Then let's talk about Space Wolves and if we even care?
By declaring your army to be Unbound in Warhammer 40K, the Force Organisation Chart is ignored and you're able to take whatever you want. So you could field an entire army of Mauler Fiends, Forge Fiends and Heldrakes led by a Chaos Space Marine Warpsmith if you wanted.
There are some downsides (apparently). At this point we know that Unbound Armies can't claim objectives.
But is that such a bad thing if your entire force is focussed on simply blasting your opponent off the table and Contesting the Objectives?
Initial Reactions
Here are a collection of thoughts from last night's facebook chat about Unbound Armies. Our group has diverse mix of players from cheese mongers like Ian to hardcore hobbyists like Luke.
Glenn
Yes I am salivating at the prospect of a Riptide and Broadside only army. This is true and very broken.
But it's not that drastic. It's an option. Unbound armies can't claim objectives or something.
I was only interested in the bit that let's me take 5 tides and a knight.
Ian
Fair enough geedubs. I think there could be some absolutely atrocious combos available though. I'm picturing an army made up of 8 iron hands chapter masters on bikes.
Sounds like force org gets a bonus and unbound is just anything goes.
Logical next step to apocalypse really.
Luke
Cast it back to the fires of hell from whence it came!!
Alex
Have nerd rage.
Ian
Oh god I just put a 1500 list together with 6 heldrakes in it
Somebody STOP ME!
Glenn
Snap I just put a list together with 12 Hydras!
Ian
This is going to be an edition of hard counters and little else.
I'm genuinely worried. You can fit 7 fire raptors in 1750 points.
I can't foresee any tournaments allowing unbound armies.
Except throne of skulls which will turn into a complete lol fest.
Fine. 4 fire raptors and a warhound with 4 StrD blasts per turn.
I could see that rule going. Stands in the way of people throwing stupid amounts of cash at GW.
Let's consider the new Percentage system that accompanies the Force Organisation Chart.
Armies with expensive fortifications, super heavies and "death star" units like the Eldar Seer Council on Jetbikes will not be able to fit into the standard Force Organisation Chart, because they're over the percentage limit of the points levels we typically play at.
The same goes with some armies which rely on a handful of expensive HQ choices, like flying circus Daemons.
Suddenly, we have a number of armies which are forced to streamline themselves into a very standard sort of list.
Or they can go completely the other way and spam Daemon Princes or Eldar Seer Councils to produce the finest cheese Warhammer 40K has ever seen.
It feels as though Games Workshop is dividing our games into two niches. Those that want to field a standard jack-of-all-trades army with a little bit of everything and those who want to optimised their list to the absolute maximum potential.
So, would you want to field a Force Organisation Army against an Unbound Army?
The kee-jerk reaction is to say "NO!"
But let's also consider that successful Unbound Armies will be made almost entirely of 'power units', the units which are most cost effective for their points. Tau Riptides, Chaos Heldrakes, Fire Raptors, Space Marine Chapter Masters on Bikes, you get the idea.
Can you beat this with the synergy and added bonuses (to be confirmed) of a Force Organisation Army?
Because we're now in the territory of comparing units against units while questioning the overall balance of the game, which has forever been shakey.
For example, can 200pts of Grey Hunters in a Drop Pod defeat a 200pts Tau Riptide?
It'd be a close thing, but potentially easier for the Riptide to Jetpack away and blast from a distance if the Grey Hunters couldn't catch him and wear him down in close combat.
What about a horde of Maulerfiends running across the board? Or Bike riding Space Marine Chapter Masters? Heck, even a whole roost of Heldrakes?
Whenever something is taken in excess, the response to deal with it may need to be equally excessive. Unbound Warhammer 40K quickly becomes a rich man's game of Paper, Rock, Scissors.
Ian
Oh god I just put a 1500 list together with 6 heldrakes in it!
Glenn
Snap I just put a list together with 12 Hydras!
From the reactions above you get an idea of how this could go.
Scale it down and you've got 1 Heldrake VS 2 Hydras.
Then imagine when those 12 Hydras have to face 6 Riptides.
Or 6 Riptides VS 12 Mauler Fiends.
Or as many Grey Knight Dreadnoughts with X2 Twin Linked Autocannon and Psybolt Ammo as you can muster.
The cheese goes on and on...
Perhaps you can spam fortifications like the Firestorm Redoubt with its X2 quad lascannons, or 16 Vengeance Batteries with Armour 14 all round? "Tower Rush" could finally come to Warhammer 40K!
We're descending into madness now, but you get the idea of the possibilities. Some one out there will be stupid enough and rich enough to build this sort of Unbound Army.
The intent, no doubt, was to allow gamers to be able to create wonderfully fluffy armies. Space Marine 1st companies of Terminators, Leman Russ tank companies, Ork Battle Wagon mobs, Chaos Forge themed lists of Maulerfiends, Forgefiends and Heldrakes - you get the idea.
But it's not surprising that this freedom is likely to be abused. Especially if Unbound Armies should be permitted in tournament play.
Yes, Unbound Armies are silly and they're broken. The only question that remains is whether a Force Organisation Chart Army with its Strategy Cards, ability to claim Objectives and potential other buffs can reasonably defeat an Unbound Army.
But we'll just have to wait and see while playing a lot of games!
How about 12 Lone Wolves with Terminator Armour, Chainfist and Storm Shield running up the board?
Remember, a Lone Wolf does not concede a Victory Point if he dies in battle. Instead, to represent his failure to meet a spectacular end, a Lone Wolf awards a Victory Point in such a mission if he survives until the end of the game.
Anything else in the army doesn't quite work once you start spamming it.
Power units tend to be extremely tough, mobile and either very good at shooting or close combat or both. And we just don't have much of that.
But when you consider that the Space Wolves army revolves around Rune Priests, lots of Grey Hunters and Long Fangs, is there really any need to spam?
Personally, I'm running a Drop Pod list using the Force Organisation Chart that's designed to get as much across the board as quickly as possible and start dealing with all these power units already with a mixture of Melta, Mark of the Wulfen, krak grenades en masse - and failing that, lots of attacks!
The Space Wolves army will continue the weather the changes of Warhammer 40K as it always has. You've gotta love how stubborn the Space Wolves really are in their shunning of new technology (and the rules!). They missed out on Flyers, it mattered not. The rules for Acute Senses changed, it mattered not. And now they will miss out on the opportunity to field an Unbound Army. And from the looks of things, it will matter not.
What do you guys think?