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So as a Tyranid player, I feel pretty obligated to apologize when its time to move my 30 Gargoyle unit. Recently I magnetized them for their display board, and I have an idea that seems to work pretty well for moving them quickly.


Its nothing revolutionary or mindboggling, but:





I cut heavy gauge wire and sat them on it. Now, I could flatten it and have them less rocky looking, but Im able to pick up 5 of them and move them instantly. Given the way in early turns we tend to do rank and file formations, this is extremely helpful for those
first few movement phases. Removing them is as quick as moving the model naturally: You put your finger on the wire, and with no further effort the model detaches and you're good to go. As it doesnt slow down other aspects of the game, such as pile ins or narrowing
the formation, Id like to hear objections to this and counter arguments.

It doesnt LOOK as cool, but with some black spraypaint or perhaps some plasticard with the wire inbedded you could have a small 'base' for them that only raised them off the ground by 1mm, and most peoples decorative basing does that anyway on regular models. I simply
grabbed a spool of wire and tried this really fast, with some creativity it'd look nice.

So what are some thoughts?

The only objection I could raise would be if you're measuring from the one farthest to the right and then moving so that the wire swings and positions the one on the far left further ahead. However this would be pretty easy to see, call out, and hopefully stop. I'd say the quickness of moving your hordes probably outweighs the possibility of you "cheating" especially when considering people will pull movement shenanigans anyway.

In short, I think it's a decent mechanic although it has the possibility to be exploited depending on the player. Pretty much like everything else in 40k.

Indeed. Measuring twice is how Id handle it. As it is now, I put a dice down, move first model, and then measure from there. Thats technically 30 measurements, albiet the back rows tend to get bunched up and cant make their full 12.

Measuring the left side, and the right side, then moving those two up keeps everyone in between in line and legal. I dont think more than 5 man rows are a good idea for accuracy reasons. But 5 man rows still significantly reduces movement time.

Rules-wise I don't see why anyone would have an issue with it at all. As long as you're able to maintain coherency, I think it's a great idea! Well done.

How does it work when you're dealing with uneven terrain? Also how does it work in Assault when suddenly all your formation moves are out the window?

Looks pretty solid to me. Five is definitely the right number to have for various reasons. Only thing you might run into is gaps in terrain that are thinner than the five models. If the whole wire doesn't fit in between two terrain pieces, you then have to abandon it. For me, I think the aesthetic outweighs the seconds that you save. Heck, when I used to run 60 Gargs half the time my opponent would volunteer to help me move them lol. You do save about 1 second per model per movement phase though, so it's not insubstantial if you have a lot of models

I'd take them off for assault. I see myself using these for about the first two turns. By then, I rarely have a nice even blob any more due to casualties or terrain, but in an environment where you're lucky to play through turn 5 thats huge.

I'm all about my units brancing out in curved tendrils and making the most of all cover by wrapping around multiple things at once so a unit doesn't ever catch me in the open.

I only wouldn't use this because I think it would change my movement drastically enough to decrease my survivability.

Though I like the premise.

 ductvader wrote:
I only wouldn't use this because I think it would change my movement drastically enough to decrease my survivability.

Then bend the wire? That type of wire is not rigid.

Genius.

Another idea is just a simple metal movement tray. home improvement stores usually sell precut pieces of steel flashing that works perfect for 10-20 models and gets big enough for 100s or a perfectly spread out unit. can get wonky with terrain but it isnt that bad.

Added a poll.

Movement trays are bulkier and remove the 40k feel, I dont see that being as kosher. Plus, they have the disadvantage of not letting your horde pack in or expand freely.

How do people feel about just moving the back rank to the front (repeat as required)? As long as movement is measured from the front models there's no movement gained, and for hordes where every model is the same I don't see any issues with it.

rigeld2 wrote:
How do people feel about just moving the back rank to the front (repeat as required)? As long as movement is measured from the front models there's no movement gained, and for hordes where every model is the same I don't see any issues with it.

I ask my opponent every game and probably end up doing this 90% of the time.

 ductvader wrote:

rigeld2 wrote:
How do people feel about just moving the back rank to the front (repeat as required)? As long as movement is measured from the front models there's no movement gained, and for hordes where every model is the same I don't see any issues with it.

I ask my opponent every game and probably end up doing this 90% of the time.

Same here

Good idea.

But only when they're all the same loadout. (Obviously)

So I improved this by making a sine wave shape of the wire, so they dont rock at all. I'm debating trying this at Mechanicon this weekend (With opponents approval of course).

I applaud you. I played a tournament last weekend, and in my 2nd game we got to turn 2.... before time ran out....

even if you got an extra inch on accident, i wouldn't say crap. your trying to better the experience.


Also, you could drill a hole on the bottom of the flying base that the wire could sit in, that would level them out. Score a straight line on the base with a knife. Then sit a drill flat on a table, hold the trigger, and slowly lower the flying base as level as possible onto it. Take away about 1/8th of an inch. that should be plenty.


Side view:
________
/___( )____\

^ Thats what Im talking about. Minimal effort for a tremendous increase in time.

Having said that...turn 2? What was the horde?

I will throw my own 'please do' behind this concept... game is long enough for non-horde players so I pity those that use horde armies.