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Cydonians

This is fan made codex based off the aliens from the Xcom games, much of it is still in the testing period, however I'd like more feedback on it.
The aliens are more based upon the ones from the Old 90's PC game and less from the newer games, even though I use a lot of pictures for them from the newer ones. I've tried to stick to them as much as I could without making up too much stuff, however there is only so much I could work with. Most things I did I had a good reason for and have gone through and tweaked it here and there.

I want the codex to be a fun enjoyable race.

I have had a few test games. Fought a general Space Wolves list, destroyed them. Fought a horde Tyranid list, crushed them. Fought Tau, and was wiped from the table. Played against Necons, it was a close battle, but the Necrons won.

Codex V1.7 https://d72e84049ac84362409b8488659725545242cb5c.googledrive.com/host/0B09Gb89JVIZvVGpXNk5WM0FYa3M/CydoniansV1.7.pdf
Battle Scribe File V3 (1.7) https://googledrive.com/host/0B09Gb89JVIZvVGpXNk5WM0FYa3M/Cydonian_Aliens.catz

Pretty well done for the unit stats.

You should have included BS6 Thin Men as Jump Infantry with a range of 36", though

Thin Men weren't in the orignal game, but had snakemen instead. They said that in the newer game snakeman were replaced by thin men, however I like the aspect of snakemen as a war unit much better

Nicely done.

There are few things I might've done differently though.

General thoughts:
- You should simplify/reduce the options. Do away with giving every squad Engineer, Medic and Navigator options, as it leaves them all feeling somewhat same-y.
- For instance, only allowing Floaters the upgrade to get "Re-roll reserves" or only allowing Sectoids to take a Medic.
- Consider removing Engineers completely as I think it needlessly complicates things; instead simply specifying that one model in each of those squads can take the aforementioned special weapons.
- Reduce the number of HQ choices. Personally, I think having the Ethereal Commander (Uber Ethereal?) and Sectoid Commander options would be sufficient.
- Consider boosting the Energy Beam's beam attack to have the Lance special rule. At current, I suspect your army will likely have a difficult time against AV: 14.


Sectoid Commander
- Consider changing it to a Sectoid Command Squad; comprising of the Sectoid Commander and 4 Sectoids.
- Give them the options to take the Medic and/or up to 4 special weapons; in addition to armour and grenade ugprades.


Floater Squad
- I think it should be changed to a regular Troop choice, seeing as the Fast Attack section is already pretty full.
- Instead of "Dual energy pistols", give them "Energy rifles" with the option of swapping it out for two "Energy pistols", gaining +1 attack and Gunslinger.


Muton Squad
- Increase the Soldiers to 2 Wounds and give them all Eternal warrior and S: 4.
- Give them Bulky and Relentless special rules.
- Give them grenades and up to 4 of them the option to take special weapons.
- Increase their price to 25 points/model.


Chryssalid
- I think it could do with a revamp as the current unit doesn't quite capture the terror that they bring in the original games.
- Perhaps something as follows:

Chryssalid: WS: 5, BS: 2, S: 4, T: 4, W: 2, I: 7, A: 4, Ld: 9, Sv: 4+
Unit composition: 1-5 Chrysalids
Unit type: Infantry (Character)
Price: 50 per model
Wargear: Chryssalid claws - S: +2, AP: 5, Type: Melee

Special rules: Fleet, Move through cover, Scout, Stealth, Chryssalid venom*, Lurker of the shadows**

Chryssalid venom: Each model removed by a Chryssalid attack must take a toughness check. If failed, the model is removed and replaced by a Zombie in the Chryssalid's squad. Each Chryssalid in the squad may be accompanied by up to 5 Zombies at a given time.

Lurker of the shadows: Until its first attack, shots fired at the Chryssalid are at BS: 1.

The options do seem complicated, I had this in place because in the game they had all these different units and I wanted to incorporated them into the rules. I could easily just combine them into one thing for each one. I will fix this to make it less complicated.

I don't see the number of HQ's as being an issue, Tyranids have 6 HQ's, Marines have 5 (but with much better options) and Necrons have 11 HQ options. 6 HQ with 1 being a special character isn't too much. Also I wanted 1 HQ of each race because in the game each race had "Commanders" as well, this is to show that and let them use those rules that fit with the fluff and gameplay found in the old PC game. And the special character is to show the end boss (Heavy modified)

I did consider giving the Energy beam lance, but that would make it quite powerful, and lance isn't something that is commonly found (except for dark eldar armies) I think it having the two options is nice, and seems be true to its nature in the old game. They have to have some weakness, which is High Armor, and Cover. They can still overcome this but it might be hard, or you have to specialize your army to do so. Just like Tyranids don't have a lot of high strength shooty weapons, or things to help with assaulting into cover.

Sectoid Commander: I like the idea of having a squad to go along with him, however letting them all take weapon upgrades would make it a powerhouse for sure. You would see a commander and a bunch of guys with him all with blaster launchers in the game inside a base. This can be done with taking a troops choice and attaching him to it.

I'm not sold on Floaters as troops, I do like the idea of switching their weapons for the weapon options you mentioned. That seems to fit better and make more sense.

Mutons with 2w? Okay I can see where this logic is coming from, but we have to remember these are the mutons from the old pc game, not the new one. They were much different. I don't see these Mutons as hardier than space marines, nor stronger for that matter. I see them as genetically modified with very high armor. (3+) I think the stats they have fit them very well. However if we were talking about the Mutons from the newer game, I would agree that more wounds and different stats would be needed.

We've play tested the Chryssalids a bit and they seem to be pretty nasty, I've had them take out tanks, double their number by making zombies and much more. However I've seen them die quick to fire and heavy close combat units. They seem balanced. I don't like the direction the new idea has for them. As it changes them quite a bit from how they are in the old pc game. While they were tough and could take a lot of fire, I don't see them as 2w. To show the hardness to kill them in the game I've given them T4 (Tough trained humans are 3, weak creatures are 2) and given them an armor save of 4+. This makes them hard to kill. Also intuitive 7 is insane, the only think I can think of with I7 is the Broodlord, and hes 80pts, and kinda a special thing. Also lurker in the shadows is way OP, giving them stealth and outflank will fulfill the same role without overpowering them.

This is just what I think and how I see them, I do have reasonings behind it, I hope I clarified on those, if not just ask why and I'll try to explain better. I love the feedback and have some changes to make now based upon those. Thank you for the in depth look at them.