CA 2018 Custom Character field test (prev. Bling My Termie)

[N1SB]

Previously, this thread was me asking everyone's advice on preparing for a special 40k scenario designed by our local Warhammer Store manager. It turned out to be more than that, thus I've renamed and am replying to this post, as this was a great social experiment to test the Custom Character rules in Chapter Approved 2018.

I describe it as a social experiment because players went in kind of blind as the Warhammer Store manager kept a very reasonable balance mechanic secret, that everyone was alright with. Then it turns out that certain Custom Character rules that looked awesome on paper were completely negated by other ones in practice. And everyone seemed to gravitate to certain rules.

I am keeping the discussion as it was to give context. Please scroll down to my post-game Field Report not just to see how we won, but also the learnings about the Custom Character rules, because I think players everywhere might lean towards certain combinations...and how you can strategise against them.

+++++

Brothers, really need your advice here. In 36 hours, I will be joining a special game at our Warhammer Store and here's the verbatim brief:

You can prepare a Character up to 9 power lv (not named, monster or vehicle), Also you can choose one additional Custom Character rules in Chapter Approved 2018.

Thus, I'm trying to make the most powerful character with that setup please, while everyone else is also doing the same I'm sure. I was going to use my Nurgle Daemon Prince with Wings until I saw I can't use a Monster, thus I'm turning to this model:

It's a Space Marine Heroes Series 2 Terminator Captain character with Thunder Hammer + Storm Shield. That's 7 Power Level. Beyond that, I'm open to all ideas. Chapter Tactics, etc. Please keep in mind there's also the Chapter Approved Custom Character rule I can choose from for any awesome combos.

EDIT - I just realised this can be even a Grey Knight with a Nemesis Hammer or a Librarian in case that opens up new possibilities. That might be a bit gamey, however. Please forgive me for being less organised than normal right now due to time constraints.

Thanks in advance for your timely advice. I'm going to start assembling and basecoating.

[MARK0SIAN]

Chapter tactics would seem to favour Black Templars, you want this guy in combat so rerolling his charge would be very handy. Beyond that, maybe iron hands for the FNP or BA for the plus 1 to wound (although he’ll be wounding most meqs on 2 already, it will help against any T5 characters like DG).

[Sword Brother Adelard]

Do you get any strategem or command point access?

[N1SB]

Do you get any strategem or command point access?

 

I do not know, but in a similar event last year, we didn't use Command Points/Stratagems.  Reason - it was 12 players split into 2 teams.

 

For the sake of preparedness, please share your thoughts if there were, just in case we are allowed, I would appreciate your thoughts on the subject.  Better to have those ideas in mind in case we do.  I'll try to ask tmw.  In the meantime, just cleaned miniature, am about to basecoat black (will be fine for whichever Chapter we decide on later, just working in parallel tracks for minimal lead-lag time).

 

Also thx for your ideas thus far, in between painting, I'm quickly reading up on your ideas.

[MARK0SIAN]

If you are allowed stratagems and CP then I would definitely go BA, they’ve got the best melee stratagems compared to the normal codex.

 

1CP will let you turn him into a Death Company captain which comes with +1 attack on the charge and a 6+ FNP. Or for 2cp you can give him a move before the game starts. Plus you’ve still got access to the 3cp one to fight twice.

[Panzer]

Agreed, if you can use Stratagems definitely go with BA. Mostly for the Deathcompany upgrade and the +1d3 Attacks for 1CP. Without Stratagems I'd probably go with SW so your hammer hits on 2+ again.

 

As for the custom character stuff, I was immediately thinking of the half damage upgrade, however most of the time it would probably just equal to -1 damage (3 becomes 2 etc) or nothing at all if you get pummeled by D1 attacks so there's probably something better to be found.

[Dracos]

Merry Christmas 03:16 am wrapping presents and this ones from me to you

 

Grey Knights

Librarian [9 PL, 136pts]: 

 

Psychic Powers:

Gate of Infinity

Sanctuary

 

Wargear:

Relic: Destroyer of Crys'yllx

Nemesis Daemon Hammer

Stormshield

 

 

PS: I'd have added Chapter Approved material but I haven't gotten my Christmas presents yet :)

[N1SB]

Update: got a clear answer, no CP, no Stratagems, no Relics.  But that's fine, we accounted for it during this discussion.  With that in mind am currently painting up model as Black Templar BUT can change on a dime.

 

For Character Creation rules, I was thinking:

 

- the halved damage one, as above

- the +1 S +1 A against all Characters one, since everyone there will be a Character

- always strike 1st one.

