Dark Angels Inner Circle is a Bad (feels) Mechanic and bad for the game

So I KNOW this isn't the full codex

I KNOW this is just a hold over index for Dark Angels

BUT my guess is Inner Circle in the Index is EXACTLY how it is intended for the Codex. And even if GW gets a TON of negative feedback now, chances are the codex has already gone to the printers and they won't do anything about it until after the codex.

So what is Inner Circle? Well its just easiest to post it here:

So that is REALLY GOOD. But even if it does not make Dark Angels the most competitive, it is still not a good mechanic for the game because it nullifies opponent engagement in the game.

The fact that it makes you have to wound on a 4+ is fine. The bad part is that it is "irrespective of any abilities that the weapon or the model making that attack may have"

This means nearly any tool, tactic, trick or stratagem I have to play against it is useless. Transhuman Physiology as a strat is fine, because it can still be nullified by Strat canceling strats, only affects 1 unit a turn at most, AND costs CP. This is potentially army wide and just makes it so you have to grind. That's it.  That is the solution. Just throw more dice... even though volumetric fire/attacks is not necessarily every army's strong suite. 

Do you have Poison Weapons as an army bonus? 

Do you add +1 to your Wound Rolls as an army bonus? 

Do you have ammo or a melee weapon that wounds on a 2+?

Psychic Powers? Stratagems? Auras? 

Oh well. Sorry you are loosing agency in the game. Yes, +1 to wound may be your faction bonus Blood Angels. Alas, my faction rules as DA supersede that. That Vindicare assassin you've paid points and CP to bring as your way of dealing with characters... well now I don't have to bother trying to kill him as much, he is neutered just by DA being DA. 

Its not that it is just a buff to the Deathwing. Its that it is also an active DE-BUFF to their opponent, and that is what will leave bad feels in the game. Anytime you lessen opponent agency in the game, you are doing them a disservice. They have spent countless hours building models, painting them, studying their codex, learning their combos, reading the mission pack. Then they show up and are told that all there carefully planned choices and hard work has no effect this game. This game they just are supposed to bash themselves against a wall and hope they do it enough times to make a dent.

But it isn't just the inner circle component that makes this rough. You have to account for the fact that this keyword is on guys with 2+/5++ OR 1+/4++ with 3 Wounds each. That is just insane. Oh, and they can deep strike. Oh, and they can use teleport homers. Oh, and they have Bolter Drill on Storm Bolters. Oh, and they have power fists or thunderhammers or lightning claws. Oh, and they have a Chaplain and/or Librarian buffing them. Oh, and they have an Apothecary healing/resurrecting them (also where this gets insane). Oh, and as Infantry they can benefit from cover. Oh, and they auto pass morale checks. Oh and there is a new secondary for space marines that gives you points for passing morale checks...

When it is all stacked together, it just doesn't make it a fun army to play against. If you can't remove enemy models, but they can remove you in droves, it is just not fun. Add too it the fact that they will basically score points for just not dying if they take No Mercy, No Respite and it gets worse.  (Sure, its only 5 points for the Morale Oath of Moment, but another is "be within 6" of the center and score 2". Should be easily done by a unit of DW Knights, and is a great way to make sure you are in the table quarters you need to be in for another secondary as well or score a primary objective in several of the missions). 

A 4+ to wound would have been good still. The extra "regardless of" its what ruins the mechanic from a gameplay experience in my opinion. 

Lets just show some basic dice statistics here to drive home the point. I will round up over a .5 roll pass, round down under.

I will present a scenario. 
Stats for killing 2+/5++ Terminators will be in Blue
Stats for killing 1+/4++ Terminators will be in Red

These first ones are to baseline and wouldn't really be affected by Innercircle (EG 10 guardsmen). This is to show the grind.

10 Intercessors inside Rapid Fire Range- Bolt Rifles

2 Wounds to Terminators a Turn

1 Wound to Terminators a Turn

10 Battle Sisters inside Rapid Fire Range- Bolters

1 Wound to Terminators a Turn

1 Wound to Terminators a Turn

10 Guardsmen inside Rapid Fire Range- Lasrifles

1 Wound to Terminators a Turn

1 Wound to Terminators a Turn

10 Scions inside Rapid Fire Range- Hot Shot Lasrifles

1 Terminator Killed a Turn

2 Wounds to Terminators a Turn

20 Ork Boyz in Melee

1 Terminator Killed a Turn

1 Terminator Killed a Turn

Lets now look at tools normally used to killed tough targets an how they compare, and how it just turns into a Grind. 

