Hi!
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Post-match analysis:
Affect of new rules:
Primarch's suggestion that armies are not placed in the deployment zones was an excellent one. Instead, units are deployed one by one which makes for a very interesting game of cat and mouse and makes for a great deal of uncertainty in Turn One - I have always been able to see my opponent's entire army set out and been able to formulate my strategy before orders have finished being placed. It also means you have the flexibility to place orders as you reveal your units one by one, which also was fun and unpredictable. This is a rule which will definitely be staying for future battles!
This is exactly how I played my game and as you mention it is wonderfully fun. I like how you have to guess what the opponent is going to do instead of the "god view" of seeing his whole battle force laid out and knowing what is to come.
It's the REAL fog of war!
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Since the first playtest, as well as First Fire getting a +1 on rolls to hit, being on First Fire - once the order has been revealed - gives enemy units a +1 to hit you! This made the game tactically interesting as careful consideration had to be given to firing FF units as doing so make them a more lucrative target.
Indeed. It needs a drawback and being easier to hit is a big one. I forgot to do this in my test, but it will be good to see what you found.
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For example, take the start of Turn 2: You'll see that Chaos opted not to fire their Titan first, and instead activated the Tower of Skulls. Taking the fact that the ToS would have fired in the advance fire segment out of the matter, with the standard rules there is no doubt in my mind that the Titan would always have been fired first. But with the maximum 6 void shields in place, the Chaos player was reasonably confident that the Collosus wouldn't be able to destroy his Titan outright - but would have had a better chance of doing so had he been on First Fire. Once the Collosus had completed firing, the Titan's shields were completely stripped away so was left with little option but to fire immediately. Instead of targeting the more (VP) lucrative target of the Collosus, the Leviathan was targeted as this was the biggest threat to the Titan's survival as it had not fired this turn. Even then a chance was taken, the Turbo-Laser Destructors and Plasma Destructor were assigned against the Leviathan, while the Gattling Cannon stripped away the rest of the Collosus' shields, allowing the Blood Reapers to finish off the Collosus in the next activation. They also landed more shots on the Collosus because the Squat player had opted to take the First Fire option.
Excellent!
I never liked how it was always a race to fire your first fire units before the opponent did. There was no sense (or penalty) to do otherwise.
With this rule, you have to choose. Will I wait to fire? Will I survive to fire back? Should I fire now, but if I fail to destroy the target it will fire at me with a bonus!!
I really love how this works!
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I believe the First Fire Effect - easier to hit enemies and easier to be hit by enemies - improves gameplay. It makes the game even more lethal but gives players a real tactical dilemma which means their decisions are not as clean cut as maybe they once were. The penalty also has the effect of making First Fire less attractive, without this it could be too tempting to throw tactics out of the window, put everything on FF and engage in a shooting match.
Totally agree. There is choice, risk and rewards in the decision.
It's what a rule should be!
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Primarch's Titan Plasma rules: Again, like the first playtest these worked very well indeed. The only controversy is that I'll need to look back at those rules, specifically to find out when the Plasma is rolled for and when it must be applied. My suspicion is that it probably should all be done in the Orders Phase. As it was, the Plasma was calculated when the Titan was activated which meant a little more gamesmanship - no repair plasma on turn one for example because with the Titan be last to be activated it would not incur any damage. This probably shouldn't have happened! Good fun though!
I played it as being rolled and assigned in the orders phase. Otherwise its too easy for the titan to have it done as it is activated.
So definitely do it at the turns start in the order phase and assign your priorities THEN. Anything else is too easy on the titan player.
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It was interesting to get the Plasma Destructor going which went very well. I would like to see a little bit of penetrating damage for the overload, but with a -6 TSM that probably would be a step too far... Next time I'll be sure to have a Volcano Cannon as well to deliver that killer blow...
This was done on purpose. The old paradigm of weapon usage and targeting is dead with these rules. We must think differently now. Weapons work more like their old AT counterparts.
A titan needs weapons for stripping shields now. Also it needs weapons to reliably damage parts of the enemy titan that either hinder its defense or make it easier to hit.
It takes getting use to. We are so accustomed of "going for the jugular" that now we must first incapacitate then kill the titian. Titans are tough dudes under these rules. There are no short cuts.
Those plasma weapons are not the "killing strike". They are weapons to reliably damage locations. Use them at such. You don't aim it at the head, you aim at the shield generators, leg, weapons, etc. You aim to make it less dangerous to you. Once it is incapacitated use a weapon with penetration for the kill stroke.
These rules also make close combat weapons very attractive. Use your ranged weapons to damage, then rush in and strike!!
In fact I'm thinking of a warlord with a plasma destructor and power fist that could do so nasty stuff....
Also, who said the killing blow has to come from a titan?
In my game one phantom was horribly damaged by the warlord, but could not kill it. A hunter seeker missile from a nearby chimerax is what destroyed it!
Remember its a game of combined activations AND combined arms!!
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Effect on Chaos: The new system had a great effect on Chaos forces and fixed many of the problems that I've been complaining about here on the forum. Being able to activate those Daemon Engines in the same "phase" as the enemy will be activating his First Fire units makes a world of difference. Before anyone suggests that maybe this makes Chaos overpowered, it is worth considering this; because they are on Advance orders, any unit on either First Fire or Advance orders can Snap Fire them before they get a shot off! It did improve them, but not without giving the enemy a fair crack at the whip to stop them before they did damage. In general though, I felt a much better balance with my Chaos force than I maybe have before - but probably taking a Titan to provide some good firepower helped a lot there on that score also.
I foresee a lot of problems with standard net epic would be solved with combined activations....
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Effect on Squats: I have often found the Squats overpowered in the past, mostly because their battlefortresses were incredibly difficult to destroy and their break points being so high. They actually felt slightly less powerful under this system but not dramatically so. The blunder with the Land Train didn't help, that should have been on the left flank with the Collosus. I'm not so sure the Warlord Titan would have survived both of those coming at him hammer and tongs! They still won, so it isn't like they have been massively downgraded!
Titan alternate rule make praetorians far less intimidating. I believe it makes titans worth the points and the true kings of the battlefield. I am glad it made them (praetorians) less powerful.
In my game the warlord survived being flanked by two phantoms and only was destroyed because I rolled a 12 on the reactor repair roll for that damage level.
Barring that extreme unlucky roll it would have survived.
Titans are seriously scary right now and I like that!
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Effect on Gameplay: My feelings were much the same as with the first playtest - that play flowed much more smoothly than under the previous system, that it was more lethal and that it always seemed like something was happening... but then I would say that, wouldn't I? I think it's best to let others decide for themselves!
Well, let me put it this way...
PRIMARCH APPROVES!!!
Primarch