Monday, December 31, 2012

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.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

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. :)

Friday, December 14, 2012

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. :)

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

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.

Monday, December 3, 2012

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.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

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!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

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?

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

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.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

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.

Monday, November 26, 2012

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.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

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.

Friday, November 23, 2012

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.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

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.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Updated Outline: Action Phase - Part IV


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

Sunday, November 18, 2012

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!

Friday, November 16, 2012

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.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

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.

Monday, November 12, 2012

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!

Friday, November 9, 2012

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.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Updated Outline: Action Phase - Part 2

RUN: Soul's Escape, Mirza Ajanovic
Here's an outline of the updated movement rules.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

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.

Monday, November 5, 2012

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.

Friday, November 2, 2012

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.

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Updated Outline: Set-Up & Starting Phase


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

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

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. :)

Monday, October 29, 2012

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.

Friday, October 26, 2012

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.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

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...

Monday, October 22, 2012

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.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

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.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

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!

Thursday, October 18, 2012

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.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

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?

Monday, October 15, 2012

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.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

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.

Friday, October 12, 2012

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...

Monday, October 8, 2012

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.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

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. :)

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

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.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

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.

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