lostpict wrote:
I always liked WOTR, other than profile updates what rulemechanics are changing?
I post here below the main proposed changes - now under evaluation by the Revisers:
WotR 2nd edition Project – Draft 2.0
List of significant changes made
1. The artillery base has its front on the short side.
This is simply a clarification, but it is relevant since we have allowed the artillery to rotate (see point 38 below).
2. Natural 1s cannot be altered wit Might points or other dice modifiers (unless specified otherwise).
Might allows to completely remove the element of risk from many actions, particularly spells and charges. This is done in order to encourage alternate plans and a bit of variety (such as using banner bearers, shamans for an additional attempt, etc.).
3. Minimum and maximum limits have been introduced for the modifications that the values of Strength, Defense, etc. can undergo. When halving these values, rounding up is applied.
The rules lacked clarity on this matter, so clear limits have been provided.
4. Movement penalty outside the line of sight: the Move value is halved. This penalty is further affected by rough terrain and the presence of enemies within 6“.
The original movement rules were extremely simple, to the point of paradox: a formation could move backward at the same speed as forward, but if attacked on the flank by an enemy, it would become paralyzed and unable to face them...! With three simple modifications (this one and points 5 and 8 below), we have attempted to make the system more logical without adding complexity: the orientation of formations now becomes a more important decision, and it is possible to escape from situations where one is stuck.
5. Turning the formation by 180 degrees requires using the entire Move value.
In the original rules, turning was free while, paradoxically, it was very costly or impossible to turn to the side. Refer to point 4.
6. Modified Flying Monsters: they are always considered to be in an Elevated Position; other formations can move through them; they can move over other formations and impassable terrain as long as they do not end their movement on top of them; they ignore the penalty due to rough terrain; they ignore the penalty due to proximity to enemies; they do not block line of sight; line of sight is not obstructed by other ground-level formations; they cannot be charged by formations that are not flying unless they have already charged a ground-level formation; they cannot occupy defensible terrain.
This is an introduction that is both revolutionary and daring, as we have invested a lot in it because in WotR, flying monsters behave like chickens for the sake of simplicity, which debases them. However, compromises could be made by considering them to be flying only in certain phases and not in others.
7. Disordered formations suffer a -1 penalty to Courage, Terror, and Panic tests when the enemy is within 6“.
Currently it is possible for an already disordered formation that has lost a fight to become steadfast with a roll of 6 on the Panic test. This is now avoided, moreover the importance of Courage, otherwise rather marginal, is increased.
8. New Fall Back move: If the formation is disordered, you can choose to move the spearhead towards the table edge or away from the nearest enemy. If it is not disordered, you can move it in any direction. You can turn the spearhead by 180 degrees after completing the movement. Move the remaining companies up to twice their movement value, assembling them in a legal configuration. All companies ignore penalties from terrain and enemies within 6” during the fall back. If the formation is disordered, the spearhead is destroyed upon impacting any obstacle, and the remaining companies are destroyed if they cannot be relocated in a legal configuration. If not disordered, the spearhead stops 1” away from the obstacle, and a legal configuration is required. Units performing the Fall back cannot charge nor perform At the Double.
The Fall Back move has great potential in a Movement revision. Formations that were previously unable to rotate (due to being too large or too spread out) can now do so and allows formations trapped within the enemy's 6“ range to retreat or change the front at the cost of the right to charge.
9. If line of sight is partially obstructed (calculated by drawing a line from the center of the company to the center of the target), the Attack value is halved when using ranged weapons.
In the old rules, it was almost impossible to protect formations from shooting in most cases, as even if half a millimeter of them was visible they would be hit by the maximum number of attacks. This change allows for better defense and requires greater attention in the deployment and movement of archers.
10. It has been specified that Movement and Charge must be linear (i.e., a straight line towards the target, no curves or zigzags).
The rules were somewhat vague in describing how these movements take place. We have clarified how the rule has been interpreted for years in Italian tournaments.
11. Modified combat modifiers: Fighting on the flank or rear penalizes the entire formation, not just the companies involved.
This more severely punishes movement and maneuvering errors and should provide some assistance to mass armies, which are currently heavily outclassed by small elite armies.
12. Modified Panic Test: 1-2 result in a state of Dismay; 3-5 result in Disordered; 6 results in Steadfast.
Panic is something that has never been significant. It is hoped that making it more common will make it more relevant and, consequently, make banners and rules that improve Panic tests more appealing.
13. New terrain features: rivers, fords, bridges, streams, swamps.
This is a small expansion to potentially make the battlefields more diverse.
14. Shooting from and into defensible terrain: the reference point is now always the edge of the feature, not the center.
The original rule is contradictory (the manual specifies that the feature becomes the base of the entire formation, but then makes an exception for shooting weapons), and it also renders throwing weapons unusable. This modification aims to make the game more consistent.
