<![CDATA[Latest posts for the thread "Y-Mod (last of) Series 1; The Star Weaver"]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/16.page JForum - http://www.jforum.net Y-Mod (last of) Series 1; The Star Weaver 40k's worst units in the game. These are units that are shunned by almost every player, in almost every version of the game. In Y-Mod, I attempt to "fix" these units in a way that makes them usable to at least a portion of the gaming population, while still not so powerful that tournament lists would use them. Try to assume that the points costs remain the same, or close to the same, or perhaps increase or decrease however necessary. I'm also not going to massively change the unit's role, and will try to keep it in the same "space" as before.

On with the show!

The Star Weaver
In a departure from the regular weekly Y-Mod, I'm going to show a unit that isn't actually bad, but is just so far off from what I think it was meant to be that I really wanted to do a modification. You see, the Star Weaver doesn't work like how the model looks. If I were to show you the different model types in 40k, then gave you the Star Weaver and asked you to place it where it looked like it belonged, I think most players would say it's a Chariot. I believe this was the intention of the model, but for reasons unknown (probably a late-round design decision after having the sculpt on hand for multiple years before release), they changed it to being just a standard Harlequin vehicle.

There's some evidence of this too. The Star Weaver model has infantry hanging off its sides, waiting to strike enemies. The sprue also comes with the option of taking a Star Bolas or a Zephyr Glaive for those infantry hanging from it. Yes, these items are now purely ornamental, but they're definitely those items, only now with no in-game effect. This, to me, is just weird.

Now, that's not to say that the Star Weaver is bad. On the contrary, in a pure Harlequin force, it's a very useful vehicle. It gets your models where they need to go even faster than normal in short bursts, that 4+ Inv for a turn is significantly better than Jinking, and twin Shuriken Cannons can lay down a surprising amount of hurt to anything not AV12 or higher. However, unlike its Harlequin friends, it's very vulnerable to close combat. The inability to jump in and out and around combat is felt deeply. You can sense with the Harlequin's style that this vehicle is meant to dart deep into enemy territory, and then get away again. As it currently stands, it jumps around the outskirts, which feels more Eldar than Harlequin. Let's fix this.

The Y-Mod

Star Weaver BS4 - FA/SA/RA 10 - HP2
Tandem Players WS6 - BS4 - S3 - T3 - W2 - I6 - A4 - Ld10 - Sv(-)

Unit Type: Transport Chariot Vehicle (Capacity: 6)
Unit Composition: 1 Star Weaver

Weapons - Star Weaver:
Hull Mounted Shuriken Cannon
Turret Mounted Shuriken Cannon

Weapons - Tandem Players:
Star Bolas (one use only)
Close Combat Weapon
Plasma Grenades

Wargear - Star Weaver
Holo-launchers (one use only)
Holofield (5+ Invulnerable save)

Wargear - Tandem Players:
Holosuit (5+ Invulnerable save)

Special Rules:
Fear
Fleet
Furious Charge
Hit & Run

Options:
May exchange Star Bolas with Zephyr Glaive.
May add up to two more Star Weavers to the unit.

The Breakdown:
Obviously there's some big changes here. Making this unit into a Chariot is a huge deal, as the vehicle now gains a whole new method of movement; charging. The faster the unit is, the more useful charging and close combat are. Add in Hit & Run, and suddenly this unit can easily end the turn 30" from where it started, having fired weapons and fought in close combat, without turbo-boosting (12" move, 8" assault, 10" hit & run). This would be useful enough, but as a transport it becomes amazing.

Add to this that such a unit could drop off Harlequins, and then charge in ahead of them, absorbing the Overwatch fire that's so incredibly lethal to Harlequins.

Of course, changing up to a Chariot also meant there needed to be a big adjustment to the unit's special rules and wargear. For one, this vehicle now actually comes equipped like a standard Skyweaver jetbike, and can toss a Star Bolas, or upgrade that to a Zephyr Glave. Considering units get an extra attack for having two close combat weapons, and the Star Bolas (as a grenade) doesn't count towards that, I imagine the Zephyr Glaive would be the far more popular option of the two, and would likely cost more points to upgrade to than on the jetbikes.

