http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=520710
Quoting, for folks who don't want to follow the link:
some guy on another forum wrote: TURN SEQUENCE
Pretty much the same. Unlike the rumours, Magic has not moved to the beginning of the turn.
On interesting change, however, is that Charges are declared and resolved one at a time and before compulsory moves. So no need to lay down charge counters and your charges won't be interrupted by fanatics or fleeing troops as they could before.
Another interesting offshoot of this change is that as you declare charges one at a time, a unit being charged may make multiple reactions with the caveat that it can only stand and shoot once and, once it declares a 'Flee' reaction, it flees. So if some High Elves are charged by some stinky goblin rabble, they may choose to hold instead of shooting, fearing the unit of boar boyz still in the wings. The Boar Boyz then declare a charge against them, so they use their Stand & Shoot. After that charge is resolved, a unit of Black Orcs declares a charge against them, at which point they say 'screw that' and flee from the lot.
The biggest change with charges: 2D6 + Move inches is the new charge range. For everyone. So a standard infantry unit could conceivably charge 16"! However, this is good, in my estimation, as it makes charging less of a certainty and a general has to carefully judge when is the right time to let the dogs of war off the leash, so to speak. Will you declare at maximum range to try and outcharge a cav unit or wait until you get with in the statistical average range (7+Move) before sending in the boys? Another tactical choice which makes the game more interesting.
MOVEMENT
This was one of the big areas for me, and I am very glad that they didn't choose to go with Warmaster or War of the Ring style movement as all the rumours suggested.
In fact, the changes here are all minor, but there are a few of them, so it might take some getting used to. The overall gist is that movement is simplified in a manner, but not dumbed down. You still have wheels and reforms, but now, sidestepping or moving backward is a simple 2" for every 1" tradeoff with the added restriction that you can only choose one mode of movement per turn: forward, back or to the side, and you can only wheel going forward.
Other than that, movement is much more clarified and the musician is now instrumental () to reforms, allowing you, on a LD check to reform and then continue moving and shooting. A LD check will also allow you to march while within 8" of the enemy as well.
MAGIC
Massive changes here, and funnily enough, many of the rumours were dead on. To hit the highlights:
1. Attacker earns 2D6 Power Dice per phase. The Defender gets a number of Dispel Dice equal to the highest D6 from that 2D6 (so you roll a 2+6, the attacker gets 8, the defender gets 6).
2. Both sides may channel to get more dice (roll 1D6 per Wizard, a '6' grabs you another die) and add dice from magic items. No matter how many extra dice you get, however, you can never have more than 12.
3. Casting is the same, except you may now use up to 6 dice per caster regardless of level. You also add your wizard level to the casting roll.
4. Dispelling is the same except you add your Wizard level to the dispel roll.
5. If you fail to cast or dispel, that wizard can no longer cast or dispell for the rest of that magic phase! So think twice before using Cletus the Slack Jawed Level 1 Wizard to cast a Power Level 14 spell or hold back the powers of the mighty Lord Kroak.
6. Irresistible Force is still two 6's, but it also causes a roll on the miscast table. And let me tell you, there isn't one of those results that isn't nasty. Most of them nuke the unit the wizard is in in some fashion, which might encourage folks to leave them out on their own and far away from the normal troops. Dispelling can gain IF, but does not suffer miscast.
7. Caster's roll for spells at the beginning of the game still, but no two wizards in the same army can have the same spell, except for the 'standard spell' for each lore, which can be duplicated.
8. Bound Items roll using the power dice from the army just like any other spell, using the old Power Level as the casting requirement.
9. Spells now have 4 main rules. They also have a 'type' which serves as a 'rules exception' based system that changes one of more of those 4 basic rules. For instance, you normally can only cast to your front arc, but 'buff spells' can be cast in a 360 degree arc.
SHOOTING
Little change here except that units can fire in two ranks and the -1 modifier to hit for single characters is gone. Also, the damage chart is now different and even a Strength 1 hit can wound a T10 creature on a 6+! I'm not so fond of that, as it implies that a unit of 60 Gnoblars can eventually tear down a castle wall by hucking 'sharp stuff' at it.
I didn't get to read the Terrain Section (my wife finished her circuit around the mall) and so remain unclear as to whether woods still function the same or use the True Line of sight rules from 40k, but I'll find out today, I suppose.
COMBAT
Herein lie the most extensive changes. Again, the highlights:
1. Charges give +1 CR, not the ability to strike first. That is entirely I based now.
2. To compensate, units fight in two rows, with the back row making a single attack. Speaks add +1 rank to that as usual and Citizen Levy another and Hordes (a unit with 10 model files) yet another. So if you had a horde of spear armed citizen levy, you could be attacking with 5 ranks, as I understand it.
3. Casualties are still taken form the rear, but as long as the fighting ranks have models in them, those models get to fight, so there is little fear of having your front rank wiped out without a chance to attack back.
4. As mentioned in shooting, even a S1 creature can wound a T10 creature on a 6. Again, an image of gnoblars beating down your castle walls with their tiny, impotent little fists comes to mind.
5. You still get 1 Armour Save and 1 Ward save. Shield and Hand Weapon is a 6+ Ward Save.
6. 'Disruption' AKA negating ranks with a rear or flank charge is now only possible with a unit with at least two remaining ranks of 5 or more at the end of combat. On the flip side, you still get the +1 for Flank/+2 CR for rear as long as a single model remains.
7. Fear now causes the unit to have a WS 1 on a failed LD check, but that's pretty much it. No auto-break. Didn't read up on Terror, but I'm sure it counts as fear in combat.
OTHER RULES
I only got to skim some of the non-basic rules but the biggest changes that caught my attention:
1. You can now pre-measure everything! That should stop some arguments.
2. The downside of pre-measuring: No more guess ranging for Stone Throwers and the like. Just drop a template and roll the scatter dice. Also, any model touched by the template is hit, no more partials. I dislike the removal of guess ranges immensely without adding distance to the scatter die, as Stone Throwers and their kin are now uber-accurate death dealers on a unit wide scale and I foresee a proliferation of them in the months to come.
3. Skirmishers move in a dispersed rank and file, in a manner very similar (if not identical) to fast cav. I preferred the old way, personally.
