Pacific wrote:Thanks guys for the replies - I think as we get to bigger points values we will probably introduce more 'toys' that will eat some of the points and as has been said above add more wargear. Although we have stopped using mixed weapon units to try and speed things up, as we had a few combats take almost 30 minutes to play inc. a challenge, which is nuts for a mass combat game.
Also found New Recruit app a must, as it really helps speed up looking up special rules and stat lines.
Try using coloured dice for mixed weapon units. Makes it quick. Red dice for power swords, blue dice for heavy chainswords, etc.
New Recruit is decent, but be aware it has mistakes sometimes.
Automatically Appended Next Post: In a nutshell, it's an iteration on older editions of
40k (6th/7th, themselves iterations of a model going back to 3rd).
Things are at once more standardised and broader. Morale effects are more relevant, as units can be genuinely crippled if pinned down by a suppression weapon or flushed out of cover by massed flamers.
Raw stats are more important, as unit abilities are rarer than in
40k and offer fewer combo opportunities; you won't generally see your warlord give their squad a bunch of bonuses to their damage, durability and mobility just for existing like you will in
40k.
Vehicles are more "vehicle-like". You will not kill a tank with just lasguns no matter how many lasguns you fire at it. Vehicles are completely immune to damage from weapons whose strength is more than six points lower than the vehicle's facing armour value. However, dedicated anti-tank weapons can deal massive damage, and vehicles are often vulnerable from the rear where even lighter weapons can manage them.
Army construction is also much more structured. In 2.0, you used a fixed detachment of "slots" where you could take a limited number of units from each category (
HQ, heavy support, etc). In 3.0, the army building is modular, with
HQ models you take bringing their own detachments with them, with some character types getting access to more or unique detachments.
Armour piercing is all-or-nothing rather than subtractive. AP4 weapons ignore 4+, 5+ and 6+ saves, but do nothing to 3+ and 2+. This makes 2+ save units very resilient, and means you need to consider carefully what weapons you use for which role (though weight of fire forgives many sins). The Breaching rule acts as a middle ground by improving your gun's
AP on a high enough wound roll, with worse
AP otherwise.
The biggest difference however in my opinion, and the main thing which keeps me here in place of
40k, is the detail in unit customisation. A unit's base profile is fairly cheap, and additional equipment is bought for points, allowing you to decide whether you want an expensive workhorse, a cheap body or something in between, and allowing more room for cheaper weapons to thrive instead of being outcompeted by heavy guns on the same unit. You can also take units in partial sizes (I am painting an 8 man melta squad right now), which allows you to fit them into certain transports and get spare models to use for conversions (conversions are a huge deal in 30k!), instead of being locked to fixed sizes.
The latest edition of 30k also essentially completely removes rerolls from the game. In some cases this is a welcome change, though I'd argue they removed too many, as some units are left too weak and/or inconsistent with them gone (such as Space Marine Assault Squads).
