Tactical Command
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[NEP] Weapon Ranges
http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=159&t=28613
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Author:  Mattman [ Tue Dec 09, 2014 12:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: [NEP] Weapon Ranges

So I have been doing some calculations regarding weapon ranges, and how the compare in the 40k world and the epic world. I have put these figures in a table below.

Attachment:
Ranges.jpg
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For each 6" range band I have converted it into cm (simple 1" = 2.5cm) scaled it up to actual distance (assuming a 1:60 scale for 40k) and then scaled down to epic distance (assuming 300:1 scale for epic).

Obviously this give us the true ranges for epic, but in my opinion, although realistic, they seem woefully short to be able to play a good game (bolt guns with a 12cm range?, heavy weapons at 24cm??). So I tried doubling the value and I think that gives a more usable value and just feels right (24cm for bolters etc, 48cm for heavy weapons) and it just so happens that those are the same figures we started with in inches! If we round those figures to the nearest 5cm, then I think most ranges will work and it is an easy conversion process.
The longest range in the game I believe is the Earthshaker at 240", I think when we start getting up to those ranges we can reel them in a little, 200cm for the Earthshaker seems fine to me.

Following on from that, during my digging into weapon ranges I discovered that some of the titan weapons are massively short compared to their 40k counter parts. Vulcan Mega Bolter 60"! Turbo Laser 96"!! Melta Cannon 72" !!! I think there is room to boost the titan weapons and help them regain some of their killing power that they are supposed to have on the battle field.

Thoughts?

Matt

Author:  MagnusIlluminus [ Tue Dec 09, 2014 6:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: [NEP] Weapon Ranges

That looks really good. I find it helpful when a thing can be shown mathematically. That said, I agree that playability should trump "realism" in this case, as we are talking about a fantasy game rather than actual reality.

Agreed, 200cm should be sufficient for the longest-ranged weapons in the game. Anything over that would be largely superfluous anyway.

While I generally agree that Titan weapon ranges could use a boost, some people are trying to get Titans to maneuver more and longer ranges will reduce the amount of maneuvering that the Titans will need to do. That said, my opinion would be to use the same formula for Titan weapons as you are using for other models' weapons, post the numbers, and we can then discuss further.

Author:  Mattman [ Wed Dec 10, 2014 7:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: [NEP] Weapon Ranges

Okay, so I went through the various reference material I have and pulled out all the titan weapons I could find that have made it into the 40k universe. The following is the weapons and their ranges.
If we follow my work above and go for the Inches = cm for epic weapon ranges then we have the following:

Quake Cannon: 24" - 180" = 25cm - 180cm
Volcano Cannon: 180" = 180cm
Vulcan Mega Bolter: 60" = 60cm
Turbo Laser Destructor: 96" = 95cm
Apocalypse Missile Launchers: 24" - 360" = 25cm - 360cm!!!
Gatling Blaster: 72" = 70cm
Inferno Gun: Hellstorm Template (16.5" long and 5" wide at widest) = Current template?? (I believe it is approximately 15cm long and 6cm wide, so would just be about right)
Laser Blaster: 96" = 95"
Melta Cannon: 72" = 70cm
Plasma Blastgun: 72" (Low Power) 96" (Overload) = 70cm (Low Power) 95cm (Overload)
Vortex Missile: 12" - 960" = 10cm - 960cm!!!!

A few weapons obviously have huge ranges, the Vortex (and other missiles would just keep their unlimited ranges) and maybe scale the Missile Launcher back to 200cm.
Some are very close to what we currently have. Turbo Laser scaled to 95cm, just keep the 75cm we currently have. Gatling Blaster scaled to 70cm, keep the 75cm it currently has. Will need to measure the current template, but it doesn't seem far off what the scaled version would be for the the Inferno Gun.
The rest look like they should be boosted a bit. Taking the Plasma Blast Gun up to 75cm seems like a easy move (wouldn't want to take it to 100cm). The Quake and Volcano cannons seem to reach a lot farther than expected, so I could see them being increased to 150cm. Vulcan Mega Bolter with an effective range more than twice what we currently use! 60cm might be pushing it, but I could see boosting the range to 50cm. Laser Blaster almost twice what we currently use, I can see that sitting at 100cm or 75/80. Lastly is the Melta Cannon, 3 times what we currently play with, will have to see what the extra range does.
Obviously these range changes will also mean a change in the costs of the weapons, and I haven't even looked to see how the weapons differ in the rules, which may also change their effectiveness. So they should balance out.
To me, the boost in range to things like the VMB and Melta actually makes sense. When they have ranges of 25cm, that means they are no longer (and sometimes shorter) than similar weapons carried by infantry! I would expect Titan scale weapons to reach a hell of a lot further than their smaller counterparts.
To me, titans not moving is not a big problem, part of their job is to provide a long range fire support from a stable platform. I am more keen to make infantry and vehicles move about the battlefield. If you want to keep titans moving, then you could add a rule that they are +1 to hit if they do not move, they are pretty big targets, shouldn't be to hard to hit them if they stay put ;)

Thoughts?

Matt

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