10 Hellblasters inside Rapid Fire Range- Plasma Incinerators

1 Terminator Killed + 1 Wound a Turn

1 Terminator Killed a Turn

10 Hellblasters- Heavy Plasma Incinerators

1 Terminator Killed a Turn

1 Terminator Killed a Turn

3 Eradicators- double firing melta rifle inside half range

1 Terminator Killed a Turn

1 Terminator Killed a Turn

Shadowsword Volcano Cannon- Blast shooting at a unit of 6-9 models

2 Terminators Killed a Turn

1 Terminator Killed a Turn

Shadowsword Volcano Cannon- Blast shooting at a unit of 5 or fewer models

1 Terminator Killed a Turn

1 Terminator Killed a Turn

Pask in a Leman Russ Punisher- double firing turret, rerolling 1s and plasma cannon sponsons super charged

2 Terminators Killed a Turn

1 Terminator Killed + 2 Wounds a Turn

5 Alarus Terminators- Axes Shooting rapid fire then charging and fighting in melee

4 Terminators Killed a Turn

3 Terminators Killed a Turn

*note Custodes here are doing multi-wound damage in 2 phases and they still can't kill a squad

10 Guardsmen Lascannons

1-2 Terminators Killed a Turn

0-1 Terminator Killed a Turn

The Last one is super swingy because the low # of successes and the D6 damage. Thus the range. Some turns it is 1 or 0. Some turns it is 2 or 1. Just depends on how you roll damage.

If you took everything above in some random hodgepodge army and went first without being shot at/having any casualties, no one was in cover and got the orks and custodes to charge, you'd manage to kill 20 normal Deathwing Terminators or 14 Deathwing Knights in your turn. And that's with the Custodes in there with 2D shooting and d3D melee attacks. Remove them and there is a 20% drop. And it is a HUGE points mismatch for sure.

But that's not what is going to happen. They will be in cover. The will have character support. They will be FIRING AND PUNCHING BACK. And then Apotecaries will be resurrecting guys each turn. And likely have a banner nearby so they'd be fighting you when they die, just for the Apoc to stand them back up.

But what's worse is this proves my point above. When Pask in a Leman Russ, or Eradicators or Hellblasters are killing terminators as effectively as bolt rifles.

It is just not a good feels mechanic IMO when you can throw the weight of the world at them, and they just shrug it off no matter what you bring to the table.

Allies of Inconvenience: Episode 28- Battlefleet Gothic/Specialist Game Discussion and How is 40k 9th Edition Going?

This month Evan, Jason and Chris are on to talk about their recent hobby progress, including a review of Death Ray Design bases, and then launch into a discussion on the immediate future of 9th edition, the current state of the game and the potential for a period of imbalance in the game with the forthcoming Space Marine codex release. after concluding our rant on 40k, we turn to a much more positive discussion around Specialist games, discussing the Additional Ship's Compendium 2.0 for Battle Fleet Gothic that Evan has been working on and his recent progress on that, tas well as how and why you should get into BFG, Adeptus Titanicus, and Aeronautica Imperialis and the potential future of BFG.

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00:00 Intro

03:39 Hobby Progress

30:11 Current state and Immediate Future of 9th Edition Discussion

1:05:31 Battlefleet Gothic and Specialist Game Discussion

Songs and Soundclips
Blue Mark- Atlan Urtag
Kaap mere- Bugotak
All Clips: Aliens

BFG Additional Ship's Compendium 2.0 Major Updates

If you are a fan of Battlefleet Gothic or Battlefleet Heresy, there have been major updates to the Additional Ship's Compedium 2.0 in the last few months. We have Complete Imperial, Space Marine, and Imperial Sections with some new additions (and the potential for a few more pulled from HH in the near future) as well as a now Complete Chaos Section, with a few more escorts added recently.

Long time users of the ASC may want to also scour through some of their favorite designs, as there have been some rules updates to both profiles and special rules, as well as numerous points changes, most of them to decrease cost and make platforms more viable.

Orks have started! So far, there are 96 ship classes, 9 fleets and rules for creating Navis Mercantilis vessels. 

