CA: Arks of Omen; when to use? Please help old-timer confused by all these rules!

[juliusb]

My question is so basic that I'm finding it impossible to search for. I'm a long-time collector & fluff reader but haven't played in a while...

 

I understand that these Chapter Approved books are meant for Grand Tournament rather than Eternal War but what do most play groups use? Is it worth it to build an army around the new AoO Detachment or will you only find opponents in tournaments?

 

I apologize if this is the wrong place to ask but I just don't understand 40k rules sprawl anymore; I have no idea what's legal and current.

 

I know GW will never give the rules away but a rules subscription service is badly needed. One that's updated 1st before anything else (or at least on the same day as a book is released), with all and ONLY the current rules; a site that is the first and last ruling for official wording/errata/faqs that overrides all the mistakes printed in books or pdfs. 

[Karhedron]

There is no single answer, a lot will depend on your area and gaming group. Most people are quite happy to try different modes of play. I bring my Tempest of War cards along quite often and people seem to enjoy playing them.

 

However the general default for pick-up games in my area is that people assume you will be using the latest tournament rules unless you specify otherwise. The tournament rules are normally considered the baseline for "regular" matched play games.

 

But if you turn up with an army built using the default rules in the main 9E rulebook, I doubt anyone would object to playing with you. And anyone who did object likely wouldn't be much fun to play against anyway. 

[Blight1]

Not too much to add but yeah I'd ask your local group what they typically play and go from there.  My local group is mostly tournament pack users because it tends to be the most balanced and it changes every 6 months so we have new missions.  Though we have a few dedicated Tempest players and I personally bring my deck every game night (the objectives it comes with are the official objective size).

I think a lot of what you're confused about is GW's current strategy of multiple ways to play.  They're trying to cater to everyone from the extremely casual to the hyper competitive and it's led to multiple different formats for the game.  I'm happy to have the options and I regularly check the warhammer community site to keep updated but it can be a lot.  Generally if you build an army with a few characters and a wide range of units you can't go wrong.  Skew is what gets nerfed or made illegal.

[Xenith]

It is tricky, I won't deny.

 

The general rule is that you use the army building restrictions from the books whose missions you are using. 

 

If you only use rulebook missions, then you use the rulebook detachment rules.

 

If your group wants to use the AoO missions, then you have to use the AoO detachment rules. Similarly, Nachmund missions use the nachmund detachment. It's very annoying for pickup games now, as you don't often know what ruleset the opponent will be using. The end result is what Karhedron says, is that most will assume its the most recent update.

 

If you view the tournament packs as a £45/year subscription, would that help? You get a rules update every 6 months for £45 and then you alays use the most recent version.