Re: [Epic] Re: No Subject

From: David Lado <lado_at_...>
Date: Wed, 28 May 1997 17:21:38 -0400 (EDT)

>Ken Taborek wrote:
>>
>> I don't agree with this at all. It is ridiculous to assume that, for
>> instance, a Imperator Titan reduced to 1 DC is actually lighter at that
>> point than a Shadowsword. Damage is damage, it doesn't reduce mass, just
>> re-arranges it a little :)
>
>I refuse to defend games workshop on the issue of making logical sense.
>I would however, note that the premise of titans (and lifta-droppas) is
>fairly ridiculous to begin with.
>
>I do however think that the rules on p.34, p.41 are pretty clear and
>that a damaged war machine can be dropped; the lifta droppa rolls higher
>than a targets DC and DC is reduced by damage.

My first reaction was the same as Kens. But when I looked back over
the rules, they do seem to very clearly indicate a damaged WE can
be lifted (even an Imperator!). There is nothing under the rules
of SLDs that even implies you use the starting DC, nor is there
anything under the Damage Capacity rules to distinguish between
starting DC and current DC. Even if I don't fully agree with it,
the rules do clearly indicate that the damage capacity of a unit
is how many hits it can currently absorb:

pg 41, second para

"Unlike normal units, war engine are able to absorb more than one hit
before they are destroyed. The number of hits a war engine can take is
shown by its DAMAGE CAPACITY (their emphasis). Each hit scored will
reduce the war engine's Damage Capacity by 1 point, and the war engine
is only destroyed when its Damage Capacity is reduced to 0."

Again, I may not totally agree with it, but it's very clear that the
Damage Capacity is the current total. I guess the SLD is able to
rip enough of a chunck off the WE that it blows up. Realistically,
I don't think the SLD will do anything more than issue a 'coup de
gras', since the WE has to be pretty battered to be vulnerable.
The SLD can inflict at most 5 hits on a WE, and more likely will
do 2-4. This is no worse than a death ray, which cost exactly the
same amount (for orks). Actually, the traktor beam is considerably
worse than a death ray since it cannot affect the uninjured Impy,
while the DR still crits it.

The more I think about it, I talk myself into thinking the rule is
actually no big deal. I know some people will argue that it's not
"realistic" that a SLD can lift an Imperator in any condition. But
I agree with Lemm; it's even more ridiculous to argue the physics
of invisible traktor beams :).

David

David
Received on Wed May 28 1997 - 21:21:38 UTC