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Made in gb
Sagitarius with a Big F'in Gun





'Erryferd

My current kitbash project involves making some crazy death machine, primarily using 2 doomwheels and a warp lightning cannon, to go with my Morskitarii (Skaven AdMech).
Because this thing won't look like any current units in 40k or AoS, nor will have the same hitbox, I've taken it upon myself to have some more fun making custom rules, like I've done so in the past for Hoplites and Lacyraemara cohorts, amongst other things.
[It'll look a bit like one of these:]
Spoiler:


This device's rules are made to work in both AoS and 40k, with the necessary extra bits of information where the profiles differ.
I've also included "The Doomsday Device" key word, with the intention of this section being expanded to include a selection of wildly different Doomsday Devices, with only 1 device being fieldable at a time.

One thing you will notice is that I like variables. In light of this thing being Doomwheely, I've put a lot of emphasis on movement to determine what this thing does.
Basically put: The faster it goes, the more it hurts both the victims and potentially, itself.
This thing also doesn't follow conventional vehicle rules, with its actual positioning on the table being an important factor. Not quite 8th edition spirit of easiness.

Before we start with the rules itself, I'll make a point about how I reckon this thing will be possibly arduous to balance. There's plenty of areas to tweak, but it's got such a monumentally high potential ceiling that finding the right level on that scale to base the points is going to be hit and miss.
Also: Maths.
-----

Doomsday Device of DOOM!
Mv 6 + Z ¦ WS 4 ¦ BS 3 ¦ S 6 ¦ T 6 ¦ W 16 ¦ A 5 ¦ Ld 7 ¦ Sv 5+
Mv 6 + Z ¦ Sv 5+¦ Bv 7 ¦ W 16

Unit Composition:
1 Doomsday Device (Unique)

Unit Type:
Vehicle

Wargear:
Voltik Cannon
Hyperstatic Generator
Crew's Spanners

Special Rules:
Momentum
Power Accumulation
Static Bang!
Hammer of Wrath
Zap Field
Naff Discharge

Keywords:
Adeptus Mechanicus
Morskitarii
Skaven
Skryre
War Machine
The Doomsday Device

Voltik Cannon:
Range: 24 ¦ Type: Assault 3¦ S 7 ¦ AP -1 ¦ D 1 / ¦ W 2+
Abilities:
Power Accumulation*
Rending: Wound roll of 6+ has AP -4.
Fixed Forward: This weapon can only target units that it is pointed at after moving.
(Pretty much just a variable No. of shots Lightning gun from the Taghmata)

Hyperstatic Generator:
Range: 2 ¦ Type: - ¦ S 3 ¦ AP - ¦ D 1 / ¦ W 5+
Abilities:
Power Accumulation*
Omnissient Groove: Wound rolls of 6+ are AP-1
Field of DOOM!: This weapon automatically hits.

Crew's Spanners:
Range: 1 ¦ Type: Melée 4 ¦ S 3 ¦ AP -1 ¦ D 1 / ¦ W 5+


Momentum:
Generates "Z Marks" equal to [Distance moved last turn / 3].
Where a profile has a Z, such as the Impact strength, the Z Mark number is put in place.
(I.e, unit moved 12" last turn, has 6 Z Marks for this turn, Impact is thus S 6).
- In addition, when moving the device, it has a turning circle radius of [Max Movement / 5]
(I.e, can move 30", has a 6" turning radius).
Power Accumulation:
Moving builds up power through the on-board generator;
Generates X Marks equal to [Distance moved this turn / 2].
These X Marks generate an additional XD3 attacks for weapons with the Power Accumulation rule.
- In the event of a Static Bang!, accumulated X Marks is reset.
Further distance that could be moved [/2] is translated into Potential X Marks.
Static Bang!:
When the device comes within 2" of a unit (friend or foe), it discharges power in a bright moment, seeing to you resolving a use of the Hyperstatic Generator against the unfortunate unit.
Hammer of Wrath:
When the device runs into and/or over a unit, it will deal [D6 =< X] hits at [S 1+ Z], AP-2, D 1.
This event can be Overwatched against.
- Against Infrantry units, the device will lose any possible further movement by the result of that D6 for hits.
(However, if this results in the device being unable to move out of an inch of the impact'ed, carry on moving the device over the impact'ed until it's clear of an inch).
- Against non-infantry (including terrain), the device comes to a complete stop, resolving an attack with the following profile, against itself and the impact'ed:
(Do note, that since this stops the device moving, it also suffers a Naff Discharge)
- Impact:
Range: - ¦ A [Pot' X] ¦ S Z ¦ AP -2 ¦ D 1 / ¦ W [7-Z]+
Zap Field:
Reduces the strength of incoming shots against the Forward Arc of the device by [Inches moved this round / 6], (rounded to the nearest whole), for a maximum of -3.
(Moved 12", strength is reduced by 2. Moved 8", strength is reduced by 1.3 -> 1).
Naff Discharge:
After moving, the device suffers [Pot' X - 3] number of D6 rolls, suffering a Mortal wound on a roll of 4+.
(If it moved 12", when it could've moved 24", it suffers [6-3=3] D6 rolls, expecting to take 1.5 Mortal wounds).