15. Modified glaives: +1 to hit (but no +1 to Fight).
Elves need a strong buff to justify their high cost.
16. Modified pikes: When the pike-armed company is engaged on the front, it fights at the same time as monsters; pikes do not receive any extra dice for charging; enemies do not receive extra dice for charging pikes on the front; pikes cannot be used by companies that are attacked on the flank.
This makes pikes a bit more competitive when compared to their heavy infantry counterparts. In the base game, they suffer more casualties and are more vulnerable to shooting and in close combat. With these changes they can now effectively counter monsters, cavalry and light infantry, providing them with more flexibility. They are still defeated by their shielded counterparts and by shooting, so heavy infantry doesn't lose its key role.
17. Blowpipes can charge after shooting.
As a weapon of limited effectiveness, we believed it could benefit from a slight enhancement.
18. Crossbows cannot move more than half their Move and use Heroic Shoot.
Crossbows have a high strength when shooting, but they pay for this by not being able to shoot if they move. Heroic Shoot allowed them to completely ignore this disadvantage, creating powerful yet uninteresting combinations to play with and face, making them far more advantageous compared to regular bows.
19. The range of longbows is reduced to 30".
Longbows have proven to be excessively powerful compared to regular bows, to the point where players would often seek allies with longbows instead of using the standard ones from their army list. The purpose of this change is to rebalance their effectiveness.
20. Added Dwarven masks.
This is an interesting peculiarity of the Dwarves that we wanted to further characterize in the game.
21. Formations with multiple weapons or equipment must declare which one they intend to use at the beginning of each phase, otherwise they will automatically use a bow/short bow/longbow/crossbow if not explicitly declared. Formations cannot use shields in the same phase in which they use bows/short bows/longbows/crossbows.
The current rules do not cover this aspect, so we have clarified it using the interpretation commonly used in Italian tournaments.
22. Enchanted cloaks do not obstruct line of sight beyond 12".
This introduction aims to prevent abuse by creating mobile barriers behind which more vulnerable formations can hide.
23. All cavalry has been given +1 to Defense.
This simple modification aims to help cavalry, which has always struggled to be relevant in the game due to its lower resilience (effectively half) compared to infantry.
24. Standard bearers modified: reroll charge distance, panic tests, and fall back move; 25 points.
Standard bearers are visually appealing but rarely used in game due to their high cost, which outweighs their benefits. With these improvements, we hope to see them utilized more frequently in the game.
25. Army banners modified: can be promoted from a standard bearer; only one can be deployed per army; possesses Heroic Advance; has the abilities of the standard bearer; 25+25=50 points.
Here we have aimed to standardize the rules while also providing a reasonable cost for the army banner.
26. Hornblowers and Drummers modified: +1 to movement, charge distance, and fall back move; 15 points.
Similar to standard bearers, musicians see very little use. Instead of simply reducing their cost to 10 points, we have chosen to enhance their abilities in the hope of making them more appealing and impactful in the game.
27. Specified that a Heroic Move cannot be combined with At the Double.
This is more of a clarification, as the rule is generally already interpreted this way.
28. It is not possible to combine a Heroic Shoot with At the Double.
The combination of Heroic Shoot with a At the Double (which is an action that costs no Might points) can lead to combos that are too powerful for their cost. However, the combination with Heroic Move remains, as it costs 2 Might points in total, which is a significant investment.
29. Heroic Duel modified: 1. Modified Heroic Duel table for cavalry, which reduces casualties by half; 2. The duel ends as soon as the enemy Hero is slain.
1. Cavalry units suffer disproportionate casualties compared to infantry, which is one of the reasons why they are not as effective. This modification aims to balance the casualties between cavalry and infantry in duels.
2. Some Heroes with Epic Strike can devastate even strong and numerous formations by challenging weaker heroes and accumulating a large number of rolls on the Heroic Duel table. This is excessive and detracts from the spirit of the game, as duels should primarily be clashes between heroes rather than a way to mow down armies. This statistical modification moderately reduces the number of casualties in duels. While it is still possible for formations to be decimated, the likelihood has been slightly decreased. It may also lead to interesting decisions, such as lowering one's dice roll with Might to spare the enemy hero and continue slaying soldiers!
30. Epic Actions take precedence over Heroic Actions in case of conflict.
The current rules lack clarity regarding when an Epic Action should take precedence over a Heroic Action and when it should not, leading to ongoing discussions and debates in tournaments. By specifying that Epic Actions always have priority, this issue should be resolved without causing major disruptions.
31. Epic Challenge modified: The challenged hero must make a Courage test at -3. If he fails, both the challenger and the challenged hero must move towards each other to engage in combat. The challenger must declare a Heroic Duel involving the challenged hero, which does not require Might points. Both heroes are prohibited from leaving their formations.
