Moreover I've been in touch with Mr Kevin Duke (rules editor, as you can see in credits).
As to the rules, with the exception of an interpretation of how elephant retreat causes hits, there really are not any rule or mechanic differences. 3rd edition is not a "new game" or even a "different" game. It is the same game with effort made to explain things more clearly.
To begin, the existing FAQ was used as a reference point-- "what concepts are creating questions?" and the answers or a more clear direction (I hope) was created to avoid people from needing to ask that question. I reviewed all rules questions and answers that came out since the last FAQ was released and incorporated those as well.
We rewrote a lot of sentences and a few paragraphs, but not to change the game, only to streamline things. The old series had a habit of repeating almost the same sentence 5 or 8 or more times, with minor variations. This may feel like "clarity" to some folks, but I think the many, many words lead to confusion. So we removed some of those.
We also included terrain and special rules that happen in the expansions, so that a single rule book would cover the entire series...so that when players find "marsh" in a scenario, they don't have to try and remember which expansion included "marsh."
...so much of it was rewritten, but the mechanics were not changed. It is written to be more clear, not to add "new" things to the game.
I would say that there are virtually no "changes" in how the game works, but MAJOR "updates and clarifications."
Hope this helps.