Accompanying Warlock Engineers can attempt to cast the spell Zap Charge, maximum of 3 casts per turn. (Stacking effect)
Zap Charge:
Casting Value 6, 18" range.
Allows the device to move an extra D6 inches this turn.
Alternatively, an Engineer can use their Warp Power Accumulator to supercharge the spell:
If successful, allows the device to move an extra 2D6 this turn.
If not, the Engineer suffers mortal wounds equal to [6 - cast roll].
(I.e, rolls a 3 for casting, suffers 3 mortal wounds).

If a 12 is rolled, in addition to the caster suffering Perils, buggers up the steering of the device, allowing it to only move in a straight line.
(Regardless if supercharged or not).

Getting Zap Charged counts as having Advanced, and thus, the device can't charge in the charge phase.
-----

With the way Z Marks work, and if you consistently pull off 3 12's on the Zap Charge, this thing can move at an absolute maximum of 72", but that takes 5 turns to achieve, and it'll have to have moved 250" inches in a straight line over the previous turns.
For a laugh, what could this thing do to a Land Raider if it did somehow magically pull that off?

We'll do 3 scenarios: One where it gets maximum use out of the Voltik Cannon, but thus doesn't ram, and another where it forgoes the Cannon entirely for the Hyperstatic Generator, and lastly for super ramming.

Moved 72" this turn.
Voltik Cannon:
No. of shots: [X=36]D3 + 3 attacks. Max = 111 shots.
Hitting on 4's, so expected 55[.5] hits.
S7 against T8, so 5's to wound: 18.5 [19] wounds.
1/6th will have Rending, so 3 at AP-4, 16 at AP -1.

3 saves on 6's, so 0.5 saved.
16 saves on 3's, so 10.67 [11] saved.
5.5 wounds go through.
Pffffffft.

If it rammed instead from max range:
Hyperstatic Generator:
No. of hits: [X=36]D3, Max 108 hits.
S3 against T8, so 6's to wound: 18 rolled.
1/6th are AP-1, = 3.
15 saves on a 2+, 3 on a 3+:
2.5 + 1 = 3.5 wounds go through.

HoW:
[D6 =< 36 = 6] hits at S 1+ [Z = 23.67 [24]] = 25.
6 hits at S 25, AP -2,
Wounding on 2's, 5 go through.
5 saves on a 4+, 2.5 go through.

Impact is pretty fething pointless to run through...
6 wounds as oppose to 5.5 with this method.

And at last, with this thing basically ending its movement last turn an inch away from the LR, using all of those sweet Pot' X's for a ram:
1 hit off on HoW, S 25 AP -2.
0.8 wounds through, 0.4 saved.

Impact:
36 hits, S 25, AP -2.
Against the LR, 30 go through, 1/2 are saved on a 4+, so 15 wounds suffered.
Against the device, 30 go through, feth-all get saved, 30 wounds suffered.
A sorry mess of splinters and warpstone fragments.
But then there's also the Naff Discharge to it:
[Pot' X -3 = 22]D6 = 132. Mortal wound on a 4+, 66 mortal wounds suffered to the device.
Pretty much just a pile of strangely glowing sawdust at this point.

Nearly expectantly 1-shots the Land Raider, but suffers 96 wounds in the process.
Those 96 wounds would've also been suffered if it crashed into a tree.
-----

Fair doo if you've stuck it this far. Quite a lot of reading there, eh?
Maths (assuming I definitely did it right)tells us that this thing is really quite gak against Land Raiders, but infantry should be right proper messing themselves.
This thing might be alright against Rhinos and the like, mind.
-----

I'll still be reading over this and tweaking where I see fit.
I've yet to playtest it, but so far the simulations reckon this thing should be a good laugh to use.

