J. Michael Looney wrote:
> Epic 41K Changes to current Special abilities
>
> Commander:
> A unit with the Commander special ability may take command of any units
> of his army (i.e. not allies) that are currently "out of command" but
> with in 30 cm of his position. The units that he has taken command of
> are now part of his detachment for the rest of the game
>
Seems to make sense, and not a big power increase; I like it. One wonders if
unscrupulous players would deliberately leave models out of command and pick
them up with the SC, to soak up fire that would otherwise kill the
Commander.
> Artillery:
> 1. Artillery unit may fire Smoke rounds
Does this cost 'em the five points still? I always thought it should cost
more points for longer range artillery. Can artillery lay smoke indirectly?
Is there any disadvantage to doing so?(snip new Arty rules)(snip example)I
understand where these rules are coming from, in terms of realism; however,
artillery (particularily the IG type) already seems to be rather powerful.
The question is whether the proposed changes in the rules increase,
decrease, or don't much affect artillery firepower. It's hard to say without
playtesting. I think that the rules for indirect fire will tone down
artillery a bit, but it's hard to say how far the extended range will go to
compensate for this. My gut feeling is that it'll probably be okay.
> Flak:
> 1. The "optional" rules for flyers on page 108 of the battle book are no
> longer optional.
As they are presented, I don't think the rule presented in the battle book
is usable, because as far as I can tell, the flyers would still be
vulnerable to snap fire, which means that unless the route just kind of
skims the edge of the enemy, all of the flyers would be pretty well
automatically shot down/driven off by multiple snap fire attacks. I have no
problem with Flak units being allowed to fire at flyers during the rest of
their path - it would make flak useful- but something should be added to the
effect that flyers are not vulnerable to snap fire after they have made
their attack/deployed their passengers.
> 2. The Missile ADA rules are in effect
>
I can't remember what these were off the top of my head, so I better not
comment...
> Infiltrators
> 1. May be upgraded to "Recon" at a cost of +2 points per unit
> 2. This means that may also be upgraded to "Forward Observer" at normal
> cost for level
>
Are ratlings really the IG's only forward observers?
> Any unit that starts as a detachment command unit may be upgraded to
> Forward observer at level cost.
>
> New Special powers:
>
> Alan Brain's list of special powers in his "Flavour" rules are in
> effect.
>
Ok. I was/am very impressed with the thought and work that went into these,
but I still haven't had a chance to test them out or see if I have any
problems with them. To me, one of the appealing things about epic is its
simplicity, so although I might adopt some of the suggestions, I doubt if
I'll ever use the posting in its entirety. I like the rules mainly because
they offer a way for the people who were upset about missing units from
SM/TL to get over it.
> Engineer:
> See posted rules
At the time, I thought the posted rules were a bit confusing - was it ever
decided whether the points are 'used up' when they lay minefields, etc.?
Also, at the moment, there is no bonus to firefights and close assaults for
being in a fortified building, so it seems unfair to give engineers a bonus
to attacking them. I mean, if troops have the choice of assaulting enemy in
the open, or assaulting entrenched troops with the assisstance of engineers,
I think they'll plump for the first choice...
> Recon:
> 1. Cost +2 per unit.
> 2. A Recon unit may spot a hidden unit at a range of 30 cm, not 15 cm as
> given on page 13 of the battle book.
> 3. A Recon unit may be upgraded to Forward observer at level cost.
>
An ability that is fine as long as people construct their army lists without
knowing which scenario they are playing, or which side.
> Forward observer:
(snip all the details of levels of obsevers and off board
artillery)Interesting. I would tend to think that these very expensive
infantry are likely to be annihilated before they accomplish anything, were
it not for the fact that their special ability has unlimited range. Could be
very annoying on a big, open board.
> http://www.spellbooksoftware.com/e41k/
I think Epic 41k should revise the cost of IG command stands - it's a
scandal.Thanks for keeping on putting out stuff; it's a pleasure to read
well thought out variant rules and army lists.
Eugene
Received on Mon Oct 06 1997 - 22:24:45 UTC