 

I...didn't know Grey Knights can get Storm Shields.  This might be a way easier paintjob if they can.  Imma just go do my share of the due diligence.  I'm figuring psychic powers will be a big deal.  Edit - obviously Draigo has a Storm Shield but I didn't see it as an option for other characters.  Is it possible, with some clever use of the Index: Imperium 1 please, anyone?  It's no big deal if it's just an oversight, just want to double-check.

[Dracos]

Shame about the Relics but I figure the psychic powers can help this guy maneuver and survive longer letting him pick fights of his choosing.

[Panzer]

No SS for GK aside of Draigo.

 

Don't take the always strike first trait. If you charge you strike first anyway, if the enemy charged both strike first and since it's his turn he is going first. It would only trigger in the rounds nobody charge and only if your opponent doesn't have such a rule either.

 

+1S and +1A sounds great. It would push your TH to S10 so you'd wound even bikes, gravis captains, Custodes and DG on on a 2+ and +1A scales really well with such a potent weapon too.

Just make sure you can swing before getting killed lol

[Dracos]

Pretty sure you can substitute the Storm Bolter hand for a storm shield. At least in the Index? A Grey Knights "Librarian in Terminator Armour" has the option to take a storm shield, and does not have the Daemon Hunters and Rites of Banishment rules. It definitely is pushing the envelope though :)

[Panzer]

Pretty sure you can substitute the Storm Bolter hand for a storm shield. At least in the Index?

Pretty sure you're wrong. ^^

[MARK0SIAN]

No SS for GK aside of Draigo.

 

Don't take the always strike first trait. If you charge you strike first anyway, if the enemy charged both strike first and since it's his turn he is going first. It would only trigger in the rounds nobody charge and only if your opponent doesn't have such a rule either.

 

+1S and +1A sounds great. It would push your TH to S10 so you'd wound even bikes, gravis captains, Custodes and DG on on a 2+ and +1A scales really well with such a potent weapon too.

Just make sure you can swing before getting killed lol

Wouldn’t the Thunder hammer only be S9? I always thought it was use any multpliers before adding. If I’m wrong then some of my units just got a big boost :)

[Lord Raven 19]

Gravis Captain?

No SS for GK aside of Draigo.

Don't take the always strike first trait. If you charge you strike first anyway, if the enemy charged both strike first and since it's his turn he is going first. It would only trigger in the rounds nobody charge and only if your opponent doesn't have such a rule either.

+1S and +1A sounds great. It would push your TH to S10 so you'd wound even bikes, gravis captains, Custodes and DG on on a 2+ and +1A scales really well with such a potent weapon too.

Just make sure you can swing before getting killed lol

Wouldn’t the Thunder hammer only be S9? I always thought it was use any multpliers before adding. If I’m wrong then some of my units just got a big boost :)

Model +1 = 5

5 x 2 = 10

 

Pretty sure you can substitute the Storm Bolter hand for a storm shield. At least in the Index?

Pretty sure you're wrong. ^^

Battlescribe seems to say you can

 

Or:

Space marines

Librarian in terminator armour [9 PL, 122pts]:

 

Psychic Powers:

Null zone

Might of heroes

 

Wargear:

Force axe

Stormshield

[Lemondish]

Battlescribe isn't always right, but it might be right here as it appears to be an index wargear option for codex Termie Librarians, which is the data sheet used for Grey Knight Termies. The only caveat being the melee weapon gets swapped to a nemesis weapon.

[shandwen]

For a cc beast I think you have found gold, for shootyness I would recommend a deathwatch captain with meltafist and a combi weapon.

[N1SB]

Brothers, sorry I was in < PAINTING MODE > for the last few hours, thus couldn't reply, and even now, I have but a short message:

TO GLAWWWRRRRRYYYYY!!1

[MARK0SIAN]

Gravis Captain?

 

 

 

No SS for GK aside of Draigo.

Don't take the always strike first trait. If you charge you strike first anyway, if the enemy charged both strike first and since it's his turn he is going first. It would only trigger in the rounds nobody charge and only if your opponent doesn't have such a rule either.

+1S and +1A sounds great. It would push your TH to S10 so you'd wound even bikes, gravis captains, Custodes and DG on on a 2+ and +1A scales really well with such a potent weapon too.