Like all other Harlequins, the chariot version of the Star Weaver gains Fear, Fleet, Furious Charge, and Hit & Run. It's an amazing set of special rules that really captures the Harlequin's lightning-strike style. With basic Harlequins have two attacks each, and this unit being modelled with two riders in addition to the pilot, giving it 4 attacks also seemed appropriate.

Now, this is a LOT of changes to this unit. Normally I don't like to comment on point costs. For one, I feel like I'm violating the spirit of the forum rules, because I don't like giving or inferring to points costs (even if it's not technically a violation). Also, I have no idea whether or not these points costs would be appropriate, because I haven't playtested these, and likely won't really ever get the chance to. Lastly, there's some art to points costs. Not everything in the game should be costed appropriately all the time. There are times when things should be undercosted, and times when things should be overcosted, and that should be based on how the army works as a whole both in a CAD, unbound, as allies, and/or within formations.

That said, the chariot version of the Star Weaver desperately needs a points-increase. You're allowing a unit to gain a whole ton of new movement, and the ability to directly influence a whole new phase of the game. A 50% increase in point cost is entirely reasonable for this unit. It's because I really do think that an increase of this magnitude is in order that I'm even addressing it at all. Yes, this makes it even more of a glass cannon, but hey, that's what Harlequins are all about! And I'm sure that even with that points increase, this increased utility would make the Star Weaver still see play, if not even increased play.

Comments/Suggestions
As always, comments and suggestions are welcome! If you want to see me "fix" a unit, go ahead and let me know which unit you think needs a Y-Mod!


This is the last Y-Mod for the year. Been a fun Series so far. I will return next year with Series 2!]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/674125/8334483.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/674125/8334483.page GMT Y-Mod (last of) Series 1; The Star Weaver
That said, I don't personally agree with your thought-process. If having guys hanging from the sides makes a vehicle a chariot, then would you argue that raiders and venoms should also be chariots? The star weaver *is* fragile to close combat, but it can still maintain a pretty solid distance (several harlequin formaions/detachments let you run before assaulting meaning you can keep the transport roughly 19" from the enemy unit your harlies are charging on assuming they roll roughly average for run and charge distances).

Considering a Sky Weaver can't be locked in combat, giving it hit & run actually makes it *less* likely to get out of a combat that it survives because you have a 1/6th chance of failing your initiative test. So your rules, while cool, don't actually let it "get away" so much as they just let it kill things better (while actively encouraging it to do the opposite of "getting away" and charge in). Again, the chariot transport idea is pretty cool, but I'm not sure your reasoning matches what you've made. ^_^;

Wouldn't letting it flat out despite having its troops disembark or letting it perform a 2d6" assault jump (ala jet packs) accomplish that particular goal a bit more simply? I'm biased here as giving low-AV eldar skimmers assault moves has been a pet passing thought for me lately. >_>

For me personally, adding 50% onto the base cost of a Star Weaver for the changes you've introduced would bug me. Sky Weavers are vital to the way I play my harlequins, so making them more expensive without making them more survivable would be problematic. You get a handy assault unit out of your changes, but that's a pretty hefty price increase on the only transport our squishy space clowns get without allies.

While I like this Y-Mod thing you're doing, your changes feel like they'd work better as an entirely new unit. Why not make this into a new heavy support option that can be taken in place of a void weaver? It would add some variety to the codex, and you can even build it easily with existing kits! It's a cool unit, I just don't particularly want to have to pay extra for it on my already-squishy-for-their-cost clown cars. ^_^;]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/674125/8342913.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/674125/8342913.page GMT Y-Mod (last of) Series 1; The Star Weaver
Wyldhunt wrote:
While I like this Y-Mod thing you're doing, your changes feel like they'd work better as an entirely new unit.


This is pretty much why I try to stick to things that need fixing, and why that really wasn't the case here. The Star Weaver actually works already as-is. Still, just feels weird to me that dudes are hanging off with different weapon options for a force that seems to really want a Chariot. It's those two conflicts in ideology that make what you said very true; this is definitely something you wish you had in addition to the Star Weaver, and not in replacement of it.]]> http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/674125/8343786.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/674125/8343786.page GMT Y-Mod (last of) Series 1; The Star Weaver http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/674125/8344765.page http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/preList/674125/8344765.page GMT