LI: What if close combat worked like shooting?

[Griefbringer]

Legions Imperialis close combat mechanisms have been criticized for being slow, due to being resolved with opposed rolls on model-by-model basis, and lacking in flavour and granularity as everything tends to be reduced to a single CAF value (with occasional Rend trait thrown in for anything from ordinary power axe to titan-scale chainfist). On the other hand, the shooting rules with their multiple stats and traits provide flavour for different weapons, while being relatively straightforward to resolve by chucking a handful of dice per weapon type.

 

I came to think would the close combat get both faster and more varied if the CAF value was dropped, and the units were instead provided a close combat weapon/attack in their profile with a full stat line, similar to the shooting attacks (except with zero range)? Close combat attacks would be resolved in the same way as shooting: roll a handful of dice, calculate the number of hits and resolve saves. Situational modifiers (+/-) could be applied to the hit roll for a few conditions (charging, target behind cover, immobile target), with the usual limitations of 1 always missing and 6 always hitting. Some special rules or traits might allow re-rolling for misses.

 

Close combat would still be simultaneous, with both sides calculating the number of dice and rolling them before moving to saving throws and casualty removal. Under extreme circumstances, this could potentially allow for both sides to wipe each other out to the last model (though that sort of things happen in Black Library books), which cannot happen with the current rules.

 

Since this idea would require writing a close combat attack line for a whole number of units, it is not a simple and straightforward house rule - and would certainly affect the internal game balance significantly, depending on how you would stat different units. Furthermore, it might be interesting to introduce a few close combat specific traits to add more flavour; one idea I have was Target Scale (X) where X would stand for the scale range of targets that could be attacked with the weapon - thus some weapons would only be good against small or large targets.

 

Some ideas for possible close combat capabilities that I had (rather preliminary so far):

 

1.) Infantry: to-hit rolls could vary depending on the close combat capabilities of the unit, perhaps a rough scale could be 6+ for tech-thralls, 5+ for regular solar auxilia, 4+ for regular astartes and 3+ for terminators. Most units probably should only get 1 dice, but particularly close-combat orientated units like ogryns and assault marines might deserve 2 dice. Bayonets, chainswords and such would probably dererve Light trait, where as power weapons etc. might be able to damage vehicles. To provide the infantry a chance against vehicles, they could also get an alternative close combat attack in the form of krak grenades (or melta-bombs for assault marines).

 

2.) Tracked vehicles: for the sake of simplicity, these could all be given a "Grinding Tracks" attack with identical stat-line (e.g. 1 dice at 5+ to hit). Restricting this to only against scale 1 targets would prevent Demolition Derby where vehicles ram each other to pieces. Argument could be made to provide super-heavy vehicles with their own profile, to count for their combination of clumsiness and large size.

 

3.) Flying vehicles: these probably should not be able to attack in close combat, which simplifies things. Neither should they be easily attacked in close combat.

 

4.) Immobile units (tarantulas, drop pods etc.): these should not be able to attack in close combat, and should be easy targets if caught by the enemy.

 

5.) Knights: many of these already have a close combat weapon, that would need a more fleshed-out stat-line, preferably hard hitting - though I do some have reservations as to whether all of these should be allowed to attack infantry in close combat. On the other hand, knights could be given a Stomp attack to allow them to flatten at least Scale 1 models under their feet.

 

6.) Titans: same issues as with knights - dedicated close combat weapons should hit hard, but are not really designed for use against small targets. On the other hand, a few dice Thunderstomp attack should be provided to flatten Scale 1-2 models (maybe even Scale 3?), while Adeptus Titanicus style smash-attacks could be added for targeting Scale 4+ models close up.

 

 

Do you think this kind of approach would make the close combat both faster and more varied? Compared to the current rather abstract CAF system it would be clearly crunchier (literally so when it comes to titans stomping on things) with stat lines, but on the other hand combat could be resolved by rolling dice by detachment rather than by paired models. Furthermore, with appropriately selected stats certain types of close combat could be discouraged or become pointless (e.g. by Arvus Lighters and Rhinos perhaps should not get ramming attacks that would allow them to damage titans).

 

(I will admit that the idea was heavily inspired by my recent reading of Adeptus Titanicus rules, where close combat and shooting attacks are resolved the same way.)

[Griefbringer]

My initial posting above was a bit on the lenghty side, so I will try to summarise the main concepts in an attempt to make them easier to grasp.

 

1.) Adjustments to unit profiles

a.) Dropping CAF stat, and instead

b.) Adding for every unit one or more dedicated close combat weapons with full profile (Dice, To hit, AP, Traits) and descriptive name (e.g. Bayonet, Chainsword, Power weapon, Krak Grenade, Grinding Tracks, Thunderstomp).

c.) As an exception to previous, some units (e.g. flyers, sentry guns) that should not be able to whack things in melee would not get any close combat weapon and thus would not be able to hurt anybody (but would not be automatically destroyed in melee either).

 

2.) Adjustment to combat resolution

a.) Dropping of paired combat with opposed dice rolls, and instead

b.) Having all models in base-to-base combat with enemy models to make an attack with every close combat weapon.

c.) Attacks would be resolved in the same as for shooting, i.e. To hit roll followed by a saving throw (with possible modifiers applied).

d.) Attacks would be resolved by detachment (i.e. rolling dice by batch).

e.) Attacks from all detachments in a combat would be simultaneous (i.e. all detachments get to attack with all models before any casualties are removed).

 

3.) Miscellaneous considerations

a.) Models in contact with multiple enemy detachments will need to allocate their attacks between the detachments before dice are rolled.

b.) Weapons with Reach trait would be able to attack also from rear ranks, if no farther than the 2" range.

c.) Detachments without close combat attacks should not be able to charge into close combat.

d.) Detachments should not be able to charge into close combat with other detachments that none of the models would be able to hurt in close combat.

e.) There is a small probability that both sides in a melee wipe out each other to the last stand (this is not a bug - this is Heresy era combat).

 

[Regarding the last point, it is worth keeping in mind that removing a five figure model stand as a casualty does not mean that everybody has been hacked into tiny bits, just that there are not enough combat effectives left to justify the continued presence of that stand on tabletop. I will leave deeper discussion on topic for another time.]