Epic Challenge is rarely used (at best!), as it is often given to the wrong heroes and it only exposes the user to danger without offering much strategic advantage. Both of these issues have been addressed by the modifications, and it is hoped that this action will see more usage as a result. Alternatively, another option could be to remove it from the rules altogether.
32. Epic Charge modified: +2 to the entire formation's Fight value; incorporates the effects of Heroic Charge but can be declared at any point during the Charge phase.
The original version of Epic Charge was deemed ineffective and rarely used. This modification aims to make it more impactful and relevant. Additionally, it provides a boost to Rohan, as they are the primary users of this action and could benefit from some enhancements to balance their weaker position as a faction.
33. Epic Defense modified: +1 Defense until the end of the turn.
Increasing the Defense bonus to +2 proved to be too powerful, as it resulted in a guaranteed -1 to the opponent's dice. By reducing it to +1, it becomes more situational and requires tactical usage based on the opponent. This modification aims to make Epic Defense more interesting, offering counterplay opportunities for the opponent to field a strong enough formation to overcome it, while allowing the user to position their hero where they can gain an advantage.
34. Epic Rage modified: the entire formation gains +2 Strenght but with a -2 Defence malus.
Fix to balance the two effects.
35. Epic Shot modified: infantry receives D6 automatic hits, cavalry and monsters only D3.
Cavalry has effectively 4 hitpoints compared to the infantry's 8, and this is a core issue of the game. Fixes such as this are situational (because they don't apply to other aspects such as shooting and combat), but together they strenghten it and make it more competitive. This applies similarly to monsters, which get completely obliterated with the original rule.
36. Epic Rampage modified: you only reroll once.
For years we saw this epic action explioited in devastating comboes, evolving each time the tournament rules tried to fix it and retaining its excessive destructive power. We think that a final fix could be this one, or alternatively make so that the company (or formation) doubles scored hits once.
37. Added three Legendary Actions reserved to Legendary Heroes.
Legendary formations were never competive in large part because they force players to buy expensive Heroes too vulnerable to duels with Epic Strike. We thought that introduciong exclusive Legendary actions could improve their suvivability, as well as opening new, interesting possibilities.
38. Artillery modified: single company formations only; can pivot 45° but cannot shoot the same turn; has We Stand Alone rule; ballistas suffer -1 inaccuracy if their line of sight is partially obstructed.
Limiting Artillery formations to a single company is a consequence of the new ability to pivot, but it is also a defense against the Fall Back rule which can destroy an entire formation. We Stand Alone is a choice in our stance on the original rules' ambiguity about the possibility (or lack thereof) of deploying Hepic Heroes in Artillery formations. The new rule about partially obstructed sightlines applies to direct fire artilleries as in point 9.
39. Counselors cannot renew other Councelors' Might points.
We needed to specify that two Counselors can't increase each other's Might points.
40. Hard, Very Hard and Extremely Hard to Kill tables: they respectively die at 7, a 8 and 13.
A much needed fix follwing our field experience. Normal monsters are too vulnerable, while Extremely Hard to Kill monsters are pretty much unkillable in a standard game,
41. We Stand Alone formations can move At the Double.
A small imporvement to these formations, which otherwise suffer a double disadvantage by not being allowed to have Heroes.
42. Overlord only applies to formations of the same armylist with at least a Hero inside and can't apply to allies.
Overlord has proven to be too powerful when used in combo with monsters and other allies without a hero (mumakil, cold dragons, bats). This should make it a more fair ability.
43. Troll's Charge turned into Monstrous Captain: Heroic Charge and To the Run within 6" to monsters of the same race.
An ability we have also given to some Ents and to the Spider Queen, in order to give players the opportunity to deploy monsters capable of keeping up with infantry, paying for this benefit with the purchase of a chieftain monster.
44. Spirit Grasp modified: defending formations can only use their base courage, and can't use any Hero's courage in the to-hit rolls. This is untrue of Inspiring Leaders, who can use their courage instead, but only for the formation they are currently in. Spirit Grasp can't benefit from any to-hit modifier.
Buff to spirit formation -which cost a lot and bring in few results in the base game- that should make them into true “glass cannons”, able to quickly annhilate the enemy while being fragile themselves: Heroes are so common that Spirit Grasp is usually never worth the cost, especially against the Good factions. This new version must be respected and fought with an Inspiring Leader, since normal Heroes are no longer able to counter it.
45. Inspiring Leader radius changed to 9''.
This will ask the player to put a little bit more thought in the deployment and movement of their Inspiring Leaders. It's a indirect buff to Spirit Grasp and Terror plays, which are extremely inconsistent in the basegame unless played in combo with the Tainted nazgul (option not even available to Good factions).
