Hot off the heels of the 1.0 rules release, Factory Fortress has released an update for the rules. A lot of these changes are straightforward typo updates or just more clarification, but there are some significant changes that’ll change the way you play your games. We’ve gone through and gathered the changes that jumped out to us and given our thoughts on how this may impact your time in the trenches.

Rules

Changes

• Your model cannot shoot and charge OR fight in the same activation if they don’t have the ASSAULT keyword on the weapon.
• Diving Charges are back, baby. Charge off a 3” fall and make a risky check, if it fails you flop, take a blood counter, and get downed. Succeed and be rewarded with +1 dice on your next melee attack and ignore the Falling Injury Roll.
• Flying treats Impassable terrain as Open terrain.
• Maximum Injury modifiers can’t be more than -3 in total.
• Golem models cannot also have Tough

Core Battlekit Changes

• Grenades clarified to explicitly not be a ranged weapon, even though they are used for a ranged attack.
• Heavy Shotguns now have +1 Injury Dice
• Weapons with Blast, Fire, and Shrapnel cannot use ammunition

Impact

Mostly just clarifications and some wording changes here, but it’s all good stuff to have cleared up. Flying not being affected by impassable terrain is pretty logical and good to see mentioned, Golem models also not stacking with Tough is a good way to make sure you don’t have something become literally unkillable. The Risk/Reward aspect of diving charges being back is great and super fun, so that will make for a lot more exciting vertical play. Assault gets a bit of value as well here, letting you shoot and fight even if you aren’t charging (which now works as intended). Realistically, these are mostly just cleanup, which is great for clarification and making sure the gameplay is smooth and silky.

Warbands

New Antioch

Changes

• FIRETEAMS: Whilst not a strict New Antioch change, the changes to Fireteams will have a big impact on how New Antioch play. The changes mean that models in a Fireteam may activate simultaneously, but they don’t have to. 
• Concentrated Attack: Clarification stating that the improved Boodbath ability can only be used by a model, if the other Fireteam model hits with an attack earlier on the same turn. 
• Machine Armour: Any model that has machine armour now needs to be put on a 40mm base. 
• Papal States Intervention Force: Clarification on the Threshold Value when playing a campaign. The value is always reduced by 200 Ducats when playing this warband variant. 
• Stosstruppen of the Free State of Prussia: No Martyrdom Pills 
• Tank-Splitter Sword: The Tank-Splitter rule now only works when the target is wearing armour or has a shield. It cannot be used when the model also has the Dragonslayer Patron Skill (which grants the same ability. So, no more auto-killing any enemy in the game. 
• Expeditionary Forces of Abyssinia: Combat Medics are now limited to 0-2. 

Impact

Many of these changes are just clarifications or a return to rules as they were previously. It’s good to see more universal changes across the game, like the lack of Martyrdom pills for Prussia being brought in line with Martyr Penitents. The change to Machine Armour is a little odd for non-Mechanized Heavy Infantry models. Forcing your Elites to be on 40mm if they happen to buy or find some Machine Armour may be frustrating. All in all, though, a good set of changes! 

Trench Pilgrims

Changes

• Sniper Rifle is now only buyable via Glory (how it was in 1.6.3)
• War Prophet Loudspeakers clarifies that models can be moved within 1” of an enemy model
• Ecclesiastic Prisoners can make melee attacks, although they are -1 to the Success Roll. 
• The Martyrdom Device no longer requires a Success Roll to explode
• Ammo Monks and Communicant Anti-Tank Hunters cannot be included in the War Pilgrimage of Saint Methodius Warband
• Anchorite Equipment cannot be removed or lost from the Anchorite Shrine

Impact

BIG BOOM BACKPACK BRIGADE IS BACK! No more needing to make a Success Roll for the Martyrdom Device is massive, even though it is really just changing the equipment to how it was in 1.6.3. Removing Ammo Monks from the double Anchorite Shrine warband definitely hurts a little bit, although since their equipment can’t be lost anymore, this means that losing one of your large adult sons in a campaign won’t be too crippling. 

