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So, any of you who have played Lord Of the Rings will be aware of the Heroic action system, whereby individuals of particular importance have access to a set of abilities to improve the troops surrounding them. For those unfamiliar with the system, characters have a set number of Might Points (essentially an additional stat on the profile) which can be expended to use these actions. Here are my ideas for adding this to 40k, to potnetially add another tactical layer to the game, giving everyone from an Imperial Guard Sergeant to the mightiest Chaos Lord the possibility of doing something amazing.

For starters, here are the list of actions, some adapted from LOTR and others created myself.

Heroic Move: The Character may expend one Might point at the start of his movement phase. For this turn, he and his unit may move 2" further than normally allowed, and add 1" to any run roll or Turbo-boost. This incurs no penalty, so an infantry unit could move 8" and still fire rapid fire weapons or charge later in the turn.

Heroic Shot: The Character may expend one Might point at the start of the shooting phase. For this phase, all models in the Character's Unit count their BS as one point higher. This does not apply to Snap Shots.

Heroic Charge: The Character may expend one Might point at the start of the assault phase. For that phase, any unit he is attached to may roll 3D6 when charging and discard the lowest result.

Heroic Challenge: When accepting or having a challenge accepted, the Character may expend a Might point. For that phase, the Character may re-roll all failed To-Hit and To-Wound rolls in the challenge.

Heroic Presence: The Character may expend a Might point at the start of any phase. For the remainder of the phase, his unit's LD is one point higher. If the unit is already Ld 10, they become fearless for the duration of the phase.

These actions are available to all characters, and can be used so long as they have Might Points remaining.

Determining Might points:
Characters that are Upgrades to Squads, such as Sergeants, or Warlocks attached to a Guardian squad, have a single Might point.
HQ Characters that are not your warlord have 2 Might points.
Your Warlord has 3 Might points.

So, what do you think? I've tried to keep them from being OP, especially considering most of these are likely to be Single Use abilities, whilst still keeping them suitably heroic and potentially useful. I admit some are situational for some armies, but on the whole are useful.

Any ideas for further actions would be great, variety is the spice of life, so feel free to chip in.

I like this idea. This is what i think makes the heros of lotr truely HEROS. It would need significant tweeking to fit each army though. I have also thought of trying to adapt the rules for lotr skirmish battles to using 40k for skirmish battles but since the rumors of a new game coming i might not waste my time.

I like it. Not sure about the specifics but the concept is sound

What about characters who are not HQs, or upgrade characters? Such as Marbo, or Tervigons taken as Troops.

I think it goes without saying that Marbo would get Heroic Actions. I don't see why a Tervigon would not either

I would say characters are going to range from 2-3 being standard with 1 for characters like unit sgt(also limiting what kind of action they get as they are just a sgt) and people like calgar getting 5-6 might points like aragon or borimir.

Hi guys, thanks for the feedback. Please feel free to suggest any changes, as I am aware the system is far from perfect.

I would say that all non-warlord characters have 2 points, regardless of where they are in the FOC.

The reason I limited it to 3 even for the likes of Calgar is that with 5/6, he could potentially provide a constant buff throughout the game, making him even more powerful, and detracting from the 'moment of heroism' element of these rules. 5+ is fine in LOTR where games can go on for 10+ turns so you have to be more conservative, in 40k there would be nothing stopping a character of that magnitude using them every turn.

I kind of like the idea of limiting actions to characters, but as sgts and the like will only be able to use one per game, I think it adds more to the concept to have the choice but know you can only use a single type of power.

I would like to look at army-specific actions as well, so if anyone has any ideas for those then please suggest them.

I like this idea and would suggest the following like you have said:

1 MP - Squad leaders or upgrade characters like Wolf Guard or Eldar Warlocks, Necron Crypteks/Lords

2MP - All HQ choices that aren't the Warlord

3MP - Warlord

4MP - Special characters such as Abbadon, Calgar, Logan, Farsight, Ghazghkull (i.e. the leaders of their respective races).

I would also consider letting these mighty heroes regenerate an MP for each roll of a 6 when they use one.

