I recently took the notion to see if I could bring any of the interesting mechanics I'd discovered from playing Warlord Games' Bolt Action to Epic Space Marine (2nd Ed).
Whilst I have massive nostalgia for Space Marine, the models, and that whole era, I do find the game itself to be a bit cumbersome in places. I have really enjoyed what I have played of Bolt Action so far, and in particular the activation mechanic seemed like it would work well for Space Marine to break up the I-Go-You-Go gameplay, and put less importance on who wins that initial initiative roll.
I used this as an excuse to break out some small armies and do some side by side testing, with the aim of seeing if it made a major difference to the outcome.
I took notes and plenty of photos, but in the end after a couple of games it was inconclusive and I ran out of time/energy to pursue it much further for now.
I would say on the whole it felt like an improvement, and the games seemed to play a bit quicker (I also experimented with simplified/abstracted combat rules, however they require much more thought)
My final thoughts on it were that I'd definitely take elements of it forward into future games, however I think what I should really do is enjoy Space Marine for what it is, and continue to play Bolt Action when I want a change of scale.
I really want to try Epic 40k (3rd Ed), as it seems to have many of the rules I've been trying to replicate baked in, and from all accounts seems to be the most streamlined way of playing with the collection of models I have.
Anyhoo, rather than doing the full blown battle reports I had planned, I'll just chuck some photos below, to prove that I did 'something' :D
regardless of the success/failure of this rules experiment, it was fun to get the toys out on the table and roll some dice. I've included my rough rules here too if anyone wants to see my train of thought.
Game 1 Vanilla Space Marine (2nd Ed) 1000 points, 2x4 foot table;
Game 3 : Epic Spearhead 1500 points, 3x3 foot table.
Rules;
Epic: Spearhead
Introduction
The purpose of these rule modifications is to modernise the
existing Space Marine (2nd Edition)/Titan Legions/NetEpic Gold rule
set.
The modifications have the following aims;
Increase the survivability of units - Individual units
should survive slightly longer with the ability to go ‘down’, allowing them to
hold objectives under fire.
To avoid stagnation and to punish commanders that push their
units to far or neglect them, an optional suppression system adds to the
existing morale system and simulates the tactics used by militaries to
neutralise an enemy without killing them, or softening up a target before
engaging in close quarters combat.
Make flyers great again!
Make Transports and HQ function in a more ‘realistic’ way.
Efforts have been made to make flyers function in a way that
better represents their tactics, speed and vulnerabilities.
Activation/Orders Phase
Use Warlord Bolt Action Order dice or normal D6 using the
facings below.
Place the number of dice equivalent to the number of
formations per side into a bag.
Dice are removed from play when a formation is destroyed.
Players blind draw order dice equal to the number of
formations, take turns drawing from the bag, activating units until all dice
are used. Enter the turn end phase after the last unit is activated.
Return all order dice to the bag. Ambush and Down orders may
persist between rounds if the player chooses.
1.
Fire = No movement, Fire with -1 To Hit bonus,
and +1 to rolls targeting the unit on Fire order.
2.
Run = Charge, move double, engage in CC
3.
Advance = Move and fire as normal
4.
Ambush = Go on overwatch/snap fire – may
interrupt opponents turn when a formation moves into line of sight/range and
fire all weapons as per advance fire rules.
5.
Down = No move/firing, apply +2 to hit modifier
cover bonus (does not stack with terrain cover bonus)
6.
Rally (optional) = remove all suppression, no
movement/firing – does not require a morale check to issue.
Units that have not been activated may choose to go ‘down’
before when being fired upon (prior to any dice rolls). Retrieve an order dice
from the bag and assign it to the unit with the ‘down’ order face showing.
HQ Units
HQ unit’s no longer Charge/First-Fire, instead they activate
as normal units with the bonus ability to ‘snap to’ nearby units.
HQ units may activate up to 2 formations within 15cm before
the HQ moves. To do this, pull the required order dice from the bag and issue
orders, activating the units any order.
Flyers
Flyers are deployed from reserve and are required to pass a
morale check before order is issued (this simulates the uncertain nature of air
support, weather, poor maintenance, miscommunication between ground and air
commanders etc all contribute to air assets failing to arrive when desired)
Flyers Enter from any board edge and have unlimited movement
in a straight line (you may wish to change this for larger battlefields) during
a sortie, units may make one change of facing.
Flyers leave the board in the turn end phase. Must spend 1
turn to refuel/repair, any suppression is removed.
AAA/Opposing CAP automatically activates in LOS and range of
the flyer
Transports may land to disembark troops and dust off at the
end of the turn. On subsequent turns, once refuelled may continue to engage in
fire support roles/CAP.
Flyer Orders;
Flyers use the same order dice to represent the following
orders
Fire = Provide Air to Ground/Air support. Engage with ground
or air units within weapons range
Run = Engage in CC with enemy flyers currently on the board
Ambush = Combat Air Patrol (CAP) Enter the board, snap fire/AAA
against incoming enemy flyers
Advance = Transports may land
Rally = Activated Off board – Refuel and Repair
Down = Activated Off board – Hold in reserve
Transports
Formations with transports and troops activate using a single
order die, and both types of unit’s must receive the same order and maintain
coherency with their troop units.
Transports cannot take or hold objectives alone, however, do
contribute to contesting objectives if their troops are also present.
The above statements are true of formations with ‘dedicated
transports’ as depicted on their unit card, however units may be transported by
a separate formation that has the transport capacity, and these units remain
separate for all other intents and purposes. For example, a unit of scouts may
start the game embarked in a Thunderhawk. Once the scouts have disembarked the Thunderhawk
resumes its function as an independent unit. Discuss with your opponent and
agree any specific cases before play. Razorback transports for example may be
added as dedicated transports (increasing the breakpoint of the troop formation
they are attached to) however the intention of these vehicles is to provide
fire support to disembarking troops, and as such it would not make sense to
force them to follow their transported troops into a charge. The same could be
said for Land raiders, Eldar Falcon Grav Tanks etc… however this may lead to a
severe imbalance in activation dice. A compromise could be to reduce the points
cost of formations with dedicated transports by 50pts, however more playtesting
is required.
Suppression (Optional)
Successful hits (armour saved or otherwise) against the
formation result may result in suppression. Each hit results in 1 point of
suppression.
Once a formation reaches it’s suppression limit it is
considered supressed (this is resolved following any attacks that put it in
this state)
Units with a save modifier do not receive suppression from
hits with a 0 TSM.
·
Infantry, cavalry, bikes, walkers = 1:1
suppression to number of units in the formation (e.g. a unit of 6 stands will
require 6 hits to become suppressed, this number will reduce as casualties
increase)
·
Elite key word units = 2:1
·
Vehicles = 3:1 suppression to units in the
formation (e.g. a formation of 3 predators requires 9 hits to suppress, once
one tank is lost then they will only require 6 hits to suppress)
·
Super heavy/Knights = 5:1 suppression to units
in the formation
·
Titans/Praetorians cannot be suppressed
A formation’s suppression counter is not reset between
turns.
Suppression can be reset to 0 by issuing the formation a
‘rally’ order.
Supressed units must perform a morale check at to receive an
order. Successful morale check will reduce the suppression counter by 1 point.
Suppressed units have 0 CAF
Suppressed Units that fail to receive an order go ‘Down’ if
possible
Suppressed units do not contest objectives.