46. Epic Heroes obtain the abilities of the formation they are currently in; the entire formation can only obatin terror from them, and only the company with the Hero can use his/her Bane and Spirit Grasp.
The first point is a clarification of the base rules, which are ambigous. The other points are there to clean up those useless abilities that heroes have in the base game but can't actually use.
47. Stalwart formations are also Steadfast with a roll of 5+.
Stalward costs 5 points, and this buff (which also has a logic: if you arrows don't make you falter neither should melee)should justify the cost.
48. Skilled Riders now also grants 2 extra attacks per company when using throwing weapons.
Throwing weapons are completly useless for cavalry (1 die per company + accuracy bonus- usually 1), this makes them at least situationally useful.
49. Expert Riders now also grants 2 extra attacks per company when using throwing weapons. In addition, Expert Riders can still use throwing weapons after moving At the Double.
Another thing that makes throwing weapons useless for cavaalry is that optimal cavalry play demand them to be always further away than 6'' and then charge. We hope that this buff will make the useful from time to time.
50. Terror doesn't affect formations of the same race.
It's a bit strange how a Troll can scare another Troll or an Elf can scare another Elf. It's an incomplete fix, as it doesn't touch every such weird scenario, but it's simple and effective.
51. A company cannot use more than 2 to-hit modifiers at the same time.
Certain comboes sum too many modifiers to devastating results. The introduction of this limitation brings them down a notch.
52. Iron Will: Heroes now resist spells only with 5+, but the attempt doesn't cost any Might.
A little help against spells. 1/3 of the time, resisting a spell is free, 1/2 of the time it costs 1 like the old rules (a roll of 4 becomes a 5 with 1 Might point).
53. Some spells were changed in Focus or effect.
We went through a review process aimed to rebalance the use of magic.
54. Spells only do half their damage to cavalry and monsters.
Same as pt . 35.
55. Fate and Fortunes rebalanced.
The impression that Fates and Fortunes give is that they were made in a hurry and without much thoguht behind them. We tried to put some order and login in their power and cost.
56. Added dynamic army composition: 75% of the army is fixed, while 25% can be chosen from three different options that the player chooses after seeing the fixed part of the enemy army and the scenario for the battle.
Being able to deploy a specialist force according to the battlefield and enemy army allows for a greater variety in armylists and to create a force capable in different scenarions. Moreover, per base game many units (especially siege weapns such as the Battering Ram) are almost unusable in most scenarios. We tried this option twice in tournaments with good success. The only issue is that we penalize players that don't own a large selection of models, so it should probably be limited as optional rule.
57. Legendary Formations count as Rare per rarity decree.
Legendary formations being neutral for the rarity decree allows unbalanced combinations of troops -especially now that they are more effective as a result of the buffs received- and came from marketing needs. We thought necessay to rebalance this aspect of the game.
58. Forgotten Kingdoms added as playable faction thanks to the additions of new units.
The Good side effectively only had 4 armylists as opposed to the Evil's 5. Now they are even thanks to the addition of new common troops (especially Men from Dale and Esgaroth) that make the Forgotten Kingdoms independent and a new, interesting alternative to the other factions.
59. Aggiunti profili lo Hobbit e nuove uscite GW/FW miniatures.
Since the game came out, a large number of new models were introduced in the market. We made sure to keep up with the times and it was arguablty the hardest challenge: we are sure that many unit profiles can still be improved.
60. Added the new battle deployment “Caves”.
A small addition aimed to increase the variety in battlefields.
61. The High Ground modified: if the vicotry point is contended, the player with more companies in range of 3'' from the objective wins. If the number is the same for both players, then the type of unit is what makes the difference (infantry > cavalry > monsters).
This game mode ends too often in a draw. This way one is encouraged to keep their large formations healthy to be able to contest the point, while heavily damaged formations aren't as competitive anymore.
62. Disordered formations cannot contend objectives.
We specified for clarity: as a matter of fact, it was always a given for almost everyone who plays (even in the example battles shown in the rulebook).
63. Armylists, point values and stats of units and heroes modified.
This was a long and challenging task, and consisted of rebalancing units both in terms of price and combat effectiveness.
64. Added the Rings of Power.
A small flaw in the game (War of the RINGS) that we wanted fixed.
65. Added the Single Army bonus: if one doesn't bring any ally forces, Fates and Fortunes are half-off.
Helps who -be it for roleplay/aestethic purpose, be it for economical or availability limitations- doesn't use Alliies in their forces, as the use of Allies allows one to cover any weakness and to create comboes unthinkable to a single faction.
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An update. The project is going forward very well. A good pre-playtesting was done and also some of the rules will be experimented in the next national tournament of Perugia, Italy. After that, il the end of April, the first unofficial draft will be submitted to a group of external expert supervisors.
