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.

How do?

Very quick and random gibbering from the man with no brain, who is dipping his toe into the ocean of reason before returning to frolic upon insanity beach*.....

Weather. Where it is? How come 40k gets such glorious weather all the time?

Is there scope for such a thing to be included in narrative play? If so, how would you implement it?

Here's some random 'off the top of my bonce' thoughts....

Snow Planet - much harder to infiltrate on foot, on account obvious footprints are obvious.

Chucking it down - When it's proper pelting it down, visibility tends to be reduced - especially if there's vehicles throwing up spray.

It ain't 'alf hot, Mum - Probably the least concerning, as one can always roll the sleeves up and whack a hanky on the head (handkerchief. Not the American hanky. You filthy animal) - but having run around in chainmail during hot weather last year a) I don't especially recommend it b) you really do get tired a lot quicker. And sweaty. OH THE SWEAT.

Blowing a gale - I'd imagine grenade lobbing would suffer in some way, and depending on the terrain, dust storms too.

Thunderbolts and Lightning very very frightening - Zzzzzzapppp! 'Nuff said, really.

So that's some weather up there - but how would you implement it in narrative play, italicised because it's clearly not something most would fancy in a competitive environment so let's just leave that part there, yes?.


*+3 internets for anyone who can tell me where that quote is from....

I just figure it's always shoddy weather in some way, and that's your baseline.

I think coming up with a weather chart or something for a narrative play would be really cool though. On the planet Britannia it can be perfectly sunny one minute and come pouring down the next. Make a chart that you roll on at the start of every round.

Torrential Downpour, -1 to hit.
Scorching heat, -1 to Ld.

And so on and so forth.

 Purifier wrote:
I just figure it's always shoddy weather in some way, and that's your baseline.

I think coming up with a weather chart or something for a narrative play would be really cool though. On the planet Britannia it can be perfectly sunny one minute and come pouring down the next. Make a chart that you roll on at the start of every round.

Torrential Downpour, -1 to hit.
Scorching heat, -1 to Ld.

And so on and so forth.

Was pretty much going to say that for Torrential Downpour, but you beat me to it.

Proper proper wind, like you get in a Scottish Glen - no advancing in a certain direction, +1" when advancing if the wind is behind you.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Proper proper wind, like you get in a Scottish Glen - no advancing in a certain direction, +1" when advancing if the wind is behind you.

Orkney Wind - Nominate a table side, any units who moved closer to that table side receive +1 Cover save and -1" Movement as they're slightly lower from leaning into the wind as they walk against it.

Haha, I do love how as soon as there is a weather-related thread on here, it fills up with Brits.

Niiru wrote:
Haha, I do love how as soon as there is a weather-related thread on here, it fills up with Brits.

Well at the moment, there's the OP and someone from Ireland... And now me...

As for weather, lots of -1 to hit for snow storms, rain storms, storm storms, etc. Winds making flamers and nades blow back on the person using them depending on wind direction. If it's very hot? Get's hot on any miss? Very rainy/snowy weather makes you half your movement on a 5+.

Lots of ideas to play with.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Proper proper wind, like you get in a Scottish Glen - no advancing in a certain direction, +1" when advancing if the wind is behind you.

Unless you have a cloak on, and it's a +2" instead. That model suffers a -1 to hit, as you're holding onto the corners.

If the Worms game has wind to blow grenades and stuff around, why not 40k.

Boggy and muddy terrain, with no turning for vehicles as they slide around.
Advance rolls of 1 mean someone gets stuck in the gyppo and is lost.

 mrhappyface wrote:

Niiru wrote:
Haha, I do love how as soon as there is a weather-related thread on here, it fills up with Brits.

Well at the moment, there's the OP and someone from Ireland... And now me...

As for weather, lots of -1 to hit for snow storms, rain storms, storm storms, etc. Winds making flamers and nades blow back on the person using them depending on wind direction. If it's very hot? Get's hot on any miss? Very rainy/snowy weather makes you half your movement on a 5+.

Lots of ideas to play with.

Oh you're right, two of the posters were from USA and.. sweden? I think. I assumed the first was a Brit cos he went for Planet Brittania haha.

Though I only assume they're american cos of the US flag on their profile, but I notice mine also has a US flag and I'm british so... not sure why that is. Dakka seems to set them automatically. Got to get that fixed!

Niiru wrote:

 mrhappyface wrote:

Niiru wrote:
Haha, I do love how as soon as there is a weather-related thread on here, it fills up with Brits.

