THIS WEEKS TOPIC: MOVEMENT AND INITIATIVE
I still remember when second edition was new and after a few games,
although the rules were superior to those of 1st edition, there were
some thing found lacking. Foremost on that list was the movement and
initiative.
The present system has the following diadvantages as voiced by the many
people on the list:
1-To much advantage given to the winner of the initiative die roll. A
relatively inexperienced gamer can give a tough fight or maybe even win
if initiative goes his way in all the turns.
2-The lack of alternating movement just accentuates the stated above
and lengthens the extent of the game since one much watch while the
other completes movement.
3-Theres nothing one player cam do to tactically affect anothers
movement(in kinder words blowing the crap out of him) and armies with
ability to deploy troop fast via transport have a sometimes crippling
edge- even with prolific use of snap fire weapons.
4- All of the above just makes the game have a very unrealistic feel(
stupid, cheesy, fill in with your favorite rant!).
The discussion will cover several themes as usual I will give some ideas
to stimulate opinions.
UNIT COHERENCY
I guess the current 6 cm works okay. About how support cards interact
with their parent company cards( as in ork clans would be the prime
example) will be discussed with the appropiate army.
UNIT MOVEMENT
Many have expressed the interactions of certain vehicle type and the
effects of terrain sometimes either dont make sense or are ridiculously
restricted.
Example: jetbikes not entering woods, track vehicles not being able to
move backwards and fire.
A house rule I have used relates terrain and its effects to the type of
propulsion the vehicle has.
MOVEMENT TYPE TERRAIN EFFECT
foot/horse no restrictions except for rivers and other impassible
terrain
tracked May move backwards and shoot only in advance fire at 1/2
the advance move
May move into woods on advance also at 1/2 the advance move
Usual restrictions for impassible terrain
anti-grav (skimmers) May move into woods in advance orders at
normal rate.Usual restriction for immpassible terrain
This system basically represents historic movement possibilities for
things like foot, track movement and represents are more realistic
approach to more manuvearble anti-grav vehicles(no I am not an eldar
fan!).This gives pros and cons to each movement type: skimmers move
quicker in difficult terrain but only tracked vehicles can make real
fighting retreats(firing while moveing backwards).
ORDERS
In the older edition orders were revealed as the unit was activated thus
hightening the expection and sense of unknown, this fits like a glove
with the alternating movement system I am proposing.I stongly suggest
not revealing orders until activation its a definite plus!!
FOLLOWING IS A ALTERNATING MOVEMENT SYSTEM THAT IS A FIRST SECOND
EDITION HYBRID
The premise of this system is that certain units have an inherent
slowness to react based on size, bulk, lack of manuverability.Therefore
although a titan is a powerful piece it is really immpossible for it
tomove quicker than lets say troop stand or small vehicles.
The movement phase is broke down as follows:
Phase 1:Titans and super heavy vehicles
Phase 2:Models of the Khight class (greater deamons, carnifex etc.)
Phase 3:All vehicles that dont belong to the above classes
Phase 4:Troop stands(which includes cavalry/bike type stands)
Movement in each phase is alternating the player who wins initiatives
decides to either move first or make opponent move first then alternate
afterwards.
SNAP FIRE
Any unit on first fire orders may interrupt movement to resolve fire.
The exception is that another unit may not interrupt a unit that is snap
firing. Please note we will not discuss present edition snap fire units
these will be covered with flyers. This is to keep these unit "special
snap fire distinct from general snap fire (we will probably call it AA
fire to avoid confusion).
TRANSPORT
The present rules for embarking/disembarking troops has sometimes caused
difficulty due to how much movement is left to troop stands after the
vehicle has moved. I really dont have any comments on this one ,but
someone might have a better solution.
GENERAL COMMENTS
The benefits of an alternating system linked with snap fire are clear,
regarding my particular one it has the following advantages: It has been
playtested and has little difficulties. Do not think it is long, the
phases are more than normal, but thats for explanatory purposes. It
actually saves time because both sides will move instead of one wait for
another, further time is saves since firing will take place during
movement(in my experience games do not last longer than the current
system).It, of course,addresses the issues that bother most of us about
the current issue. Also it has a added bonus not quite clear on the
surface-that is units not normally bought due to percieved inefficiency
now have new value.A example would be certain minor artillery units like
rapiers, thudd gus and tarantulas that can now be used to guard certain
transit routes and snap fire incoming transports or other fast moving
units thus freeing more power units for support and advance.Also it adds
more importance to the manuvering of the bulk of you army-infantry,
since they move last your positioning them will have greater impact than
with the current rules.
One last comment is regarding that a army with more units may have a
"advantage" in an alternating type system. In my experience it usually
balances out over the course of the phases (one player may have more
titans but the other has more infantry), but for the unconvinced I have
also used the rule that the winner of initiative can always choose to
move a unit of the given phase last, thus obligating the loser to move
all his remainding units before the winner does-sort of a last word kind
of thing. Just be reminded that this is optional and the proposed system
does not really need it.
There are of course many points regarding what I am proposing that I
have not covered(this letter is long enough!) so please ask many
questions as you can think of!!.
THE BALL IS IN YOUR COURT GENTLEMEN-FIRE AWAY
United we stand!
Peter
Received on Sun Feb 02 1997 - 23:22:15 UTC
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