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Wassup guys... has it been a while!

Traitor guard never got off the ground, but with 9th edition upon us the 13th should hopefully be back to kicking ass soon!

Forecast shows potential opponents for this month:

Death Guard
Black Legion
Blood Angels
Crons

Do people still want battle reports in P&M blogs? Or should I open a new thread?

Stay safe y’all! -GamerGuy

Wassup guys!

So today, and for the next week or so I'm going to be collecting my thoughts and talking into the void about 40k for my own reflective purposes; if there's anyone out there interested in that my blog should be fairly active; due to Covid I am currently stranded far away from the bulk of my hobby supplies, so FULL DISCLOSURE there will be a distinct lack of painting and modelling for a bit...

-I'm hoping that I'll get into a routine and be able to get this baby off the ground again in about a week or so when i'm back at my own desk

Cheers,
GamerGuy

Life is better with painted models, but we play the hand we are dealt. Hope things settle down a bit and you can get into a good routine.

Lately I've seen a lot of posts about "balance" in 40k, which in itself is a whole can of worms to me. a game with this many factions, each with its own unique tricks, and with the game scaling up so very quickly... is it really an achievable goal? I say probably not...

but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. or the only option we have at our disposal.

The first thing I'd like to address is why i don't think true "balance" is what people want. true balance would give both players an equal chance of winning the game, and there's even a bias margin in chess, whereby white (the first turn player) has close to an 8% advantage in win-ratios. And that's 2 identical armies facing off on a small-ass board with no tactical depth. or ranged attacks that don't require moving into the position of the target.

and y'all... it's kinda boring.

I'm gonna be somewhat controversial and say that if your games of warhammer 40k are feeling one-sided, it's your own fault (kinda)

We're grown ass men (predominantly?), and no-one gets to tell you how to play with your toy soldiers on your coffee table, in your house. now obviously it's a different kettle of fish when we get into tournaments, but 40k should never have become a competitive game in my honest opinion. change my mind.

growing up, 40k for me was about these dope lil figurines that my brother, friend and I would collect; and then play small scale games with. we couldn't afford a knight until 8th ed (though tbf another friend from college got a stompa for his orks mid 7th when he was getting tabled 24/7)... the rulebook used to have an opening paragraph about "forging the narrative" which became somewhat of a meme, but honestly, I feel they had the right idea. People are so sick of blatantly busted combos that they just want an even (ish) chance of winning. and for the last few editions its become increasingly obvious when setting up if one list is gonna smash the other in 3 turns flat... and no one wants to spend 2+hrs packing their army away with no hope of fighting back in any way meaningful.

sooo what do I propose? well. obviously its not for everyone? but i've had decent success with playing skirmish level points in 9th, but you've gotta get your terrain on point. -1 to hit, and +1 armour save are nice durability boosters so long as the firepower coming in isn't from some deathstar unit. and for those of you seeking a game with more tactical depth, get together with a likeminded friend and try playing a game of 650-800pts.

now I hear you cry! but gamerguy, my primaris marines can't fit F all in 650pts... and that's deeply unfortunate, it is. but heres the kicker- new units are a product of their environment. to justify their cost, theyre built for battlefields full of tanks, monsters and daemons... and you don't "need" that durability the way you do in those scale games.

I'm currently theorising a new game mode that i hope to someday release here on dakka that combines low point values, GEQ (guardsmen equivalent) infantry as the norm, and implementing some of the cooler bits from kill team for character customisation options... but the biggest change I've been working on during my isolation, is abandoning the player turn system.


-pre-warning, if you're not into complexity, look away now.

My solitude may be driving me mad, but I tested a concept a few times recently that basically "frees" the players of the rigid turn structure and system, which immediately made the game feel more tactical.

I'mma be back later with my proposed game mode, it may be tomorrow, but if anyone's interested in helping me get this off the ground you will be credited at its free release to DakkaDakka.

Take it easy y'all,
GamerGuy

Try this on for size.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Rules for Eldar/Orks/Space Marines/Sisters/Crons (tau?) inbound

yo whats poppin' guys,

so today i started planning out my list for my new imperial guard detachment for 9th edition, and I have some questions for y'all.