Just make sure you can swing before getting killed lol

Wouldn’t the Thunder hammer only be S9? I always thought it was use any multpliers before adding. If I’m wrong then some of my units just got a big boost :)

Model +1 = 5

5 x 2 = 10

Sorry, I’m still confused all I can find in the rules is this:

 

“You may also encounter abilities and rules that modify a characteristic. All modifiers are cumulative, though you should apply any multiplication or division to the characteristic (rounding fractions up) before applying any addition or subtraction.”

 

Or is it because that character ability permanently changes the models base stats before the game starts?

[N1SB]

Hi guys, at store. Got clarification for this specific instance.  Edit - to be clear, not sure of every other situation where something like this comes up, there's so many new buffs and special rules now, I don't even know if it was a general rule before.  In previous editions, I remember it another way.

The Custom Character raw for Duelist, the +1S +1A says to add to units characteristics. Edit - for clarity, Thunder Hammer's Strength is double that of user, and a Duelist Space Marine's Strength is 4+1, therefore specifically for this he will hit at Strength 10.

[N1SB]

Won. Report later

[N1SB]

+++ FIELD REPORT BEGINS +++

Thought of the Day: Plans are nothing; planning is everything.

As said above, we won this special Boxing Day game thanks to the proper planning & preparation we did in this thread (thank you all), but the learning goes BEYOND that. I've edited the Opening Post and thread title to reflect that. I'll give a recap of the battle, then focus on the learnings, as the post-game discussion was as fun as the game itself.


+++ Battle Recap +++


As per the brief, we players prepared a Character (not Monster nor Vehicle) and wargear of up to 9 Power Level + 1 Custom Character rule. No Command Points, Stratagems, nor Relics, which was fine because Custom Character rules often replicated their effects well enough.

We did not know what we'll be playing with/against whom nor how to win, so we couldn't "game" the system; we just brought Characters/models we were proud of. The Warhammer Store manager announced a game mechanic before the event...and it worked REALLY well.


Balance Mechanic: "Underdog Rules"

Character units of LESS than 9 Power Level can have 1 additional Custom Character rule per Power Level difference (number of Custom Character rules = 10 - your Power Level). Thus, my Terminator Captain at 7 Power Level got 2 additional Custom Character rules.


What EVERYONE Chose: The "Survival Set"

(Credit where it's due, I THINK Brother sfPanzer was the 1st on B&C to list this out in a thread that's since been deleted, as the obvious go-to choices.)

There were 6 players that showed up, then briefed of the above balance mechanic. All had characters below 9 Power Level, so we all took turns flipping through the store copy for the bonus Custom Character rules. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US drew at least 2 from the following few options, all of them to do with survivability:

1. Wound rolls of 1, 2, 3 always fail against you, even weapon's Strength is higher than your Toughness
2. All damage you suffer is halved, rounding up
3. You get a 5+ Feel No Pain save

Each of the above is pretty good by itself. But I think you already see in how I listed them in sequence, together, they are a great package.

I was the last to introduce my Characters and was going to choose a Custom Character rule ideal for dueling, +1 S and +1 A against other Characters (i.e. everyone). When I heard everyone pretty much took the "you need a 4+ to Wound me no matter what" and most took all 3 of the above rules, I adapted and chose the same.


The Scenario/Victory Conditions

The 6 players that participated were split into 2 teams of 3 Characters each. It was standard deployment (at opposite ends of the table).

Each deployment zone had an Objective (a Christmas tree). At the end of each of YOUR turns, you gain D3 Victory Points at the enemy Objective on their side of the table (you're stealing Christmas presents from under their tree). You also gain 1 Victory Point for slaying an enemy.

Slain Characters RESPAWN during their turn in their deployment zone, at least 9" away from enemies. Duration was 6 turns.


The Teams of Characters

It was a 3 vs. 3 game.

Team 1 was Chaos/Xenos (won initiative): Lord of Contagion (7 PL), Tau Commander in most expensive Battle Suit (8 PL), Kroot Shaper (2 PL!!!)

Team 2 was Space Marines (won the game): Captain in Gravis Armour, My Black Templar Terminator Captain with Hammer & Shield, Slamguinius (all 7 PL)

The Battle: How It Played Out

Since this is B&C, I appreciate you guys are pros and know how an Objective grab game plays out, so I'll keep this short & sweet.

Both sides moved up as fast as we could, and our team hugged cover because there's a Tau around firing a ridiculous amount of dakka, etc. Both the Lord of Contagion and my Terminator Captain decided to Deep Strike as close to each other's Objectives as we had low movement speeds. The Gravis Armour Captain defended our home Objective due to his limited mobility. Slamguinius went hunting for whatever he could, often times it was the Tau Commander.

