1) The Boxed Set: I really hope that this is Dark Angels (DA) vs. (very chaosy) Fallen Angels (FA). This will bring the cannibals from Caliban back to the fore of the collective imagination where they belong.
What do I want to see in the DA codex? Why thanks for asking. For starters: PLASMA! 1) Deathwing Termies with a Special Weapon Choice of Plasma Cannons 2) A special rule that allows for re-rolls on "Gets Hot!" (perhaps character driven) 3) Something Ravenwing Plasma... I'd also like to see Azrael or Asmodai make DA Vets troops. Imagine an all hooded/robed army on the board. Belial should be at least on the level with the likes of the SM Captain... But I actually picture him something Tycho level...
What should be in the Fallen codex? Well, trick question, actually. IMO, it should be the new Chaos Legions codex, with a Cypher/Astelan character option to make a FA army. You see, FA really turns the 40k universe on its head. It's the best way to play the bad guys who think that they're the good guys; and just might be... maybe. I have to admit that the Descent of Angels book is so far my least favorite Horus Heresy novel. However, it really did make me think about the DA. If you read carefully, you can interpret the massive secrecy and craziness with the orders, combined with the massive time-fudgery in Fallen Angels to mean that the Order was infiltrated by Fallen who were hurtled back in time. That is to say that the order was infiltrated from at least the start of the first novel. Ouch - it hurts my brain behind the eyeballs to think on it too hard. To summarize. The DA were overly screwed before they were screwed over. Ye gads, what might that look like?
Updated Cypher rules for starters... make him a Special Libby along the lines of Mephiston (but a pistol specialist vs. crazy sword expert). There are hints of him being Zahariel from the current HH series. In the novel he has some pretty well defined Terrorsight psyker abilities... Matter Phasing, Crazy Endurance, and Time Slowing. Easy peasy in game terms. Psychic powers: 1) All attacks ignore armor saves and count as rending. 2) FNP. 3) Strike first in combat (Init 10) or move in assault phase. Twin pistols rule from before... Lion Sword that he never uses. Perfect. So, bring him in line with that.
Oh, Astelan... you are a piece of work, no? Astelan should be something along the lines of a chaosy version of Shrike/Sicarius - SM captain level at least (he was actually a "Chapter Master" pre-heresy). Maybe somewhat stealthy and morale boosting. Perhaps allow Astelan to take allies from Codex: Anything-At-All. This would represent his (multiple) successful planetary uprisings with strange bedfellows for allies, and bring some form of allies back to the game (missing since DH and WH updates). Something along the lines of: Must fill required FOC with C: Chaos Legions, optional FOC choices may be taken from any other valid codex. You want Knights of Lupus, add a dash of SW. You want grimdark cultists, add DE. You want Xenos love heresy, add Eldar. You want a leader for the Blood Axes, add Astelan + Ork Troops. You want Genestealer invansion, add Tyranids. You want traitor guard, add IG. You want SCIENCE!, add Tau. I really like this flexibility.
2) Overwatch... See the right sidebar for how we would do it here at LR. It's a tactical element truly missing from the game. Although, I think that I would choose to exclude vehicles from being able to go in to Overwatch.
3) Some sort of small points games larger than KT, but < 1000 pts. A very simple 500 points game like Combat Patrol, but with fewer restrictions and more elegant rules. Let people scale their way in to the hobby in a defined way.
4) Measure if you have LOS. I think that it's dumb we cannot measure distances when targets are clearly visible from the model POV. Rangefinders are pretty simple tech. Even orks could have a "Ragefinda". Nids could call it proximity sensing magnetics.
5) Scenarion that switch up the turn phases.... instead of MOVE1 SHOOT1 ASSAULT1 MOVE2 SHOOT2 ASSAULT2, it might be interesting to try MOVE1 MOVE2 SHOOT1 SHOOT2 ASSAULT1 ASSAULT2. Of course, somebody else needs to playtest this. Not I.
Some say this is Merir Astelan.
So I love the comments and potential suggestions. While I agree that Dark Angels will be a good candidate for the box set I think that we are going to see something more like Alpha legion as the heretic. I like the over watch rule but I am interested to see if they would all it for all players or make it an ability for a select few. I have some ideas floating around in the head and will publish them in a few.
ReplyDeleteOn the overwatch rule, I would hate to make it too unit specific. Perhaps make a Heavy weapons a prerequisite. See my revision on the house rule to the right.
ReplyDeleteAnother thought for the 6th edition would be , no surprise to Hax, strategy points. Allocating points on Strategic abilities before the start of the game, such as air support, bolstered defense, others?
ReplyDeleteSo, if you look at the various supplements: Cities of Death, Planetstrike, and Apocalypse; there is already somewhat of a system in place for Strategems and what not. In the 6th edition rumors that I have ready, players no longer roll dice to see who goes first, but rather they "bid" strategy points. Low bidder goes first... high bidder has more strategy points to spread around. I kind of based "Duel at Dawn" and "Maelstrom of Battle" on that bid/bluff system. Albeit with army points instead of strategy points.
ReplyDelete"- before the game there is a bidding contest for the opportunity of the first turn, if you bid more strategic points you can go first, but the enemy can spent these points on stratagems as in Cities of Death: 22 generic stratagems – for example for one point you can decide on night fighting or place an automatic gun, for four you can shift your reserves, most expensive stratagems are at 12 points and are really drastic, every unspent point can be used once a game for a reroll" (from http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/showthread.php?t=15933)
So here is an outlandish but pretty interesting idea that I have been working on. What if you played the game where each team set up a base and earn points every round to spend on additional troops that could enter the game on the next round or you could upgrade your base with the points. Basically borrowing the idea from an RTS game but on the tabletop. An owning strategic spots on the board could give you additional points.
ReplyDeleteThis would for the game to become even more dynamic and allow a player to adapt based on how the game progresses. Maybe start out with 150 points a side and you could earn 100 points a turn and release new units into the field each turn. Is this just way out there or could it be possible?