Over the last month or so I have put a fair bit of thought into my Fandex: Squat Stronghold. I've had the luxury of working away from home for a couple of weeks, and I've put the time to good use - the document now stands at some eighty pages and at the last count was exceeding sixteen thousand words (I didn't realise I even knew that many words...).
Anyhow, for those of you loyal, interested or just plain curious, I have decided to post up three teaser pages, each one detailing a particular unit:
Termite Transport
Squat Engineer SappersIron Eagle Gyrocoptor
Just click on the image to open up a larger JPEG image of the page (I'm not bright enough to work out how to publish a pdf on the blog - if anyone knows, please feel free to let me know the secret!).
As for the three pages, please feel free to read 'em and let me know your comments. They are very much first drafts and completely unplaytested, but I thought it would be good to show everyone that I have been working, and there is something to show for your patience!
Awesome work! Looks fantastic!
ReplyDeleteAs far as hosting the doc, I saw other people using Box, and started to do so myself.
http://www.box.com/home/
Free to sign up, fairly easy to figure out. Upload your file, and you can get a link to share it with where other folks can look at it and download it, also for free.
Some suggestions on the units themselves:
Termite:
I think the intention is for things under the template to take the hit, then the termite emerges in the same spot, pushing the other stuff out of the way, but it's not clear in the current text. Maybe it's referenced on another page? If not, that mechanic needs some work.
Since the Termite is immobile once it arrives, I think a lot of folks would want to model it in the "emerging" position. Why not reflect that in the rules? Like say that the rear armor is underground, make it 12/12/10 so there's no question about if something hits front or side, as might come up with something sticking in the air. Keep the rear av just for CC hits.
Sappers:
Tank Traps - why do a new mechanic here? Why not just call them dangerous terrain for vehicles?
Gyrocopter:
Pop up - I'd take out references to hidden - lots of potential problems there IMO, principal among them being that hidden from intended target is not necessarily hidden from enemy. One model in the right place could stop all popups.
Instead I'd suggest letting it use elevation regardless of what it may or may not be behind. Let it be stationary horizontally and raise up 6" and count as moving at combat speed, raise up 12" and count as moving at cruising speed, then after firing drop back down. Some choices, some limits, and also will count as moving for CC attacks.
Hi - and firstly, thanks for the comments! It's always great to know that people are interested in what you're working on.
ReplyDeleteYou've actually come up with some really good pointers there. It's a real issue when you're working in isolation that you become blinkered, and you can end up re-writing the rulebook when really a little bit of adaptation is all you need. I agree with your thought on simplifying the Termite's armour - I'm a big fan of keeping things as unambiguous as possible, so that side armour value is a definite change I'll be making. One of the two Termites that I've already built is 'surfacing' - you can see a picture here: http://40kroguetrader.blogspot.com/2011/11/squats-as-imperial-guard-army-list-plan.html Ramshackle Games also make a great Termite for £6 (tes, six pounds!) here: http://shop.ramshacklegames.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=211
As you've rightly assumed, the idea is for the Termite to surface, cause damage and then clear surviving models to the edge of the Termite's base. A bit more detail needed there too!
As for the Sappers and their ability to build Tank Traps - dangerous terrain causes a vehicle to be immobilised on a 6, so to balance the abilities up I may just increase the number of tank traps to 4 pieces of 6" x 1", which gives a similar defensive advantage. Again, simplicity is the key!
Finally onto the Iron Eagle Gyrocopter. I actually only thought up this idea about five minutes before publishing the rules up on the blog, so I agree they need a bit more thought! I think you're right about removing the word 'Hidden' - it has too may implications in the game.
As for counting the model as moving 6" or 12" depending on how high it pops up, I intentionally meant for the Iron Eagle to be stationary when it performs a vertical pop-up, so as to offset the enormous game advantage of being able to shoot at enemy targets from a hidden/obscured position where it can't be hit by return fire! I'm not overkeen on rules which are all advantage without any disadvantage - that's the sort of thing which tends to put people off playing against homegrown codexes and the like.
I will definitely be updating the codex with your suggestions, so thanks again - and watch this space, as the whole document (featuring some forty-three units!) will be ready in a few weeks' time!
Gra.
I don't think that all advantage is bad, as long as it's accounted for in the cost!
ReplyDelete