Thought it would only be a matter of time as everyone has rocked fortifactions at some point and can be a key part of your army this edition-
Quote:http://natfka.blogspot.com/2013/10/40k-f....html#more
Fortifications hit 6th edition with a bang upon its release. Instantly Aegis Defense lines were everywhere, and still today we see them in a good percentage of lists. Until now though, updates and new fortifications have been virtually non-existent with the exception of the Apocalypse releases which included some 40k rules in the box.
So now we have rumors of a large expansion into fortifications, including racial versions of the existing ones, and a supplement/expansion that will cover it. Months ago, we had something along those lines was in the early works, with a loose estimated timeframe of before or during summer 2014.
Whispers of this expansion have been appearing now and then, and finally something that looks a little more solid has run across my desk. A fortification supplement, something we have been really wanting to see as a community, and something that I would be picking up myself.
Please remember that these are rumors, and according to this rumor, the supplement is still in the works.
an anonymous source on Faeit 212 wrote:
there's a supplement that's divided by race with new fortifications and also new racial upgrades to specific fortifications.
For example the aegis defense line is imperial, but there'll be a tau version with a rail cannon instead of Icarus lascannon (not actual rules, just an example).
Currently it's being playtested as requiring a detachment of the race to upgrade the fortification, but that might change (everyone's been using imperial stuff for a long time now).
Just to be clear, the base of the fortification such as bastion, aegis, fortress, etc will all be the same, just the upgrades/guns that will be racially specific.
In so far as models, expect only imperial versions, and a modeling section on converting building racially inspired fortifications.
The book will have the rules for all the currently released fortifications plus a couple new ones (with models) and then as mentioned rules for racial upgrades.
an Anonymous source on faeit212 wrote:
There are going to be two new expansions for Warhammer 40k in December, both pointed directly at getting new options into your standard 40k games. New Fortifications and Super-Heavy options will become available to play without playing Apocalypse, focusing instead on regular games of 40k.
Stronghold Assault
*40k expansion for regular games of 40k
*Rules for 17 Fortifications like the Wall of Martyrs Imperial Defense Line and the Macro-Cannon Aquila Strongpoint
*Some Contain Several Fortifications that can be Taken as a Group that take up one Fortification Slot
*Upgrades for Fortifications and New Rules for Buildings
Quote:Best_Pone wrote:I've been hearing talk of a couple of new expansions for 40K due for release next month:
The first is a fortifications expansion, containing new datasheets and missions for use in regular 40k. I'm also under the understanding that some of these datasheets allow you to take several fortifications as a single choice.
The second expansion brings superheavy vehicles (and gargantuan creatures) to regular 40k. My understanding is that this will be achieved by adding a new super heavy slot to the force org chart, and that you will be limited to the choices detailed within this expansion (I think there's approximately 15 of them). This expansion will also include new missions.
Given Best_Pone's 100% track record so far, I'm inclined to believe him.
Sounds interesting! Another boost for gunlines :p
New video is up, seems to hint this happening December-
And brief overview of the expansions-
Quote:There's two new expansions for 40k.
For 40k, Escalation lets you use certain superheavies and gargantuan creatures in otherwise normal games of 40k, with every army getting at least one superheavy or gargantuan creature or similar biggun, with some getting access to more. Stronghold Assault lets you use more fortifications than normal in a normal game of 40k, and the book provides updated rules for using fortifications (possibly just for Stronghold Assault, they didn't specify).
Some rumours about these releases this Sat-
Quote:http://natfka.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/an-...n-and.html
Tonight we get a first hand look at both the new expansions that are about to hit on Saturday. These have been contentious to say the least, but 40k is about to enter a new age. War in the 41st millennium just became much more dangerous.
Please remember that these are rumors and will remain so until we get an official look at the books
via Father Gabe from the Faeit 212 inbox.
I wanted to pass on information concerning Escalation and Stronghold Assault. I had the opportunity to have these two books in my hands today. I wanted to pass on the following information:
- For Standard (what some refer to as "regular") Warhammer 40,000
- Not Expansion (like Planetstrike, Cities of Death, etc)
- Lord of War choice is optional (like Fortifications, Allies)
- Rules governing Lord of War: If you use a Lord of War your opponent receives a +1 bonus to Seize the Initiative and for every 3 Hull Points or Wounds you cause on a Lord of War choice you gain +1 (like Slay the Warlord, First Blood, etc).
- I won't go into details concerning the data sheets but don't expect Reavers, Mantas or Hierophants.
- Rules governing Str D weapons, AV 15 and all other Apocalypse based rules remain the same, but now crossover to Standard ("regular") Warhammer 40,000.
