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Well, I was working on my brother's B-Day present, and I was making him a Valkyrie, and I thought "How cool would it be to have some units for it?" So I got a box of guardsmen, and converted them by simply cutting the top half of a space marine backpack like so:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/340143-Dropguard%20Backpack.html
(Sorry, Image is being stubborn. )

Anyways, So by gluing that part on the little knob on the back of a guardsmen, I had a cheap and easy Dropguard. But then I thought about rules, so I wrote this up:

Dropguard – 100 points

Name WS BS S T W I A Ld Sv
Dropguard 3 4 3 3 1 3 1 7 5+
Dropguard Sergeant 3 4 3 3 1 3 2 8 5+
Dropguard Weapon Team 3 4 3 3 2 3 1 7 5+

Team:
1 Dropguard Sergeant
9 Dropguard

Unit Type:
Jump Infantry

Equipment:
Flak Armor
Leap-Packs
Lasgun (Dropguard Sergeant has a laspistol instead)
Close-Combat weapon
Frag and Krak grenades

Special Rules:
Airdrop
Deep strike
Infiltrate

Options:
The Dropguard Sergeant may exchange his laspistol and/or Close-combat Weapon for:
Shotgun......................................................................................................................free
Bolt Pistol...........................................................................................................2 points
Power Weapon...............................................................................................10 points
Plasma Pistol.................................................................................................10 points
Power Fist.......................................................................................................15 points
Any Dropguard may replace his lasgun with a shotgun.................................free
One Dropguard may have:
Vox-caster.........................................................................................................5 points
Up to three other Dropguard may replace their lasguns with:
Flamer, Grenade Launcher, or Sniper Rifle...............................................5 points
Meltagun.........................................................................................................10 points
Plasma Gun..................................................................................................10 points
Heavy Flamer (One per squad).................................................................20 points
Replace two other Dropguard with a Dropguard weapons team armed with one of the following:
Mortar................................................................................................................5 points
Autocannon or Heavy Bolter.......................................................................10 points
Missile Launcher.........................................................................................15 points
Lascannon....................................................................................................20 points
The squad may take Drop-Zone Equipment for 25 points.

Airdrop: For each Valkyrie Assault carrier you take, you may take one Dropguard squad. They either come loaded on the Valkyrie, or in reserves. If you take them on the Valkyrie, then they may simply jump out the back. They count as deep striking anywhere that the Valkyrie flew over, and can only scatter a maximum of 3”.

Leap-Packs: These allow the squad to move up to 12” inches during the movement phase, but if they move more than 6 inches, then they must roll scatter, with a maximum scatter distance of 3”. Since the squad is constantly flitting around, they gain a 5+ cover save whenever they move more than 6”.

Drop-Zone Equipment: When the squad first enters the table, place down a marker with the squad. All friendly units within 6” of the marker gain +1 to their BS and count as ignoring Night Fighting within 16” of the marker.

Comments? Criticisms?

Maybe 12-13 points per model. I like it

Let the Sergeant have a lasgun but otehrwise pretty good

well, I might have, except thzt all the other sergeants have laspistols instead.

I like it, but I think that instead of only scattering a max of 3", they should just scatter D6 inches.

For deepstriking just give them a reroll like Storm Troopers. Beyond that the price and everything looks good, they are about as expensive as and look like they would play like Veterans with a doctrine.

@ Yamgrenade:

I thought about it, but they are using a short range backpack that unreliably throws them into the air. I also was trying to avoid the fact of guardsmen that could move 18".

@ Buttons:

The re-roll also came up during my thought process, but then again, still trying to avoid an 18+" movement. As for the veteran doctrine Idea, that's pretty much what I was aiming for.

Rennoc215 wrote:@ Yamgrenade:

I thought about it, but they are using a short range backpack that unreliably throws them into the air. I also was trying to avoid the fact of guardsmen that could move 18".

@ Buttons:

The re-roll also came up during my thought process, but then again, still trying to avoid an 18+" movement. As for the veteran doctrine Idea, that's pretty much what I was aiming for.

Still they aren't actually moving 6". With deepstriking it is more like being blown off course than actually moving. For the jump pack, rather than making them scatter, perhaps you roll 1D6+6 to decide their maximum movement. If you roll a 6 you can move a full 6", if you roll a 1 you only move 7 inches. It is probably the best way to model it without potentially allowing your guardsmen to move up to 15/18" per turn.

