[NetEpic ML] A few opinions on ongoing discussions

From: Luca Lettieri <magnus_at_...>
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 00:55:06 -0800

I've read with interest the ongoing discussions that have been going on
lately on the group. I'll report a few opinions I've made during the
last days.


General Scope of Changes

I agree with the last post by Peter: NetEpic is not broken, so there's
no need to fix it. Minor touches, yes, to resolve once and for all some
ridiculous inconsistencies (reactor on front, unlimited warp-vortex
missiles). Broad changes, no. UNLESS you're going to do something
distinctly different from NetEpic. Basically, as I see it, NetEpic 4
should be a cleaned-up version of NetEpic 3, with "large" modifications
limited to a few specific issues (e.g.: flyers). Heresy is the new
game, leave major overhauls to that.


Titan Weapons

I've been very surprised by the big fuss being made on the imperial
missiles as compared to not a word on the Eldar pulsars. IMHO, these
two weapons (along with a few other things) suffer from a very specific
problem: taken in ONE copy, they're nothing to scream about; the
problem stems from the possibility of fitting every titan with
multiples of them.
Pushing the cost to 400 points will effectively remove them from the
game; but even making them special cards will impose too heavy a
restriction on them, as anyone fielding them would be limited in army
composition.
I stand my initial case: put a limit of 1 (or 2 at most) every 3000
points.
As a matter of fact, I think we should institute a general rule
(Restricted Availability) on some items to reflect their limited
availability. Think about it: the cost of a Vortex missile in in its
**production**, NOT in its deployment. No sense in reducing army
flexibility for it ("Oh you've got one of the Vortex? Sorry we can't
give you an additional commissar, you've exausthed your special card
slots...").
Hell, we already have such a rule in place (e.g.: ork clans). Just
instituzionalize it and broaden his scope to a few other items (Chaos
Thunderhawks, anyone? But with all those new flyer rules the
ThunderChickens should be somewhat restricted. And another personal pet
peeve of mine is that blasted Tyranid regeneration card used on a
Hierophant... as it was not difficult enough already to take down the
thing).


Titans

First of all: remove that reactor from the front. Please. Techno
"priests" or not, the Adepti Mechanica are not THAT stupid (not to
mention Eldar technology specialists...).

Improved repair ability: I can live with it. I STILL think anyone
caught in a massive crossfire SHOULD die, even a Titan. But I can see
the point of making the things a little more survivable when caught
without adequate support.

Eldar barrage holofields: dangerous thing. The problem with Eldar
titans is that, using current rules, they're TOO vulnerable to
barrages, which makes them hardly cost-effective.
BUT, this is their only significant weakness. Remove it and you've got
a dangerously "cheesed" unit. Their point cost should become so
ludicrously high to render them unusable. So, current situation: too
fragile to use. Corrected situation: too expensive to use. I think we
could approach the problem with a partial barrage coverage from
holofields, calibrated using some serious playtesting (20-30 "test
runs", I think).


Luca Lettieri
Epic Italian Connection
Received on Tue Mar 14 2000 - 08:55:06 UTC