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.

As we all know, vehicles currently have the tendency to spontaneously shift between being glass hammers and lumps of iron. Many ideas and concepts have been thrown around, including everything from giving all vehicles infantry stats, to making all units in the game just have an AV value.

As of late, it surprised me that no one considered the system that GW has put into place for us regarding Super-Heavy Vehicles. The presence of a single damage chart gave me a sudden jolt of inspiration - use that one instead!

My proposal is as follows:

Give all vehicles in the game (non super-heavies) a single structure point, with the exception of the Monolith and the Land Raider (points costs would obviously be adjusted; I'm speaking in generalities at the moment). Make all walkers infantry units similar to the Wraithlord in terms of their durability (see example below). Make some skimmers, like Piranhas, Pathfinder Tetras, Vypers, and Landspeeders infantry on jetbikes, while larger skimmers and tracked vehicles get new vehicle rules.

Non Super-Heavy Vehicles would have the following modifiers instead of those listed for SHVs.

Glancing: -1

Penetrating: +1

Destroyer: +2

When all of their structure points are gone, they roll a D6 on the Catastrophic Damage Table, counting a 6 (Apocalyptic Explosion!) as a 5 (Explosion).

Non Super-Heavies MAY use Damage Control, but are only successful on a 6, instead of a 5+. Non-Super-Heavies MAY be affected by Psychic Powers.

Other additions include vehicles' ability to fire at a separate target with each weapon, as well as the removal of the Ordnance or everything else. All guns can fire. The exceptions obviously being Barrage weapons and a vehicle that has moved too far to fire at all.

Examples of vehicle rulesets:

Land Raider - 330pts
BS - 4
AV - 14/14/14
Structure Points: 2
Power of the Machine Spirit acts as -1 modifier to rolls on the damage table (cumulative), ignores Gun Crew Shaken and Driver Stunned.

Imperial Guard Sentinel - 45pts
WS..BS..S....T....W..I...A..Ld..Sv
...3.....3...5..4(6)..2..3..2...8....4+

Multilaser may be replaced by Heavy Flamethrower for free, Lascannon for +15pts, Autocannon or Missile Launcher for +10pts

Sentinels have Fleet and Scout USRs.
Number 1-3

SM Dreadnought - 110pts
WS..BS..S..T..W..I..A..Ld..Sv
..4.....4....6..8...3..4.3...10..3+
Upgrades as per Codex, etc.

* * * * *

Anyways, did I get my idea across? Let me know what you think - I'm going to be proposing this change to a friend of mine. We might hammer out some house rules by Christmas time.

CK

Sounds good to me. I like the idea of tanks being a bit tougher. Making the smaller skimmers like land speeder and vypers just be jetbikes works out well too in my mind. It always bugged me that an attack bike had a toughness while a land speeder had an armor value. The trick now is to work out the proper point values for the various things that are being affected by the changes.

Or not adjust points values at all. Currently only skimmers usually make their points values ... regular vehicles usually only make their point values by taking out other vehicles, a task that infantry has the same weapons to do for a much better price and survivability.

If you apply the rule to all vehicles with an armor value I see no reason to adjust points. both sides will benefit equally from having tougher vehicles for the same price. It even allows you to effect skimmers without destroying them, thus the 15 shots that they are hit with may do a little more than cause them not to shoot.

This would be a simple system to implement as it would be one rule for everyone, no points cost changes, no individual charts for specific vehicles etc. I think it would make for a great friendly game even for just a one shot between friends. Any time you start adding a rules packet that changes points values and begins to complicate things it makes it harder to jfind interest and communicate all of the particulars. I think it is much better to say ... "hey, you wanna play a game where our vehicles are a little more durable, well, we just add this one table and thats the only change."

I like this idea and may see if some of my LGS guys want to try a one off using it.

Meph