Faction Description: Star Knights

Crusade Marine by ~firecrow78

 O_N here, returned from the grave to post this article! Here's the 'faction blurb' for the Star Knights (Or is it Space Knights? I can't remember which.).

It's Gonna Be A Slow Week

Time-Out - African Lioness, Steve Morvell

Sandwyrm here, with a heads up. 6th Edition 40K is nearly upon us, so that's got everyone's attention at the moment. I'm also finishing up the painting of my Flames army for a 2-day tournament this weekend. So... don't expect more than a couple of posts from me this week. Although the other Authors might write some things up.

Rules: Movement & Terrain (Ver. 0.25)

Sandwyrm here. I've added in clearer rules for how troops move inside buildings that can't be opened. As well as for the placement of troops at windows, doors, and other openings.

Rules: Moving Infantry (Ver. 0.21)

Sandwyrm here. I've cleaned up the fall back rules a bit based on feedback.

Concept: Range Bands For Weapons

The Deer Hunter, Dave MacDowell

Sandwyrm here. I still haven't given up on the idea of having more realistic ranges for M42. But that depends on having appropriate range modifiers. So that a Grunt's las-rifle will have a harder time hitting something on the other side of the table than something close up. But I also don't want to have a different set of range bands and modifiers for every weapon. So we need a way to standardize the idea.

Concept: Suppression And Defensive Fire

The Charge Of The Light Brigade, Unknown

Sandwyrm here. I've been trying to think of an appropriate suppression-marker based penalty mechanic for defensive fire, and I think I've found one.

Rules: Moving Infantry (Ver. 0.2)

Sandwyrm here. I've added in a definition of what a Fall Back move is and what happens when the unit leader hits the table edge during that move.

Concepts: The Assault Phase

Storm of the Sapun Mountain, P. Malcev

So the Assault Phase is currently the last phase of the turn.  The basic idea is that each assault group is played through until a victor is found then results are determined before going to the next assault group.  No assaults tying up units for an entire game.

Concepts: The Reaction Phase

On the No-Name Height, B. Kohal

Eriochrome here for some basic rule discussion.  We have really not spent much time on the Reaction and Assault phases in the rules as of yet.  The Reaction Phase is when the opponent does some compulsory and free actions in response to the active player's Action Phase. 

Some New Maps

Sandwyrm here. I've made a couple of new galactic maps. One for our section of the galaxy as a whole, and one for the extents of human colonization.

The Name Of The Beasts (Updated)

Bug Painting, Lorenz Hideyoshi Ruwwe

Sandwyrm here. I've been busy with a lot of nuts-and-bolts stuff (document templates mostly) that's not very exciting to write about. But I did also start making a new galaxy map, which has me wanting to get the name for our bugs nailed down. So here it is...

Rules: Movement And Terrain (Ver. 0.2)

Sandwyrm here, with an update on the Terrain rules. This one's a bit different though, as I'll just be posting screenshots from the PDF. So you can get an idea of what the final iBook/PDF will be like.

Oooooh! Pretty!

Sandwyrm here. I just discovered Apple's 'iBooks Author' app last night. Turns out, it's what GW used to create their overpriced iPad version of the Space Marine codex. This is exactly the sort of digital book creation application that I've been looking for. So I've been playing around with it all morning. Which has me re-considering my rules workflow somewhat.

Concept: What Is A Building?

A. Tkachev, S.Tkachev. Farewell to the beloved home.

Sandwyrm here. After I posted the rules on Movement and Terrain, MasterSlowPoke asked a question that I decided needs a fuller explanation. Particularly since 'Buildings' as opposed to simple ruins, are so little-used in 40K.

Rules: Movement And Terrain (Ver. 0.1)

Ok, I finally got a few hours to work on the rules in peace. So here's the terrain rules at last. :)

Rules: Action Phase Overview (Ver. 0.25)

Added a rule regarding Out-Of-Command models that keeps those units from performing Major Actions. I was going to except Swarms from it, but then decided that blowing the middle of the unit away with a template would be a nice tactical way to slow them down. :)

Rules: Moving Infantry (Ver. 0.15)

Eriochrome had a couple of issues with the Battle Tactics rule in terms of clarity and the ability of these units to gain movement from their leader-replacement. To fix the clarity and limit the choice of replacement model somewhat, I've modified the Battle Tactics rule a bit. I'll also be modifying the Action Phase rules in my next post.

Breaking Their Line: Vehicle Movement Discussion

A Tank In Action- John Hasell, 1917

Eriochrome back after a long disappearance. We have gotten the infantry rules for movement set for testing but we know that the tread-heads out there are going to want theirs tanks rumbling around the field of battle.

Rules: Moving Infantry (Ver. 0.1)

Ok, here's the updated rules for Movement within the Action Phase.

Rules: The Turn Sequence (Ver. 0.2)

Sandwyrm here. I'm almost done with the basic Movement rules, but I saw a need for a new Phase in our turn structure. So I've updated the Turn Sequence with a new 'Reaction Phase' for stuff like defensive fire in response to assaults.

3D Printing: An Opportunity For Us

BoLS is all a-flutter today over something that I've been predicting for some time. Which is that 3D Printing will soon be cheap enough to jeopardize the traditional miniature manufacturing model. But the good news is, it's also an opportunity for us. Since we don't have a huge manufacturing and distribution arm to protect, we can embrace this change instead of fighting it.

More On Node-Based Vehicle Configurations

Sandwyrm here. I've been thinking about CaulynDarr's node-based tank upgrade idea some more, and I think it would look something like the tank upgrade trees in World of Tanks.

Ideas For Handling Vehicles

V. Lobachev. Tanks of the 7th Guard tank brigade in Berlin

SandWyrm here. We've talked about vehicles off and on before. But CaulynDarr has brought up some points and ideas that I think should be discussed.

Rules: Action Phase Overview (Ver. 0.2)

Ok, here's the re-worked Action Phase rules with CaulynDarr's simplification ideas incorporated.

Rules: Action Phase Overview (Ver. 0.1)

Here's the first part of the Alpha-Test rules for the Action Phase.