Re: [Epic] [E40k] Thoughts & Questions

From: Mark A Shieh <SHODAN+_at_...>
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 23:58:41 -0400 (EDT)

Scott Shupe <shupes_at_...> writes:
> 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.

        They seem less fragile to me. The Imperial, Ork, and Tyranid
Titans can survive hit after hit, and the Eldar Titans ignore most
hits. <shrug>
        And I still don't understand why all the Tyranid players feel
that their lack of shielding is fatally crippling. Comparing them to
Imperial Titans, their DC is the same as the Imperial DC+shields, and
they are cheaper (because it isn't quite as good). But if you hit a
Reaver with 4 Anti-Tank shots and then a Death Ray, it'll be about as
bad off as hitting a Hierodule with 4 Anti-Tank Shots and a Death Ray
(slightly higher chance of a critical) But the point is, you
shouldn't be as good as an Imperial Titan, because you cost about 80%
as much.

> And what they did to the LoB is a crime. 14 Assault indeed!

        Wot?!? <sigh> Doesn't it have a CC weapon though?
Nevermind. Just checked, it *can* have a CC weapon. Quite different.

> 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.

        I had good results with Jetbikes, mainly because that +1
Psyker bonus contributes a good bit, as well as being far enough away
that I have fewer blast markers...

> Don't get into HtH with the bugs (unavoidable, I know, considering
> how fast they are). You will die...

        What else is new... :)

> 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?!?

        I thought Beasts of Nurgle had the basic stat line... But
yeah, there's no option for fielding them... Hmm... Seems like
the basic Demon stat line costs 10 points.

> 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.

        The rules aren't clear at all, but I think we've been playing
that you 1/2 FP, and then subtract. I can't really find support in
the rules for either side, but I haven't looked that hard.

> 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).

        I'm glad someone agrees with me. OTOH, the game itself *does*
seem to run faster. But learning Epic 2nd edition was a much fast
process until you had to figure out stuff like the Wave Serpent out.

> 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 =).

        True. My typical game lasted 3 turns, and now they're 4. I
can see how a game might last 2 turns in a larger points value battle,
but IMHO you're playing the game wrong if you're ending on turn 1.
Either the board is too small, or one side has cheezed out on T-hawks.

> 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.

        I thought 5-6k in SM/TL was considered a very large game.
(10k being obscenely large and only to be done rarely). Since the
conversion ratio from SM/TL to E40k seems to be about 4:3, I'd say
that your equivalent game size would be about 3.5-4.5k....

> 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?

        Well, Many of the Close Assault vehicles are quite shooty as
well. (Jetbikes aren't really Close Assault, but they're fast enough
that they can find something even worse than they are in Assault).
I'm thinking Dreadnaughts, really... and perhaps Imperial Tanks, but
I haven't looked at them recently. Purely CC vehicles probably are
somewhat hosed. Much like Jetbikes in the old version. Couldn't take
cover, and couldn't get to CC because they'd be shot down while not
being pinned.

> 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?

        They're good screening troops. I managed to get them in front
of the Dreadnaughts for a couple of turns, and since Guardians are
completely worthless in this version, I'll be using Scouts from now on.

Mark
Received on Tue Apr 29 1997 - 03:58:41 UTC