Rules: Model Characteristics (Ver. 0.5)

Here's the updated Model Characteristics descriptions. You'll notice I've dropped 'Push Back'. It was a clumsy stat that never quite fit, and I think that we can get along without it using a combination of Close Combat hits received and a special rule for models and equipment that should boost the combat result.

Mission Concept: Meeting Engagement

This is the first of the Mission Concepts that I'll be writing up over the coming week, and is what I would consider to be the 'Standard' M42 mission. In that it doesn't require any special terrain bits to work, and can be played by anyone who's new to the game pretty easily.

Rules: Unit Characteristics (Ver. 0.5)

Here's the revamped descriptions for the four Unit Characteristics. Which have been separated from the 8 Model Characteristics. Which are coming next.

And I'm Finally Back!

Well, my holidays were an exercise in controlled chaos. Nasal surgery for the wife so that she could breath again without pain. The annual stomach flu for everyone while she was recovering (oh so fun). A trip out to a state park to visit with family. Busy busy... It's really been a roller coaster ride from utter exhaustion to energetic fun and back again. :)

And... The Holidays Finally Get In The Way

Christmas parties... childrens' programs... house reconstruction... surgery for the wife... a tourney...

It's frustrating, but I'm just too busy with other commitments to post much right now. You might see one or two new things before the new year. But don't expect much before then. :)

Updated Unit Profile Format

The numbers themselves aren't final, but what do you think of the format itself? I had been combining the model and weapon stats together, but that made you look things up every time. This way you see a standard model profile, standard weapon stats/bonuses, and you can quickly add them up before doing the comparison test. Over time, you (hopefully) can memorize the numbers/bonuses, and if you do need to reference them, it's all in one place.

M42 Quick Reference Guide

We don't have a full rulebook yet (working on it), but I've compiled a Quick Reference Guide to use for testing that outlines everything in the current rules pretty simply. As such, it's the most up to date version of the rules so far, and is probably good enough for anyone familiar with our discussions to sit down and do some simple testing with. Though I still need to re-vamp the mission(s) and work up a proper unit reference sheet. Which will both be coming this week sometime.

Testing With The Pros

Spaguatyrine, our local 40K tournament champ, called me up yesterday and wanted to play a game. So I went over to Games 2D4 and let him tryout M42. DaemonJohn, another very good local tournament player, was also pretty interested. So I had them both fight while I watched. Having two really good 40K players do their best to game our system was a great way to find some flaws!

Grimdark And Gender Roles

O_N brought up an interesting point in the comments to my last post, which had the concept FOC for a Knight platoon. Will there be female Star-Knights?

Have A Look: LaansKnight FOC Concept

After far more work than I expected, here it is. A concept for what our Force Organization Charts might look like. This one's more crowded than what we would probably launch with. But I wanted to show what sort of fluff-driven options might be made available as the game matures.

Rules: Models, Units, & Task Forces (Ver 0.5)

I've started updating the rulebook more formally now. Here's the introduction to the typical force size/organization for the game.

New Movement Outline

Marching Ruffians, Wladyslaw Skoczylas

Ok, I've worked up an outline of the new movement rules, as well as an update to the Actions that use them.

Quickie: Fortifications Done Right

The Trenches, Andrew Howat

Since we're going to be mirror-matching the test forces for a while yet, I want to spice up the test missions a bit. With the help of some pre-painted Pegasus Hobbies sandbags ($20 for 36") and barbed wire ($15 for 36") from the local hobby store, I want to have a mission where the defender is dug in against a superior foe.

Hybrid Movement?

The Real Jackalope, Leah Saulnier

Ok, so here's a crazy idea I have that could be pretty cool. What if we were to combine our original bubble-movement idea with the traditional model-by-model movement method to create a hybrid system that uses both?

Real-Life Concepts: The Beaten Zone

Firing Line, Shimmering-Sword

So I'm reading through a bunch of army field manuals, looking for realistic ideas, when I run across something interesting in FM 21-75 G. Which is the concept of the 'Beaten Zone'. Or, the area over which your squad's fire falls, and how it changes based on how the squad fires at an enemy.

Let's Talk About Flanking Fire

French Line Of Infantry, lathander1987

As I said in my last post, I think that going forward we should concentrate less on the how of moving infantry around, and more on the why. The complexity in the game should biased towards tactical positioning, instead of how slowed you are by terrain-type X.

