Hi All!
Scott Shupe wrote:
> Alright, so I've finally had my chance to play a few games
> with the new rules and I've got a few comments and/or questions.
> 1) War Engines - why? The titans seem to be even more overpriced
> than they were in SM. 490 pts for a slow, unmaneuverable, very
> fragile Reaver? I don't think so. As near as I can figure, their
> only place is to get rid of other war machines (with death rays).
> Smaller SHVs might be worth it, I'm not sure.
Try 390 points for a Reaver... And as for slow and unmaneuverable,
remeember that get a free 45 degree turn and turn further 45 degree
angles at -5cm off their move. And they move twice - once in the movement
phase, and once in the assault phase. Throw them onto a road (at +5cm
speed) and they can shunt around the battlefield quite nicely. And that's
just the basic 15cm move War Engines!
> And what they did to the LoB is a crime. 14 Assault indeed!
Comments to come on this one...I haven't had a chance to fully analyse
the Chaos lists/specs yet...
> 2) Close Combat is now god above all other gods. *sigh* On the plus
> side, bikes are nowhere near as powerful as they were in SM/TL. In
> fact, their usefulness seems pretty limited now.
They are still useful for quickly gaining objectives, while denying them
to the enemy, although it pays to keep terrain between you and your
enemy...
> Don't get into HtH with the bugs (unavoidable, I know, considering
> how fast they are). You will die...
Not entirely true. Like all things, and particularly in E40K, careful
play will get you through. Tyranids are just as susceptible to the
effects of Blast Markers in combat as anyone else, though you do have to
watch their 30cm (2x15cm) charge into CC! Support units are very
important when facing bugs.
> Lesser Daemons are, I think, more powerful now than they used to be.
> Or at least, flesh hounds, flamers, and fiends are more powerful than
> they used to be. You have to worry about suppresion, but on the other
> hand every model in the det. gets a 4+ save. Greater Daemons are
> considerably less powerful, the only one that looks like it's
> worthwhile is the Lord of Change (speed + psyker).
> 3) While I'm on the topic of daemons, where the HELL are the Beasts
> of Nurgle? When I was going through the unit summary I figured "oh,
> they must just be normal daemons," but then I get to the army list
> and *surprise* there's no point values for them. What's the reason
> behind this one?!?
No thoughts on chaos yet, so no comments on these...
> 4) OK, how do blast markers & assault orders interact when you're
> shooting? I think that you'd subtract the markers after you figure
> out your (halved) FP for the phase, but the rules don't make this
> at all clear.
It's quite clear. Detachments on Assault orders have half their FP
rating. So calculate the FP rating for firing units, divide by two (for
Asault orders). This is the detachment's FP rating. Then deduct Blast
Markers for the final total.
> 5) I've heard it said more than once that the new rules are simpler
> than the SM/TL rules. Bullshit. The new rules are far more
> complicated. OTOH, the units themselves have no special rules (for
> the most part).
That's purely your opinion. They are definitely simpler than the SM/TL
rules, IMHO. I think it would pay to play a few more games of E40K, with
a few more Army variations and then make your comments after that. A lot
of our players HATED the E40K rules after playing 2-3 games, but now
after over a dozen games, we are actually enjoying them considerably. And
with SM/TL it used to take us 4 hours to deploy and play out just 1 turn
(which was all most of our games lasted for BTW). Under E40K we can have
a similarly-sized game which is finished in less than 4 hours, now we all
know how the rules work...
> 6) I've also heard that games go quicker with the new rules than
> before. Also bull. Turns don't neccessarily take as long, but the
> games last for more turns. And picking an army takes CONSIDERABLY
> longer (especially when you have 2 players and only 1 army book =).
See above comments. IMHO choosing an Army takes less time than in SM/TL.
However, choosing an effective army takes more time and (usually) trial
and error as well. However that applies to SM/TL as well...
> 7) What's the 'average' game size anyway? It was 5-6000 points in
> SM/TL, but I'm not sure what it's supposed to be here.
We tried 1500 points to start off with, but have settled on 2000 points
per side. It provides scope for maneuvering on an 8x4' table, whereas ost
of our SM/TL battles were pretty much 'cover the board with troops'
affairs...
> 8) Close Assault vehicles (like the Khorne Engines) are looking pretty
> bad - that double speed if you can reach CC thing is important. Anyone
> have a good experience with CC vehicles?
Double speed when entering CC only applies to infantry, not to war
engines or vehicles. Sorry.
> 9) What's the use of infiltrators? Unless you had a whole detachment
> of them, looks like they'd get caught by the enemy without any support,
> and thus die easily. Again, has anyone used these with any success?
Mixed results so far. Will keep you posted as soon as we come up with
some definitive tactics for infiltrators. I think a house rule is
probably needed for infiltrators...
> Hmmm... thought I had more to say than that. Oh well.
> As for the game itself, I can't say I like it more than SM/TL.
> There are elements I like, and the forces seem more even, but
> it's just not as FUN. Or something, I dunno. Maybe I'll be able
> to form a more coherent opinion after I've played some more and
> gotten to know the rules better.
For what it's worth, I would recommend playing a few more games. Swap
your mix around. Try some new armies out. Then let us know what you
think.
> On a side note, my webpage (The Eye of Terror) is going
> to be splitting in half soon - the current page will still be
> around, but there will also be an E40k version that has all the
> same kinda stuff (chaos rules, Q&As, house rules, etc).
Might even send you some of our House Rules?
Please don't read any sarcasm into my replies Scott. I've read so many 'I
hate E40K' messages on newsgroups and on this list from people who really
haven't tried the game out properly that it burns me a wee bit. Don't
base your comments on the E40K game around the first 2-3 games. Also,
play using each other armies so that you can have a go at finding and
exploiting your own army's weaknesses. That REALLY TESTS your force out!
Kind regards, JAMES FLOWERS
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Received on Tue Apr 29 1997 - 01:04:47 UTC