Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Models are allocated 4 movement points each turn. These points are expended in a variety of ways including shooting certain types of weapons and of course moving. Models are considered to have moved at four different speeds based on the number of movement points expended while moving as shown in this movement scale: 1=slow, 2=normal, 3=fast, 4=maximum. The speed at which a model has moved may limit the model's options.

Each model has a base movement speed. This is the distance the model moves when moving at normal speed and is listed in its profile. A model's base movement speed may be modified at times so it is important to understand how a model's base movement speed is determined. Models have a basic movement type: infantry, monstrous/walker, vehicle, air or bike. They also a basic movement classification: ponderous, standard, agile or quick. Ponderous is the slowest speed for a movement type and quick is the fastest such classification.

The speed classifications for each movement type are as follows: infantry (4",5",6",7"), vehicles and bikes (6", 8", 10", 12"), monstrous/walker(as equivalent infantry type with +2" bonus), air (4",6", 8", 10"). A ponderous vehicle has a base movement speed of 6". An agile walker has a base movement speed of 8".

A model expends 1 movement point to move .5x its base movement speed. If a model expends all of its movement points for a turn moving it will be able to move at 2x its base movement speed. This means that an infantry model with a standard movement classification can move a maximum of 10" each turn and a vehicle with a fast movement classification can move a maximum of 24" per turn.

Models may not initiate an assault in a turn in which they they have expended 4 movement points moving.

Impeded Movement: Movement may be impeded by a number of things, the most common of which is terrain. Impediments immediately cost the model one movement point. Movement through impediments at maximum speed is dangerous and triggers a dangerous movement test in addition to the loss of one movement point.

Entering and exiting a vehicle is movement and cost the passengers and vehicle one movement point.

--

Explanatory Notes and Comments

Those are the basics. I'm looking for comments and criticisms specifically focusing on clarity of the rules. The intent is to have a system that allows a variety of modifications to movement and adjustments to how a model or unit moves while hopefully not being overly complex. Want to add a rule to let a vehicle move faster like supercharged engines? Just change its classification from standard to agile. The vehicle is hit by a psychic power that gums up its tracks? Reduce the classification back to standard, or penalize it one movement point the next time it moves. Terrain is extra thick? Costs two movement points to move through the terrain. Models could even be given more or fewer than 4 movement points per turn.

Basic movement involves no dice rolling, though dangerous movement would.

I am leaning toward using a system where there is only one phase--movement. At the start of the player turn, before any movement the player whose turn it is can perform any psychic actions, then both players may shoot with eligible units. The active player may then move every unit he wishes to move, but after each unit moves, both players have an opportunity to shoot with any unit eligible to shoot. After all of the active player's units have moved, any units engaged in close combat resolve close combat attacks. The next player then begins his turn.

I think this will work without a separate assault phase as even a standard infantry unit can footslog into close combat by the third turn without assault phase movement: maximum move 10", maximum move 10", normal move 5" covers 25". Speedy footsloggers could cover the ground in 2 turns which seems about right.

So again, comment and criticisms welcome. What is vague, confusing, can be improved or simply seems unfeasible?

*Edited to fix some typos.

I must admit I'm not a fan. It seems like a lot of math and bookkeeping for little benefit.

Firstly, if movement points used have an effect later (I assume you're talking about shooting heavy weapons and the like), you have 5 states that need to be tracked compared to the current 3 (stationary/moved/ran) with very little game effect between adjacent states. Do I have to remember whether I moved 2" or 4" to see if I can shoot the lascannon?

Secondly, you're making speed a function of Unit Type plus an additional stat (the movement classification), so you're adding a new stat whose only use is to calculate a different new stat. What's the point? Just give each unit a straightforward Speed stat and you get the same effect with less work. If you're dead set on having multiple move distances, giving a unit a Speed stat of 2"/4"/6"/8" that can be checked with just a glance at its profile during play is still better than giving it a descriptive stat that has to be cross-referenced with Unit Type and a speed chart every time the unit moves.

Now, I do actually kind of like the "spend a point for difficult terrain, spend a point for disembarking..." part which is quite elegant, but it's not enough to offset all the extra work. You can still achieve the same effect by just saying "disembarking reduces your speed by 25% for that turn".

I would prefer to use the old rules from 2nd ed.

All models get a movement value in inches,(As 2nd ed.)

In the movement phase players decide to;-
Remain stationary and use ranged attacks to full effect.(Fire heavy- ordnance etc.)
Move and use limited ranged attacks.
Move twice and not make any form of ranged attack.
Move then move into assault.(Assault resolved in the assault phase.)