Perhaps also give these characters their own unique abilities such as allowing Abbadon to re-roll the number of bonus attacks with Drach'nyen etc?

I like that template for allocating points, as I do think the very mightiest heroes do deserve something more, but I'm not sure on the regeneration idea. As I say, most of them are powerful enough without extra boosts, so I don't want to make them OP. Similarly, I'm not sure on specific abilities to characters, as I fear it would have the same effect.

Perhaps ditch the regeneration idea then, and make the unique special character abilities one use only?

Possibly, it's just a case of not making it OP, as SCs tread a fine line there in some cases anyway. If you have any ideas for specific characters then I'd love to hear them though. One Use only seems like it could be the way to go.

Abbadon - Re-roll number of attacks when using Drach'nyen

Calgar - All models with UM chapter tactics within 12" are Fearless for a turn

Logan - May use two rules from his High King rule for one turn instead of one

Eldrad - All powers use one less warp charge than normal for a turn and he can cast a single power twice

Ghazghkull - May call upon an additional Waaagh once per game

Farsight - Him and his unit gain Counter Attack and Hit and Run for a turn

There is just a few off the top of my head. I am sure there are plenty of other 'boss' characters who could have some pretty cool little skills.

Those looks pretty good, although Calgar's is kind of useless as he can already let them choose to pass or fail any leadership checks.

Maybe these specific ones should be called at the start of the turn, so you don't just have things like abbadon rolling a 1 for the demon weapon and then choosing to reroll.

The thing I am trying to avoid here is giving additional special rules to characters, they have enough already. I was more going for something that gives everyone a chance to do something epic if timed right.

Perhaps army-specific rather than character-specific is a good thing to look at. Any ideas?

Orks - Additional Waaagh once per game

Eldar - May Battle Focus and assault for one turn (or run, shoot run for one turn?)

Dark Eldar - All units benefit from combat drugs for one turn

SW- Automatic counter attack for one turn

BA - Fleet for one turn

DA - Twin linked on shooting for one turn (or maybe Relentless)

SM - Not sure

Imp Guard - All officers may issue an order for free for one turn

Tyranids - Synapse range increased to 24" for one turn

Necrons - +1 to RP rolls for one turn (so 3+ with an Orb)

Sisters - Auto pass faith for a turn

CSM - Furious Charge for one turn

Daemons - May roll twice on warp storm chart and pick the result to apply for one turn

Tau - Use full BS when overwatching for one turn

I think that covers everyone!

I like some of the concepts, but some look a little OP, especially the Tau, eldar and necrons. Maybe if they only applied to one unit, but again, I'm going for little buffs/changes, not something game changing that you can build a strategy around. The more I think about it, the LOTR works with just the basic ones, so maybe it would be best to stick with those.

I think there should be a single special ability for each faction leader to give them a boost, for example.

Vect:-'Just as planned'. Vect may use a single might point per turn (This includes your opponents turn) to allow/Force 1 dice to be re-rolled. This can be anything from a single dice from a 2d6/3d6 or a to hit/wound/save. This can be used to force the opponent to re-roll a successful roll.

Love the idea though, great concept.

 ALEXisAWESOME wrote:
I think there should be a single special ability for each faction leader to give them a boost, for example.

Vect:-'Just as planned'. Vect may use a single might point per turn (This includes your opponents turn) to allow/Force 1 dice to be re-rolled. This can be anything from a single dice from a 2d6/3d6 or a to hit/wound/save. This can be used to force the opponent to re-roll a successful roll.

Love the idea though, great concept.

As I say, I'm not really looking at adding unique rules to characters that are already loaded up on them, I just want a base set of ability that can transfer across any characters and give significant but small boosts to a unit if timed right. I do like your idea, but it's more characterful as an actual rule for Vect rather than an extension of this system.

The other thing Might points do in LOTR is allow you to modify a dice roll up or down by 1 for each point spent. I left this out of the original post, but what do people think? It would allow for things like making a 5 a precision shot, or a glance into a pen, and still wouldn't unbalance anything.