If any of you have spotted any glaring issues with this, I'd greatly appreciate reading them. Custom rules are never much fun if they're OP or UP.

~0110~ ~1001~
6.4k Taghmata
4.8k Morskitarii
1.9k Robots
1.7k Cult Mech'
1.3k Skitarii
1.1k Mek Nonsense

Primaris Marines
Archmagos Gramm Dyrbax
Boltscurry's Bhiranauts 
   
Made in us
Humming Great Unclean One of Nurgle





In My Lab

It's massively overcomplicated. I only looked at the 40k section, but honestly, I'd have said this thing has too many finicky rules for 7th edition, and 8th is massively simplified.

So my advice? Clean it up, make it simpler, and then we can address any balance concerns that might arise.

Clocks for the clockmaker! Cogs for the cog throne! 
   
Made in us
Confessor Of Sins




WA, USA

You absolutely got carried away with special rules here. I know it is fun but you need to actually think how this would play, and that is slowly and confusingly.

 Ouze wrote:

Afterward, Curran killed a guy in the parking lot with a trident.
 
   
Made in gb
Sagitarius with a Big F'in Gun





'Erryferd

 curran12 wrote:
You absolutely got carried away with special rules here. I know it is fun but you need to actually think how this would play, and that is slowly and confusingly.


Whilst I may have indeed gotten carried away, I did spend a lot of the time chuckling to myself as I imagined what the thing would be doing on the table top.
Having come up with it, I've already got the jist of its operation; doesn't seem too crazy to me.
One thing I did forget to include, however, was a quick reference table for the Mark generations, along with the turning radii.

I'll agree with both yourself and JNA, with it being complicated.
It'd be nice to slim it down; currently mulling over removing the Momentum mechanic, and just use its toughness for related high-speed impacts.


Core things:
The faster it moves, the more shots it can get off, and the stronger the flare shield thing gets.
As typical with Skaven things, it needs to be dangerous and self-destructive.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2017/09/17 16:57:22


~0110~ ~1001~
6.4k Taghmata
4.8k Morskitarii
1.9k Robots
1.7k Cult Mech'
1.3k Skitarii
1.1k Mek Nonsense

Primaris Marines
Archmagos Gramm Dyrbax
Boltscurry's Bhiranauts 
   
Made in us
Confessor Of Sins




WA, USA

You've fallen into a very classic amateur-rules-writing mistake here, and have gotten so focused on various individual situations and events that you've lost sight of how the rules work as a complete package. Your familiarity and intimacy are giving you a bit of blinders as to what you've got here, but let's break down exactly what using this unit entails:

First, it has a counter mechanic (Z-tokens) that no other unit in the game currently has. This is not only unusual, but adds bookkeeping and paperwork to this, which is not conducive to a smoothly operating set of rules. Further, those tokens also have additional functions based on doing math. While it isn't complicated math or obscure, it is more brakes on the game, especially when you stop moving in increments divisible by 3.

And this is just the first special rule, before we're even out of that, there is rules for its movement that are wholly different to any other unit in the game (turning radius). It is another part that just does not behave in line with any other unit. This adds complexity, slows the game down and doubly so when you are not moving in some cleanly divisible number of inches.

And then it has a SECOND counter mechanic (X-tokens) that follow an entirely different set of math to accumulate, to further slow down the game. So before we're even out of the first two special rules, we have two counter systems that function differently to one another and a movement rule that is totally contrary to the existing movement rules.

I could go on, but I think the most telling aspect of your overly complex rules is that at the bottom of your post, you require nearly an entire page to simply explain how they work. This is a very clear sign of sloppy and inelegant rules. I understand the impulse, however. It is great fun to dream up all of these scenarios in your head and how crazy spending and using all of those tokens will be. But the end result is a jumble of thoughts without any cohesive or elegance. It works, but in an exceedingly clunky way that saps fun and interest. To use this unit, you'd need multiple counters and probably a piece of scrap paper just to keep track of everything. You need to step back and really hammer out what you want this to be and get a clear design goal in mind, and work towards that. Simple, elegant and playable rules are far more appealing that a mess of tables and counters.

 Ouze wrote:

Afterward, Curran killed a guy in the parking lot with a trident.
 
   
 
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