones, something that would be
impossible in "vanilla" 8th Edition.

Units having a hard time getting anywhere,
because they are too big to dodge
the scenery, is a thing of the past.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pile In and Ranks

Just as in Age of Sigmar, as soon as models get to go during combat they can make a 'Pile In' move up to 3' towards the closest enemy. The model must always face its front arc towards the enemy it wishes to attack (this is an exception to models maintaining a uniform facing). This replaces the 'Horde Formation' rule, as wide units can now engulf smaller units and bring more attacks to bear. This used to exist in 6th Edition Warhammer, called the 'Lap around' rule.
As normal, a model behind one in base contact with the enemy can make supporting attacks, even if that model is already lapping around via Pile In.

How does that narrow-frontage
bastard of a Hellpit Abomination
feels, now that you can encircle it
and attack its flanks?

Of course, the tradeoff is that smaller units will diminish their ranks if they spread themselves too thin. But as long as they have a block of complete ranks with the enemy unit in its front arc, they gain full rank bonuses from them.

Encircling with a unit of
plaguemonks... so worth it.

We had quite a lot of fun with these rules, the battle seemed more realistic and flowed more organically, and we didn't find any interference with existing special rules. Yet, it still included all the gritty detail of 8th Edition.

(EDIT) A polished PDF of these rules is available HERE.

Converting the best of 'Age of Sigmar' into Warhammer 8th Edition

In this post I will suggest ways in how we can harness some of the new mechanics featured in Age of Sigmar, and apply it to 8th Edition Warhammer rules, in a seamless way that can enrich the whole 8th Edition experience.

Today we saw Age of Sigmar hit the shelves and the websites.
Reactions have been mixed, but I suspect many have taken the blow quite hard.
Mostly, I believe, due to the shift into a more-light-hearted game (gimmicky rules that involves out-of-the-game elements, like players pantomiming or something), the loss of Psychology mechanics, and (apparently) the total loss of ranked units.
Another major shift in the core mechanics was the disappearance of Toughness (replaced with Wounds having become a Hit Point bar) and combination of armor/ward saves into a single save. And finally, there is no balancing mechanic (at least so far!) that controls how many models/warscrolls can be used by each players.

HOWEVER!
There are great game design ideas in Age of Sigmar, and we cannot deny how great they are (from amidst all the other things we dislike).
So, why don't we find a way to inject them into the tried-and-true game engine, slowly built over more than a decade and several editions, working better than it ever did, that is Warhammer 8th Edition?
So what can we adapt?

•  Loose Formation of units: models in a unit can be distributed in any shape, but never more than 1" from another model in the same unit. If anything causes the unit to be split up it MUST reform the next round. After charge moves, models not yet in contact with the charged enemy unit can make a pile in move of up to 3" to help bring them in contact with the enemy. This is roughly how unit formation works in Warhammer 40k, and similar to how Skirmishers used to work before 8th Edition. There is no reason why normal units, particularly those with a low model count, cannot adopt Loose Formation with a reform action. They could then move through terrain unhindered, maneuver through the battlefield much more easily than larger units, and make tactical flanking attacks.
• Combat range: models do not use base contact to determine which models they can attack, but a reach (of 1" to 2") based on weapon type. This is also similar to how combat reach works for Warhammer 40k, and indeed it is a simplification from "base contact plus the rank behind the one in base contact". It also resolves the problem of character walls on the front ranks for units, as now attacking the second rank is possible.
• Planting the Standard: the new version of Battle Standard Bearers grant a certain benefit out to 12", but if they plant the standard and don't move(charge, run, etc) that turn, the effect widens to 18". This is quite cinematic and makes for a great effect.
• (EDIT) Monsters become weaker with injury: a simple yet effective piece of rules that brings things together nicely. As monsters, and certain large chariots, lose Wounds, their number of attacks or range of special abilities decreases, ensuring that every wound inflicted on them counts and decreases their effectiveness.

 In following posts I will adapt these into proper 'rules patches' as I have done previously for other rules.

I will also look at the other side of the equation: what can we inject of 8th into Age of Sigmar, to bring back the feeling of ranked unit combat and psychology that we were used to?

If truly Warhammer ranked combat as it was will no longer be supported (because we still don't know if there will be a future supplement that may grant it), then that means in effect we can do with 8th Edition what we want (as it will be an unsupported game, much like Mordheim! And we can keep playing for a long long time, as long as we have good campaign frameworks and scenarios to plow through!

Warhammer 8th Edition is dead! Long live 8th Edition!!