I think having too many special heroic actions will be overly complicated. Using might as its done in lotr I think would work. Such as being able to change a dice roll up or down per point of might and using some of the stuff like the heroic fight. Say a Sgt challanges my interrogator chaplain if he rolls a 4+ he will burn a point of might then be able to kill the Sgt and challange the other character in the unit next

Initially I wasn't too sure about some of this, like heroic shot and firewarriors, but it would finally justify the 10 extra points for a Shas'ui. Just don't let them stack, the last thing you need is a non moving squad of 12 firewarriors and a fireblade firing 26 shots at 30" at BS 6, add in 16 twin linked BS 5 shots from gundrones and suddenly it's a bit op. I think I've shown enough evidence, no stacking.

Yeah, stacking is not something I intended allow. Also bear in mind that a Shas'ui would only get to do this once, so all it allows is essentially getting one markerlight for a single turn.

The +1 BS is simply ridiculous. Ork Lootas or shoota boys at BS3? Rune Priests attached to Long Fangs are already ridiculous, now they are BS5 for the first 3 turns of the game. Devilgants with Preferred Enemy and BS4 for a couple turns? (PE from a Hive Tyrant.) Compared to say, poor man's Fleet or +1 LD, it's easily the best choice.
Also, do they stack? Can you spend two in one turn?

Is it I might per turn or per game? It's not the Shas'ui that makes the nasty, it's the fireblade, but if it's no stacking then I think the rules are pretty much perfect.

No stacking, and the points are to last the whole game. As such, it's only once per game for sgt-level characters. HQs obviously affect the game more with 3 points, but unless you build your list around them, still not OP, as ok, LF might get a bit better, but it's only a couple more hits over those 3 turns. BS3 orks for only one turn is hardly unbalanced, as to get more that one use out of it you need the HQ attached. And if you blow all your points on this, you lose the chance for a more reliable charge, more power in a challenge, or the ability to become fearless for a turn. While the other powers are more situational, they are hardly unusable, and could save you the game.

I think the key balancing factor here is that all armies have equal access to them, so if it does increase power levels of an army, it will do the same for the enemy. I also added in the option for might points to +/- 1 from any roll the character makes, so this adds another element of resource management as the player who spends the 3 points blindly blasting at +1 BS may later find himself one short on a charge roll, or one over on LD, and would find themselves regretting the points wasted for a few extra hits.

@Waaaaghpower: out of interest, what would you suggest for a shooting buff, then? re-rolls? Extra range? If the action is that unbalanced, what would you do to reduce the power level?

I'm not saying +1 BS is impossibly good, it's just far better than the other options. Giving Preferred Enemy would be better, but then some armies would gain nothing since they already have it... If you made the other buffs equally good, then it wouldn't be as much of an issue. Maybe 3D6" Flat charge instead of discarding the lowest? Or +1 initiative on top of the pseudo fleet? The challenge one also gives +1 to WS or something?
The Leadership buff is also vaguely worthless for a lot of armies, namely Orks, Nids, Marines, Chaos...

Ghazghull Extra WAAAGH: insanely powerful
Orks extra WAAAGH: insanely crap

Overall, I'd say a second WAAAGH is a bad way to go about this.

I'd rather see clan specific bonuses depending on what clan your warlord is.

~Evil Sunz; can snap fire after turbo boost this turn
~Goffs: gain FNP 6+ or +1 to FNP rolls this turn
~Deffskulls: Gain 6+ invulnerable or +1 to invuln saves this turn
~Blood Axes: Gain Stealth or if Stealth already gain Shrouded

Etc etc

As said before, I don't actually see specific race powers working, it would be better just as special rules for the characters in the codex, as I intend these to be generic.

While some armies would gain more from each power than others, that is why they are all available to all armies, so you have something useful regardless. The potential for Fearless is certainly useful to everything but nids, as even orks could use it to benefit the smaller squads and prevent the lootas from running off the board or the nobs from being swept.

PE (everything) for the shooting one might be better, as I'd rather tone this down if needed than make the others more powerful. The issue is that again, some armies get more for it than others.

