Editing Warhammer 40,000 9th Edition (section)

===Gameplay Changes===
*'''Command point overhaul''' - rather than being generated by detachments, both players get a set amount based on the points level of the game you're playing. Taking more detachments actually costs you CP this time around (representing the political and tactical resources which must be used to acquire reinforcements), so it's better to take one big detachment instead of many small ones (especially since there's a cap on the number of detachments you can take, based on the size of the game). Additionally, being Battle-Forged gives you a single CP at the start of each Command Phase so you'll never run completely dry of CP. 
**Of course, there are some ways to avoid the detachment costs. The core detachments (i.e. Patrol, Battalion, or Brigade), for example, refund their cost if the Warlord is in one. The Super-Heavy Detachment can as well if you play one of the Knight flavours.
*'''Points adjustment:''' virtually everything has received a slightly higher points cost, making battles marginally smaller point-for-point. This is especially important since there are now four different levels of game to consider.
*'''Reserves have been changed.''' Now units can outflank which costs 1CP per 10PL. The turn number changes where they can come in from (no coming in on turn 1; 6" from a battlefield edge but not the enemy edge or in their deployment zone on turn 2; 6" from a battlefield edge but not the enemy edge on turn 3 onward).
*'''Reworked terrain.''' Terrain is now classified into four distinct categories: Hills, Obstacles, Area Terrain, and Buildings. Apparently the reason for this is that the designers wanted the battlefield to feel like the third player in a game, each piece of terrain feeling fun and being interesting, with woods functioning differently to a bunker, a swamp, a ruin, etc.
***''Hills'' are just part of the terrain, so they can block LoS in theory if you're on either side of one but that's it.
***''Obstacles'' are your barricade etc. giving standard +1 cover against ranged weapons to Infantry, Beast and Swarms
**''Terrain'' pieces have traits you ascribe to them when setting up the board with your opponent; examples include Light Cover (+1 save against ranged weapons), Heavy Cover (+1 save in melee unless the attacking model charged), Dense Cover (If the terrain is at least 3" high, ranged attacks suffer a -1 to hit though it unless the target is an Aircraft or has over 18 wounds), Obscuring (If the terrain is over 5" tall, models can't see through it or over it unless they're Aircraft or have over 18 wounds), Scalable, Breachable, Unstable, Defensible (Occupying unit can either hit Overwatch on a 5+ or be unable to fire overwatch but gain +1 to hit in melee), Exposed Position.
*'''Secondary Objectives''' that can be achieved alongside the main ones, which can are selected by each player. Objectives now give a maximum of 15 VP for each objective, so alpha striking isn't necessarily going to make victory certain anymore.
*'''7 core stratagems''' instead of 3, as mentioned above. They haven't confirmed it 100% yet, but assumedly the original 3 (command re-roll, insane bravery and counter-defensive) will remain. Then there's Fire Overwatch (duh), Cut Them Down (sweeping advance 2.0), Desperate Breakout (fuck your bubblewrap), and Emergency Disembarkation (get out of a transport without exploding, but models die on a 1 or 2 instead of just 1).
*Tightened up '''unit coherency''' rules. Every model has to be within 2" horizontally and 5" vertically of at least one other model in the unit, and in units with 6 or more models they need to be in range of at least TWO other models. As part of the morale phase, there is also a check to perform for any models that have fallen out of coherency, removing them.
*Also we're getting official digital rule support in the form of an app. It only took an entire edition, [[awesome|but it's here!]] On top of that, physical copies of the codices now come with [[awesome|codes to their digital versions.]] You have to pay a monthly subscription to use the app, though. Typical GeeDubs.
*All Space Marines, including Chaos, get 2 wounds minimum. '''Holy shit.''' Edit Circa Nov 2021: “Lol” said Chaos Marines, “Lmao”	
*All those tasty buff auras are going to get some serious nerfs. Some units are now gaining the {{W40kKeyword|CORE}} keyword, which makes them the sole beneficiaries of any buffs that a hero of their faction (such as Vanguard Lieutenants boosting Vanguard troops) may provide. This comes with some serious takeaways: most vehicles (and likely monsters) will no longer be able to benefit from these buffs, though something like Dreadnoughts or Iyanden Wraithlords might be an exception. Second, and likely more powerful, is that characters will no longer be able to benefit from auras given by either themselves or any fellow characters. While it's yet to be seen just how far these limits run, rest assured that some really soupy builds will get thrown out.
*Dawn of war "like" edition: as seen first in the Space Marine codex, there can only be one QG per type usually (ex: one chaplain, one apothecary, one techmarine but 2 lieutenants); Chaos warbands can only have one chaos lord but multiple sorcerers available (as seen in the Death Guard Codex), lots of upgrades for the characters and the troops, "fewer relics" but more usable, characters in the elite slots more viable via "grouping them", fewer units but more powerful across the board. I hope this won't transform into [[Dawn of Eldar]]...   