Here are my ideas on what you can do for movement
3D3+3" (average distance of 9")
2D6" (average distance of 7")
12" (constant distance of 12")
1D6+6" (average distance of 9-10")

IMO 12" with no rolls is the simplest, while the first and last options are perhaps the best for balance purposes. If for some reason you decide to go with option 2, I suggest you give the troops the option to simply walk 6" on foot. Honestly option two is terrible since it only makes your troops move 1" more on average and can have them only moving 2", although it is easier than the first and last options.

Assuming you have an army, I suggest you test out different movement options. Just have a small 200 vs 200 or 500 vs 500 point battle ignoring the FOC to see how well they perform. Is the scattering movement constantly making your guys land completely off course? Are your guys too fast for it to be worth just 30 points more? Are the troops way too strong against a specific type of enemy?

Thanks for the excellent ideas. I knew that I wanted some kind of jump, and the multitude of rolling ideas helps a lot. And I will revise the rules after playtesting it for a little while. Thank you very much.

Rennoc215 wrote:Thanks for the excellent ideas. I knew that I wanted some kind of jump, and the multitude of rolling ideas helps a lot. And I will revise the rules after playtesting it for a little while. Thank you very much.

No problem.

Rennoc215 wrote:@ Yamgrenade:

I thought about it, but they are using a short range backpack that unreliably throws them into the air. I also was trying to avoid the fact of guardsmen that could move 18".

@ Buttons:

The re-roll also came up during my thought process, but then again, still trying to avoid an 18+" movement. As for the veteran doctrine Idea, that's pretty much what I was aiming for.

I was talking about while deep-striking, not moving.

Rennoc215 wrote:well, I might have, except thzt all the other sergeants have laspistols instead.

I think most IG players agree that not having even the option to have a lasgun instead of a las pistol and CC weapon...
At least give him the option of taking a lasgun for free instead...

Rennoc215 wrote:
Drop-Zone Equipment: When the squad first enters the table, place down a marker with the squad. All friendly units within 6” of the marker gain +1 to their BS and count as ignoring Night Fighting within 16” of the marker.

Comments? Criticisms?

So Drop Guard could be BS 5 if they were within 6" of the drop zone? Awesome.

I quite like the sound of the drop guard. Still quite frail, so they'll be using cover a lot. I can see a lot of dangerous terrain tests coming up for the Dropguard.

Looks cool, but:

- Is it a Troops or a FA choice?
- When i move with leap packs, do i move like Jump Infantry? Because the Dropguard is Jump Infnatry, but i can choose to move as Infantry and still use the leap packs.
- Also, what if they scatter onto impassable terrain when they use the leap packs?
- Do the 5+ cover save improve to 4+ when the squad GtG?
- Jump Infantry cannot embark onto transport vehicles. So i guess they cant start the game in Valkyres.
- Can i bring them after Vendettas too?

AtoMaki wrote:- Is it a Troops or a FA choice?

They are fast attack, but may be taken as an upgrade.

AtoMaki wrote:- When i move with leap packs, do i move like Jump Infantry? Because the Dropguard is Jump Infnatry, but i can choose to move as Infantry and still use the leap packs.

The leap packs have their own movement rules. the reason they are jump infantry is because of the way they move. so the answer is that they can't move like jump infantry, but benefit from other bonuses of being jump infanty.

AtoMaki wrote:- Also, what if they scatter onto impassable terrain when they use the leap packs?

I guess it would be that they move minimum safe distance away from the terrain, back towards where they started from.

AtoMaki wrote:- Do the 5+ cover save improve to 4+ when the squad GtG?

No, because the Idea is that when they are jumping about, it is rather erratic, making it hard to hit them. When they have GtG, then they are dug in an encampment, keeping them safe.

AtoMaki wrote:- Jump Infantry cannot embark onto transport vehicles. So i guess they cant start the game in Valkyres.

These can be the exception. There is an exception for everything.

AtoMaki wrote:- Can i bring them after Vendettas too?

Since the design is rather similar, and There is a transport capability, the answer is yes.

Why not just use the Elysians rules from Imperial Armor 8? Basically, take normal Guard, for a slight increase in price (+1pt per model, I think, so infantry squads are 60pts instead of 50) everyone has Deep Strike and can take Valkyries as Dedicated Transports, and you get Vultures, Thunderbolts, and Lightnings instead of tanks in Heavy Support.

Well, I don't currently happen to own a copy of imperial armor 8, and I felt like making something special just for my little brother. (And the wonderful Dakka Community )