[Epic] Flyers are Vehicles too ... Revisited and Revised

From: Andrew Nguyen <a2nguyen_at_...>
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 1997 21:21:20 -0800

Hopefully, this will be the last of my "wonderful" Flyer rules.

Following under the Quote: "Hindsight is 20/20" I've decided to
finally get the Flyer Rules right... at least until I get to
playtest them. Unless otherwise stated Flyers are Vehicles.
Consider the following an addition to the rules in the same way
the war engine rules are.

FLYER RULES:

Flyers: (Little Exceptions)
- cannot be put on overwatch, assault, or march orders, and they
  always move during the movement and assault phases (a la war
  engines).
- fire first during the shooting phase-- the same way war engines
  fire last.
- must move 5 cm during each of it's moving phases (assault and
  movement).
- get one free 45 degree turn, any additional turns cost 10 cm of
  movement.
- have a forward 90 degree firing arc.
- cannot be snap-fired against by ground units.
- can leave the board during their assault phase, but must return
  the following turn from the point at which it left.

Combat: (Now one to the interesting rules)

Ground Attacks:
Flyers conduct ground attacks during the shooting phase like any
other unit.

Intercepting:
Flyers can only attack other Flyers by "assaulting" them. A dogfight
occurs when two enemy detachments get within 15 cm of each other
during the assault phase, the total assault of each detachment is
calculated and Close Combat occurs as usual but Flyers cannot be
broken.

Transporting:
Flyers behave the same way all units do when transporting units,
except it's a 15 cm penalty for the flyer and 5 cm penalty for the
transported units, and the transported units don't get a "save" when
the Flyer is destroyed.

Flak:
Flak units can fire at Flyers during the shooting phase (including
during overwatch), and Flak units can also be placed on "!" Flak orders.
When a unit is on "!" Flak Orders, it may not move during the movement
phase or shoot during the shooting phase and any non-flak units in the
detachment are on overwatch. Any part of a Flyer Detachment that comes
within range is fired at, the Flak unit can fire on multiple detachments
but never twice on a single detachment.

Non-flak ground units may not fire at Flyers.

Formula:
By using the formula from Alan E and J. Michael Looney:

PV = ( (M/10) + ( FP * (R/15) ) + ( AF * 2 ) ) * ( AV/ 3 )

With a little modification gives this formula which you can use
with Flyers.

PV = ( (M / 5) + (FP * (R / 15) ) + (AF * 2) + (TR * 2) ) * (AV / 3)

Where TR is the number of transported units and AF is the sum of the
two flyer assault numbers. FP of barrages are 2.5 and Heavy Barrages
are 5. With this formula you can extrapolate the movement of some of
the units. The following is a table with the point values of the
Flyers in Epic40k, the values were calculated with the formula; points
in parenthesis are original prices.

   Unit Speed Range Firepower Assault Armor Notes Points
Marauder 45 30 5 2 5+ 35 (45)
Thunderbolt 40 15 2 4 5+ 30 (30)
Thunderhawk 35 30 8 3 6+ Tran(6) 82 (80)
Fighta-Bommerz 40 15 Barrage 4 5+ 31 (30)
Night Wing 55 15 2 4 5+ 35 + 6 (40)
Phoenix 50 30 6 2 5+ 44 + 6 (50)
Vampire 40 30 6 2 5+ Tran(4) 54 + 6 (60)
Harridan 45 30 6 6 5+ 55 - 5 (50)
Gargoyles 50 15 1 1 3+ 13 (16)

The additions to the points are suggestions that incorporate the "Fluff".
Eldar dying race, Tyranid hordes... My formula worked out pretty well
except for the Marauder which, unless I gave it a higher assault than
the "Fighter" Thunderbolt, always turned up a little too low.

Notes:
- Yes, Flyers can snap-fire each other and it does cause the Flyer to
  stop it's movement, snap-fire range is 15 cm.
- Flyers are always "off-ground" and therefore can't be assaulted by
  ground troops.
- Non-flyers can't shoot at flyers except Flak.
- Flyers cannot shoot at each other.
- The 5 cm requirement for movement must be met by using forward flight
  not by turning around in circles.

Qualms:
I couldn't decide to whether or not to let "normal" units fire at Flyers
with half FP and snap-fire. So, the rules right now, hopefully, stress
more powerful flak units and the need to use interceptors.

Comments?

        -Donald Nguyen

"When I am sad, I sing, and then the world is sad with me."
        -Anon.
Received on Tue Dec 16 1997 - 05:21:20 UTC