So it is Standard. Yep Tournaments can ban them, but these are for "regular" games. These rules are now apart of the landscape. Whether they are chosen for tournaments or not, that's not my call. I would only hope that they are tried out to see the difference before being condemned but I cannot help uninformed bias.
Locally we are going to play the heck out of it to see if they should or should not be included in Tournaments (or as it is being suggested every other tournament allow FW, Escalation, Stronghold Assault).
Quite interested in stronghold assault, would be cool to have my marines storm an enemy held stronghold/trench system!
Yeah, would be very tempted to run it with my horde guard. Trench network 2x 50 guard blob with 5 Lascannons, vendetta's and artillery support? Yes please!
More info-
Quote:http://natfka.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/con...t-and.html
Concerning Stronghold Assault and Escalation
Tonight we get to take a look at the two new releases for Warhammer 40k, both Stronghold Assault and Escalation. Both of these are worth taking a closer look at, and our source who apparently has the book, has stepped up to take a closer look at what these contain.
Please remember that these are considered rumors until the official release on Saturday.
If you missed Father Gabe's previous look at both releases, you can see it here.
http://natfka.blogspot.com/2013/12/an-in...n-and.html
via Father Gabe from the Faeit 212 inbox.
Concerning Stronghold Assault:
- Updated Fortifications
- Wall of Martyr (and subsequent new releases for fortifications are included.
- Combination Fortifications are expensive, the most expensive combination is 1305pts base.
- There are upgrade tables you can purchase for your fortifications.
- There is a separate section from the rest of the book. This section contains optional building rules to use with these fortifications. This separate rule is an optional way to use buildings and both opponents need to agree to their usage. I want to stress though that this optional rule set is a separate way to use buildings in general, and does not affect Fortifications in the book unless you agree. So if you want to use the Fortifications in the book, you don't need permission. If you want to use the optional rules, you do.
- Fortifications: Defense Line, Defense Emplacement, Firestorm Redoubt, Imperial Bunker, Vengeance Battery and Aquila Strongpoint are in the book. Vengeance/Firestorm already have rules that come in the box but are not in one place. Also BRB fortifications included.
- There are 3-4 Fortifications that have an Inquisitorial stamp over the picture but full rules.
- The combo Fortifications work as follows: Point cost equal to number of fortifications purchased. Most have a variety of 1-3 of this and that and a few 0 -2 options.
Concerning Escalation:
- Read the book again and it remains the same as I reported the other day. This book is adding a new force organization slot: Lord of War, to standard games of Warhammer 40,000. I read one additional rule.
- If your (I think also if both of you) opponent uses a Lord of War choice, besides the other benefits you get (if you don't have a Lord of War) there is a separate Escalation Warlord Trait table for you to use. I didn't have time to skim the entries, as I was focusing on confirmation on use, benefits, etc.
- Armies can only use their armies Lord of War choice and it is for the Primary detachment.
Review of the fortification book-
Quote: REVIEW: Stronghold Assault
Posted by Zion Posted on 12/06/2013 05:48:00 pm
It's time to break some strongholds......
Yes, the book has dropped and it's time to break open this book and see what's inside.
To keep this simple I'm going to each section of the book in order, cover what's in each section, my thoughts and then close out this look into the book with some final thoughts. No points costs, so I apologize in advance if you were looking to skip out on needing the book completely, I just don't want to get sued.
The Book
Before we get too far I want to cover the book itself. It's a hardback, with the same kind of raised embossing we see with the codexes. The paper is the same quality with full color images we've come to expect by now. No complaints here.
Fortifications of the Imperium
This is our real introduction in the book (yes the book has an Introduction, but this really does the job establishing the feel of what this book is for) and it covers the setting and how Fortifications are used in it, at least in brief. Forging a Narrative makes an appearance, mentioning that Chaos would desecrate then and then reconsecrate them to their dark gods. Orks get a mention about them salvaging and modifying anything they get their hands on.
Basically it's to inspire some conversion ideas but doesn't really force the idea down your throat.
Nothing particularly too exciting here, but it's just the introduction so no harm there.
A Galaxy Under Siege
Do you like 40k lore? Then you might want to get a look at this if you get a chance. Battle of Macragge, Palace of Thorns and Storm of Iron get mentions here, and more. Special mention goes to "The Fellguard Incident" which gets a two page spread to tell it's events as the Imperial Guard and the traitors of the Fortress World of Kelthorn fight it out. I won't spoil anything, but I thought it was pretty good.
Lore fans might want to give this a look, everyone else may choose to skip this.
