Re: [Epic] Rants. Was SM/TL vs E40K unit costs

From: Chris Miller <ironstar_at_...>
Date: Thu, 5 Mar 1998 00:54:10 -0600

>My point exactly. In most games the command element is just that, a
>COMMAND element, not a fighting element. In the mutant world of GW
>games, the commanders are the best fighters, but you can't shoot them.
>WTFO.

So is it a better game if the commanders are just another grunt? Even in
E40Kmost leaders have Hero, which doubles their assault value.
In ASL you can't specifically target leaders either, as they are normally
attached to a squad and that's what you shoot at. Of course, they don't kill
too many things single handed unless you're both despeate and lucky, but
they do make a difference in the effectiveness of firing by their squad and
in morale checks. Even there, in a very historically wrapped game, the
leaders can make a difference and the scale is larger than WH40K (about like
epic, actually). The reasoning is that you can't shoot a leader specifially
unless he's alone in a hex as he's one of several guys otherwise.

Again, should we eliminate the unique paint jobs, colors, and banners?
Would that make this rule OK?
And if we don't do that but eliminate the "no sniping the leaders" rule,
would you like that better?
 Have you played WH40K that way?
Try it.
 It sucks, as most leaders drop the first turn if anyone can see them , as
every lascannon or krak missile launcher on the board shoots a leader from 3
feet away, even though there may be 3 squads of troops and a pair of tanks
heading towards the guys doing the firing. You then have a bunch of
leaderless grunts slugging it out, or worse yet, you have legendary heros
hiding in the bushes while Corporal Nobody leads the charge. Does Conan sit
in the tent looking at maps or does he get out there and kick some personal
ass? Does Darth Vader, maybe #2 man in the Empire, command from afar? No,
he's out there in a fighter blasting away or jumping into HTH with a sword
against another special character!
Should a colonel take more shots to kill than a major? Not in real life, for
sure, but in fiction or the movies, probably so - depends on who the
hero/villan is.

Honestly JML I like a lot of the things you've done here, like with E41K,
but don't go nuts trying to force a reality template on the 40K universe -
it won't fit. It never has. It's not supposed to. If I want realism, I'll
play Harpoon and if I want simpler fun I'll play Man o War. I don't like the
simpler modern/historical games precisely because I know the way it should
work and reducing an M1A1 to something with a "2+ save" just drives me nuts.
I can deal with it in Epic, though because it isn't modeling anything real.
You know, if we started a list of "things which are not realistic in Games
Workshop Products" list it would take more paper to print than all of the
rules for their games combined, so how long are we going to beat the
decaying equine corpse this time? : )

Chris Miller

>
Received on Thu Mar 05 1998 - 06:54:10 UTC