Do Base Sizes Really Matter Now?

I was at the local FLGS last week, when I spied a box of the new Dreamforge 'Eisenkern' troopers for sale. The Eisenkern line is widely seen as an attempt to offer cheaper/cooler Imperial Guard options than GW does. At just $21.95 for a 10-man squad, I said "sure", and grabbed one. When unboxing them though, I was surprised to see that they come with (very nice) 30mm bases. Which is 5mm more than the 25mm standard that GW and Mantic use.

I'm not sure what Dreamforge is up to, as buying a $4.50 pack of 10 GW bases to be '40K legal' with these actually erases a little more than half of their price advantage. But it did get me thinking about how much base size matters in the game now. Given that we intend to facilitate the use of anyone's minis with our rules, differing base standards are a potential problem. But how much of one?

Buildings & Shooting

As I'm going through and re-ordering the rules, I've decided to pull some of the 'advanced' rules (Woods, Buildings, etc.) out into their own sections. In an effort to make the 'base' rules simpler and easier to follow. While doing that, I've had some interesting ideas on how buildings should be treated in regards to their own evasion/armor/toughness. For when you're trying to shoot the building itself, instead of the just the guys inside it.

Making Officers More Heroic

So here's an interesting idea I had while outlining the Shooting rules today...

Mission Outline: Meeting Engagement

Here's the outline for the Meeting Engagement mission, which is more or less our 'standard' mission. I'm going to let HighlanderBurial polish it up.

Testing The New Game Phases

I went down to the local club yesterday and got a test game in with Nick. Who's followed the project off and on since its inception, but who hadn't actually gotten to play a test game yet.

A Very Handy Outlining Tool

One of the problems I have with creating detailed rules outlines in Word is that eventually I reach the point where I can no longer deal with the volume of info I end up with. Meaning that I can't think about stuff like chapter order, with all of the section/detail info in the way. At that point I always end up abandoning the outline, and writing rules up in full. Before I've completely worked out all the interrelations and dependencies. But then I keep going back to the outline because of how slow that is...

Concept: Adapting Squad Leader's Turn Phases

My alternating Action Phase idea didn't gain any traction, so I'm leaning towards continuing on the classic Movement Phase -> Shooting Phase as a replacement for our currently overcomplicated Action Phase. It's the safe bet.

But I keep thinking about something more Squad Leader-ish overall in terms of turn structure, and Oblivion_Necroninja has gotten interested in the general idea (but not my last take). So here's another take on the idea. One that I think Eriochrome might actually like too. Since it's not too different from the current structure, and would go a long way towards simplifying close-combat.

An Alternate Phase Idea...

We've discussed going back to a traditional movement->shooting phase structure for the game. But I've had another idea. One that might address a few concerns that I've heard voiced and streamline the rules as a whole.

Tweaking Assault

Solid Snake vs. Hulk, Hokunin

Eriochrome has some thoughts on improving close-combat. Let's have a look!

In A Nutshell: The Imperial Republic

http://mohzart.deviantart.com/art/Pbs-356332883

Hey, it's Oblivion Necroninja! I'm not dead! Really! And to prove it, here's the rulebook description for The Imperial Republic!