Balancing Special Issue Ammunition...

[L30n1d4s]

So, we seem to have swung from one extreme to another here in the past couple of years with Special Issue Ammunition.

 

 

In the old 8th edition DW Codex (jokingly referred to by some as Codex: Special Issue Ammunition), SIA was THE defining trait of the faction and competitive armies were built around spamming Veterans with SIA Storm Bolters and Storm Shields, largely to the exclusion of most other units.

 

 

In the new 9th edition DW Supplement, probably as a reaction to how dominating SIA was before, it has been severely restricted, being only available to a very few weapons (i.e. DW Boltguns, DW Combi-Weapons, Watch Master Vigil Spears, etc.), a Relic available to a single character (Artificer Bolt Cache), and a 2 CP Stratagem that allows a unit to use SIA (but only get a single "Heavy 1" shot per model, making it really only useful on weapons like Stalker Bolt Rifles that already only have one shot).

 

 

Now, I would argue that neither the old method nor the new one really meet the mark, with SIA either being too powerful (and dominating all DW list design and gameplay) or too niche/hard to use (and barely impacting how most DW armies play the game). So, this begs the question, how could Special Issue Ammunition be done to hit the "sweet spot" where it is not too powerful, not too weak, enhances the unique flavor of DW armies, and generally reflects the fluff for the Deathwatch faction?

 

 

The fundamental problem is that, if you make SIA powerful and available to all "Bolt" type weapons, then weapons with lots of shots (like Storm Bolters, Heavy Bolters, Hurricane Bolters on Centurions, etc.) become overpowered and dominate all other options within the army. On the other hand, if you only allow a very limited number of weapons to access SIA, then it almost becomes irrelevant and competitive DW armies will be played with little to no representation from one of the core defining features of the faction.

 

 

Well, having considered this problem for a bit now, here is a possible way to fix it --- kind of like how GKs have their Sanctic Psychic Powers tied to specific unit types, what if different SIA types were tied to specific weapon types?

 

 

1 - Hellfire Rounds -- +1 to wound versus non-vehicle/non-Titanic units

*Can be used with DW Boltguns/Vigil Spears and any other Bolt Weapons that have a "Pistol" characteristic

 

 

2 - Kraken Bolts -- Improve AP by -1 and add +6" range

*Can be used with DW Boltguns/Vigil Spears and any other Bolt Weapons that have a "Rapid Fire" characteristic

 

 

3 - Vengeance Rounds -- Add +1 to Damage

*Can be used with DW Boltguns/Vigil Spears and any other Bolt Weapons that have a "Heavy" characteristic

 

 

4 - Dragonfire Bolts -- Ignore effects of Light Cover/Dense Cover and re-rolls 1s to Hit

*Can be used with DW Boltguns/Vigil Spears and any other Bolt Weapons that have an "Assault" characteristic

 

 

The idea here is that DW Boltguns/Vigil Spears get versatility (i.e. they can use any of the ammo types) to compensate for the fact that they are not as strong as many of the other options.

 

In terms of the "high volume shooting" Assault weapons (like, say, Aggressor Bolt Storm Gauntlets or Inceptors with Assault Bolters), limiting them to Dragonfire Bolts gives them basically a free Captain aura and a niche use (i.e. enemy units in cover) but prevents them from being completely overpowered against all targets.

 

Similarly, Veterans or Terminators with Storm Bolters are limited to Kraken Bolts, meaning they can't put out 40 x Dmg2 shots or 40 x shots with +1 to wound a turn, but do benefit from some enhanced AP/range compared to normal Astartes.

 

Heavy Weapons like Heavy Bolters, Stalker Bolt Guns, etc. get the +1 Dmg, making them dangerous against multi-wound models, but not overpowered, since they generally are capped at S5 and 1-3 shots per weapon.

 

Finally, Pistol Weapons get enhanced ability to wound, which makes them much more useful and helps them compete with the normally dominant other Weapon types.

 

 

 

A last few notes:

 

1 - Special Issue Ammunition would be a rule that all "Core" and "Character" units get (so, excluding Centurions, Servitors, vehicles, etc.) if your entire army is the Deathwatch faction (this would replace the "Mission Tactics" super Doctrine that they currently have)

 

2 - The "Special Issue Loadout" Strat would be replaced by the "Enhanced Ballistics" Strat (1CP for 5 models or less, 2 CP for 6+ models), which would give the selected unit +1 to Hit when shooting with SIA

 

 

3 - The "Artificer Bolt Cache" relic would let the Character use "Artificer Bolts" instead of SIA when shooting with a single selected Bolt Weapon:

*Artificer Bolts -- +1 to wound vs non-Vehicles/non-Titans, -1AP, +6" range, +1 Dmg, RR 1s to hits in shooting, and ignore Light/Dense Cover when using that selected Bolt Weapon (this Relic cannot combined with the Master-Crafted relic or the Banebolts of Eryxia relic).

Edited October 5, 2021 by L30n1d4s

[Cleon]

I wonder if the best comparison is grey knights tides.

 

Keep the flexible SIA on vet kill team bolters, but then let the rest of the army (if pure deathwatch) bring one type of ammo for a limited slection of bolt weapons (so anything a guy in power armour carries like a rifle)

[techsoldaten]

While the restrictions on SIA initially struck me the wrong way, I'm enjoying the current Codex as is.

 

The way I see it, SIA for every bolt weapon would be a trade off, something else would need to change. I'd prefer things the way they are to having an extra-shooty glasshammer army, which is what DW seemed like in previous editions.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's a useless mechanic. My point is the variety of options with Kill Teams does not demand SIA for every unit. My Heavy Intercessors are getting a lot of work done without it.