The Lord Contagion and I got onto each other's Objective as soon as we could, working for those D3 Victory Points at the end of every turn. I stalwartly resisted the urge to charge as that would be leaving my post, even though I had the re-roll to charge Chapter Tactic.

Of course, that also made me the prime target initially, but this is one of the few times where being a Terminator with a Storm Shield really paid off. The Tau Crisis Suit Commander shot me with some high volume gatling gun with no AP that my 2+ armour save soaked. That was a big deal, it turned out, because even though everyone took the Half Damage Custom Character rule, mass fire of 1 damage each still added up. The "Survival Set" of rules mentioned above + a Storm Shield for the invuln 3++ save took care of almost everything else. It got to a point where the enemy didn't even bother trying to attack me as it was a waste of their shots, and they turned to other targets for easier Kill Points.

The game went back & forth, a real punch/counter-punch. Even with the "Survivability Set", everyone but me was dying and respawning, fighting over mainly our home Objective. For example, the Tau Commander died at our home Objective and Advanced 20+ inches to return to the EXACT SAME spot, and Slamguinius had to put him down again. Even the Kroot managed to get some kills in despite only being 2 PL, but as a result, had so many Custom Character rules he was the one that impressed us the most.

It was a really great game, so much so we wanted to make it a regular thing, maybe on a monthly basis. It was fast-paced, co-op so many players could participate, and despite people taking the same Custom Character rules, there was still a lot of units + wargear combinations to try within that.

+++ Learnings about Chapter Approved 2018's Custom Character rules +++

These learnings from this Custom Character field test and almost social experiment (a bunch of players went in blind, ended up choosing much the same rules) was why I was compelled to share these findings. It's NOT about this scenario, but about Custom Character rules for your own games in general.

The Baseline: using the most commonly picked Survivability Set rules as a starting point

The Custom Character rules-as-written give you 4 rules to start. Of course, since it's meant for Open Play players might adjust this to be lower, but let's treat it as standard for now as that was what was presented in the book. As previously mentioned, the go-to was the Survivability Set:

1. Wound rolls of 1, 2, 3 always fail against you, even weapon's Strength is higher than your Toughness
2. All damage you suffer is halved, rounding up
3. You get a 5+ Feel No Pain save

Then if you really want to focus more on survivability, you can choose your 4th and last rule that gives you 1 Wound back each turn or the one that increases invuln saves. Normally that doesn't seem much, but the mitigation from the above 3 rules make each Wound you have/get worth that much more.

(I totally understand if you feel disappointed that this small selection is what everyone seems to gravitate to, that it's so cookie cutter.)

However, that doesn't mean everyone will go for this and I think people will adapt away from this, but it is a "baseline" or starting point that the rest of the Custom Character meta will evolve from. As such, I AM just using it as a starting point because I already see ways to counter it...then counters to the counter.

Survivability Set Plus: how players will try to improve this generic set

Before I (or I think players making Custom Characters) look to counter the Survivability Set, our instinct is probably to just make it even better and I already stumbled across one. That's just human nature, so here's my current thoughts.

Invuln saves and Storm Shield - the Survivability Set is mainly useful against Heavy Weapons and high damage weapons, all of which have high AP, so normal armour is pretty inconsequential. Thus, they are best coupled with some sort of invuln saves. Harlequin, Tzeentch and other characters get 4++, which is pretty good. But this is one of the times when being a Loyalist Marine pays off as we Storm Shields and they're better 3++ is pretty accessible to us. (I had Terminator armour on in this game which really helped, but I think that Tau gatling-gun-of-too-many-shots was situational, just a Storm Shield is good enough as proven by Slamguinius.)

Bikes, Jetbikes, Thunderwolves, mounts - mounts give a bonus to Toughness and Wounds and it still matters. The "you need a 4+ to Wound me regardless so put your Power Fist away" Custom Character rule means people will switch to other Power Weapons to attack you, usually at matching Strength to your Toughness (this was exactly what happened when the Gravis Captain player switched to her master-crafted Power Sword). Just bumping Toughness higher so they then need a 5+ to Wound. Combine this with a Storm Shield and Smash Captain rides again.

Death Guard and Nurgle have built-in 5+ Feel No Pain - so you can choose other rules instead (we noticed this with the Lord of Contagion.) Imagine outside of our special scenario (no Monsters or Relics) where you have a Death Guard Daemon Prince with Suppurating Plate and have to deal with all that. That would be insane.

Just some thoughts, now we move to counters, the first of which is obvious...

