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http://www.multiupload.com/MDNJV6OXQ7 (Link refresh. Test value for special character Yurgret of 124 points confirmed - just don't have the new file handy atm.)

Link is to a new, complete Squat Codex compatible with 5th Edition.

Codex is in pdf file format. Name is some long garble assigned by the hosting site - haven't used it before. Sorry about that.

Features 15 regular unit types, 2 special characters, 4 vehicles. Rule set is not restricted to OOP models, but follows an, "If I could do anything I wanted with the Squats" approach to help bring them current. Codex explains in more detail.

37 pages overall with Table of Contents, Introduction, Original Back Story (much has happened to the Squats since the Inquisitorial Order removing them from records), Special Rules, complete Army List, Unit Introductions, Special Character pages, a Weapon Overview sheet (wargear options are currently limited, as units are designed around specialized roles), and Summary.

Rule set has been tested, but not vetted as thoroughly as I'd like. Have run a number of games with them against Blood Angels, Orks, Space Wolves, Tyranids, and Tau in order of most common opponents. Hope to run them against Necrons this week. More thorough vetting by anyone interested in the community would be helpful to iron out kinks.

It's been a little hard getting consistent performance results down the way 5th edition codices are shaping up - each seems more powerful than the last, which isn't helping with some of the finer details, and armies still using 3rd edition codices (Dark Eldar especially, I'd expect) might be especially troubled by a few Squat special rules and artillery weapons. I don't regularly game with Dark Eldar players, so any vetting on that front would be particularly helpful. Any questions about rule clarity would be helpful, too - I know what I meant to write, but did it come out the right way? Don't know yet.

I apologize to anyone who didn't want to hear anymore about the Squats. It's not my intention to force them on anyone - just offering some rules that people who still like them can use, or people who like new codices can read if they get bored. General consensus is that they were a little goofy in their 40k incarnation. The models look a little dated, but by 1st edition standards they still seem pretty nice. As I've been working on this rule set and codex, I've grown to like them more, and if I were to do it all over again (we're talking a lot of hours invested) it could probably come out first rate.

Anyway, thanks!

What's the reasoning behind the "unstable surface" special rule?

Squats live and work predominantly underground (I've taken some liberties here, but many assertions largely match 1st and 2nd edition material as I could find / remember it - I've expanded on the underground bit). Since they have free access to most areas underground, they mine the field (sounds a little Blood Bowl, but it's what I'd do if I could put bombs underground). If a vehicle's going slowly enough, the battlefield exploding / falling to pieces all around them is manageable. If they go fast, they don't have as much time to react. That's the rationale, anyway.

Technomancer: Being able to repair destroyed vehicles is OP. No other race has this ability. I would just remove the fix destroyed part.

Council of the Ancients: Skimmers should be able to ignore undermining as well. Also, why are they T4?

Hooligans: Why Str/T 4 when the standard is 3?

Bulk Lifter: This is arguably better than a chimera . . . why is it cheaper?

Hearthguard: Weapon lacks type in the Hearthguard entry, but stats are there

Mole Tank: Tremor: Are you allowed to fire this anywhere on the table? Seems somewhat odd to me. Instead, I would make this more like the mawlocs ability, where it deals damage as part of deepstriking. Also, assaulting out of deepstrike is a very powerful ability, usually rather expensive.

Surveyors: Looks more like a light tank/skimmer to me

Personally, I would add more/different weapon options to various units to make things more interesting.

My biggest problem is that normal Squats aren't T4.

*looks up* wheres the falling rock?

Normal Squats weren't made Toughness 4 as a design choice, as most of the 40k armies use a Toughness 4 base; gets a little redundant (or I felt that way, anyway). Squats are originally human stock by the story. They're sturdier, so they can move and fire, and slower, but it seemed their basic stats would be pretty similar.

Technomancer being able to repair destroyed vehicles is powerful. The 6" range is pretty powerful as well, when other techs need base contact. Some can repair on a 2+, though, while Technomancers never get better than a 4+. It's a powerful ability, but it was planned out that way to be unique. Without their bodyguards, Technomancers are very weak and cost a lot compared to other Meks (like Marines), and they don't get anything like Kustom Force Fields (Orks), which are arguably much more powerful.

Undermining isn't just collapsing tunnels - flares launched; exploding traps and mines. If you've ever seen a Humvee destroyed (there are videos), then you know that an explosion can reach very far into the air, and even blocking visibility can let a skimmer drive into things (Star Wars speeders . Council members are tougher because Squats grow tougher as they age (as I have them - covered in story fluff).

Hooligans are steroid pushers. They don't tend to live very long.

