Welcome back! It's kind of hard to stay motivated in your hobby, when you don't get to actually DO your hobby. Stupid virus. Anyway, I had reached a point where I just wasn't enjoying actually playing the game of 40K anymore.
While I wasn't playing, I did do some painting, both models and terrain. Also redesigned my gaming table to be the super dense urban table I've always wanted. And when I had the table set up, I realized that with the core mechanics of 9th edition, and the I-GO-YOU-GO structure of the game, it was going to lead to some very unbalanced games.
Melee armies, like my Orks, would have a fair bit of an advantage over shooting oriented armies, and anything that ignored line of sight would also get a chance to shine, given how dense the table really is.
So I started tinkering with the rules. What started out as a mental exercise in how to play on an ultra dense urban table turned into a cascade of rules that flow through the whole game structure.
Below are the rules that I've been playing games with recently, and I've been having some of the most fun games of 40K that I've had since 4th ed. Check them out below, and leave a comment if you like. All constructive criticism accepted.
Designer Notes:
The use of a units current wound count in the following rules is meant to simulate how larger bodies of troops, and larger vehicles are not the most nimble units on a battlefield.
It is being used as a very general indicator of mass, power and nimbleness.
Wound count is also a rough indicator of a given units' power and durability.
So, for example, 30 Slugga Boyz are going to be less nimble than 10 Intercessors, who themselves are less nimble than 10 Scouts.
30 Sluggas would also move before an Imperial Knight, at least when they are both at starting wounds.
These rules are meant to help mitigate a bunch of different issues with standard 40K. Things like the first turn alpha strike, the power imbalance between units in different codices and the way the game leans towards reliance on firepower.
These rules force bigger, tougher units, that generally have more guns, to have to move first, thereby committing themselves to a course of action. Smaller, weaker and more nimble units then get an opportunity to react before getting swept off the board by that firepower.
I realize there are some counter-intuitive issues with these rules.
Things like 30 Slugga Boyz would actually get to go AFTER 29 Boyz led by a Nob, since he has two wounds.
I was initially going to subtract a units Leadership from the current wound total, but that seemed like too much MATHS, so I went the simpler route.
A note about the Shooting phase. It's really not as hard as it sounds. Granted, 2000 points is a bit to keep track of...for the first turn. After that, things get easier.
A note about the Fight Phase. This is where things can get really...messy. But not really any more messy than normal. Units that can Fight twice, or get bonus Pile In and Consolidation can pull off some fairly ridiculous shennanigans in regular 40K and it's no different here. The difference is that the other guy might ALSO be trying to pull off some of those same maneuvers at the same time, so it all kind of cancels out in the end.
I don't really think it will make a difference, but if you can think of an issue that seems really out of whack, then let me know.
SAMETIME 40K RULES
Movement Phase
Units from both armies get moved in order of decreasing Unit current wound count.
Start with the unit that currently has the highest number of wounds, regardless of which side that unit is from.
After that unit has completed its' Move, whether that is a Move, Advance, Fall Back or Remain Stationary, the unit with the next highest current wound count get moved, regardless of which team it is on.
If two units from the same army currently have the same number of wounds, the owning player chooses which of his units he would like to Move or Advance first.
If two units from opposing armies currently have the same number of wounds, the players roll off, and the losing player (the player who rolled lowest) must move his unit first.
If both armies have multiple units at the same wound level, once the initial roll off has decided who had to move a unit first, the players then alternate until all units at that wound count have been moved.
If players have units embarked in Transports, dedicated or not, they will disembark before the Transport moves, as per the normal rules, unless they have a rule that lets them disembark after the Transport has moved. Again, units will disembark in descending order of current wounds, rolling off if needed. The only difference is that usually the Transport will have a higher wound count, so will have to move first, once the unit has disembarked, though this may not always be the case.
Psychic Phase
If only one army has a Psyker, carry on as per the normal 40K rules.
If both armies have a Psyker, but only one is in currently able to attempt to manifest a power, carry on as per the normal 40K rules.
If both armies have Psykers, and they are both currently able to attempt to manifest at least one power, then the players roll off, and the player who wins the roll off (rolls highest) can attempt to manifest a power.
When rolling off, any bonuses that a Psyker would get to manifest a power also apply to the roll off.
Resolve the manifested power as per the normal 40K rules.
If both armies still have a Psyker currently able to attempt to manifest a power, roll off again, applying any bonuses.
Shooting Phase
All shooting is considered to be simultaneous, as if it were one big volley. If a model is alive at the end of the Psychic phase, and it can shoot, then it will have a chance to shoot in the Shooting phase.
Players must declare each models shooting, in descending order of current wound totals (highest wound count declares first) before any dice are rolled.
A particular situation that must be mentioned is units embarked in/on a transport.
You can still declare that models are going to shoot at a unit that is currently embarked, but as per the normal rules you will have to destroy their transport first.
This would then trigger the unit's shooting once their declared target has performed an emergency disembarkation.
Also, as per the normal 40K shooting rules, you can't have one model/unit shoot at both the transport and the unit inside it.
If you fail to destroy the transport, then the unit that was waiting for the embarked unit to be placed on the table via emergency disembarkation cannot shift their shooting to another target.
Once all models in all units have declared their targets, then the shots are resolved in whatever order the players wish to resolve them, since the order they are resolved should not make any difference.
The only time that it will matter, is if a bunch of transports with units embarked get destroyed and there is not enough space to deploy all the models while following the rules for emergency disembarking.
In this case, follow the normal rules (any models that can't be placed are destroyed, and it is up to the owning player to determine which models get placed and which get destroyed across multiple units, if applicable).
Charge Phase
If there are at least two enemy units from opposing armies within 12" of each other, the players declare charges by units in descending order of current wounds.
If he declares his unit is charging, his opponent can either fire Overwatch as normal, or he can also declare a charge.
If both units declare a charge, then both players roll their charge dice (including any re-rolls or modifiers that may apply) and add the results together.
If the added total would get at least model from each unit within 1" of at least model from the opposing unit taking the other units charge distance into account, then the charges are successful.
The players now determine the middle where their two units would meet. They roll off with the loser moving one of his models first. They then alternate moving one model at a time, forming a line where the two units meet. As normal, no model may move more than the distance they rolled for their charge. If one unit is bigger than the other, they may have enough models and movement to get around the other units flanks. All the normal charge moves and pile ins still happen, though since players alternate moving models to form the front line, these will usually end of in base contact anyway, with only extra models in the second rank and further back being able to Pile In.
Fight Phase
If one unit charged an enemy unit successfully and that unit chose to fire Overwatch, carry on as per the normal Fight phase rules.
If two units both charged each other, then those two units both count as charging, and that Fight phase is simultaneous unless one of those units has an ability, rule or Stratagem that allows them to fight first, or make the enemy unit fight last, in which case they do so regardless of the fact that both units charged.
Both units make all the attacks they are allowed to make, and casualties are taken after all models have made their attacks.
If a unit has a rule, ability or Stratagem that would allow it to attack twice, then it may do so after all other units that have charged this turn have finished taking their first Fight phase.
Morale Phase
Both players take morale checks as needed as per the normal rules, and casualties then removed from the board.
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