Iron Sultanate

Changes

• Alchemist Armour: The -1 Injury Dice from Fire or Gas weapons now works on weapons that have the Ignore Armour keyword. This is essentially aimed at Flamethrowers that could bypass this rule, with how the Ignore Armour Keyword worked. 
• Assassin’s Dagger: You may retreat away from combat using your Dash Action. A reversion to how it was previously. 
• House of Wisdom: Philosophy, Poetry and Theology now grants the Alchemist the Negate Fear Keyword as well. 
• House of Wisdom: The Takwin Homunculus’s Alchemical Formulas have been clarified, particularly the combination of weapon options when taking both Human Hands and Additional Arm. 
• House of Wisdom: Fire Shield has been updated in a similar way to Alchemist Armour, but only for the Fire keyword in this instance. 

Impact

Assassin is back, baby! A nice revision, to something which we all knew was the intention. Still, good to see it clarified in no uncertain terms now. The changes to Alchemist Armour and Fire Shield are great to see, as flamethrowers are so prevalent in the game and completely bypass the bonus rules the armour and shield had. A nice little buff for Philosophy, Poetry and Theology, which always felt a little weaker than the rest. It is arguable if you want your Alchemist in the thick of it, given how well it functions as a ranged unit. Still, it’s nice to have it nonetheless in case someone wants to go that route. 

Heretic Legion

Changes

• Anointed Heavy infantry lost their zoomies and are back to moving 6”
• The Heretic Priest’s ability to move other models has been reworded to be consistent with the new climbing verbiage

Impact

Unless you were playing with super fast Anointed (we all knew this was a typo) there shouldn’t be much change here.

Black Grail

Changes

• Corruption Belcher isn’t equipment (I think everyone assumed this)
• Parasite Grenades now behave like normal grenades and ignore Cover and Long Range
• The Viscera Cannon now does Infection Markers when you do the bonus damage
• Lord of Tumors now does Infection Markers in addition to Blood Markers and can opt to do his double unarmed attack whenever he fights regardless of what’s in his hands.
• Corpse Guard now heal off of inflicted Blood Markers
• Hounds and Thralls gained NEGATE GAS

Impact

These are massive buffs for Black Grail. The Lord of Tumors changes in particular lets him be much more flexible in combat since he can take a weapon like Beelzebub’s axe and a Shield and still do his double fight thing when you just wanna stack markers as opposed to just going for the kill. I don’t know that the changes to the Viscera Cannon are enough to make it worthwhile, but it’s certainly way more interesting. 

Court of the Seven Headed Serpent

Changes

• The spell action has been cleaned up, specifically noting that models can using use the Cast Spell ACTION more than once per Activation, as long as you are not casting the same spell more than once per Activation
• It is also noted that a Success Roll is not required to be able to cast a spell
• The Coveted Position spell for the Envy Warband has been altered to be within 12” of the spellcaster (still in light of sight) rather than only line of sight – removing the potential board-wide switcheroo.
• The Goetic Ability Forbidden Pleasures from the Lust Warband has been buffed, giving 3 Blood Markers to the model picked as the target of the ability, instead of 2.
• Bow of Lethe is 1-handed
• When the Yoke Fiend targets a friendly model, they must not have the Demonic Keyword

Impact

These changes are mostly clarifications and tidying up from the 1.0 rules. The most notable nerf is that Coveted Position is no longer a global point and click, hippity hoppity Preator on your property (also your one guy is now in the wrong neighborhood, glhf) but rather a more intricate technical play that won’t break the game. This ability is still really strong but nowhere near as busted as it was. The additional Blood Marker for Forbidden Pleasures is nice, giving your turn one gameplan some more options if you don’t intend on getting more Blood Markers the old fashioned way. The Bow of Lethe and Yoke Fiend updates are reverting to how they were in 1.6.3, so although it is sort of a buff for the Bow and the Yoke Fiends are taking a hit from 1.0 to 1.01, it really is just cleaning up how these rules are supposed to work. 

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