Rules Patch: Cavalry v8.1

This has been suggested often in forums (or variations of it). This is my own take on it.

PROBLEM: cavalry (especially the non-monstrous variety) suffers from a lack of performance, given that ranked units are so big, steadfast is prolific and their charge attack benefits are subpar.
SOLUTION: when a unit of Cavalry or Monstrous Cavalry charges, it gains Impact Hits (1) at the mount's Strength, plus an extra D3 Impact Hits are dealt on the charged unit(s)(distributed as shooting, not by a charging model in base contact) per rank bonus the cavalry unit has.

This rule gives penetrating power to cavalry units, specifically on the charge, and because the attacks will not be very high Strength, they are well suited to mow through large blocks of weak infantry (which is what cavalry was designed for historically).
This also meshes well with the Bretonnian Lance formation, where ranks bonuses are easier to attain with less knights.
Monstrous Cavalry will benefit less from this due to large units being less fieldable given their high points cost (as if they needed any improvement anyway) :p

Scenarios Sourcebook list Updated!

Added a few more books to the list:

Blood in the Badlands (8th)  Map campaign system, siege rules & scenarios, underground rules and scenarios

Lustria (6th)
  Jungle fighting rules and scenarios, Node campaign system.

Conquest of the New World (8th)
  Expansion for Lustria campaign.

Storm of Chaos (6th) 
  New units and scenarios.

Rules Patch: Loose Formation & Unit Splitting v8.3

Skirmisher movement in 8th edition changed significantly, in that it lost full 360degree facing and loose arrangement of models, into always having defined ranks and files, and reforming like Fast Cavalry. It limits how Skirmishers can move through narrow, tricky and impassable terrain features, and makes it impossible to explore battlefield terrain to the fullest (as large spaces are always requires to move units through).
Expanding this idea further, it would stand to reason that normal units, particularly small in number, could also spread out and move into narrow terrain (perfect for urban and jungle fights). This could have great value for smaller point games, making such units viable. This idea indeed was explored before in 'The General's Compendium' and the 'Lustria' campaign book.
I present here a revised version of loose formation and skirmisher movement, along with a new reform maneouver: Unit Splitting.

PROBLEM: units always move in ranks and files, even small units who could conceivably move much looser than the rules allow. The only exception to this are Skirmishers and to a degree Fast Cavalry. 
SOLUTION: Units can reform into a Loose Formation, and Skirmishers also follow these rules

  A unit of 10 models or less (5 models or less if Cavalry, or 3 models or less if a Monstrous Beast, Monstrous Infantry or Monstrous Cavalry unit) can adopt a 'Loose Formation' as part of a reform (or during deployment). 

  In 'Loose Formation', models in a unit are not arrayed in lines and ranks, but rather as a loose group or rough line. All models in the unit must remain within 1/2" from at least one other model from the unit.
Models in the unit move individually (do not wheel the unit as a whole) and can pivot freely, but the whole unit must end all its move with its models all within 1/2" of each other, and facing the same direction. 

  Units in 'Loose Formation' are NOT treated as Skirmishers for purposes of movement through terrain.
  
When charging, the front arc of any model  in the unit can be used to determine the whole unit's front arc. On a successful charge, all models move towards their target up to their charge distance, until a maximum of such models has been brought into base contact, lined up into a rank. Any remaining models are lined up in ranks and files, behind the front rank. When charged, once the enemy unit is in base contact, models in the unit in 'Loose Formation' move into base contact, maximizing models in contact, as described above.
Attacking units never gain flank and rear bonuses in Close Combat against units in 'Loose Formation', but units in 'Loose Formation' also count as having zero ranks, for both the purposes of Rank Bonus or disrupting an enemy unit. 
Furthermore, units in 'Loose Formation' do NOT benefit from Combat Result bonuses from Standards.

A non-Skirmisher unit may return to a normal ranked formation with a reform.

Skirmishers: in addition to ALWAYS having to be in 'Loose Formation' (regardless of number of models in the unit), Skirmishers have a 360 degree front arc (thus able to charge in any direction). Skirmishers also can shoot even if they have marched (although they will still take a -1 penalty To Hit), unless the weapon has the Move or Fire rule. In addition, ranged attacks targeted at a Skirmisher unit take a -1 To Hit penalty.

EDIT#1(changed so that units in Loose Formation do not have a facing, and have 360 degree front arc)
EDIT#2(changed so that front arc of a unit in Loose Formation is drawn from any model that composes it; Skirmishers have an all-around front arc)
EDIT#3(Non-skirmisher units in Loose formation are NOT treated as skirmishers when moving through terrain; non-skirmisher units in Loose Formation do not benefit from Combat result bonuses from Standards).

PROBLEM: large units listed in a player's army list sometimes become a problem when a scenario requires a different unit size (possibly to maneuver through terrain).
SOLUTION: A non-Skirmishing unit may divide itself into two separate units as a reform

As  reform maneouver, a unit may split itself in two, along a dividing line between any two ranks or any two files. Separate the two units by shifting one of them slightly from the other by 1". Command group and character models may be distributed as desired between the two units, within the restrictions of a reform. Any effects (such as a spell) that the original units was currently suffering (or benefiting) from apply to both daughter units.
Note that each of the "daughter units" must consist of a number equal or higher than the minimum number of models required to field the unit.

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!!