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As we all know, high WS is not all that great. It always felt a bit silly that a Daemon Prince or Archon only hits Conscripts on 3's, regardless of the massive disparity. I've seen various proposed fixes, but how's this one?

If your weapon skill is double or greater than the majority WS on the opposing side of combat, you may reroll all to Hit rolls.

This means that the "even" numbers on the WS table matter more (so the WS8 Succubus would reroll hits against a Marine squad, but still be hit on 4s.)

Thoughts?

Or just make 2+ to hit a thing.

2+ to hit seems a lot better than rerolls. Quicker and it doesn't clash with existing rules and psychic powers.

If you could turn the To Hit table for melee attacks more reminiscent of the To Wound table for Shooting attacks, then that would probably fix the "problem". If the To Hit table for melee attacks followed exactly the same formula as the To Wound table for Shooting attacks, then the only change i'd make to it is that if the WS of the attacker is strictly greater than double the WS of the target, the it automatically hits.

A thing to be aware of is that WS, in contrast to BS, does double duty; it assists you hitting your target and also resists your target hitting back. I think that is why GW made the melee to-hit table so relatively flat.

I believe having a wider range of results generated from a table of opposed stats for all combat resolution is the best fix.

Eg
To hit in at range BS vs Evade.
To hit in close combat , WS vs Dodge
To save, Armour value vs Armour penetration.
To wound Strength vs Toughness.

(Evade is based on units size , silhouette and ability to use cover etc.Dodge simply replaces Initiative stat.As it performs a similar function, but allows a more interactive game turn to be used. )

We can include values of 1+ to N/A to give natural levels of inv', (a las gun bouncing off the side of a Landraider) or automatic success.(Landing a close combat hit on an immobilized vehicle.)

This way most of the superfluous special rules (about 60+) can be got rid of!

Reducing the range of results to just 3 in a game as wide and varied as 40k should be , is counter intuitive, and leads to special rules bloat.

There is certainly not enough scope in the current tables, as already mentioned, super high ws (difference) should matter more

The best "fix" for this I've heard is extending the possible table results, and make the requirement for the "get on on 5" less extreme.


For example, this chart:



In the official chart, if you have WS4 it makes no difference if your opponent has 5,6, 7 or even 8. as long its not 9, likewise 2 and 3 are identical as far as you care. nothing below 5 even cares if you are a 5 or a 6, etc. there are simply too many cases where subtle differences change nothing,

In my chart however, the first four steps in every direction matter. so 5 and 6 are different as long you are not a mere 1, and even to a 1 it matters if you are 4 (crushing),or 5 (utterly crushing).
The main benefit is that it makes the 5 and 6 matter more, and these are the most common "elite WS" values that HQs and other dedicated assault units have.
Naturally, it would also mean a very good opponent will be hard to even score hits against, so "drowning" techniques would take a beating, and hitting tanks and/or disabled targets (pinned, feared, etc) became that much easier for anyone with marine skills.

Overall, id think my table would be an improvement over the regular, and eliminate the need for complicated shenanigans like rerolls and such.

The main issue is the limitations of a d6.

the main issue is low WS is meaningless. Hitting on 3's is a nice bonus but when you can have 2 WS and hit on 4's vrs 98% of opponents - you get a lot more for your dollar out of poor weapon skill. Initiative is the same way - useless for the weapons you want to take in cc (hammers, fists, axes) and losing by 1 is the same as losing by 8.

Id say do it like this.
If you have even WS hit on 4s for both
If you have higher WS you hit on 3's they hit on 5's
and if you double their WS you hit on 2's and they hit on 6's. It really should be that simple.

Furthermore I'd suggest if you double their initiative you should get a bonus attack.