Comedy
I will always be amused by people who run around screaming about how the sky is falling. The game is changing. That's what the game does. If you started in 8th, I absolutely understand some nerves about an edition change since it's the first time it's happened.
What Do We Actually Know
We won't know the full extent of changes until you see actual rules.
That being said, some folks have done a fine job of collecting what GW has actually told us - and I'm definitely not going to do it myself. Blood of Kittens has a nice compilation of it - might as well look at that.
Highlights
There's a LOT of stuff that's out there - so I'm going to pick out the stuff that jumps out at me as 'important' in terms of impact on gameplay. Some of it's fairly obvious, but it's still worth laying out in one spot.
1) Command Point and Detachment Changes
Honestly, I think this is going to be one of the biggest changes for people, and it's also one we don't have all the information on yet.
On the bright side, everyone starts on a level playing field with CP now. This is kind of nice - there's not as much pressure to bring 2-3 battalions now for CP. From the sound of it, we regenerate a CP a turn - though they haven't exactly explained how.
Now here's the other piece of the puzzle, and I don't have 100% of it at this time -
-Detachments cost CP
-If your Warlord is in a Detachment, that Detachment does not cost CP
-We know a Battalion detachment is 3 CP
Some armies don't care about mixing - loyalist Space Marines, for example, love their doctrines and so they'd be happy to bring a single detachment (Unless you're mixing chapters).
Other armies, however, do very much care about multiple detachments - Chaos Demons, for example, love mono-god detachments (characters get Locus of [DEITY] abilities, like re-rolling charges) but an all Khorne army basically skips two phases of the game. Chaos in general can play effectively together.
So my question, then, is - what are other detachments going to cost? If I'm looking for like an Elite unit and an HQ, then maybe 1CP for a patrol unit isn't a bad deal on top of my 'free' Battalion my Warlord is in.
2) Mission Objective Changes
Apparently GW's taking a page from the ITC book here and going for varied mission objectives. I'm kind of ok with this, provided that the mission objectives are balanced. Having a variety that we can pick from based on the matchup makes sense to me. Anyone who's played Maelstrom of War has invariably had a game or two decided based on craptastic objective draws.
3) Terrain Changes
I'm ok with this one as well - codify rules. I expect to see aftermarket laser-cut tokens for terrain, or some sticky notes for this.
4) Point value Changes
They've said it's going to happen - so far they've given us point values for two units. Also, GW said they're going to launch their own official army-building app, so I'm kind of ok with that.
As for what impact it has - honestly, we need to see all of the above to have a guess.
5) Changes to Reserves and Arriving from it
There have been hints about changes to what you can do with reserves. In 8th, you needed a neat rule to go into reserves and it governed how you arrived. Apparently you'll be able to use CP to go into reserves now, and you may be able to walk onto a board edge now. More to follow.
6) Hooray Vehicles!
Tanks get to move and shoot heavy weapons without a penalty? SWEEEEET! (Also I guess if you play 'nids or otherwise have shooty monstrous creatures, YAY). Tanks get to shoot non-blast weapons into melee? SWEEET! Blood is a paint job now! (Or it always was, if you were a Knight or Khorne disciple)
I'm actually kind of ok with this. A LOT of vehicles are going to be a bit more useful now - or at least more mobile. Taking -1 to hit when you moved (on top of a potentially degraded stat line) is a big 'meh.' At least, a lot of vehicles are going to look more useful, and charging them to keep them tied up is going to be less attractive.
7) OMG OVERWATCH IS TEH NERFED!
Ok, look. Let's be honest here - outside of the occasional HILARIOUS hot dice, how often did overwatch change the course of the game? Did it happen with units that were already proficient with it, either by rules/stratagems or by weapons? (IE - Iron Hands w/ stratagems to hit on 4+, Tau, or folks w/ flamers?)
Honestly, I want to see who gets rules that help out overwatch in the new edition.
Speculation
Having mocked people who believe the sky is falling, I'm going to try to keep my speculation on the more constructive side.
1) You're going to have to Re-Do Your Army Lists
This is kind of a given, what with the changes to detachments and point values. I suspect the Brigade list is basically DOA for 2,000 points. It wasn't impossible to build for in 8th, but it did provide a challenge - and a heap of CP.
2) You May NOT have to Re-Do Your Army Concepts
If you had already built a list that included screens, anti-infantry, anti-tank, and scoring units, you probably had a decent list. The question is going to be how many detachments you need, and what you end up trimming.
Frankly, my plan is to sit down with my old lists next to a blank sheet and see if I can transcribe them.
3) You Will (Still) Definitely Want Screens
First off, I'm sure there are still folks out there who don't bring screening units. These people confuse me. You have clearly never experienced something like a Kytan Ravager charging something juicy from 48 inches away. (Technically possible with Warptime, a good advance roll, and Soulforged Pack). Or you've never had Slaaneshi terminators double-tap something juicy, then charge something else (paying 1CP for a '6' on a charge dice and still having access to a re-roll? Yeah, if something's in charge range they're making it.)
There are plenty of things with long threat ranges, and now there are going to be even more ways to bring reserves into the field from new angles. If you have bodies on the field, you limit the other side's ability to do this AND you make them choose between shooting something important, and shooting your screens. Bonus points if your screens are something more threatening than Chaos Cultists or Brimstone Horrors.
4) Pre-Game CP spending Sprees May Get Attenuated
I think folks were happier to blow 3-5 CP before the game when they had 15-18 CP in 2,000 points. That may still happen, but it may not be as much of a given. Still, extra relics and warlord traits can be pretty useful, especially if any of those help refund CP.
5) Tying up vehicles in close combat is still going to be useful
On the one hand, I think we're all psyched that vehicles can shoot into melee.
On the other hand, there are a couple limits -
-heavy weapons aren't as accurate in close
-you can shoot at folks in engagement range
-you can nominate targets outside of engagement range
-you have to kill everyone in close if you want to fire at distant targets
So, you can't stop a vehicle from shooting by charging it, but you can still dictate its target priority. You'll just have to make sure whatever you throw at the vehicle is tough enough to survive some shooting - you want to force the vehicle's commander to decide between trying to scrape you off with their guns, or falling back and committing another unit to taking care of the distraction.
6) Games Will Probably Be Smaller and Faster
If unit costs are changing (and look to be going up, if cultists going from 4 to 6 points is any indication) I suspect that armies are going to get a little smaller.
I'd say games will get faster, but that's only after we all get a firm grasp on the rules.
Conclusion
Obviously, this speculation is as good as the info we have - which is incomplete. As with any speculation, there's a fair chance that we can look back and laugh. It's probably healthy to do so.
That being said, I'm cautiously optimistic about 9th - I REALLY want to see the new detachment rules, because that's going to dictate how my Chaos lists change.