Additional Rules
First off, this section starts with the following statement:
The following section introduces new rules that are required to use the fortifications found within in your games of Warhammer 40,000.
Now, to be clear, this is a Supplement for the main rulebook, not an Expansion. You can leave it out of your games if you want, but it's right there with codex supplements in how it's used.
So the book starts off by introducing two new kinds of fortifications to the game: Massive Fortifications and Fortification Networks.
Massive Fortifications can have an Armour Value of up to 15 and have the Mighty Bulkwark special rule, which reduces damage rolls on the building damage chart by -1. As the book points the obvious here, this makes them harder to destroy.
Fortification Networks are multiple fortifications that are purchased as a single FOC slot. Which buildings are used as well as if they have to be connected or not is covered by their datasheets, though you can still place them next to each other even when they don't have to be. And no, you can't slap just any combination down and call it a Fortification Network.
It's interesting to see new fortification options outside the few we had before, as well as some changes to how they're going to work. Both of these new fortifications types make it really easy to see why fortifications get placed before terrain as well as they have the potential of taking up a lot of table space.
Weapon Rules
Destroyer Weapons are in this book, as are votrex weapons as well as a class of weapons I haven't seen before called Primary Weapons who roll two dice for armour penetration rolls and take the highest.
Not much to talk about here honestly, the destroyer weapons are the the same as apocalypse, to include use of the Apocalyptic blast template, and vortex weapons still make things go missing if they get hit with.
Well that solves the Riptide problem I suppose, but I'm going to recommend not springing Destroyer Weapon fortifications on your friends on a game if you want to keep them.
Updated Building Rules
Yes, building rules are getting an update and this alone makes the book pretty handy I think. Honestly this section gives a pretty good reason to get a copy of this book, even if it's just to share as a group at a club level. Let's take a quick look at the changes in brief:
Fortifications now have two classes: claimed and unclaimed. Claimed buildings are fortifications purchased by a player, and can fire their automated weapons against enemy units, even when unoccupied. Additionally they can be shot at by enemy units as well. Unclaimed buildings work like buildings currently do now, and may be classed as dilapidated if you and your opponent wish. Buildings also don't count for Victory Points unless both players agree to make them count
Jump and Jetpack Infantry can now embark inside fortifications. Now those rules about how many slots they count as taking up make a little more sense.
Battlements got changed. They now count as being the upper levels of ruins, they now count as a Large Access Point for the building and units on them can embark into the building from there, or vice versa. Jump units, Jet Pack units, Jetbikes no longer treat Battlements as Dangerous terrain, and and template or blast template that hits a battlement also hits the building.
Gun emplacements that are placed on the building count as an additional emplaced weapon for the building, otherwise they follow normal emplaced weapon rules.
Models disembarking from fortifications may charge the turn the do so, even if the building is destroyed, as long as they don't do so through the Escape Hatch upgrade.
The building damage table got updated, mostly to clarify rules and explain effects on Emplaced Weapons more clearly.
A Forging a Narrative section also talks about deep striking and buildings and some ideas how it can be handled but ultimately leaves the choices up to the players.
So a fair amount of changes here that make this book a bit more important than what it would seem previously. A fair amount of it clarifications, and some of it is a straight errata from the way the core rulebook rules work.
Now there is no requirement to use these new rules, but if the changes interest you then the book is likely more your style. Just don't expect everyone to feel the same way of course.
Fortification Upgrades
Yes, fortifications can purchase upgrades, but only if they're being purchased as part of your army. Additionally depending on the size of the building you may purchase one (small), two (medium) or three (large). These must be declared the first time the building is occupied.
Additionally if your building is a multi-part building the upgrade only counts for the part it was purchased for, the other parts have to purchase them separately (as they are essentially different buildings). Each part of the building (excluding battlements) can have different upgrades if you wish. The upgrades for Buildings are:
Ammo Store (grants re-rolls of To-Hit rolls of 1, but doesn't effect emplaced weapons)
Booby Traps (the first unit to occupy the building suffers 2D6 S4, AP5 hits with the Ignores Cover special rule)
Escape Hatch (adds an additional access point within 12" of the fortification)
Magos Machine Spirit (the building's automated fire resolves using BS3)
Searchlights (they're searchlights, what did you expect?)