====Command Phase '''(NEW)'''====
*A Command Phase is now taking place at the top of the turn. Similar to the  Upkeep phase of MtG, this phase is where on-the-board units or game rules resolve their effects. This phase is where you gain CP, activate certain unit effects, active/choose faction abilities, and crucially, gain VP for '''''PRIMARY''''' objectives.
**Be sure to read the mission, as GT 2020, 2021, and 2022 all have slightly tweaked VP  scoring rules.  But in general, you cannot score primaries until the second turn. This means that your units will need to survive an opponent's turn before you gain VP. 
*Some units have abilities that can be activated in this phase. For example a Space Marine Chapter Master can pick one '''CORE''' unit within X" to have full hit rerolls. There are a majority of different ones, so have a look at their sheets.
**Crucially, most units need to be on the board at this point to activate their abilities (think Chaplain Litanies, or Chapter Master's WLT for gaining an extra CP).

====Movement Phase====
*Reinforcements have been reworked, so that they now happen in their own dedicated "step", and specifically disallow them from making other moves. In response to 8E Warptime shenanigans that let Deep Striking Daemon Princes get a 2" charge, coming in as Reinforcements (regardless of what the rule is called for your unit), disallows Normal Move, Advance, and Fall Back moves for any reason. They also automatically count as having moved either their maximum normal move (for the sake of Grinding Advance-like rules), or minimum movement (in the case of flyers.) Units set up this way ''must'' be 9" away from enemy models, with one specific exception (see below)
**Strategic Reserves is a specific pseudo-stratagem that costs CP dependent on PL. This is baked into every army and applies to any unit, but they can only emerge from specific table edges depending on the round. When coming out of reserves and being placed in your deployment zone, they can be deployed within 9" of an enemy, and even within engagement range (being considered to have made a successful charge, if you have any abilities that work on that)
**Also, specifically to spite Space Marine [[That Guy]]s who claim that their Melta Devastators "aren't reinforcements, the drop pod is", ''all'' units deployed during this step are counted as reinforcements. That means they need to be 9" away, horizontally. 
*Aircraft changes. Aircraft can enter strategic reserves when they move off the battlefield, but rather than coming on within 6" of a board edge they can now DS in 9" from enemy models, [[awesome|facing any direction]].
**Other models now interact with aircraft sensibly, able to move within 1", over them and their bases, can move/advance even if within 1" of an Aircraft (and vice versa).

====Psychic Phase====
*You have to cast all powers from the first psyker you choose now, before moving onto the next psyker. You have to think of the order you start casting now.
*Cannot fall back and cast psychic powers any more, unless the psyker is '''TITANIC'''.
**Redeploys are specifically not falling back, so if you cast Da Jump, or teleport with TS power, you can skirt around this rule.
**[[RAPE|Titanic Sized Psykers are either Wraithseers, Tzeentch-marked Knights, or a new shiny, tentacle-grape-flavoured Chaos Knight revealed in 2022.]] 
*Smite's casting still goes up by 1 each time you cast it. This affects all game modes now instead of just matched play. It no longer caps at WC 11, so there will be a point where you wont be able to cast it, if you're bringing that many psykers anyway you are most likely [[That Guy|That Guy]].
**Or a GK/TS player. [[Autism|So yeah, still That Guy.]]
*Can only cast one psychic power per battle round now (except smite, read above). No more catalyst spam, BEGONE FOUL XENOS CHEESE!!
**Exception: [[Mary Sues|Grey Knights]]. GK can re-cast spells from their non-Character discipline over and over, at +1 for each successful cast; when changing to the Tide of Escalation, they can cast their Brotherhood-specific power with the same caveat. 
**Exception: Thousand Sons can mirror-move a Witchfire with a Cabalistic Ritual.