By doing that, I also think that we can now reconsider an idea that Eriochrome had been suggesting, but that I had avoided due to fears of over-complexity. That of Flanking Fire. Or, as the more studious military types would say: Enfilading Fire.

Time To Simplify

Been pretty busy this week, with holidays, birthdays, and all. But Farmpunk and I did get in a test game on Monday night. In contrast to our previous games, we ran into some serious problems. But they're good problems, as they're helping to clarify just what kind of game we're making and where the complexities should be.

Updated Outline: Action Phase - Part IV

Here's the rest of the Shooting outline, covering terrain effects.

Let's Think About Grenades

I've been reading an Army Field Manual on the proper use of grenades, and it's generated the following set of rough ideas for how we might implement them in M42. Let's kick 'em around!

Updated Outline: Action Phase: Part III

The Watcher of the Jungle, Theodore Wolff

Here's the first part of the updated shooting outline for the Action Phase.

Final Unit Reference Format

Whew! Been busy lately! My 6 year old had hernia surgery yesterday, which went well, but was pretty draining because he was in so much pain afterwards. We also had family in town to help out since the weekend. Combined with the disruptions from the living room flood, well... I just haven't had much time for updates that, like the Prophet-Speech, I couldn't work on 15 minutes at a time between other stuff that I had to do.

The Words Of A Prophet Recorded

O_N's recent post on the Church got my creative juices flowing. I've had the following 'speech' knocking about my head for a while now, and it needed to get out. Enjoy!

Church Part 2 Take 2

New Path of Enlightenment, GhostWriterSociety

O_N here. Today, I'm covering the actual beliefs of the Church. And I'm gonna get it right this time, dangit!

Rules Change For Splitting Fire

I'm currently updating the shooting outline, and have decided to change how splitting fire works so that it's less random and makes the unit leaders more important.

Updated Outline: Action Phase - Part 2

RUN: Soul's Escape, Mirza Ajanovic

Here's an outline of the updated movement rules.

Arranging The Numbers... Stat Lines

 

I've been spending a lot of time lately trying to figure out how to present our unit stats, and after trying a bunch of different formats, I think I'm finally on the right track.

Updated Test Chart, Woes

What's Wrong?, John S. Cheung

Well, that weekend could have gone better. On Friday our (relatively new) furnace went out and had to be repaired - twice. Then I shuffle up from the basement at midnight on Saturday to go to bed; only to notice that there's a brand new waterfall in my front living room.

Updated Outline: Action Phase - Part 1

The Action Phase is a big part of the game to outline, but here's the first part. Which covers unit Activation and the available actions.

Updated Outline: Set-Up & Starting Phase

I'm working on a new comprehensive game outline. Here's the Set-Up and Starting Phases.

Should We Give Each Other The Bird?

Return, Jim Madsen

I'm not exactly a heavy user of social media, but I've 'discovered' Twitter recently (more like finally paid it some attention). It strikes me as a potentially useful way to share M42 news and solicit opinions from our followers on stuff that wouldn't be lengthy enough for a full post on the blog. Without all the production overhead and greed-factor of Facebook. Or the need for folks to get Disqus accounts.

Close Combat Sequence Outline

Sons of the Motherland, A. Marin

Sandwyrm here. I've written up a detailed outline of the Close Combat sequence which mostly follows the rough sequence in Eriochrome's last post. I've also incorporated a few tweaks from testing it in a game last night with AnonymousFoodie at the North Store. Where a unit of Laansguard with shotguns and flamers actually managed to beat off an assault by a GW Hellbrute by suppressing it until it ran. :)

How Should Flamethrowers Work?

Untitled 22, Brian Smith

Sandy here. HighlanderBurial asked how Flamethrowers would work in Close-Combat, and by extension, the rest of the game. Let's get that discussion started!

Concepts In Pictures: Assault Flow

Trench Raid by U.S. Marines, Capt. John W. Thompson, Jr.

Eriochrome here.  I took some pictures to show how I thought assaults should be run.

Videos: Some Close-Combat Inspiration

I thought that I'd put together a selection of great film fights that could inspire us to figure out how to allow their recreation in our rules without exception-this, and exception-that.

Possible Close Combat Sequence?

Kung Foo Panda (an example of "Push")

Sandy here. Eriochrome sent me a detailed description of a possible sequence for close-combat. So I thought that I'd post it up and respond to his ideas inline.

Does This Look Appealing For Close Combat?