Void Shield (yes, just like the ones on a Titan, only you can only have the 1 per building)
Obstacles are another upgrade category. You can purchase up to six sections of any of the following: Tanglewire (grants a 6+ cover to models behind it, counts as dangerous terrain)
Barricades (grant a 4+ cover save and models in base contact with the barricade and within 2" of it count as being in base contact for purpases of close combat and charges)
Tank Traps (Impassible Terrain for non-Skimmer Vehicles and Open Ground for all others. Grants a 4+ cover save)
The upgrades for Battlements & Battlefield are purchasable pieces of Battlefield debris that must be emplaced on the building's battlements or wholly within of 6" of their fortification. Includes:
Ammunition Dump (grants 5+ cover, models within 2" reroll 1s to-hit)
Comms Relay (same as main rulebook)
Gun Emplacemet with Icarus Lascannon (same as main rulebook)
Gun Emplacement with Quadgun (same as main rulebook)
Now obviously a lot of new stuff, plus a few classics here. This book adds a number of new options to the table and I think it really helps the Fortifications feel a lot more varied and really helps increase the ways they can be fielded.
Fortification Datasheets
So to make this easy I'm going to just go through the list, and if the item is a Fortification Network I'll list what it consists of. Also, a few of these don't have images suggesting that they may get future releases. I'll note those too. Some of these have special rules as well, but I'm not going to dig into those as honestly I need to keep GW's lawyers happy by leaving at least some of this a mystery. So here we go!
Aegis Defense Line
Imperial Bastion
Imperial Strongpoint (1-3 Bastions, 1-5 Aegis Defense Lines, 0-1 Skyshield Landing Pad, 0-1 Honoured Imperium)
Honored Imperium (1 Imperial Statue, 2 pieces of Imperial Rubble (it's not a Fortification Network, I just thought I'd let you know anyways))
Wall of Martyrs Imperial Defence Line
Wall of Martyrs Imperial Defence Line Emplacement (up to 3 sections of Wall of Martyrs Imperial Defence Emplacement sections and up to 2 Imperial Defence Line end sections, each section must be in contact with another)
Wall of Martyrs Imperial Bunker
Wall of Martyrs Firestorm Redoubt
Wall of Martyrs Vengeance Weapon Battery
Wall of Martyrs Imperial Defense Network (1-3 Wall of Martyrs Imperial Bunkers, 1-4 Wall of Martyrs Imperial Defense Lines, 1-2 Wall of Martyrs Imperial Defence Emplacements, 0-2 Wall of Martyrs Firestorm Redoubts, 0-2 Wall of Martyrs Vengeance Weapon Battery)
Promethium Relay Pipes (no image)
Void Shield Generator (no image)
Void Relay Network (no image)
Skyshield Landing Pad
Fortress of Redemption
Macro-Cannon Aquila Strongpoint
Vortex Missile Aquila Strongpoint
Now that is a lot of stuff to choose from, and some nice combinations of options means that what you bring can really scale with the size of the game. Which is good because these will eat into your points total fairly quickly.
Siege War Missions
Three new missions to play with a new FOC based on who is the Attacker and the Defender. Defenders may take up to 3 Fortifications, but must purchase at least one and otherwise follow normal FOC rules. Meanwhile, Attackers gain a fourth Heavy Support slot to fit more bunker breaking options into the army.
The missions are:
Bunker Assault (Attacking player tries to take control of a fortification with, destroying a building with or end up within 3" of a Targeting Auger objective which is worth 3 Victory Points. Otherwise it plays like a Purge the Alien mission that gives Victory Points for each Total Collapse or Detonation! result inflicted on the defending player).
Breakthrough (Defending player tries to maintain control of 3 objectives in their deployment zone, and gains Victory Points for each enemy unit they completely destroy. Attacking Players gain 1 Victory Point for each unit that is in the Defender's Deployment Zone and D3 Victory Points for each unit that has exited the table through the Defenders Table Edge)
Last Stand (Each player gains 1 Victory Point for each enemy unit that is completely destroyed, Attacking players gain 1 Victory Point for each Total Collapse or Detonation result inflicted on the Defender's Fortifications, and an additional D3 Victory Points for each of the Defender's Last Survivors that have been completely destroyed. The Defending player gains an additional 2 Victory Points for each remaining Last Survivor unit that has not been completely destroyed at the end of the game)
Honestly I don't see anything in here I don't like. The missions add some spice to the game and allow for a number of new, or classic scenarios to be played. I really dig these.
Final Thoughts
This book really has one market: people who like Fortifications. Maybe even like them too much. It's not a bad book, and I like the updates and all the new options. It's nice to see more of the terrain pieces GW produces being given rules.
That said this book is a lot of GW's other products: if it sounds like something you want, get it, otherwise skip it and share your friend's copy when they want to use the rules from it. It's not for everyone and like all supplements it's a real case by case basis on if this will be worth your money or not.
Also, if your into playing tournaments, make sure you check with the TO well in advance before you go dropping a lot of money on a Fortification Network or the other things in this book.