Well at the moment, there's the OP and someone from Ireland... And now me...

As for weather, lots of -1 to hit for snow storms, rain storms, storm storms, etc. Winds making flamers and nades blow back on the person using them depending on wind direction. If it's very hot? Get's hot on any miss? Very rainy/snowy weather makes you half your movement on a 5+.

Lots of ideas to play with.

Oh you're right, two of the posters were from USA and.. sweden? I think. I assumed the first was a Brit cos he went for Planet Brittania haha.

Though I only assume they're american cos of the US flag on their profile, but I notice mine also has a US flag and I'm british so... not sure why that is. Dakka seems to set them automatically. Got to get that fixed!

That's a Danish flag... but I am actually half Swede half Brit, I just work in Denmark... so...

Open play twist cards!

The overcast, dreary, grey skies of the West of Ireland: -1 to leadership.

In the far future of mankind, in the 41st millenium, there is no weather.

To be honest, most weather conditions probably don't change things too much, and most other weather conditions would likely just be sufficiently covered with "night fight" type rules. After all, darkness and heavy fog both reduce visibility, as does snowfall and heavy rain.

The more interesting bit of heavy rain is how it turns the ground to mud, which can slow infantry and trap tanks in bad enough situations.

Another possibility, especially on icy battlefields, would be snow-glare from a bright sun, which can blind men and women (though likely not Space Marines).

Anyways, there are things you can declare for your game of course. Just best not to go too overboard on them.

Hence for Narrative play only

They can also be used or adapted to represent different environments.

And seeing as it's Narrative play, one could even have exclusion rules for certain forces - Valhallan regiments immune to snow based rules, Tallarn the same but for hot desert conditions. Not so much the right equipment type stuff, just representing their native conditions. Though I'd say it'd have to be properly proper Valhallan/Tallarn - no plonking down standard IG models then claiming they're from elsewhere!

Desert conditions? Have the random objective be the mission, and the rest mirages.

Weather is generally pretty easy to implement into any game, but it's harder to really have it affect a game like 40K (which is a bit "shallow" as far as game mechanics go).

Do you want weather to be a predominant part of the scenario? If you're doing a custom scenario, this can be fine - with the weather having a more severe impact on the game. Is the weather changing? Are you rolling randomly each turn to determine whether weather (mah!) arrives or departs?

Being any number of crazy planets you could have a bunch of alternate weather forms we don't see (or at least rarely) here on Terra.

A dust storm may limit visibility to 24" max and/or -1 to hit. Perhaps flyers can only hit and be hit on a strict 5+ or 6+. A blizzard might do something similar but also remove the "gets hot" rule from plasma weapons. Any kind of severe wind storm can limit units to standard Move values or reduce Advances and Charges by 2-3".

Pelting of metero fragments or some kind of terrible debris storm which inflicts D3 mortals wounds on every unit on the board? A toxic acid cloud/rain which reduces all models' armours saves by 1. Playing on an ice lake, any model which advances or charges falls through the ice on a roll of '1' on a D6, etc?

Loads of options and very easy to implement - perhaps even moreso in a custom scenario. My upcoming 40K table I'm working on is a spice trading port/colony on the edge of an acid lake - the board consists of outcroppings of land and platforms on an acid ocean --- it'll kill a model which doesn't make an armour save if present.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

*+3 internets for anyone who can tell me where that quote is from....

But cornflakes do look like people...

I think elbows is right - difficult to do this with subtlety. Plus, if we're going for fluff accurate effects then some armies will be more effected, some will be immune. (for example, eldar and Marines sealed into fancy army won't really care if it's hot outside. On the other hand Marines with their chunky armour and regular size shoes definitely have a ground pressure problem so muddy ground from torrential rain may be a problem for them.)

As such it's probably best used in custom scenarios for specific armies. Especially for scenarios which are already asymmetric (the best kind).

I may be losing the plot, but I seem to recall one issue having some suggested rules for this - a random table, fog -.> night fight and so on. It also had double, half or zero gravity, poisonous / toxic environments, all with effects.

I'll remember at 3am....

I agree with the Twist Card option!
good fun so far with the deck in our escalation league

Great for Narrative play, not for tourny
(one of the old Ancients tourny rules (DBM) had weather effects that could wreck your army...

I'd cut visibility ranges rather than put -1 to hit,

maybe torrential downpour would also decrease the Str of flamers?
and apply -1" move for infantry/walkers?

Heavy Fog could increase the safe teleport/etc distance from 9" to 12"?