I have played both versions extensively, and can say with certainty that 1st Edition is the better game.
It is more elegant from a rules perspective, and is more balanced. 2nd Edition seemed to take things
that certain players found "annoying" and changed them.
Some of the things that I feel are inferior in 2nd Edition include:
You must roll a LD test when charging from wait. This is unnecessary, and changes one of the elegant mechanics
of Chronopia for no good reason.
Missile fire was reduced in power too excessively. Missile fire should be deadly, but can be countered by using a good
terrain assortment and solid tactics. The missile fire reduction was way overboard, and occurred in 3 areas: RC stats were
reduced across the board, DAM stats were reduced, and they added a stupid medium range statistic. Combine this with
giving the Soul Flayer 5 wounds, and the elegant balance of the system is quickly compromised.
Too many of the core stats of the figures were unnecessarily adjusted. Many of the key units that were balanced were reduced
in power, and many of the more powerful units were increased in power. Some specific examples:
Iron Guard - Reduced in power. They should not have been, and are one of the key units in the Firstborn army. In 2nd Edition they
are worthless from a point perspective, as Black Sisters are the superior choice every time.
Goblin Swordmasters - Reduced from 3 actions to 2. Completely unnecessary and irritating.
Soul Flayer - Increased to 5 wounds from 4. Also now causes Dread, a type of "Super Fear"
Completely unnecessary, as the demon is already powerful enough.
Dragonskull Warriors - Increased to 2 wounds from 1. I have no idea how this passed the QA process. Obsidian Serpent elves were
already the most powerful of the elven houses. It was completely inappropriate (and un-balanced) to give Dragon Skull warriors 2
wounds. It is almost like running a squad of special characters in an already top-tier army.
Chronomancer - Decreased in power; cannot active other units after interrupting. I completely disagree with this, as this is a key
ability of the Chronomancer and added a lot of flavor to the Firstborn army. I think one of the play testers whined about this to
the point they gave in. Bad move.
Wyrd - Decreased in power as the vine templates were reduced in size. I still have a sour taste over this one. I believe the driver on this
is they ran out of room for the glossy paper in the back of the book, and as a cost savings the templates were reduced in size.
The whole Fear - Dread - Horror rules are a mess. Fear is enough from a game perspective. The Soul Flayer is really the only model benefitting
from Dread, and makes it even more broken than it already is.
Another thing I don't like about 2nd Edition is the stupid ST+X weapon terminology. Maybe it is just me, but I much prefer the more elegant
way 1st Edition gave a straight number for each weapon.
Chronopia: War In The Eternal Realm (aka Chronopia 2nd Edition) is still a great game, light years ahead of anything produced on the current
market. That being said, it is a shadow of Chronopia: Dark Fantasy Miniature Battles (aka Chronopia 1st Edition).