Difficult terrain slows movement by 25%
Very difficult terrain slows movement by 50%

@ sir blackfang. Appretiate the comments and thoughts.

One thing that perhaps wasn't clear (or perhaps it was and the idea is just bad) is that every model would have its speed listed in its profile. So you don't just have "ponderous infantry" listed requiring you to look up speed, but instead the profile shows: movement 4", ponderous infantry". For most models and units, that 4" listed in its profile won't change the entire game and the "ponderous infantry" designation won't have any effect. It is informational in that you know why your model is so slow, but the 4" is all that really matters.

The idea with the movement classifications is to have a way for gear changes and adjustments or in game effects to be uniformly applied.

An example would be an armory/vehicle upgrade option like: heavy armor-- makes the model ponderous, gives a +1 to its armor value. So the effect on movement to any model (vehicle, monstrous creature, infantry) from any army is easy(ish?) to determine.

The alternative, which perhaps works just as well is to say reduces base movement by 1" for A,B&C and 2" for X,Y&Z. But if it reduces a quick infantry model from 7" to 4", and an agile one from 6" to 4", and an agile tank from 10" to 6" but a standard tank from 8" to 6", there may not be a concise way to state it.

If the entry is different for every unit and it may harder for someone not familiar with the unit to track. How fast does a predator with heavy armor move again? vs. Heavy armor gives ponderous to vehicle so moves 6". No matter the model, you know the effect.

So the idea is to have a core system that standardizes how movement changes and allows a wide variety of options without having to write the rules differently for every model, weapon, terrain feature or condition that changes the way a model can move. "Model becomes ponderous" or "model becomes quick" is all that is needed to modify the way the model moves.

Regarding your first point...

I think this could be addressed by using markers. Every time a unit does something that costs it movement points, place a marker to indicate this. Remove markers at the start of your turn. Let's say you are using a rapid fire weapon. You move at normal speed (costing 2 movement points) and place a 2 marker next to the unit, then fire (costing 2 more movement points) and change the 2 marker to a 4 marker. The unit cannot move or shoot until the start of the next turn because it has used all its movement points. If firing a heay weapon costs 4 movement points, you won't be able to do so if you've moved at all.

Part of the issue is that in the 40k rules you can potentially move in each phase. There is a large variety of ways that movement and shooting can play out. I'm trying to set up a system so there is just one move, per unit per turn while still accomodating a variety of movement and weapons options and the ways that they interact. (Lanarak's post is one way to do that, and I'll have to think about it and see if it will accomodate the things I want to do.) One benefit of this system would be you only move those massive, multi-model units one time instead of three which (hopefully) speeds up game play.

Also, tracking movement will inherently be potentially more complex because of potential bigger delays between movement and shooting. You could potentially move at normal speed and choose not to shoot during your turn. During the opponent's turn he moves a unit and then you decide to fire with the unit that has already moved. Markers will probably be necessary to ensure you aren't forgetting who has moved how far and who hasn't. The negative about this system is that it isn't as easy to track what is happening especially without markers, but the positive is that it allows turns to be more interactive and mitigates the benefit of going first and alpha striking your opponent. When to shoot becomes a tactical decision that isn't really present in the current game.

I appreciate the comments even if you don't like the system. They are giving me ideas on how to adjust things.

I agree wholeheartedly that there are way too many opportunities to move in the game and they should be culled ruthlessly.

Regarding tokens, from my experience it becomes a huge pain really fast. X-wing is currently a big hit and that game looks like a total mess on the table and that's with about 10 models total, each with about 2-3 token on it.

Now imagine 20-30 units, each with potentially 4 tokens on it. We're talking a hundred tokens here. It's going to add considerable time to the cleanup phase and cause mix ups when models move and forget to drag their tokens with them.

I speak from experience, of course, because I had a lot similar ideas in my time and they really do look so elegant on paper.

I think different movement rates can be a good idea but the point system probably will not work out. Streamlining is the name of the game in the 2010s game design philosophy.

Maybe consider having just a double Move stat like Infinity, with one number for walking and one for running? It still leaves you with plenty of design space for buffs and debuffs.

 lord_blackfang wrote:

Now imagine 20-30 units, each with potentially 4 tokens on it. We're talking a hundred tokens here. It's going to add considerable time to the cleanup phase and cause mix ups when models move and forget to drag their tokens with them.