The reveals for the upcoming revision of Warhammer Age of Sigmar keep coming. While we’re yet to see any actual new models (outside of Reddit leaks), we do now know quite a bit about how Warhammer Age of Sigmar 4.0 will play. The latest tantalising snippet comes in regards to how the Priority Roll is changing in Warhammer Age of Sigmar 4.0.
What is the Priority Roll in Warhammer?
Before we dive into how the Priority Roll is changing in Warhammer Age of Sigmar 4.0, we should probably explain what it is! Warhammer Age of Sigmar 4.0 is being designed to streamline the existing mechanics for newcomers. While the game is thought to be in a good place right now, there’s no denying there’s a significant amount of rules bloat. Warhammer Age of Sigmar 4.0 will address this, keeping the core mechanics but ensuring they’re more welcoming to new players.
The Priority Roll is one of these core mechanics. It is unique to Warhammer Age of Sigmar. It is not used in Warhammer 40,000.
The game is divided into five Battle Rounds. The player that finishes deploying their army first gets to choose who goes first in the first Battle Round. Turn order in subsequent Battle Rounds is determined by a dice roll, which is called the Priority Roll. Should both players roll equal, the player who went first in the previous Battle Round may choose the turn order.
What this means is that the player who went last in the previous Battle Round has near-equal opportunity to go first in the next Battle Round. This means taking two turns in succession. An event which the Warhammer Age of Sigmar fondly refers to as the ‘Double Turn’.
The ‘Double Turn’
For anyone who doesn’t play Warhammer Age of Sigmar, it could seem as though this is a ridiculous rule. Indeed, even for those only a few battles in it can seem very unfair. However, once you have established some knowledge of the ebb-and-flow of Warhammer Age of Sigmar games and the strengths and weaknesses of your army, the Double Turn becomes a moment to be savoured. Whether or not you are the victor in that moment!
Currently, should the Double Turn become available to you most players will immediately opt to take it. There are exceptions, but even at the highest level of play they are rare. So Games Workshop are changing the Priority Roll in Warhammer Age of Sigmar 4 to make it a tougher tactical decision.
How the Priority Roll is Changing in Warhammer Age of Sigmar 4
The current edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar, which is the 3rd edition, promotes the Priority Roll as an almost no-fail mechanic. This will not be the case in Warhammer Age of Sigmar 4. Instead, it will be a decision that has consequences whether you choose to take it or not.
“The balance between risk and reward has become much more finely tuned. Now, in matched play battlepacks, when you choose to take a double turn, you give up your opportunity to pick a battle tactic for the turn. It’s still an incredibly powerful option – but the decision is now far from a foregone conclusion.”
Warhammer Community
In Warhammer Age of Sigmar 3.0, the Battle Tactics are near-essential scoring mechanics for winning games. We don’t yet know how they’ll work in Warhammer Age of Sigmar 4.0, but you can bet they’ll still carry significant weight.
The details on how Warhammer Age of Sigmar 4.0 are set to keep coming as we build to a summer 2024 launch. What do you think about the rule changes so far? Let us know in the comments below!
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