Last night I had my first look at the new Warhammer Fantasy 8th Edition Rulebook and is this thing ever a monster. It is just thick!
I flipped through it a bit and looked up a few rules that I was interested about. So far all the rumors that I have heard and seen around the net have been spot on. The one thing that I just don't get right off the bat is the Horde rule. All it allows you to do is attack with an extra rank. Since you are already fighting with two ranks, this gives you a third (or four if on the defense with spears.) I am pretty sure that this rule will become very important as we move forward, but for now I just don't know.
It seems like you are paying a lot for this ability - you are essentially doubling the size of your unit, which doubles the cost. In order for this to be worthwhile you also need more ranks than your opponent so you are stubborn. Why is that you ask? Well, the units that would most benefit from this rule are going to be cheap, expendable troops (Skaven Slaves, Goblins, Gnoblar, etc.) so you want them to be stubborn. This means that to get the most out of it, you would need a block of AT LEAST fifty goblins. That is huge, and I love it, I just am not sure how it is going to pan out.
Something else that is a HUGE change is how fear works. You no longer have to test when charging or being charged by a fear causing enemy. You simply take a leadership test at the start of combat, and if you fail you are weapon skill 1. This is still a big disadvantage, but no where near as stout as it used to be. Another key change is that if you loose to a fear causing unit that outnumbers you, you no longer auto break. Again, this is huge with the new stubborn rule for having more ranks than your opponent.
Overall I am really excited about the changes and can't wait to dig in deeper.