Warhammer 40K: Morale Might Actually Matter In 10th Edition
Warhammer 40K 10th Edition is trying something new with morale. They may have finally fixed it after so many attempts!
Morale and leadership have been a part of 40K since the very start. However, it has also been one of the most unsatisfying parts of the game. This has been reflected in the fact that morale has seen changes in pretty much every edition of the game. Some of these have been minor changes, others quite major reworkings. Some of these rules have made morale a major part of the game, while others have made it hardly matter. 10th is looking to once again try something new. Let’s take a look at what it is doing.
The New Morale
10th Edition will mark the 4th major morale overhaul in as many editions. The new morale system is a bit of a mashup of some older ideas. It aims to make morale more than simply “more models die”. The way it works is fairly simple. The old 2d6 leadership test, a staple of editions prior to 8th, is back. However, this time it’s a roll over, instead of roll under test. The Morale Phase is also gone, with it being rolled into the Command Phase. In effect, each unit that is under half-strength must take one. If passed there is no effect. If failed, then the unit suffers from Battle-Shock. While under battle-shock the unit, in essence, cannot control or contest objectives, can’t use stratagems, and it seems like it is much harder for it to escape combat. Those are some major penalties.
The Good
Overall I rather like the new system so far. It’s not quite as dynamic as old-school editions of rules that actually had your models physically flee. But is is far simpler. In addition, it’s a much more interesting effect than the last two editions’ rules in which failed tests would just cost the unit a few more models. I really like that it’s a very different effect and that failing the test has real consequences. I also like that single models at half wounds take tests as well. In the past most single-model units were pretty much just immune to morale. It’s nice to see that get fixed. This seems like a system that has the potential to actually affect battles I like that – a lot.
The Bad
I do, however have a couple of worries about the system. The major one I have is that it could end up being pretty time-consuming. A unit at half-strength has to test each turn, not just on the turn it was reduced to below half-strength. This means a if a unit is reduced on turn one and not killed, they would have to test every single turn. All of this could add up to a lot. In fact it’s possible you could have to take tests for your entire army multiple turns in a row. That’s unlikely, of course, but I think you can get the point there. Larger armies might take a ton of morale tests across the several turns of a full game. This also means you’ll have to track the change of status of a lot of units over the course of the game. All of that could be a bit of record-keeping.
In addition, since morale is tested in your Command Phase, at the start of tour turn, player one in essence, has one less turn of taking tests. Even if they have units reduced to below half on turn one, they won’t suffer a downside that turn. It’s not huge but it’s an advantage to player one.
Lastly, and this one is pretty minor, is the change with leadership. I understand making it a roll-over to pass system, vs the old roll-under, to match the other rolls in the game. However, this does mean that Leadership is the only core stat where a lower value is better. Which is a bit confusing for some people.
Regardless I’m happy to see them trying something new with morale. It would be nice if in 10th Edition that aspect of the game mattered a bit. However, much of that will be determined by unit and army rules. We will just have to wait and see.
Let us know what you think about moral, down in the comments!