Still From "The Hunt For Gollum", a LoTR Fan Film

A few weeks ago when CaulynDarr and I were testing the game, he suggested that we do something to make Close Combat more interesting and dynamic. He remembered watching a demo game of GW's first 'Lord of The Rings' game and being impressed with how models knocked others back. He didn't know the actual rules, but that visual and the sense of excitement it gave him, stuck.

So I found a copy of the LoTR rules and had a look...

Another Great Day Of Testing!

General Grant Takes Command, Unknown

Got two more test games in today. One with CaulynDarr at my house, and another down at the GP North tonight where I took notes as Farmpunk and TheNeverThere battled it out.

Thoughts: Pistols, Shotguns, & Close-Combat

I've been giving some thought to how Pistols and Shotguns could be more useful. Especially in Close-Combat, which I want to give more character.

Quick Thoughts On Sub-Factions

Here's some quick thoughts that I've had on our game's factions and their possible sub-factions, as I construct the master spreadsheet. Some of this could be expanded upon if anyone is interested in writing something up.

Had An Awesome Test Game Today!

We Get A Star!

It's been a difficult week wrestling with Excel and my sick Wife/Kids. CaulynDarr even had to postpone our test game until Monday because of work. But I got a chance to get out to the FLGS for a couple of hours this afternoon, and thought "What the hell?". In addition to my normal Flames stuff, I brought along the M42 test armies and notes that I had prepped for our aborted test this week. Oh man am I glad I did!

The Technical Side Of Balancing/Testing

Gods And Generals, Mort Kunstler

I don't have anything more to talk about on the game itself this morning. Since I was pulling my hair out all-day yesterday figuring out how to use the advanced features of Microsoft Excel properly. But I might as well talk about what I'm doing, which is the technical setup of a model/unit database and a semi-automated testing system.

Poll: Should 6+6 Always Succeed?

David And Goliath, Themiko

I'm going to be doing some more stat work today, incorporating some of the feedback from my last post. So while get that done, it seems like a good time to ask a question of our readers. Should we have an auto-pass mechanic for To-Hit and To-Pen rolls? Or should some things just be impossible to do?

Weapons Balancing Vs. Knights

Iron Man Concept Painting, Disney/Marvel

With the new shooting/pen/damage system in mind, I've been working on balancing our weapon stats and troop profiles. Here's the numbers that I've got for Knight survivability.

Stats On The New Wounding System

Still From The Movie 'The Hurt Locker', Summit Entertainment

Oh happy day! I figured out how to write my own custom functions in Excel with Visual Basic! This simplifies things VASTLY for tests with logical conditions. :)

Following on from my last post, here's some tables and charts of the probabilities that you'll kill a target with a particular toughness with a single penetration using the damage system I'm proposing.

Shooting, Cover Saves, and Damage

The Trenches, Andrew Howat

SandWyrm here. I apologize for the lack of updates, but it's been a pretty busy week. The wife and kids are sick, I had some minor surgery this morning that had to be prepared for, and Spag pulled me into a meeting Wednesday about next year's IndyOpen Grand Tournament. CaulynDarr has also been under the weather, so we didn't get to do any testing either.

I've been thinking though, on how to revise the shooting sequence in light of last week's testing and the failure of the 'toughness' modifiers for damage to be workable in-game. Here's the basic ideas that I've come up with...

Results Of Last Week's Testing

War Machine, Alexander Washington

Caulyndarr and I did our second round of on-table testing last Friday. Here's what we discovered.

Laansarmie Datafiles: The Gruin

Half Orc by kolokas

O_N here (and SandWyrm), writing up what we've got on the Gruin. I've decided to get a little experimental and present it as a Datafile. :)

Finalizing The Strength Vs. Toughness System

Starship Troopers, Maronski

Ok, so we want to have the idea of needing multiple hits from low-strength weapons to kill high-toughness targets. But we really don't want our players having to do a bunch of division and conditional tests in their head. Else we might as well have a die roll. So how about this?

Shooting and Wound Rates

D-Day, Mariusz Kozik

Eriochrome here to talk about how fast you should be blowing your enemy to tiny bits.  About a year ago, I posted about targets for how many enemy models your small arms should take out per turn.  I suggested about 25% is a good target rate for this to make small arms matter but to limit the first mover advantage.  The idea is that for balanced units the full fire from my unit will kill 25% of the target unit.  So if we set the balance level of 10 Human Troopers to 3 Knights then the troopers should get 3/4 of a knight per turn.

Some Very Good Close-Combat Questions

Eriochrome brought up some great questions about how close combat should work. Let's go through each one and discuss them.