Bulk Lifters cost more than Chimeras? 55 points is the same, isn't it? Chimeras have 5 fire points, but are not open topped, have two heavy bolters (versus 1 Neo-plasma Cannon), Smoke Launchers, Search Lights, a lot of Wargear options, and can start with some heavy weapons inside them (Squats need to unload troop choices before they can load something else in the transports). At first, I did have the Bulk Lifters priced higher. Squats lost a lot. Still hoping for good playtesting feedback.

Thanks! I'll fix the Hearthguard entry.

Mole Tank logic being that the earth shifts and won't necessarily shake around where the tank will surface. When the tank does surface, though, it pushes up enough earth to knock anyone else out of the way. Assaulting out of Deep Strike is *very* powerful. I still can't believe Marine Dreadnoughts can do it by spending only 15 points more on their Drop Pods (Lucius Pattern, I think - one of the Imperial Armour books has them for regular games). For their weapons, Mole Tanks aren't worth the cost, so they are paying more for that ability (about 50 points more if you use Ork Battlewagons with Deff Rollas as a corollary). This ability is also somewhat limited by Squat mobility. The troops can't move very quickly, and none of them are Fleet, so a good scatter can trouble them. I do need to define access points as sides and rear, though - whoops!

Surveyors were originally intended to look a little more like a small Viper / dual jetbike. Someone had a cool picture online, and I couldn't find another better suited.

Weapons and Options can add sometimes, but they can also subtract. It's weird. Thunderers with a full heavy weapon range, for example (the OOP models can come with pretty much anything). Well, then they're a catchall - don't really need to use the units a specific way at all. You see this with Marines a lot (more so with each edition, it seems). Same for Trikes. Kings could use more, maybe, but they can already do everything I thought they should be able to (strong in hand-to-hand and can Deep Strike in Mole Tanks or move fast with bikes).

In this regard, the 3rd edition Necron codex served as an example. Everything was Gauss this or that, no sergeant or exarchs or anything, very small unit range (3 HQs counting their special character, 3 Elites, 1 Troop, 3 Fast Attack, 3 Heavy Support?). They did well even through 4th edition, though, and only need a rewrite because the C'Tan can be insta-gibbed and melee and vehicles have become much more powerful relative to shooting.

That, and you don't really need options for more flavor. Thudd guns have no options at all, and they're terrifying. I've thought an awful lot about those. There's an Imperial Guard artillery unit in an Imperial Armour (once again for regular games) that's very similar. That said, when models are properly spread out (1" apart at least), they don't seem to do more than ~115 points of damage per firing round, and they're easy to knock offline themselves - very like 3rd edition War Walkers with two Starcannons each, except they seem to do less damage and die a little more easily.

Sorry if I'm being resistant to suggestions. I'll definitely keep them in mind.

Very neat stuff! GJ!

The note that a King on a Bike can join Bike squads in unnecessary, any IC can join a unit of Bikes.

Do wrecked vehicles that come back to life still give up their kill points? Can you get multiple kill points by wrecking a vehicle 2 or more times?

Oh, thanks. Was thinking, "Well, if he buys a bike, of course he'll want to join Bikers." I'll make that change.

Good question on the kill points - I hadn't thought of that! Thinking about it, it seems logical that you could. That would be a nice counter-point to the powerful ability, too. Let's go with yes, you keep kill points for each time you kill a vehicle (allowing for multiple kill points), and I'll test it in my next match.

This looks excellent. I've only had a chance to scan read and look at your fluff (sorry) and I love the effort you've put in. I'll probably come back with a few more questions later but first...

How come the trikes only have a heavy bolter or lascannon? The models predominantly had multi meltas (My 8 certainly do) and this option would be a nice nod to us oldies who still run a large number of original models.

Same again for thunderers. All those lovely grenade launchers, heavy bolters, meltas and lascannons going to waste. sigh.

Keep it up, whilst its not quite how I saw the survival of the squats, it's excellent and clearly a labour of love. The stunties will laud you for its creation.

Oh and "the Compact" how I wish I'd thought of that.

I hope I can come up with an adequate answer for the heavy weapons. I love efficient, well-written codices that have specialized unit roles that interrelate and work well together. I liked about half of the Eldar codex very well (the half I see as reasonable to field), and was a big fan of the Necron codex. A place for everything, and everything in its place.