Psykers: the obvious counter to the Survivability Set due to Mortal Wounds

Post-game, we immediately looked at the limitations to the Custom Character Survivability Set and what could plough through it. The answer was simple: Mortal Wounds.

Mortal Wounds do not roll to Wound, their damage isn't halved as each single Mortal Wound is counted individually, thus they only have to deal with a FNP roll. Many Psykers now can cast more than 1 psychic power per turn and in fact they're a Custom Character rule for Psykers to do just that.

Furthermore, in MOST Codices/Factions, Psykers are usually the squishier of the HQ units. But the Survivability Set, we found post-game, is such a huge buff that it really narrows the difference between it and other Character's durability, even when both chose the same Custom Character rules. It's like the buff is so big their inherent statline differences seem much smaller.

We were thinking of things like Farseers on Jetbikes, but any number of Greater Daemons and Daemon Princes are probably way better. To say nothing of, again, a Death Guard Daemon Prince with Suppurating Plate, who is also a Psyker. Since this particular Character already has FNP, he can afford to get additional Custom Character rules specifically for Psykers, which are really good.

Culexus Assassin: the obvious counter to the obvious counter

But if we were to rely on Psychic Powers as a way to negate Survivability Set Custom Characters, a counter to THAT is obviously the Culexus Assassin. Now consider a Culexus Assassin with the Survivability Set of his own. Not only is he very hard to Wound now, but he's still extremely difficult to hit due to his 6+ to hit rule.

His damage is pretty low except to Psykers and Daemons, so I don't know how it'll play out, but still as the meta evolves he might be a unit that every Loyalist Custom Character player packs in his standard carrying case.

Foul Blightspawn: the not-so-obvious counter to the obvious counter to the obvious counter

To get past the Culexus Assassin's 6+ to hit rule, we looked towards auto-hit weapons, like Flamers. The best Flamer-like weapon I could think of was the one that the Death Guard's Elite unit, the Foul Blightspawn, carries. Assault D6 with 3 Damage is still a lot to deal with.

Let's give him the Survivability Set, too, but since he already has a FNP, he could swap to another Custom Character rule...such as the one that gives +1 Damage to ranged weapons. Now it's a 4 Damage Flamer. There's a lot of other Custom Character rules dealing with weapons and I'm going to look more closely at them.

Custom Character Knights Titans: probably renders all previous points irrelevant

Everything above is fluffy and interesting, but now Knight Titans can be Characters. Just a portion of the Survivability set, like the half damage rule and a Feel No Pain save from the Custom Character rules, I'm not even sure how to take it one down. I'll just end the post here.

+++ Conclusion...for now +++

We are, all of us, just starting with the Custom Character rules; seriously they just came out this month. As with all new gameplay elements, we think we know how to "game" the system, but those plans quickly unravel as we find ways to counter them. I fully acknowledge I'm just tugging at strings right now, but I see this as part of the learning process that is perfectly natural to go through.

[MARK0SIAN]

Sounds like a good game but I don’t know how that wounding rule didn’t make you rage after taking the thunder hammer :)

[Panzer]

At least the TH still has good AP and does the most consistent damage out of all the available weapons. ^^

 

I probably wouldn't have taken the half damage trait tbh. It doesn't seem that useful to me after all unless there's some D1d6 weapon rolling hot. Totally forgot about the other survival traits or I would have recommended those instead lol Thanks for the credit tho, I think I indeed was one of the first who thought about combining those and how cheesy it would be. I'm kinda sad I was right.

 

Just out of interest, what were the other 5 traits the Kroot Shaper took? Sounds like a damn impressive Shaper with 8 traits being for Legendary Heroes. :D

[MARK0SIAN]

At least the TH still has good AP and does the most consistent damage out of all the available weapons. ^^

 

True but I’m super glad these rules aren’t in matched play. This is exactly how you get unkillable deathstars.

[Panzer]

Yeah me too.

 

I'm kinda surprised the T'au player didn't take the AP-1 upgrade for his dakka. I assume it was a Coldstar (only 8PL Commander and also the only one with 20+ movement) so CIBs weren't an option luckily for you. Probably took the default High-output burst cannon (basically two regular Burst cannons for one slot) and the Missile Pod that comes as a set so he had two slots left which I usually fill with ATS for an AP-1 HO-Burst Cannons and an AP-2 Missile Pod and a Shield Generator. Mostly because I build him like that back in 7th but I also don't think it's a terrible loadout even tho it can't really compete with a Quad-Fusion Blaster Coldstar in pure killing power. I guess he didn't expect to see any Terminators this shortly after the CA18. :D