Points adjusted 5E Guard Codex

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

So, as a project, I decided to go through the old 5E Guard codex, and adjust some of the units points costs. I made it in line with C:AM, and I was wondering if any of you think that would be have a huge impact on game balance.

 

Things I changed:

Stormtroopers

Leman Russ tanks

CCS Characters

Weapon upgrades

Commissars

Pask

Penal legion Squads

Vehicle upgrades

Armored Sentinels

Conscripts

Yarrick

Lord Commissar

 

Things I didn't change:

Vendettas

Chimeras

Valkyries

Platoon Characters

Marbo

Ordnance Batteries

Anything FW

 

I might be leaving some things out, but the main change was points cost on all of it. The only real change I made was to add a mechanic that Lord Commissars make Stormtrooper Squads troops (To reflect the Militarum Tempestus). 

 

I did all of this using the Battlescribe catalog editor, which included the WD rules for the taurox, taurox prime, and the Wyvern. For things like the Armored Sentinel, I set the base cost at what a C:AM unit costs plus upgrade.

 

I did this because I know many of you loved the 5E codex, and figured maybe we'd all like a points adjusted book to play with. Now, I didn't change any mechanics to reflect C:AM, so Pask remains an upgrade to a LR Sqdn, so there are no command tanks or any of that. It is simply a points adjusted 5E IG codex.

 

I've been debating on whether or not to change the cost on the Vendetta and the Valkyrie. Their rules and transport capacity would remain the same, since they would be 5E rules, it would simply adjust the points cost for the unit and its upgrades, to be in line with C:AM.

 

Personally I think that the vendetta is overcosted for what it does, and I feel that the Valkyrie is too. However, the upgrades still ballpark the Valkyrie with the same loadout from C:AM.

 

As for stormies, I reduced the individual points cost to 12ppm, and the Sgt as 22 points, all before upgrades. I gave them no extra options, so they are exactly what they used to be, only cheaper. This does put them in conflict with the WD Militarum Tempestus platoon, however there are a few differences between the two units, and what they do.

 

Militarum Tempestus: Can deep strike into terrain without taking Dangerous Terrain tests, making them more viable for DS. Can platoon up, giving you more bang for your buck (More units for one slot, you know this already though). They have their own order giving unit, and take orders better (vox casters). Additionally, Tempestors Can take Power Fists. Also, still the only source for Taurox Primes.

 

Storm Troopers: Can Deep Strike more accurately (potentially), they can also take scouts with MTC, or Infiltrate with first shot pinning, making them more versatile. They have a HSLP/CCW combo, making them painful to charge. The Recon ruleset makes them good for putting in a valkyrie, vendetta, or chimera, since they confer scout to the transport they are embarked upon (outflanking flyer transports?), and grav chute insertion becomes less risky.

 

Both units sport the same cost, and same basic restrictions (special weapons) but can be used very differently.

 

Penal legion squads are priced better for what they do. 8ppm didn't seem like a fair price for guardsman stats with scouts and a random boost. I priced them at 6ppm, making a unit of 10, 60 pts. They're conscripts that can shoot better, and maybe CC better, but suffer the same drawbacks, like not having dedicated transports. Perhaps a 1ppm increase would be better, but the fact that they don't move any faster, and don't take orders well (no vox casters), makes them hard to balance.

 

Vets I left alone for the most part, they kept their CCW's, but I reduced the cost of doctrines (I did add infiltrate to the forward sentries doctrine for 5 points extra). I felt that giving vets an alternative deployment was fair, considering the general lack of it in the Guard codex.

 

I have not had an opportunity to playtest this yet, so we'll see how it works. I would appreciate any feedback on this, as I don't want this to be unbalanced.

 

[Teetengee]

Where is this list?

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

It's in a battlescribe catalog file, and the link is here. I hope that works, as it's linked to my dropbox.

[Teetengee]

That link just sends me to a file not found portion of my own dropbox.

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

Try it now. I entered a shared link, maybe that will help. it should download the catalog, and you'll need battlescribe to use it, but hopefully it works.

[Teetengee]

Looks like that works.

Guess I have to download battlescribe now..... ;)

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

Battlescribe is without a doubt the best roster editor I have used. Because it works on a PC/Mac as well as mobile devices and can be linked to a dropbox to share data between your devices.

 

Hopefully you have a chance to look at it soon, and see if anything has ended up broken. Since it's mostly a simple recosting, it shouldn't be. I do hope that other folks decide to jump into this discussion, and provide input.

[Teetengee]

Battlescribe is without a doubt the best roster editor I have used. Because it works on a PC/Mac as well as mobile devices and can be linked to a dropbox to share data between your devices.

 

Hopefully you have a chance to look at it soon, and see if anything has ended up broken. Since it's mostly a simple recosting, it shouldn't be. I do hope that other folks decide to jump into this discussion, and provide input.

Yeah, I never trust any roster editor because of the mistakes I have seen in them in the past, as few people seem to actually check, assuming anything the roster editor says is something that is actually allowed.

 

I probably won't have a chance to look at this until after ETL, but I promise I shall after that.

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

 

Battlescribe is without a doubt the best roster editor I have used. Because it works on a PC/Mac as well as mobile devices and can be linked to a dropbox to share data between your devices.

 

Hopefully you have a chance to look at it soon, and see if anything has ended up broken. Since it's mostly a simple recosting, it shouldn't be. I do hope that other folks decide to jump into this discussion, and provide input.

Yeah, I never trust any roster editor because of the mistakes I have seen in them in the past, as few people seem to actually check, assuming anything the roster editor says is something that is actually allowed.

 

I probably won't have a chance to look at this until after ETL, but I promise I shall after that.

 

I hear you. Battlescribe does a pretty good job of keeping on top of the rules, and points costs. The data is all user supported, so if there's an issue you can submit an error report on the website and they'll fix it. So it's pretty good. Quartermaster makes a big deal about how you are responsible for observing your codex build rules, but battlescribe has it baked in, and I actually prefer that.

[Ulrik_Ironfist]

I started doing some more monkeying around with the codex. I dropped the points cost of the Taurox, and Taurox prime, setting the Taurox at 35 points, and the Prime at 60. I felt that was better. I also dropped the cost of Multiple rocket pods on the Valkyrie and Vulture to 10pts, as that's the C:AM cost. I still have not changed the base cost of the Valkyrie, as I feel 125 points is just too much for what the valkyrie actually does. The Valk either comes in to drop off troops which generally puts it in a bad position for shooting, or it comes in for shooting, putting it in a bad position for dropping off troops.

 

The Vendetta also remains unchanged. I also gave the stormtrooper squad access to the taurox prime, just to see if that made any real difference in gameplay. it does lead to a very powerful combo, namely scouting a fast vehicle. Which could lead to a very fast advance across the table, and put it in a good position to shoot at your opponent's back very early. Considering the Prime's fragility though, it really might help the vehicle gain some utility.