Kaldor wrote:Unit1126PLL wrote:On the subject of SM Power Armor vs. Tank Armor, there's a weird disparity caused by the AP system.
For example, a Manticore is VASTLY more dangerous to a Land Raider than to a Marine, being Str 10 Ap 4 Ordnance Blast.
OTOH, a Lasgun is literally infinitely more dangerous to a Marine than a Land Raider, since it needs an 11 on a d6 to perturb the Land Raider, but only a 5 or 6 on the D6 to possibly kill a Marine.
Weird, that.
Yes, it's a naff mechanic that really needs to be re-evaluated. I'd be happy with getting rid of armour saves and armour values and armour penetration altogether and simply have a single Defense stat for all models.
It's simply another abstract mechanic in a game full of the. You see similar effects even in
RTS games, where you'll see a take fire at another tank and do significant damage while the next moment it'll fire at infantry and do barely any damage. It's simply there to make sure weapons fill the roles they're meant to fill, Your example of the Manticore is a good one. It's meant to be good against vehicles and light to medium infantry, but not heavy infantry. While not perfect, it's a common enough mechanic in strategy games.
Simply overhauling it to be a flat modifier to a defense mechanic isn't good enough. That kind of thing would require a complete overhaul of the save system, including anything currently granting a different save (like cover,
FNP, etc) instead granting positive modifiers to a defensive stat. And it would still then simply be an abstraction, as people would then complain about, using again your Manticore exampe, how a shrub grants protection against a Space Marine from an enormous missile.