====Shooting Phase====
*Tanks and monsters can shoot in combat. Holy crap, that is a hell of a change. Land Raider Redeemer players are crying tears of joy while lascan Predators beat the shit out of [[TEQ]] vehiclelockers. They say you can shoot enemies at at point blank range in the video, but regardless expect more vehicle spam in the future (IG eat your heart out...).
** What this means is that Tanks and Monsters gain the ''Big Guns Never Tire'' rule which allows them to shoot within 1" of them if enemy units are in that distance, however they can't attack anything outside of 1" unless those units are destroyed and they get a -1 to hit with Heavy weapons. Rejoice 'Nids! Your Dakkafexes are now less useless in melee.
** Heavy weapons have a slight rework, now only Infantry suffer from the -1 to hit penalty if they moved.
*There is a new weapon type, "Blast" (the 9th edition rulebook has an appendix telling us which guns are now Blast). These weapons always deal a minimum number of shots when dealing with randomized attacks When firing on a unit with 6-10 models, you deal at least 3 shots when rolling the dice. When firing at a unit with 11+ models, then it deals the maximum number of shots per dice without rolling. That said, you still have to roll for the actual hits, and Blast weapons can never be fired in melee even if they also have the Pistol type. Oh, well- those dreams of dropping Deathstrikes on charging Hormagaunts were fun while they lasted, but would it ''really'' be a good idea to fire one at point blank range?
*Hit and wound modifiers are now capped to a maximum of +1 or -1. Goodbye Eldar flyer spam. You won't be missed.
**Modifiers can still cancel each other out, though. So in theory while a -2 to hit would only act as a -1 on its own, it would cancel out a +1 modifier to retain the -1 to hit.
*'''Look Out, Sir!''' is the new USR that'll keep your characters safe (if they are 9 wounds or lower): If your character is within 3" of a) a VEHICLE or MONSTER with more than 10W b) a friendly non-CHARACTER unit with 1 or more VEHICLE or MONSTER models, or c) a friendly non-CHARACTER unit with 3 or more models.
**These changes mean that a ''single'' Land Speeder can never screen for your Chapter Master (because they're less than 10 W), ''but'', if the Land Speeders is in a multi-model squad, they could, due to the Vehicle keyword. Also, Characters can never screen for other Characters, so your Iron hands Leviathan Character will never jump in front of your Chapter Master.
**To target a character, the character has to be the closest enemy unit and not have a unit near to screen the character, pretty sure this rules out [[That Guy|someone]] hiding a unit out of LOS and then have the CHARACTER in the open slightly behind the unit and declaring "you cannot shoot my CHARACTER". Some armies had that with Bodyguard "totally-not-a-Universal-Rule", but the 2022 Balance Dataslate removed that. Bodyguard units now have a modified LOS! that can trigger regardless of how many models are left in their unit. 
*'''Indirect Fire Weapons''' such as mortars and Whirlwinds that can hit targets they can't see recently got a sizeable nerf with the Q2 2022 Balance Dataslate. If these weapons attack enemies outside of LOS, they not only take -1 to hit but the enemy also gains a +1 to their save against this attack. While this isn't too much of an issue for those artillery weapons that fire tons of times, but single-shot artillery will suffer...
**Except for the good ol' Imperial Guard, who have immunity to this rule. That's right, your Basilisks and Gryphons can keep shelling the opposition without issue.

