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.

I don't use swarms and seldom face them in battle, but as far as I can see, "Swarm" is now just a keyword that does not interact with any rules? This is odd. Another example of the rules getting so streamlined as to rob some of the more unusual units of their unique purpose. I seem to remember "Swarm" used to be a universal special rule, and I think it should be one again.

For example:

When an attack is allocated to a Swarm model, its Damage is reduced to 1. Blast and Torrent weapons that target Swarms always count as having rolled the maximum number of attacks.

(Or perhaps the latter part should be under the rules for Blast and Torrent, since it's on the attacking player to remember it.)

Swarms should also have the Infantry keyword, or at least be able to move through terrain like infantry. It's absurd that they can't skitter over fallen masonry and through windows.

.

You've pretty much identified the ways in which "Swarm" matters, yeah.

Definitely agree with letting them move through terrain like infantry (though I'd probably phrase it as just adding them to the list of things that can Koolaid-Man through walls alongside Beasts rather than making all Swarms Infantry).

I pitched something similar to the reduced damage/more effective blasts/torrents. I think the consensus was that Setting all damage to a flat 1 was perhaps a bit too much (an army with lots of lascannons and no flamers could be SoL), but halving damage or something similar would probably be fine.

Maybe you could do something interesting with terrain. Let them treat barricades and other short terrain as obscuring the same way ruins are to represent their short stature making it easy for them to stay tucked out of sight.