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its all dancing around the elephant in the room

AP is simply too good as it is.
as a stat its too binary and i didn't see any way on how to solve it until it struck me

the dice gods need to decide this for us.
remove AP altogether and let wound rolls decide ap values based upon strength vs toughness.

strength is equal or lower then tougness = no ap
strength beats toughness by 1 = -1 ap on wound roll of 6
strength beats toughness by 2 = -1 ap on wound rolls of 5+
strength beats toughness by 3 = -1 ap on 4+ wound roll -2 on 6+
strength is double or more = - 2 ap on 4+ roll -3 ap on 5+ roll
melta type weapons get to roll a 1d6 on their strength roll

there could be various HQ and elite weapons out there with added armor penetration but none of those should ever offer more then -1 ap
power swords..... idk what to do about that

Gimlinator wrote:
its all dancing around the elephant in the room

AP is simply too good as it is.
as a stat its too binary and i didn't see any way on how to solve it until it struck me

the dice gods need to decide this for us.
remove AP altogether and let wound rolls decide ap values based upon strength vs toughness.

strength is equal or lower then tougness = no ap
strength beats toughness by 1 = -1 ap on wound roll of 6
strength beats toughness by 2 = -1 ap on wound rolls of 5+
strength beats toughness by 3 = -1 ap on 4+ wound roll -2 on 6+
strength is double or more = - 2 ap on 4+ roll -3 ap on 5+ roll
melta type weapons get to roll a 1d6 on their strength roll

there could be various HQ and elite weapons out there with added armor penetration but none of those should ever offer more then -1 ap
power swords..... idk what to do about that

Ignoring any balance issues with that, of which I can assure you, there are many, it's annoying and random. I don't want to divide a pile of wounds into AP0, AP-1, AP-2, etc., based on what I rolled, then have my opponent roll saves against each type.

AP is a lot less binary than the old way it used to be... before you either got armor saves or you didn't. A terminator hit by a battle cannon would get a 2+ save against it, not a 4+ save.

It's already a lot more "granular" than it used to be, to the detriment of elite armies like Marines.

Better terrain rules, then use more of it. More cover leads to more durability. More LOS blocking leads to more important maneuvering, which leads to more shot avoidance and more durability.