DOWNLOAD HERE

What is ASC 2.0 you ask? Well for those of you who play the community updated versions of BFG (ie BFG:R or XR) it is suppossed to be a comprehensive compendium of additional ships (thus ASC) to be used with these systems that are not in the "official" rules but are established in the fluff or other unnofficial sources (Warp Rift, Book of Nemesis) and/or are common conversions (or easy to convert) and fit in the game. It is a completely fun and optional thing with great hobby opportunity, supporting the long tradition of BFG being the most open game and community to fan made rules. AND even if you don't play those versions of BFG, I have gone to great lengths to provide awesome artwork, accurate fluff and some neat designs, so it is worth checking out as a generic BFG resource anyway!

Pictured is a screen shot of one of the vessels from the latest draft. ENJOY!

You can learn more of all of these projects, as well as find other resources for them here

BATTLEFLEET GOTHIC FACEBOOK GROUP

The largest and longest running BFG group on facebook.

AND as always, feed back is most welcome! Please be constructive with it though, and remember, these are extra ships for fun!

Planetary Empires/Mighty Empires: Expansions that Need to Return

Remember these sets?

I really really wish I had bought them back in the day. They cost an arm and a leg on Ebay now and no one is selling them really. Why? Because they are still infinitely useful and cool, so who would want to get rid of them?

If anything, they are more useful and cool now than every before. That is because each core game has 3 methods to play, one of which happens to be NARRATIVE. There is nothing more narrative than a well organized campaign, and a map based one at that. I really wish I could play in one. Add to that the Crusade system in 40k AND you are just begging for a reason to do campaigns.

And then there are specialist games too. Adeptus Titanicus and Aeronautica Imperialis both lend them selves well to a map based campaign system, Titanicus in particular. And then the big daddy of Horus Heresy itself. All of these games expansions ARE campaign books. 

Heck, with some ingeniuty and clever hobbying, you could even make a great underhive map for Necromunda, allowing you to track gang territory and add some depth and realism to raids and the game as a whole.

The potential to work these into supplements, like they used to with WHFB with things like Blood in the Badlands, is incredibly high.

They would also make the perfect feature for a set of articles over the course of several issues of White Dwarf, and could cover multiple aspects of the hobby, from modeling your map to playing the campaign. And then these would be the perfect tool to utilize to introduce fun new narrative based rules, stratagems and mini campaign in both White Dward and Chapter Approved or the General's Handbook.  Environmental and Warzone type rules are the most obvious, giving in game effects for fighting in a jungle or a rad desert, ice wastes or an urban sprawl.

It would be even cooler if then there were faction specific or bonus tiles sold in specific kits. Special tile in a White Dwarf. Faction tile in a start collecting box. Manufactorum tiles in the 40k terrain kit. Civitas tile in Titanicus Terrain. Etc. Etc. You get the picture. Give people a reason and desire to get a full set of tiles in their Planetary/Mighty Empires expansion, and then reward people with those expansions for continuing to purchase GW kits and armies.

There is just a ton of reasons why this should happen and none why it shouldn't.

Now I understand there are plenty of 3d printing options out there for these, and that really is a great solution if you want a table. But in terms of full support it is lacking. I really believe the modern GW could really maximize their supplements with a tool like this, just flushing out campaign rules and providing even greater reasons to use things like the Crusade System. 

And there is a PERFECT opportunity coming up for GW to bring this system back, as there is game coming with a locked map, with factions tied to specific regions, and the greatest potential for meaningful, impactful campaign play. I am of course talking about

Imagine setting up your Empire Map and fighting off the forces of Archaon coming from the North, or challenging other players for control of the Border Princes. Think of purging woodlands of Chaos Beastman or marching out to besiege a Dwarven hold. 

C'mon GW. This is basically a money printer for you guys. Easy to produce cheaply, yet highly desirable and useable by many many hobbyists. The fact there are so many 3d printing options out there for it only reinforces that it is a desirable commodity. So what are you waiting for?

Slow Play Episode 1- Hobby Intro: An Allies of Inconvenience Special Segment

Welcome to Episode 1 of Slow Play! This will be an occassional addition to the main show, in which one or two of us will take 15 to 30 minutes to discuss random aspects of the hobby, conduct interviews, and generally focus on something OTHER than the latest hotness in the world of wargaming.

For this first episode, your host of Allies of Inconvenience- Evan "Gothmog" Valdyke - discusses what he collects hobby wise, from 40k and BFG to historical wargames in 6mm scale.

 We hope you enjoy!

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