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Author Topic: Stuff to Fix in 9th Edition  (Read 647 times)

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Offline Wyddr

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Stuff to Fix in 9th Edition
« on: August 15, 2022, 01:01:40 PM »
Okay, so I've played enough 9th Edition games to have come to the conclusion that, in my opinion, this edition is fairly badly broken. Now, we all know a new edition is coming in the next few years, so let's talk about what, if anything, you would fix or change about this edition to make it better.

I'll start:

1) Streamline Pre-game Process
I think the whole thing of setting up the terrain (after mission), the weird measurements of all the objectives (9" this way then 6" that way, etc.) and the selection of secondary objectives takes way too long. I also don't like the alternating deployment stuff, which I think takes way too long.

I propose having secondary objectives FIXED (as part of your army list, not chosen at the time; I'm aware this would require a different set of secondary objectives in many cases) and go back to the old 5th edition roll-off--you either deploy everything first and go first OR you deploy everything second and go second. I think this makes things go faster and is more interesting. Bring back Seize the Initiative, if you like, but I preferred that system by a LOT.

2) Change to Armor Penetration
If there's one thing that Armour of Contempt has proven to me, it's that the current rules for AP are straight-up broken. There's too much of it, it's too easy to get, and its too powerful most of the time.

I'd like to see either a RETURN to the old tiered AP system (which, honestly, there was nothing wrong with) OR a severe reduction in AP on most weapons. Just, like, remove it from most stuff. Let people take their armor saves.

3) Shooting is too powerful/Cover is too weak

I've heard it said from numerous people that an "appropriate" amount of terrain in 9th is enough LOS-blocking for you to hide most if not all of your army on turn 1. I'm sorry, but that's ABSURD and speaks to a severe problem with the game. Not only does this limit the kinds of battlefields you can play on (which is boring), but it also indicates the shooting phase is entirely too powerful and cover just doesn't do anything.

My recommendation? Bring back cover saves! Cover saves were great! They were simple! They kept things alive long enough for you to maybe see Turn 4! All this +1 Armor save/-1 to hit nonsense is just silly, since it almost never actually matters that much, especially given how prevalent AP is.

4) Faction Rules/Scoring Need Streamlining!
The rules bloat in 40K has quite literally never been so intense as now. Balancing and keeping track of all this garbage, even in a single army has become untenable, especially for a new player. I can't even imagine being somebody trying to get into the hobby these days. And then the scoring? The last time I needed to do this much math during the game was 4th edition, and at least all that was at the end. There are too many things that need to be kept track of and they all slow the game down for a limited benefit.

I'd like to see most army-wide turn-progressive rules (Battle Tactics, Doom and Dread, Power from Pain, and so on) be eliminated. I'd like to see stratagems curtailed to 1 stratagem per unit or something (and maybe one for your sub-faction). I'd like to see scoring be simplified by a lot, too. You do something, you get 1 VP--there, that's it.   

5) Smaller Armies as Standard
Remember when 8th started and GW was like "we're making the game more accessible by shrinking the size of armies" and then everyone was like "Well, then let's just play 2000 points!" and then GW was like "Yeah, sure, okay." Enough with the lunacy. For long ages it was clear that 40k was only a remotely balanced game when points were relatively constrained (generally 1500 or less) and that the more amphetamine parrot you could dump on the table, the more broken everything would inevitably be.

This is less of an edition fix than it is a culture fix and, as such, I realize this is probably unfixable, but I stand by that a lot of the nonsense going on in 40k these days is simply by virtue of the fact that armies are so damned large. This has always been the case (remember 'Ard Boyz? :shudder:), but GW is clearly aiding and abetting it at this point, and I think the game (as a game) has suffered for it.

Now, I fully realize a lot of the above is me being a grouchy old cuss and saying "things were better in my day" and so on, but I really DO think a lot of previous editions were superior gaming experiences to the current one, and CERTAINLY a lot more accessible to new players.

Anyway, I'm curious to hear your thoughts about what could be fixed. Have at it!