First up, you should know that the list comprises entirely of Kasrkin Guardsmen with some armoured support, and i can't decide whether to go with the blue white of my space marines, making them a human auxiliary force? of go with a blend of greens for a more Halo/ODST vibe?

the list atm is

Company Commander (Power Fist, Laspistol)

Command Squad (4x Sniper Rifles)

Veteran Squad (power sword, heavy flamer, grenade launcher, meltagun, plasmagun)

Veteran Squad (power sword, heavy flamer, grenade launcher, meltagun, plasmagun)

Veteran Squad (power sword, heavy flamer, grenade launcher, meltagun, plasmagun)

Veteran Squad (power sword, heavy flamer, grenade launcher, meltagun, plasmagun)

Tauros Venator (twin multi-laser, hunter killer missile)
Tauros Venator (twin multi-laser)
Tauros Venator (twin multi-laser)

Total 650pts.

Gonna convert up a trio of Achilles Ridgerunners for a warthog-style tauros squadron, and hopefully at some point add both a vulture and vendetta gunship to bring the list up to about 1200.

I know they're not competitive as they could be, but damn if they won't look dope

thoughts appreciated,
GamerGuy

On game balance:
40k has always been best when played between people with likeminded expectations of the game. It has always been broken. It has always been unbalanced. You want a game where both people are pushing the envelope? Fun. Both fluffy lists? Fun. Mix the two? Unfun. Poor internal balance within the codexes and between them complicated things. I’ve had games where I needed to lean on the brakes to get my Eldar army down to the level where it would be a fun game for my opponent.

I wish you the best tinkering with your own ruleset.

--

On paint:
Generally I like GEQ in realistic camo/uniforms. Leave the heraldry for the marines. That said, I’m not up on the moser Scion fluff, so they might cross the line. What I might do would be to include a color splash somewhere to tie them in with your marines, so if you do ally them, they look like a coherent auxiliary.

I’ve got my eye on the ridgerunner myself for conversion work. We’ll see how it compares to the new marine ATV when it comes out, size wise.

Hey Nev, thanks for stopping by again, your blog has been a source of entertainment since I was in high school so its always great to get your input!

Couldn't agree more about mixing different expectations for a game; I've found myself drifting away from "competitive" style games because it rarely actually feels like a competition these days, instead preferring to write missions/scenarios that tell a story; aside from anything else they tend to be the most memorable!

I dunno how far I'll actually get with my homebrew set, Its mostly just a place to collect my thoughts on how to get the most out of my brothers fledgling ad mech, and my Dad's fledgling Mad-max themed Genestealer cults (Pics inbound soon!)

The marine ATV is a good call; I think i'll be sticking with the ridgerunner as the model is very aesthetically pleasing to me, but let me know how it goes for you!!

GamerGuy






Automatically Appended Next Post:
How does Dakka generally feel about recasting OOP metal figures in resin at home? just putting some feelers out there...

I say this because while I have 40+ genuine metal kasrkin for my veteran squads, if I wanted to apply the same aesthetic to say, a concript blob... or 3, for competitive games, we'd be looking at hunting 60 premium priced sculpts...

and i have neither the cash nor patience for that :(

Any advice Dakka?
GamerGuy

2:22am, pretty wasted... wip Kasrkin photo to bully myself into being active when I’m sober

He might be blurry, but looks good.

Keep up the good work!

Nev man you’re always so kind, respect

Remember that far more people lurk then post. Even if you don’t get many (or any) relies, you are not just screaming into the lonely void.

I found painting always helped me get through things. You need to sit down and focus on the mini, so everything else can take a back seat for a bit. Sometimes that break is the gasp of fresh air you need not to drown, or allows you to return to your problems and take a new look at how to overcome them.

Everyone has problems, we generally just don’t see other people’s. Although this last year has been shining a lot of light around exposing the cracks. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Hang in there, keep painting. Or take a break. Whatever you need to do.