Thunderers and Trikes with every sort of heavy weapon under the sun (they could mount almost anything, as I recall), are a sort of catch-all. Sappers would certainly be out of a job. By restricting choices, not only do units have clearer roles (anti-infantry, anti-heavy infantry, anti-tank, anti-heavy tank), but you also have to plan a little more carefully. Can't just take a Thunderer Squad with one of everything just in case! I'm probably violating canon unforgivably here, as Squats could very well be argued to field any number of heavy weapons they want in any configuration. Then again, canon's been deleted wherever possible anyway. :(

I've been fielding old Thunderer heavy bolters as Sappers - when you have so many of a model, ya know? "What are those?" "Well, those are demo charges." You can certainly use the models and claim that all firing together have the effect of Lascannons. Multi-meltas would be good to have on Trikes, though... I'll take another look at those. I might very well add in all of the other heavy weapons at some point (I certainly didn't skip it so far because I was lazy!) If you really want to simulate having them, use reasonable costs for them and use instead of what's in the codex - can use any of the Devastator squad variants for weapon costs, added to the cost of a basic Squat PDF (7 points).

Sorry I wasn't criticising per se, just got over excited by seeing someone else interested in my force (and not just to slate them or spout twelfth hand nonsense about them) and these were the things I noted before I had to do some actual work .

My viewpoint is one of a Rogue Trader player since '87 who has recently spent (too much) time converting my force to be 5th legal using IG. So I'm used to being able to have what i want, where i want and the only person responsible is me. Will try to use your codex for a couple of games and see what I think. Biggest problem you'll face is that the generic 6" move of 5th gets rid of the RT squats main drawback and equaliser.

Overall though I like it.....It may not be how I see them (mine are a retinue for a rogue trader) but it does have that ring of truth about it.

Do you have a stunty force? if so can we see some pics?

Cheers

Dances

I've been using a good friend's force (fellow who got me into 40k maybe 12 years ago). He's also been collecting since the RT days, and has a significant army. Not painted, so I'd be shy about photographing them, but he has some exceptionally nice modded models putting something that looks like dreadnought close combat arms onto backpacks regular Squats lug around. Made most of this ruleset independently based on what I wanted to see, then when back and more thoroughly read source material (2nd edition booklet, and a Red Book another friend had). Surprising how well a lot of it matched up.

The movement equalizer is in the codex, though. All Squat Infantry choices (everything but bikes, trikes and vehicles) follow the Slow and Purposeful rule. Better of 2d6 generally levels out to be about 4".

If you have a legal Squat IG force, I'd be hesitant to mess with them, though you could always sub in whatever's needed. The purpose of this codex is to keep the Squats alive as their own army instead of a subsidiary force for another, and to update what GW considered to be "goofy" rules and themes. A few "oldie but goodie" weapons were tossed in the mix as well (Webbers, and the White Squat special character has a Graviton Gun that largely follows original rules ).

After a more detailed read I'm smiling more and more. Don't know 5th rules well enough yet to spot the slow and purposeful; so apologies.

Model wise I still have enough 'spare' unused models to make this army aswell so i may try some of them out. Don't really agree with using them as IG but i figured this would be the most acceptable to other players as I'd like to start entering some tourneys in the near/mid future.

Well done for keeping them alive and allowing that squat flavour to show through. Good man.

You must have an impressive force to have enough for IG and have models left over.

Good luck at the tournaments.

yeah it started out as a labour of love and its now turned into a penance. Sooo much conversion (just little bits mainly) and I keep getting distracted.

Few battles recently - beat Necrons twice: one narrow (1 VP margin), one major (horrible, horrible Immortal saves). Lost to Chaos Daemons by a narrow margin (was major until the White Squat showed up late in the top of Turn 5. Shot and assaulted 16 Plague Bearers, then got assaulted by a Daemon Prince, a Soul Grinder, and two heralds. Killed the Daemon Prince, killed the Soul Grinder, killed one Herald and killed 9 Plague Bearers before they took him down (Daemon Prince and Herald were wounded going in). Game ended at the bottom of turn 7).

Looking at the other special character, Yurgret, I think a significant cost reduction is due. Her abilities are handy, but not in keeping with the cost of a slow model that goes down pretty easily. Original thinking was she could use range and keep squads pinned while offering army-wide bonuses and maybe help sack a 'Nid Deep Striker, but she's too expensive for anything but Death Leaper. Probably going to reduce her to 124 points and test sometime soon.

Is the above link still working? I am unable to go to that site, 404 error

Same as Beowulf for me.


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p.s. if they put squats back in i would definetly play the.

could you take a look at the link, i'd be interested in reading the codex, but the link seems dead.

Yeah, I got excited when I saw the post, but indeed, the link appears dead. (Epic Fail).

http://multiupload.com/ upload it here and post all the links, that way it wont go dead easily