Offline magenb

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Re: Stuff to Fix in 9th Edition
« Reply #1 on: August 15, 2022, 10:29:28 PM »
Yeah they need to use the old AP system, rather than armour modifiers, that will help with cover being too weak as well.

Mortal wounds  should be changed to an automatic wound with armour save allowed.

Remove strats, you could turn the functions into point costed war gear upgrades - or move them to narrative only.

I didn't get why twin-linked was a thing until it was removed, the volume of fire is just insane.
stop flamers/blast from generating more hits than enemy model count.

movement distance need to be reduced, people on foot shouldn't be able to move further than jetbikes, or even further than rifles can shoot.

Listen to play testers before printing the codexes...

focus on true game balancing rather than trying to power creep your way to it.  Given how big the game is now, this would also mean returning to CAD for matched play, there is just too many combination to play test through otherwise.

If you need to limit the number of wounds a unit/model can take per turn/phase/round your system is broken... soo fix what's broken and stop rule cluttering your way out of it.

If you are play testing effectively, you should only really need rule clarifications and maybe point adjustments, something might pop up from left field and maybe the odd rule. Right now it feels like we are playing an alpha version of the game.



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Re: Stuff to Fix in 9th Edition
« Reply #2 on: August 15, 2022, 11:33:43 PM »
I'm pretty happy with the game as a whole.

I like choosing secondaries, and I like that each army has their own, it's nice having some ownership before the game to choose your objectives, as it can help even the game vs an army you might otherwise struggle against.

Purity army abilities I am a fan of too. I love dread on my chaos knights, and luck of the Laughing God and other such abilities, Good thematic stuff.

I do agree that the game is too lethal.

I do think ap could be toned down, I dont think the 7th edition and older method of you either have your save, or don't, is a better system, it had its own flaws. I do like the ap system, as it allows a bit more granularity with weapons, and makes everything a bit more useful.

That said, there is too much in the game with ap,and too much has too high of ap. Marines rarely get armour saves  and armour of contempt is the only saving grace.

I also think there is too many weapons which do too much damage. Marines having two wounds is imo great, and thematic, but is meaningless in the have atm, as it seems everything is damage 2.

For cover,  I don't think cover saves would solve the problem. Line of site blocking terrain has been valuable in the game for a very long time,  and I think folks didn't use a lot of it in the past,  when they should have. Also,  what terrain blocks Los seems to change all the time.

I do think that line of site blocking breachable terrain skews the game a lot.  I think that if it's a solid wall,  no one should be able to walk through it. That world make terrain have more presence on the table.

I would also like to see re-rolls removed from most parts of the game, and keep them only for limited specific applications, they contribute too much to the lethality of the game.
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Offline magenb

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Re: Stuff to Fix in 9th Edition
« Reply #3 on: August 18, 2022, 06:45:52 PM »
I would also like to see re-rolls removed from most parts of the game, and keep them only for limited specific applications, they contribute too much to the lethality of the game.

Having multiple (high volume) shots and re-rolls is a killer, this is where I think twin-linked was a cleaver solution, keep the volume low but at least make it likely to hit. Things like Doom and Guide based re-rolls are fine because they are not guaranteed and are rather limited. Ultimately, I think failure needs to be put back into the game, rolling a 1 sucks, but its part of it.


LOS Blocking terrain has always been needed, but most armies are very mobile now, so even LOS blocking isn't that hard to get around.

Offline Wyddr

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Re: Stuff to Fix in 9th Edition
« Reply #4 on: August 19, 2022, 10:52:32 AM »
I think the central problem might just be that the game is too deadly. Re-rolls and readily available AP are all part of that, I think. I gotta say, I do enjoy that twin linked weapons get to shoot twice as much--rolling dice is fun!--but looking back, that's where this starts to go wrong.

I remember back in 8th part of the whole thing was limiting the amount of re-rolls--things got reduced to just re-rolling 1s and stuff. But now there's so much out there that you are literally re-rolling 1s all the time. 1s are barely a thing.

 


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