====Charge and Fight Phase====
*Close combat is getting a lot of benefits, addressing the shooting dominance in 8e's (and 7e's, and 6e's, and 5e's...) metagame. 
**Overwatch has now become one of the 7 core Stratagems. This means that it can only be used once per turn, costs 1 CP to trigger, and it only works on unmodified 6s. Gone is the absolute dominance of Overwatch-dependent armies like Dark Angels, as they absolutely will take casualties while knocking out one charging enemy (unless they get something to give them an alternative way to Overwatch, see below).
*** There will however be other ways of accessing Overwatch. For example, there's a Battle Honour in Crusade that gives re-rolls on Morale and a free Overwatch on an unmodified 5 or 6, etc. T'au in 9th will be able to select wargear that allow their battlesuits to have free overwatch (0CP) and hit on unmodified 5+, 8th ed Ta'u with their free overwatch spam is gone and so is for the greater good (for the better).
**They're fixing little things like, a Hive Tyrant being unable to attack a model in CC because they're 2 steps up in a ruin while the HT is on the ground floor.
**A second Stratagem, "Desperate Breakout", allows you to easily break out of combat with 2 CP. This allows a unit to roll 1d6 for each model in it - every 1 is a casualty. After seeing who makes it out, it then allows the unit to fall back. However, any models that still remain within engagement range of the enemy will count as more casualties.
*Combat works a lot differently now, with a bit more nuance on fighting initiative. 
**When charging, you can designate as many charge targets as you want. Unlike 8E, however, you '''MUST''' end within range of '''ALL''' the targets you declared against. If you cannot end your charge within an inch of all the designated targets, the charge fails. This means that you can't just designate both the Guardsmen 3" away from you, and the Leman Russ 7" further on the off-chance you roll well, it's either you touch them all, or you don't, which means you need to think about your charges a bit more.
**Units that charged on that turn "can only target enemy units that their unit declared a charge against, or that performed a Heroic Intervention this turn." SM and Tyranid players from 8E will remember that if they managed to wipe an enemy unit in the first round of fighting, they can consolidate to a close enemy unit, then pop a "fight-again" stratagem (that happened at the end-of-the-phase) to let them do another round of attacks to the new unit. Not anymore. Those stratagems haven't just been removed, but the rules explicitly mention that ''charging'' units can only attack what they've charged that turn. 
**Fighting happens in a specific order, beginning with the charging units (and thus, the player whose turn it is). Unless the charged player interrupts, or they use an ability to ''force'' a unit to fight last, the units that successfully charged fight first. 
***When selecting a model to fight, before attacks are made, you can move your models 3" inches closer (the pile-in move). Afterwards, all models that are within engagement range of an enemy, or within 1/2" of a model within 1/2" (effectively base-to-base of someone also in base-to-base), can make their attacks. 
***TYRANIDS and their SWARMING MASSES skirt this rule with their own rule.
***Charging units can only attack units they declared a charge against, or units that Heroically Intervened into them. Since Heroically Intervening units attack ''after'' charges, you can dump all your attacks on them and preven them from attacking you back later.
**After all Charging units have made their attack, you move to the general Fight phase. Players alternate activations, starting with the player whose turn it ''isn't.''
***This leads to some subtle changes. First, it means that you ''should'' be charging when you can. Charging in your turn means you get attack priority, and when it's your opponents turn, unless they charged you back, your units still get the chance to attack first. 
***Heroically Intervened units don't get priority like chargers, but the player whose turn it isn't gets to pick them first if they want.
***Rules that let you "Fight First," means your units Fight First in this section. If you both have those rules, alternate activation. If your units have been hit by a "Fight Last" effect, you can only activate them AFTER all other units have attacked, and alternating if both players used that effect on each other.

====Morale Phase====
*The morale phase has been reworked a little to be less "all or nothing". A failed morale check automatically causes one model to flee and forces all other models in that unit to do a Combat Attrition check: Roll d6 for each model in the unit, -1 to the roll if it's under half strength. For each 1, a model flees.