The assault one could perhaps be to give +1 I, just like old-style FC, as that was hardly unbalanced, whereas 3d6 charge probably is, as that would give you an average of around 11" charge range, which is really a bit much.

In terms of the challange one, I have a feeling rerolling all hits and wounds is actually better than +1 WS. I haven't done the maths to check, but I'm pretty sure.

I like the ideas you guys have put but I like the idea of the heroic actions staying mainly with affecting the heroes rather than other squads. In LOTR the moves tend to only affect a few models at most so I'd try and keep it the same way.

Heroic move - In your opponents movement phase after they have moved, you may call a Haroic Move to move your Character and upto 5 models within 6" as normal as if it were your own Movement Phase.

Heroic Shooting - In your opponents shooting phase, at any time, your Character may call a Heroic Shooting. Either the Character or a Squad within 6" may shoot as normal as if it were their own Shooting Phase but only if they haven't shot previously in that Game Turn. If they haven't had their Turn within the given Game Turn, they may not shoot in their next Shooting Phase.

Heroic Fight - Your Character may call this during any Assault Phase. Before any other combats are started(but after assault charges and overwatch are finished), resolve the combat with your Character and as long as they win they may then choose to either chase down the enemy unit as normal or attempt to charge, using the normal rules, another unit. The Assault phase then follows as normal, with the character now hopefully engaged with another enemy unit to fight as normal.

I'm sorry if it's not written well but I've tried to keep it as close to the rules for LOTR as possible. Ive tried to keep it so the Character is well and truly the Hero, they are the one that sees the opportunities and only they can react quick enough to do these things. I may be way off but let me know what you think.

The thing is, the LOTR rules allowing movement out-of-sequence works due to the I-go, You-go mechanic where it matters who moves first and priority can change from turn to turn. In 40k, as everything moves/shoots/fights in your own turn in one go, so allowing movement out of sequence is gaining you another phase, which is in fact something the LOTR rules explicitly state they cannot do. I see you have tried to avoid this in the shooting rules, which might work, but I can't see it being that useful, as you could shoot in your turn anyway if you go first, and the chances are hitting the enemy early is not going to do that much anyway.

The charging from assault is again wouldn't really work, as the best option would almost always be to run down the unit you beat and then charge in your next turn.

I see your point on affecting more units in 40k, but you have to bear in mind that due to the squad mechanics, the scale of the game is also larger, so it makes it simpler just to have the rule affect the squad, as just on the character would be difficult to implement and probably rather clunky to use.

I have tried to capture the feel of the LOTR rules but make them relevant to 40k, rather than just porting them in directly. Thanks for the input, though.

I tried to limit it as in LOTR it tended not to affect too many models anyway and it tended to focus on the Character doing the heroics. This is what I went for, the idea that a Character sees opportunities and pitfalls before the rank and file troops.

With LOTR and it's unique turn system, the only way to enact the idea of Characters immediately counter-acting an opponents move was to make moves occur in their opponents phase, otherwise your character is just adding buffs and things to units which there is already loads of in the game.

The Heroic Movement is simple, you see where your opponent is going and your Character moves to react. The same with Heroic Shooting, your Character sees the enemy lining up a shot on a tank or unit that is crucial to the mission and reacts by trying to bring them down in the instants before. Heroic fight was a cross between LOTR and a re-hash of 4th edition combat I believe where you could fight an assault and sweeping advance into another enemy unit. Again its the idea of your Character seeing a nearby unit about to be destroyed so he tries to fight his way clear to help.

I had thought about retinues and stuff following suit but the idea of a warboss calling Heroic Fight whilst accompanied by a squad of 20+ ork boys would be devastating. That's again why I tried to limit how many other models are affected to balance it out plus by the time the warboss has seen the danger and the time it would take to get a large squad to move would mean the danger he saw had already come to pass.

I miss playing LOTR

 Garviel wrote:
STUFF

It sounds like you want the Heroic shooting move to act like an Overwatch type move from from Space Hulk.