Re: [Epic] Detailed Daemon Engines.

From: Scott Shupe <shupes_at_...>
Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 15:53:02 -0400

Richard Desnoyers wrote:
>
> >> Nurgle:
> >> Plague Tower - "Boarding Actions" - does anyone use one, does anyone care?
> >> [I could post the SM rules for this if anyone would like to see them.]
> >
> > I thought about this but eventually decided that it wasn't
> >worth it. Towers move a whopping 20cm a turn, generally need to
> >advance into enemy territory in order to use the boarding maneuver,
> >and will get torn apart by AT and DR shots. Or even by straight FP.
> >It is no longer survivable enough to function in this capacity, IMO.
>
> So, the Plague Tower really went through a major downgrade in the
> conversion process from what I gather here.

        Well, they weren't that amazing to begin with, really.
I was disappointed to see their transport capacity downsized (11
to 8?), and of course they are easier to kill now. But their
point cost is probably fair (not sure about that, only used them
once).

> I was thinking something along
> the lines that units entering into CC from a PT would receive a +1 bonus
> (for the entire detachment, that is) on the die roll. Not a lot, but I
> think that a +2 bonus would be too much.

        I was thinking free re-roll, myself. But like I said,
the chances of it getting used are slim to none.

> > One idea I was toying with was giving a 4+ 'daemonic aura'
> >save to the LoB and Plague Tower, to represent the chaos-card-
> >sacrifice thing from SM/TL - this would likely result in a large
> >point-cost increase though, and would take some playtesting to get
> >right.
>
> It seems to me that my LoB could be (and from time to time was) destroyed
> much too easily (IMO) in terms of how many points it cost me, in the few
> games that I've already played.

        Depends on which army you're playing against really.
Cheap AT shots (LRs) or abundant DRs (orks, imperials) will
tear them up quickly since they have no shields. They are OK
for the points, though, considering the amount of firepower
you can stick on them.

> I suppose that this is more of flavour issue for me here then anything
> else. These are after all Daemon engines under the sway of Slaanesh who
> bestows (or at least used to) special gifts and powers upon his minions.
> It looked like I hit the Hell-______, but did I really? With an AR of 5 I
> don't expect them to hold up for very long anyway, unless you're getting
> really lucky with the die rolls, but then again such are the forces of
> Chaos at work on the battlefield. For me anyway, the WH40K universe
> wouldn't be nearly as interesting if hadn't been built upon this blend of
> swords & sorcery with hi-tech sci-fi.

        I agree. The idea of daemons existing side by side
with more normal sci-fi elements is what initially drew me to
Chaos.

> The more I go through these proposed
> upgrades/conversions, the more I'm coming to realize how much of this
> element was removed from the new rule system :(

        It's still there, it's just not spelled out in the rules.
And it's not that tough to stick it back in for those folks that
really want it...

> >> Finally, one last thing. No one has has said anything about the Silver
> >> Towers. For me this is another flavour enhancer.
> >> Silver Towers:
> >> "Magical Warding" exists between two towers within 10 cm's of each other,
> >> anything targeted (by an AT shot for example) through this field will
> >> receive a +1 armour bonus up to a maximum of 6 (or a "Save)." Once again,
> >> I think that I prefer the idea of a "Save".
>
> > Too much. Imagine a string of silver towers in front of the
> >main force of an enemy army, with backup units ready to pick up the
> >warding should you shoot out one or two towers.
> > Heck, imagine say 4 towers sitting in front of a bunch of LRs
> >on OW and titan(s) with 60cm DRs (to pick off any units in range of
> >the towers and out of range of the LRs).
>
> Once again the spectre of a very foul smelling cheese could undoubtedly
> rear its ugly head. However, if you are playing a game which, for example,
> requires you to Take & Hold objectives, pulling something like that off
> would IMO be easier said then done. If you were in a defensive position
> then it could happen. It's hard to say, but I'm not sure what the likely
> hood of anyone having hordes of ST's (which die easily enough) would be
> anyway.

        I've got 4 myself, and there are people that play with
proxies on a regular basis. My above example is of course a
defensive one, and it's not impossible to break but it would be
a huge pain in the ass; and how do you price something that is
so easily abused? It's better to come up with some less powerful
alternative (and certainly the Towers' warding wasn't all that
powerful anyway) like a simple -1 to hit or shifting the target
one column to the right on the FP chart.

> A possible solution could be to limit the number of ST's to 2 or 4
> for any one detachment? Tricky to say the least.

        Yeah, too fiddly.

Scott Shupe
shupes_at_... shupes@... http://www.rpi.edu/~shupes
***********************************************************************
"Don't you laugh, damn you, don't you laugh!" - Clockwork Orange
Received on Mon May 18 1998 - 19:53:02 UTC

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